Earlier this month, US-based tech firm Astronomer achieved the dream of many companies by becoming recognised across the world – it’s just a shame it was for all the wrong reasons.
During a kiss cam segment at a recent Coldplay concert, the CEO of Astronomer Andy Byron was caught on the stadium’s big screen in an embrace with the company’s head of HR Kristin Cabot. Realising they were in Trouble, they made a desperate attempt to duck out of the shot.
The suspicious moment was caught on camera and faster than the Speed of Sound, it went viral. It didn’t take long for internet sleuths to identify both parties and reveal the affair. The video was shared endlessly across social media, the moment became a meme and their names became public. Both have since resigned from their posts.
I’m not sure what’s worse, being caught cheating or being caught at a Coldplay concert! Ok, that’s a cheap shot – I’ve been to see Coldplay myself and it was amazing. I just made sure to bring my wife with me!
Crisis doesn’t discriminate
The entire incident serves as an important reminder of the reputational risks businesses of all sizes can face.
As proven here, risk doesn’t always come from poor service or letting customers down. It’s not just an issue for frontline staff either. At every level of a business, from the front desk, right up the boardroom and beyond, every person has a critical role to play in minimising potential risk and protecting the reputation of the business.
That doesn’t end at 5 o’clock either. In a digital era with smartphones so easily accessible, it can be hard for anyone to be truly ‘off-duty’ – especially when you’re the CEO of a company. What can start as a personal reputation risk can quickly escalate into a much larger issue and a significant risk for the entire business – particularly when it involves other colleagues.
It’s a textbook example of how fast a situation can spiral and why it’s important for firms and marketing teams to have a proactive approach to not just reputation management, but issues management too. Not only do we need to be saying and doing the right things every day – avoiding Something Just Like This, we also need to have our comms playbook ready and the capability to execute this strategy should the proverbial hit the fan.
Key takeaways for your business
- Don’t think your too small or too niche – Astronomer wasn’t exactly a household name before this incident. Whether you’re an advice firm, a specialist lender or a tech firm like Astronomer, you too are susceptible to reputational risks.
2. Crisis can come from anywhere – As we have mentioned already, an issue, crisis or reputational risk won’t always come from a bad interaction with a customer or a poor business decision. While these are very real threats and must be considered too, the conduct of staff in the office, out of hours, at functions or in their personal lives also have the potential to carry a reputational risk.
Staff absolutely have to be made aware of this. If the CEO is drunk at an industry event or function for example, they are likely to not just make themselves look a fool, but raise questions about the conduct of the business, but their standards and their culture – especially if they say the wrong thing, act inappropriately or become embroiled in scandal. Alongside regular media training, there needs to be coaching on reputation management to raise awareness as to how important this is.
- Watch the Clocks! Your response needs to be fast – One day after the incident, the pair were identified – yet there was no real communication from Astronomer and the company remained relatively quiet as the scandal unfolded. This allowed for fake statements to be circulated, purportedly from the CEO himself, and for them to be considered as true.
While this wasn’t a life or death situation (maybe until Byron’s wife found out!!), or a massive data breach with major implications, which allowed Astronomer to bide its time somewhat, timing is still absolutely key to avoiding misinformation and disinformation adding fuel to the fire.
- What is your internal response? – A crisis such as this will have massive implications inside the business, as well as outside. For those not in the know working for Astronomer, this would be a massive shock and rightly raise questions about leadership, HR and company culture. For companies that have shareholders, they too will feel a dip in confidence and have their own massive questions to ask.
Crisis comms cannot fix culture or serve as a Magic fix when messaging doesn’t match company culture. It quickly becomes clear that what we are saying inside the building is just as important to help rebuild trust and company culture, and to support colleagues.
How did Astronomer respond?
While their initial response was slow and was made up of boardroom statements full of legalese, their follow-up was far more effective and turned the scandal into a marketing masterclass.
In an almost unbelievable video, Astronomer hired Gwyneth Paltrow – the ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, as their new spokesperson. In the video, she fielded questions all about the scandal, but provided answers all about the company and its products in a very smart and funny piece of content.
It’s clear that this would not work for a much larger or more serious crisis – it would come off as too light-hearted and too insensitive. In this case though, it matched the mood of the scandal and showed Astronomer as not taking itself too seriously, while still addressing the issue.
From the Adventure of a Lifetime to wishing you were Swallowed in the Sea
The incredible tale of Astronomer serves as a reminder that reputation management is an ongoing priority shared by all across the business. Furthermore, effective issues management and crisis comms is far from a ‘nice to have’. It’s an essential part of any PR or marketing strategy built on readiness, responsiveness and responsibility.
In the face of a crisis, are you wondering who will Fix You? As a specialist PR and comms firm, we work with clients of all sizes and across sectors to not only build and maintain their brand and profile, but devise impactful crisis comms strategies that help anticipate, navigate and recover from moments that can really shake your business’s reputation.
While we can’t promise Paradise in the midst of a crisis, a well-thought-out and executed strategy can help to identify and minimise potential threats, while any active risks are dealt with efficiently and effectively.
If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch!
Written by Ashley Robertson
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