Spears' New Album Hoping For Pity Sales

Britney Spears is certainly no stranger to public relations crises. Recently she has been all over the news and most presently, she has had custody of her children taken away due to her highly irresponsible lifestyle. Jive, Spears' record label, has stated that they are doing everything they can to help Britney get through this rough time in her life and that they will stand by her no matter what. They have also called out the media as cause to many of Britney's personal problems saying that the paparazzi are exploiting her troubles therefore making it more difficult for her to cope.

The reason I bring this up is because it is indicative of the often true saying "There is no such thing as bad publicity." By supporting Spears, Jive makes themselves look good, while Britney has titled her latest album "Blackout" (out November 13). She claims that the title "refers to blocking out negativity and embracing life fully," but I think we can all see past that for what it really is: a publicity stunt. Clearly she is trying to capitalize on her recent misfortunes, and props to Miss Spears because it seems to be working. Everyone wants to know what's going on with her and what's more people will be buying her album, if for no other reason, to be privy to the train wreck that is Britney Spears. Beyond this factor, she has demonstrated that she is only human and the public will now find her much more relate-able. The bottom line is that every one involved will come out smelling like roses.

Anti Wal-Mart Commercials May be a Waste of Money

Wal-Mart is under fire yet again. A group whose goal is pretty much to make Wal-Mart's life as difficult as possible has created a new ad campaign in attempt to discourage shoppers for the upcoming holiday season. Their website, www.wakeupwalmart.com, provides a pretty comprehensive list of reasons not to shop at or otherwise support Wal-Mart but their most recent attack concerns the widely publicized Chinese toy recall. A large portion of Wal-Mart's consumer products are made in China; and the group, funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, claims that conglomerates like Wal-Mart are responsible for the recent safety issues. This is due to the fact that the Chinese suppliers are constantly pressured to cut costs, which in turn, causes them to cut corners and often safety measures are the first to go. The commercials are currently airing across the Southern and Midwest regions of the country. (A recent article from an Arkansas news source highlights the story)

Wal-Mart has already responded to the toy crisis by assuring consumers that harsher safety measures will be enforced in addition to their own personal testing of all products coming from Chinese markets in the future. Spokesman Dave Tovar recently responded to the anti-Wal-Mart ad spots by saying, "Our commitment to low prices is never at the cost of safety. Product safety has always been and will continue to be a top priority at Wal-Mart."

Personally, if Wal-Mart plays their cards right, I don't really see these negative ads becoming a problem. There seems to be a continental divide on this issue: those who shop at Wal-Mart and those whose goal is to destroy them and neither side is easily swayed. The most probable result of the anti-Wal-Mart campaign is that shoppers will look at labels more closely and stray away from purchasing any products with the "Made in China" label rather than avoiding Wal-Mart altogether.

Blog Backlash

These days, blogging is no longer just for lonely housewives and teens to narrate every dull detail of their daily lives: the voices of serious bloggers are certainly heard on a much larger scale. I was recently browsing the Bernstein Crisis Management website when I stumbled across an article that I found to be ironic as well as relevant. Blog Storm discusses how one individual who is unsatisfied with a company can cause major issues due to this age of technology. Most people who keep blogs do so because they want to make their opinions heard, therefore their experiences provide information for any other person who is researching the topic being blogged about. If one Google's your company's name and the second item on the list is XYZCorporationSucks.com . . . that person might form an opinion based on the publicized opinions of others. Even more detrimental are those that rank highly on the blogosphere, making them a highly trusted source of information whether or not the information provided is fact.

Beyond the obvious immediate effect of bloggers and web domain administrators who have nothing but bad things to say, any item posted to the internet has potential to become part of your history. Years later, people might still be reading the negative comments written by an angry consumer.

Aside from maintaining a perfect reputation, there is not really much that can be done to stop bloggers from bashing your business. The Blog Storm article offers some tips on how to deal with a sticky situation like this. Posting a well-thought comment on the blog or starting a new blog that depicts your company in a positive light may be possible solutions, but we must come up with a more comprehensive list of ways to deal. Blogging is becoming a serious issue because we all know that word of mouth from fellow consumers is far more trusted and bears much more weight than anything a CEO or the media can ever say in a business' defense.