Huang JianXiang: A Commentator’s Reputation Management (or the Lack Thereof)
At the end of last week, what was the most popular topic in the Chinese and international media? Not the opening of the Tibetan railway, or the visit to
China of the Australian Prime Minister; not even a specific World Cup match. On the tip of the media’s collective tongue was a three minute long explosion of football passion during the Australia-Italy game by the famous and well-regarded CCTV-5 commentator Huang JianXiang.
Much has already been written about the incident, whether or not his commentary was justified and so on, so we won’t go into that here. However, from a PR perspective the case raises some interesting points about reputation management, specifically as regards public figures.
Mr. Huang made at least three major mistakes in managing his reputation crisis.
- He expressed personal views conflicting with those required by his professional life: Huang JianXiang is, and must therefore act as, a professional commentator. While the comments he made might have been acceptable, or indeed expected, from an overly-enthused football fan, or even the Diego Maradona’s of this world; from Mr Huang they showed an absolute lack of professionalism. What’s more his performance was on perhaps the world’s biggest stage – the World Cup. Many scandals involving politicians, CEOs and others have begun because of a carelessly expressed personal opinion not in line with the demands of a public position.
- Lack of effective communication after the crisis: In the moments following the crisis, Mr. Huang asked a colleague to read his televised apology to the public. Instead of this he should have immediately and directly personally communicated with the public. Such behavior is a perfect example of what, for obvious reasons, we PR professionals call the “Ostrich Policy”. In a world where information spreads globally in minutes, hiding your head in the sand will only further harm an already damaged reputation.
- Defending instead of apologizing: the following advice is relevant for Mr. Huang and for corporations alike. When crises arise, a very common reaction is to defend rather than apologize. While we understand legal liability issues may prevent a company from saying sorry, from a reputation management perspective the public will more easily grant forgiveness if you sincerely admit and apologize for a mistake. Mr. Huang found many ways to justify his comments, but the result has in general been more criticism. In crisis management, defending yourself first is the biggest mistake.
The views expressed above are from a PR perspective. We understand how excited Mr Huang must have been at the time as an Italian supporter. But again, a professional working in the public sphere has a duty to build and maintain a reputation, not just for their own careers, but on behalf of the organizations they work for.
A final note for reputation and crisis management - “the details are everything”. One slip up and a lifetime’s work building a reputation can slide down the drain.
