Timing Is Everything in Life and PR – How Wells Fargo Bumbled its Timing

“Timing is everything” is a quote attributed to many people but is especially relevant to comedians and PR people. (And that’s not a joke.)

To those readers who are too young to remember “The George Burns & Gracie Allen” TV shows of the 1950s, I suggest watching them to see how important timing is to a joke. Without uttering a word, Burns could deliver a punch line by changing his facial expressions.

What does timing have to do with public relations? Plenty.

Knowing the deadline of publications or TV shows that you’re pitching is a must in our business; not knowing them can be fatal.

Pitch a story when a reporter is on deadline, and you can lose a potential placement, as well as upset the journalist.

Many people on sports marketing accounts cannot gain publicity for their clients because they don’t realize that the overwhelming majority of what we pitch is — let’s face it — fluff that should be pitched months before a mega-event. Doing so gives reporters a story that they can bank for future use, because as the event draws closer, the more hard news reporters have to cover.

Wells Fargo’s Mistimed PR Campaign

As the Wells Fargo TV and print ad campaigns showed on March 28, timing often is essential in our business for a client message to be credible and believed.

On March 28, Wells Fargo announced that CEO Tim Sloan would step down immediately.

“It has become apparent to me that our ability to successfully move Wells Fargo forward from here will benefit from a new CEO and fresh perspectives,” Sloan said in the announcement.”

Later that day, news of the resignation appeared on websites of major print and TV stations, and on the following day on the front page of print publications.  The resignation stories rehashed the recent Wells scandals. Also on March 29, with the Wells Fargo CEO’s resignation still fresh, a full-page ad in The New York Times touted the virtues of the bank’s “commitment to homeownership” as part of its “This is Wells Fargo” media campaign, presumably in response to negative coverage. Pulling the ad, as airlines are famous for doing after a crash, would have been my decision. The message would probably have been better received when negative news about Wells Fargo didn’t make page one headlines.

And, of course, on the following day, March 30, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, had major coverage of Wells Fargo’s problems. A headline on a WSJ story read, “The Wheels Are Still Off Wells Fargo’s Coach.”

“Any optimism that the bank is close to putting its problems behind it would be misplaced,” read a line in the story. Nevertheless, Wells Fargo ran another full-page ad in the March 31 New York Times. The following day on page one of the Journal’s Business & Finance section, an article was headlined, “Washington Has yet to Let Up on Wells Fargo CEOs.”

What do you think is more believable to people and what they will remember? Continuous negative news stories or TV commercials and full-page print ads saying “believe us”? Strategy is an important element of a PR plan. But so is timing.

For those of you who don’t follow the news, as all people in our business should but unfortunately don’t, Wells Fargo has been under government scrutiny and has received negative media coverage for several years because of fraudulent banking practices.

Despite frequent negative news stories, Wells Fargo, for the past couple of months, attempted to create an image of a caring consumer business, which I believe was a waste of money. Negative news stories are more believable to the public than paid advertising.

The Wells Fargo PR crisis is not new. An aggressive media campaign while the negatives were still making news, only kept negative news in the spotlight, even when the unfavorable reporting stopped for a period.

Advice for PR Crisis Responses

Here’s what I would advise PR practitioners involved in a similar situation.

• Listen to the attorney representing the company about when to institute an aggressive PR campaign.
• During the crisis period, keep a low paid media profile. An aggressive media strategy will probably not convince anyone until the negative reporting stops. In Wells Fargo’s situation, government action will be the determining factor in gaining public trust; not a PR campaign.
• Just as you should have an updated crisis communications plan and a team that has had relevant experience to direct the crisis response, you should also have a “contain the damage” team.
• Create a “contain the damage” media campaign that can be launched ASAP after the cause of the crisis is resolved, not during it.
• Too often the same crisis teams are called in to solve every problem; clients should demand that individuals are selected for expertise pertinent to the situation, not just because they work for the crisis agency.
• Post media updates on the client’s website; distribute major news to the beat reporters.

Unwarranted PR Crisis Responses

One of the most frequent unwarranted PR crisis responses occurs when a few negative articles about a client resulted in a “the sky is falling” scenario. The client and account handlers say: “Something must be done immediately to counter the bad press.”

Occasionally, a proactive crisis plan should be instituted. Frequently, waiting a day or two or a week is preferable because, depending on the situation, often the crisis disappears by itself.

Sometime I advise the client to admit to a company’s wrong-doing, giving the impression of “we’re not hiding anything.” In order to use this strategy, the client must put in place corrective measures and explain them to the media.

I tell clients that there is no one-size-fits-all PR crisis plan. Every crisis needs original thinking.

The Wells Fargo PR crisis response, in my opinion, is a “we must do something strategy” that should be avoided.

Knowing when to commence an aggressive PR program during a crisis, or otherwise, shows the importance of the proverb, “Timing is everything,” even in our business.