Imagine your company’s entire target audience was no larger than the population of
All you’d have to do is send someone with the passion and charisma of George Bailey to assuage their fears, and you could drive home any message, avert any crisis.
That was the case, of course, in the idyllic setting of “It’s a Wonderful Life,’’ but it’s certainly not true in the real world.
Recent public reaction to IndyMac Federal Bank’s failure might be an extreme example, but it’s further notice that you can never say something to the public too often. Part of the issue is the general pessimism of the time, but much of it is human nature.
Consider that depositors lined up outside of the institution to withdraw funds already taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Despite three full days of announcements that deposits up to insured levels were safe and secure, despite the continued access to funds through credit cards, checks and ATMs, and despite assurances the bank would reopen on Monday, depositors lined up as if the failed thrift would be dispensing diamonds for each dollar owed.
A multi-day media blitz that used print, television, internet and everything but skywriting failed to quell the fears of the general public.
If that’s the case, can you really imagine that your company’s efforts are doing even a fraction of what you’d like them to do?
As a company you face many obstacles not only to getting your message to investors, but in getting it out without it being altered and even inverted along the way.
Companies face a busy public that isn’t always tuned into communication channels, a skeptical media happy to raise or even exaggerate doubts, and an online community that is likely to spread fear and rumor more eagerly than the cold hard facts.
A few years ago a situation like IndyMac might be shrugged off by the general public as a fluke. In a sour economic environment, it can be elevated to inevitability.
So you’ll have to do a bit more than ol’ George Bailey to communicate with your investors, your clients, your community and business industry – especially when rumor and speculation is most likely to run to the negative.
Tony Boylan
