February 13, 2005
Speak no evil
First off, let me start by kissing up a little. I love Google. I think they have the smartest management of “brand” in the industry. Even better than Apple, I say, because they give the distinct impression that it’s of little concern to them. Times New Roman is fine, they seem to say. Who cares? Shrewd.Those of us who like to think that we’re in-the-know realize it’s a great deal harder than it appears. And some day, I want to meet one or two of the roomful of marketing folks they keep on staff who simply say “That’s too flashy. That’s too dotcom. Dumb it down.” It’s that kind of frugal and straightforward control that has them where they are today.
That said, they missed one. For as much as I respect them, they really missed an opportunity here. And they came dangerously close to tarnishing their corporate mantra of “Do no evil.” The case in point: The Mark Jen Blog.
This seemingly insignificant faux pas has become grown from mere obscurity to rubbing shoulders with the granddaddy of all public relations missed opportunities. That, of course, is the one that cannot be topped. The one which we affectionately refer to as the Audi "Uncontrollable Acceleration" debacle. But that is a story for another time.
So what happened with the Mark Jen blog? Jen got a job at Google. He started a blog using Google's Blogger. Then, Jen wrote some things about his employer he shouldn't have written. (A good friend of mine responded with this, "The more and more connected people become, the more and more critical the need for a clear delineation between what people can do and what people should do.") Jen shouldn't have shared some of the stuff he did in a public forum. And because of that, he got fired. End of story. But a black eye for the company that usually does so well at this sort of thing.
What could they have done better? Well, let's examine some facts:
1) More people seem to love Google than hate Google. (See above) (Update: And this "brand love" table from Jennifer Rice.)
2) People within Google are far outnumbered by those outside of it.
3) Google owns the Web-log management tool called Blogger (which Jen happened to use).
Given these facts, what did Google miss? How could they have handled this PR nightmare more appropriately? Well, in my opinion, Google missed a genuine opportunity to treat this leak of information in a positive matter.
I'd like to think that if I were in the Google PR hot seat, I would have come up with some creative means of addressing the problem and keeping the drooling lawyers at bay. Something along the lines of:
1) Blogger has a built in mechanism for refuting blog postings. It’s called the Comment feature. What a good Google should have done was send a representative to submit a comment in dispute of Jen’s statements. Engage him in a dialogue. Figure out why he felt the need to broadcast this information. And, best of all, do that in front of an audience.
2) Blog about the comments on the Google's own blog. Address the problem. Get in front of people and stand up. Don’t try to quash it. Everyone has dirty laundry. Ever company does too. It’s no secret. Do you seriously think that your investors and users think that a utopia lurks beyond the walls of the most powerful information engine in the world? Legally required or not, shutting the blogger down simply gives the impression that you are trying to hide something.
3) Encourage all Google employees to blog. You own a tool for providing the functionality. And, I’m willing to bet that you’ll get some incredibly good feedback about the company and the way things should be done. There’s a reason you give people a test to work there. You want smart people. Smart people have ideas. They’re not all good, but they all deserve to be heard.
Now granted, I’m no lawyer. I gave up that path after an internship. And Google and Jen both entered into legal agreements that precluded this kind of dialogue from taking place.
But let's look at it this way, if Jen had gone to a journalist, and blabbed the story, would Google have had the ability to shut it down? No. Google would have to deal with it like any other public relations issue. Without the potential positive spin a more creative tact would have had.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And I hope you return.
Speak no evil
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