Brandjack News

By Quentin Langley

I was just about to ask the Tweeple for an over/under on the grovelling apology from Argyll and Bute, when it came in. All in all, a fantastic case study for my teaching on how not to handle a crisis. So far, this is what they did wrong.

1. Failed to anticipate that closing down the blog would generate far more coverage than ignoring it.

2. Were completely unprepared for national (Telegraph) and international (Drudge) interest in the story. The PR department is virtually uncontactable with no information about it on the website. They fell back on "I can't comment except to say that a statement is going to be issued" line. 

3. Issued a mind-numbingly awful statement which was all about their staff. Councils don't run schools for the benefit of the staff.

4. Risibly tried to claim that staff were in fear for their jobs, but also that there had been no complaints other than from the Payne family. These statements cannot both be true.

5. They actually tried to make school staff appear the victims. School staff were apparently being bullied by a nine-year-old girl.

6. They seemed to think that the fact that their staff felt upset was a reason to act. Councils are public authorities. Their services are not immune from criticism. They are completely mune from it.

7. They then disappeared the first statement and replaced it with a new one, saying there is no place for for censorship in Argyll and Bute.

8. As Twitter went crazy, with internationally known author, Ian Rankin, joining in the party, the council stayed silent. Their tweet with the statement was their first for two days.

On the whole, this is great teaching material.