Good Public Relations, Bad Marketing meet
This correspondence was sent via email the day after the incident, before the victims had even been publicly identified.
XYZ Widget & Sons Insurance
February, 2010
The fatal accident in Palo Alto, California, is a horror that no company wants to contemplate. We extend our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the airplane tragedy. These executives from Tesla Motors were pioneers and innovators; their contributions to the ever-changing technology community will be missed. GOOD PUBLIC RELATION
Prudent risk management dictates that multiple executives should never travel together, be it on a private plane or commercially. While no one likes to think about their death or how it and the deaths of others will affect a company, it’s as important to address in business as it is in one’s personal life. If you would like to discuss succession planning and key person insurance, please contact our specialist, John B. Smith. BAD MARKETING
John B. Smith
Life, Disability, LTC, Financial Services
The CEO of XYZ Widget & Sons Insurance, the next day explained this email as: “Our primary reason for sending it out was not to ambulance chase or to do anything other than remind small businesses that perpetuation planning is a very difficult and often overlooked subject.”
This is simply a case of trivializing the Public Relations and Marketing needs of a company.
There should be a balance of both.
Marketing is primarily focused on the customer. Public Relations is focused on the essentials to the company's ability to conduct business.
Anybody can do this, right?
