Can negative PR be positive?

Nowadays so many people think notoriety and fame are synonyms. Not long ago someone looking for a job said to me “you’re notorious in the industry,” thinking she was paying me a compliment.

Want your product or service talked about? even around negative buzz? A New York Times magazine article entitled “Good News, Bad News” cited the results of a Stanford University research project, which concluded that a crucial factor is how familiar the brand or product was before the negative publicity.

An example: they correlated book sales to critic’s reviews  in  the New York Times . Books by well known authors given negative reviews led to decreased sales. But for little known or newly published authors, negative reviews increased  sales  45% over projec tions.  Why? Over time they say consumers don’t remember whether or not the reviews w ere  positive or negative. They merely remember the author’s (i.e. brand) name.

My advice? Don’t risk it.  Long term negative PR buzzing around cyberspace can be destructive, brand tarnishing, and in some cases, irreversible.

So, how do you ensure that most PR is good PR for you and your company? Take responsibility and act. If you see some negative PR buzzing around cyberspace, do something about it and engage in online conversations. This provides some transparency to the audience. Can a situation be remedied by offering an opposing thought? Can you change the minds of the negative WOM (word of mouth) spreaders by sharing information/facts/data? Can you offer a solution to an unhappy customer? In almost all instances, one can do one or all of the above.

The most important thing to do is to take responsibility. No one cares if it’s  your fault or not; if the media is building you up to be the big bad wolf, that’s what you’ll become. Apologize regardless of ownership of the problem, and get to work on talking about and creating a solution.  Moreover, negative   publicity  can  sometimes  be a learning opportunity to re-evaluate a product or service and retool it.