For a limited time only: communications make a comeback at Chrysler
Okay, fuel economy, sales, customers, leases and new models are seemingly foreign concepts to the current owners of Chrysler.
But, apparently, communications may be making a comeback.
Well, for a limited engagement.
The company in the last couple weeks has had to employ an old technique that used to serve it pretty well - that little thing called PR and communications.
Chrysler was a benchmark in the car industry and beyond for executive access and openness in the 90’s. Well, right up until the company was purchased by a private equity firm a year ago.
Going private, executives then said, meant financial info could be secret since they no longer would be issuing statements for shareholders.
Now, with rumors of bankruptcy and billions in financial muck stuck to the Pentastarred tower off I-75, the top brass have realized the power of communicating to try and end "a lot of speculation, false speculation" that is "rumbling around about" the company. So Jim Press - company president and vice chairman, went out on the stump to talk financials and set the record straight. I don’t know if anyone is buying the words so much - with U.S. sales still in the car crapper, down 23 percent this year; however, that isn’t the point.
The Chrysler crux is two-fold:
- See? Communications is vitally important to an organization. Those "rumors" and "speculation" come from one side of the story being told - if you don’t take control of the message, someone will. And, they may not have your best interest in mind. It is critical to be proactive, willing and available to discuss key messages and issues with the target audience - find that channel, use it often, openly and honestly.
- Now, here’s the problem that Chrysler has discovered…or will very shortly … and, unfortunately, they aren’t alone: Communications isn’t a light switch.You can’t use it just when you want to "fix" a waxy negative build up. There is a bank of goodwill that can be formed through regular, ongoing communications with the targeted audience. It’s like calling someone you haven’t seen in 10 years and your first call to them is to borrow money. Build the relationship, work it, listen to the audience as part of communications and respond quickly, often and honestly to it.
Don’t believe the PR putz? Listen to the smart dude quoted in today’s Detroit Free Press (so it must be true):
"They (Chrysler) made it very clear a year ago that they weren’t going to do the things that normal businesses do and that this was a privately held company and the press was going to have to go away because they aren’t going to disclose what’s going on in the company," said Gerald Meyers, a University of Michigan business professor. "This is a break in that. What’s surprising is that this sets a tone and precedent. Once they do that, they’re going to have to do it again."
Based on their recent history, bet you a Dodge Ram-sized tank of gas they won’t.
Photo by B. Baltimore Brown
Tags: chrysler, Communications, pr