Consumer Involvement And PR -- What's Our Role?

The FedEx Furniture guy brings to a light a thorny issue that isn't going away:

How do you deal with today's empowered consumer and the easy way that people can communicate dissatisfaction to large audiences?

Some bloggers say that FedEx should have made a hero out of the guy. Created a campaign around him. Turned him into the Jared of the overnight business.

I don't see the connection between boxes as furniture and successful package shipping. Okay, the boxes are sturdy. But that's not really a competitive advantage. I'm not alone in that view.

I also doubt that FedEx wants people bogarting boxes all around the country to make divans for their apartments.

At the same time, the whole "cease and desist" approach always strikes me as overkill -- especially when it's the big bad corporate lawyers shutting down the little guy's right to have fun.

There's probably a middle ground there ... one that involves dialog and resolution rather than a marketing campaign or a lawsuit.

The problem is that this issue is one that most companies aren't well-suited to tackle. The approach depends on the department with responsibility.

If it's legal, well ... you know what's gonna happen then. Lawyers are all about precedent -- and with good reason. They don't want to do anything that might be used against the company later.

If it's PR, you might find a softer, more publicly palatable resolution. But a PR person isn't necessarily going to be attuned to the realities of dealing with difficult people.

It sounds great to say "the company should give people what they want," but once you start handing out cash or products, the line that forms will be a very, very long one. And if you've set a precedent ...

I think what's needed is a function within organizations that includes a blend of PR, customer service and legal to evaluate all public complaints and determine appropriate responses.

And as blogs, vlogs, websites, podcasts and all forms of consumer-generated content proliferate, this need will grow even more acute.

Corporate responses need to be defendable, scalable and appropriate. You can't treat a loud-mouth blogger differently than a little ol' lady who calls in nicely with an issue.

And they need to recognize that while every situation is different, individualized solutions might cause even more problems, especially if they are applied unevenly.

More on the issue: Desireable Roasted Coffee.

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