Il recente flop di Volkswagen e la reazione dell’azienda rappresentano un caso da manuale di un nuovo modo di gestire le crisi di immagine.
Solo una settimana prima della tragica morte di George Floyd che ha generato un vero terremoto sociale negli Stati Uniti, la Volkswagen si è stata accusata di razzismo per una Instagram Story della nuova Golf nella quale una mano gigante allontanava un uomo di colore dall’auto per poi spingerlo in un locale come una biglia.
Il clip era parte di una storia romantica di una coppia interraziale e la mano bianca apparteneva alla fidanzata dell’uomo di colore, ma da subito ha generato violente critiche sui social media ed è stata immediatamente ritirata da Volkswagen con tanto di scuse.
Ma quello che ha reso la reazione di Volkswagen diversa dal solito tiepido linguaggio delle corporate PR è stato quanto hanno poi scritto due dei suoi Board Member sui social media (lo statement è riportato qui sotto nel testo in inglese).
Probabilmente l’onestà e l’umiltà di questi statement hanno evitato che la crisi degenerasse, e forse siamo davvero giunti ad un punto di inflessione nella gestione dell’immagine corporate dove il blando linguaggio delle PR lascia spazio ad una maggiore autenticità ed empatia, creando un vero ponte di valori con il pubblico.
Un bello spunto di riflessione…
English Version
WHAT LEADERS CAN LEARN FROM VOLKSWAGEN’S EPIC FAIL
What if empathy and deep authenticity were the solution to deal with a racial PR crisis? Volkswagen recent fiasco and its reaction are a textbook case of the new way to handle corporate image crisis.
Only one week before the tragic death of George Floyd that is now rocking racial relations in the United States, Volkswagen got engulfed in a race PR crisis, and the great authenticity and honesty in which it was handled probably shows a new way to PR crisis management.
In an Instagram story clip posted by Volkswagen, an outsized white hand pushed and shoved around a dark-skinned man, preventing him from getting into a yellow Golf 8 model, before flicking him into the doorway of a restaurant.
The clip was actually part of a larger story about an interracial couple falling in love, and the outsized white hand close to the camera effect, very common on Instagram memes, belongs to the woman of the couple.
The clip generated an uproar by social media users and it was shortly after deleted by Volkswagen which issued an apology statement: “Without question: the video is wrong and tasteless. We will clarify how this could happen – and take consequences from this”.
But what made Volkswagen reaction different from the usual bland Corporate PR language, was two of its senior executives Jürgen Stackmann (a brand marketing board member) and Elke Heitmüller (VW’s head of diversity management) going further and stating on social media:
“We understand the public outrage at this. Because we’re horrified, too.This video is an insult to all achievements of the civil rights movement” and further added that “we at Volkswagen are aware of the historical origins and the guilt of our company during the Nazi Regime. That is precisely why we resolutely oppose all forms of hatred, slander/propaganda and discrimination”.
Probably the honesty and the humility of these statements is what prevented the PR crisis from escalating, and maybe we are facing a turning point in how to handle Corporate image and its crisis, where the standard bland PR language is replaced by authenticity and empathy, creating a real bridge of values with the public.
Food for thought…
