创业公司搞定公关的5个办法
Preparing for a PR disaster
一间成功的初创公司，终究会有面对公关灾难的一天，而这场灾难究竟会成为垫脚石、绊脚石，或是压垮公司的落石，全取决于公司的应对进退。
要防患于未然，有 2 件事可以做：
1. 以他山之石为错，以避免重蹈覆辙
2. 想像各种可能发生的情况，并模拟应对
这里提供一个案例：星巴克曾因为一个5岁小女孩在厕所中疑似发现摄影机而被告;然而，星巴克所具有3个关键优势，让他们成功化险为夷：
1. 老练的公关技巧
2. 强大的品牌力量
3. 不屈服于媒体或网络传言
此外，星巴克的品牌力量，让大部分的人都不相信星巴克会允许有人在厕所内加装摄影机。然而，以上3 点优势是许多初创公司没有的，许多民众可能在某一间初创公司爆发灾难时，才第一次听到该公司的名字。事实上，当初创公司遇到公关灾难，还是有很多补救方法，可以挽救颓势：
1. 指派发言人：最好由总裁/执行长负责代表公司发言，以免员工随意在推特上发表个人感想
2. 先别责怪受害者：在未查明真相前就追打落水狗是不智之举
3. 先不要解释一大堆：公司或许有法律措词来自我保护，但若不够小心则容易造成大众负面观感
4. 不要企图封锁怨言：别去威胁网友移除部落格的文章或是照片，因为一旦事情曝光，就已见光死，要求别人移除部落格文章反而会引起瞩目。
5. 在第一时间雇用危机公关公司：危机公关与一般的公关十分不同，企业应该要与危机公关公司保持良好关系，并且在出事后立即请他们协助处理。
你不可能完全防止危机发生，但藉由未雨绸缪，你可以避免犯下那些面对公关灾难时最常犯的错。藉由事先排练可能的状况，当问题真的发生时，你就能知道该怎么预防事态爆发，或至少做到防微杜渐。
You can’t do anything about the Internet bogeyman. But you can avoid some of the most common mistakes I see startups make:
Not having a single person (preferably the CEO) responsible for making all comments. Yes, we’re all flat organizations and we believe in equality. But now is not the time to have random staffers tweeting their thoughts.
Blaming the victim. It’s possible that the victim really played a role in what happened. But blaming the victim in the immediate aftermath, before an investigation has taken place, is a bad idea.
Trying to intimidate the complainant. Don’t ask people to remove blog posts or photos they’ve posted. Once something is out there, it’s out there. Asking someone to take down a blog post will likely lead to more attention to it.
Explaining economic theory or contractual relationships. Our hypothetical room rental startup might have legalese to protect it as purely a marketplace if the case ever goes to trial and the judge buys the argument. But this argument is guaranteed to be a loser in the court of public opinion.
Not engaging a crisis PR firm as soon as they know things are bad. Crisis PR is very different from the typical “please, please write about us” PR. My view is that VCs should have warm relationships with such firms and be able to call up in a hurry on behalf of their portfolio companies. If your VCs can’t help, maybe your attorney or regular PR firm knows someone.
The most important thing you can do is plan in advance. By identifying likely scenarios, you can figure out what to do when something happens.
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