You may have heard about Detroit News writer Scott Burgess’ negative review of the Chrysler 200. Apparently a local dealer complained and The News altered the online version, leading to Burgess leaving the paper. This created a huge uproar about journalistic integrity, as well as a negative reflection on Chrysler itself (even though it was a dealer and not the company that complained). While The News has since restored the original review, the damage has been done.
MLive.com has a nice article on the story:
Detroit News auto critic Scott Burgess resigned this week and, according to Jalopnik, his resignation came after the paper revised Burgess’ negative review of the Chrysler 200.
March 16, Jalopnik: Two sources at The Detroit News tell us that after receiving a phone call from an advertiser, changes were made to the online version of Burgess’ review. We still don’t know which Chrysler dealer was the advertiser in question or Chrysler itself. What we do know is that although the changes don’t go so far as to turn a negative review into a positive one, it was certainly enough to water it down.
UPDATED: Detroit News alters Chrysler 200 review after local auto dealer complains – MLive.com
MLive.com also has a followup article showing a series of missteps by Chrysler:
To be fair, not every recent bad press item with “Chrysler” in the headline is directly tied to Chrysler. Still, all of those items have to be causing some headaches in the automaker’s marketing department.
Let’s run down the list of casualties and how — if it’s even possible — for Chrysler to bounce back.
Worse week ever? Chrysler reeling from social media, clothing line and critic controversies – MLive.com
Some takeaways from the situation:
- Anyone associated with your brand “speaks” for you. Make sure everyone is on the same page (social media policy and constant communications are key).
- Handle negative reviews with professionalism. Instead of asking for the removal of the review, ask for a public response and post your own viewpoint. Be respectful of the opinion and respond directly to each negative point.
- Sometimes there’s something to what’s being said. If you’re seeing a lot of less-than-stellar comments, maybe there’s something to them. Maybe there’s some insight in what you can do to improve going forward. Unfortunately the turnaround to produce a new car isn’t super quick, but there may be ways to make other changes quickly.
- Be ready to respond. Assume that something like this is going to happen (although hopefully not on this scale). What’s your plan? Who will handle the response and what are they authorized to say? Internally, what will you do to make improvements and changes going forward.
- Take time to think. Instead of rushing to “fix” something like a clothing line that’s selling something with your tagline, think about the possible repercussions. Is there a way to work through the problem where everyone comes out ahead?
What do you think? If you were Chrysler, what would you do now?
(photo by KungPaoCajun, on Flickr)