Oh, Boy!: Why Optics Matter

"There's no such thing as bad publicity..."

----- P. T. Barnum

As a business strategy "guy" (sorry, but yes, that's not changeable), this is one adage that needs to die in the era of social media! In an age where every photo, every grainy cell phone video, every phrase, every Tweet—everything—can go viral and worldwide in an instant, anyone in charge of any organization, company, institution, and yes, political campaign, needs to be constantly aware of one thing: Optics matter! In fact, in the shorter-than-ever attention span time in which we live, they are not just important—they are everything!

Almost every day without fail, one can easily spot on your social feeds an item that leads you to almost spit your coffee on the screen and exclaim: "Wow! What were they thinking!" Even the biggest of big companies with armies of marketing and advertising staff make mistakes in how they present themselves, their products, and their image in the marketplace of ideas. If Starbucks or McDonald's can't end up with egg on their face from what appears on potential customers' screens almost on a weekly basis, how on earth can a small business ever expect to get things "right" consistently?

Well, the truth is that they can't! No matter how much attention anyone—a business, a university, a hospital, a candidate—might pay to how they present themselves or their organization online today, the truth of the matter is that no one is going to get things "right" 100% of the time! One thing we know about the Wild, Wild Web is that somewhere, someone can spot something we didn't think of, read something into our photo, tweet, or article (and yes, into this one), that we never, ever intended!

In short, trolling—whether its mean-spirited or just for laughs—happens a lot! Whether you, your company, your agency, your campaign, your whatever deserves to be held up to some degree of ridicule, it's simply inevitable that someone out there on the Internet will see something contrary to the message you are trying to convey. They may be right. They may be wrong. They may be insane. They may really need to get a life. And yet, the reality is that the very second you hit the return button today, you take a real, existential risk to the integrity of not just your message, but to your very being!

And so let's turn to the lesson du jour in how to not do things in the age of social media - in fact, how to not f#$& things up REALLY bad! Hopefully, this can stand as a case study - and a warning - to all to REALLY think through that post, that pic, that tweet, etc.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock without signal for the past week (and you might consider yourself lucky if that's the case!), you know that the "talk of the talking heads" on cable news has been the back and forth, "he said, she said" battle going on over the allegations of sexual misconduct made by Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. No need to go back over this debate over who might be telling the truth in this matter, as you can watch it live 24/7 on any news channel or follow it endlessly on social media. Unlike many controversies that hit today, this one is rather unique in that there is likely one truth. However, even the most strident pro-Ford and pro-Kavanaugh advocates would likely admit that it is highly unlikely that we will ever really know who is telling it due to the circumstances involved in it.

So, let's not look at the arguments of the case, let's look at one, Titanic social media goof that has sprung from it! Hopefully, this is a lesson that many—even those far removed from the "I'm right, you're wrong!" world of American political theater—can learn from to help improve their own social media presence and marketing efforts.

What, if anything, jumps out at you when you glance at the Tweet at the top of this article? The fact that someone actually paid to have a bus painted in this manner? That face on the bus?

No, what stood out to many was the mixed message sent-out by the staging of that photo opportunity—and that has caused the pic to go viral!

This very routine photo was actually taken back in August when the confirmation campaign began for Judge Brett Kavanaugh. A conservative group, Concerned Women for America, had organized a “Women for Kavanaugh” bus tour to travel across the country in support of the judge's nomination by President Donald J. Trump to the Supreme Court. And so, this was the "kick-off" photo for their campaign, made not-so-routine by yes, a quick-witted Twitter user (@elivalley) who pointed-out that the majority of the folks standing in front of the “Women for Kavanaugh” were men! Oopsie!

Of course, in our "gotcha!" social media world in which we exist today, whatever good intentions the organization might have had for its “Women for Kavanaugh” campaign might have had went "poof!" in an instant. The image said it all! Whether the leaders of the group put any thought into staging the photo or not, their message was totally derailed by a single picture that went viral—big time! Rather than being a force for the judge's nomination, the photo quickly made the pro-Kavanaugh group's efforts the focus of Internet scorn.

And so what should be your takeaway from the “Women for Kavanaugh” bus pic? Well, the lesson is simple: Appearance is indeed everything today! No matter if you are selling your company's product or service, advocating for a candidate, or simply marketing yourself, you need to really try and look at things from every angle before you put your message out! If you don't, you can rest assured that someone, somewhere will! They may have bad intentions toward you and what you are doing, or they may just be an "Internet spit-wad thrower" looking for laughs—and likes. They may know you and be physically near you, or they may be on the opposite side of the planet and speak a native language far different than yours.

Today, distance does not matter, but likes, shares, comments, Tweets, etc. do. And if your message becomes lost in a sea of negativity, no amount of "spin," no amount of crisis public relations efforts, indeed, no amount of money that you could possibly throw at the problem can rescue and recover you! In short, once the Web-based bell is rung, it is almost impossible to "un-ring" it.

And so the best advice this management professor and strategic consultant can offer is to really, really, really think things through! Get insights. Encourage feedback. Ask the tough questions. Think counterintuitively. If you don't, the reality today is that someone—in fact, many someones—will do it for you, often with disastrous results! Barnum's famous saying does not hold for anyone today, as bad publicity can happen to even those with the best of intentions! Be careful out there folks—and make your team read and think about this article.