BA is the "worst PR disaster since salmonella at Cadbury's"

Stephen Shakespeare, in an article published in today's City A.M., argues that British Airway's luggage crisis at Heathrow's Terminal 5 is the worst PR disaster since salmonella at Cadbury's.

But rather than taking on the simple angle of looking at where BA went wrong in their crisis communications and how they could recover from this blow to their brand, Shakespeare looks at how daily opinion tracking can reveal the pattern of the effect thios crisis has had on the BA brand:

"What aspect of the brand suffered most? Is it a severe but short-lived downward spike which will leave no lasting effect? Or will there be longerlasting damage?

The drop to -57 in “buzz” counts among the biggest PR disasters since the salmonella outbreak at Cadbury’s in 2006. Corporate reputation fell 37, value 15, and quality 20.

Shakespeare plots the share of positive clicks BA gets within a basket of competing brands — easyJet and Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and American Airlines — and BA’s share price. Surprisingly, on this graph, BA's company valuation actually goes up:

"Do investors think that the PR problems are superficial and create a good buying opportunity? Or maybe there’s simply no connection because they think the performance of the company is determined by other factors.

True, customers don’t suddenly stop flying BA because of these mess-ups but continue to choose it because of schedule, price and safety. And profits are as much driven by factors such as the hedging of oil prices."

But while BA are an excellent operator in terms of schedule price and safety, customer satisfaction is an aspect that will ultimately affect the long-term health of the company. With reports of pilots saying that BA is a laughing stock, their recent PR efforts certainly don't help them out:

"When British Airways' Terminal 5 descended into chaos at its public opening, BBC viewers were treated to the sight of BA's exasperated PR Richard Goodfellow shutting the door to a staff rest room in the face of pursuing journalists after a fraught press briefing in which the director of operations, Gareth Kirkwood, refused to take questions."

This is from a Media Guardian article that posits the question "When is it OK for a PR to run away?" Max Clifford, Lord Bell, Sally Osman and Julia Simpson (Head of Corporate Communciations at BA) all give their opinion.

Lord Bell's advice is not particularly convincing:

"If you are going to run, don't get caught."

Sally Osman, Greg Dyke's former PR, has a more sensible view:

"The instant satisfaction of storming out, slamming the door, throwing the phone down, is never worth it. You've stoked the fire. The balance shifts, they scent blood. Controlling the situation just gets harder. Being calm, courteous and civil, even in the face of appalling rudeness, are far more powerful weapons. Histrionics or bully tactics signal weakness, lack of confidence, uncertainty - not power."

And what is the main lesson learned from this PR disaster?

According to Julia Simpson, "if a customer-facing operation disintegrates in front of the massed media there is no PR guru in the world who can save your bacon."