PR Apologies

Have you ever purchased a GM vehicle that was built during the 80's or 90's? Once, I bought a 1989 Pontiac Grand Am. It was in good condition when I purchased it. However, over the course of one year, the paint began peeling off like bad wallpaper, the radiator needed to be replaced, sensors went bad, and the cruise control died. Not all GM cars had those problems. In fact, in my mind, GM is a great company that has problems like everyone else. But there's an interesting PR lesson to be learned from something they are doing right now.

You may or may not be aware that GM is now apologizing for their lack of quality over the years through two-page spreads in major newspapers around the US and on their website.

You can read about their "Road to Redemption" here: http://www.gm.com/vc/story/home_flash.htm

They said that there has been a great turn-around and that GM is well equipped to be the best car manufacturer around.

According to their ads, thirty years ago they were a great company, but in the last 20 years they fell apart. I quote "The hard part [was] breaking out of our own bureaucratic gridlock," the ad copy states, and "learning some humbling lessons from our competitors."

And it took them 10 years to learn the lessons! During which time they did nothing other than tell us that things had changed.

So, what they're saying is that I was a sucker for buying any GM car made in the last 20 years.

And they're sorry about that.

But not sorry enough to refund my money, just sorry enough to try to convince me that they're doing better.

When I heard this, my thought was, "That's interesting, but haven't I heard this before?"

Jump back with me 20 years when we heard Roger Smith, GM's chief executive calling 1983 "the turnaround year we have been working for."

Now jump to 1989. Roger Smith and GM President Robert Stempel stated that a "turnaround" in "product quality" and "customer service" had been underway for "some time."

In 1990 Stemple assured us that GM's "entire focus" was on customer satisfaction. Meanwhile GM's share of new-car sales fell from 44 percent of the U.S. market to about 35 percent. Apparently the car buyers missed that press release.

In 1991 GM fired Stemple and announced that "fundamental changes" in its business were underway.

In late 1994 GM claimed that it "had 'absolutely' turned the corner."

And so on.

GM's market share is now 28% of the domestic vehicle market, not even counting the imports.

So what's going on here?

GM"s trying to spin the story.

Rather than telling us what they've changed, they are trying to appeal to our emotions to make us believe that quality is actually better.

What lessons can we learn from this?

1. Apologies can be a serious blunder in the give-and-take world of public relations. . Why? Because apologies are almost always viewed by the public as a ploy to get something - usually to get us to believe a lie.

Now, there are times when apologies are exactly what should happen. I'd like to hear an "I'm sorry" from Worldcom for chewing through $5000 of my IRA. If you emit a cloud of toxic gas that kills everyone in Philadelphia, an I'm sorry would be a classy (though not necessarily legally recommended) move. Johnson and Johnson was brilliant in their apology for the Tylenol tampering - but note that it wasn't their fault, it may have been preventable by them, but they didn't do the crime.

But most of the time apologies don't get you any advantages.

2. Actions have more power than words, especially if your actions in the past have belied your words.

In other words, stop telling me that you're working to make a better car, make a better car!

3. Emotional appeal, unfortunately, does sometimes work.

Some people are going to buy into this and actually buy a GM car.

Sometimes, these appeals are exactly what's needed, especially when the facts are consistent with the emotions you are trying to create. Pres. Bush's post-9/11 urgings that the world was not over so people should go back to buying, traveling, etc. was a good example - the world is not over, and things did look up, for awhile, at least.

I can tell you this, I've got two cars that need replacing in the next 6 months to a year. GM's not yet at the top of my list. Let's see if they can change my mind about that by then, but to do that their actions will have to live up to their words.

Want to be prepared for your next interview to make sure that you're ready for every question the reporters might throw your way? Try Questions You Can Expect Reporters to Ask During an Interview

Or to prepare for a news conference: The Press Conference: When to Hold It and How to Do It Right

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Tags: Ad Campaigns