Is Bad Publicity Good Publicity? – Business Ideas
Is bad publicity really good publicity business ideas? It’s a question that has sparked countless debates in the realm of business and marketing. While conventional wisdom suggests that any publicity is good publicity, the reality is often more complex.
Tread carefully when it comes to publicity. Because even if one thing is amiss, it can ruin your business in the form of bad publicity. But how much does it hold true for a business? Let us read and wonder. The popular notion is that as long as the customers are discussing your organization and product, negative publicity is good as long as it’s adding unintended value.
Having said that, let us take a case where bad publicity had different reactions from the public.
1. Publicity After Publishing
When How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, Got A Life written by Kavya Vishwanathan got published, she got widespread acclaim for her work. Then there were accusations of plagiarism. Her two-book deal with her publisher got scrapped and her fame as a book writer got tarnished. Vishwanathan got slammed for her actions even though she maintained she didn’t plagiarize.
Then came a flurry of accusations from the likes of Salman Rushdie accusing her of copying their works. However, there was only a surge in the sales of the book online as well as offline. Two words—negative publicity.
The reasoning behind negative publicity is that even if people are criticizing any particular aspect of your business, they are also giving it attention. According to studies, In the world of academia, customers are bound to buy a book by an unknown author whose work has been slandered and there has been negative publicity around it. However, in the case of a known author, sales have been known to go down significantly in instances of negative publicity.
2. Impact in Corporate World
In the corporate world, negative publicity can enhance sales when a business is relatively unknown. In today’s world of viral videos and statuses, negative publicity is seen as a boon when it comes to marketing a particular aspect of the business. When a market is flooded with competing products, negative publicity can actually turn out to be valuable.
There have been plenty of cases of bad publicity that worked in favor of a particular business or brand image. The sales of Michael Jackson’s Invincible increased significantly when there were molestation cases in the media and the media reported that he dangled his month-old child over a balcony. But Michael Jackson is an exception. Let’s not forget what happened to Tiger Woods, thanks to negative publicity.
3. Publicity Demands It’s Price
One has to understand that nothing is good in excess which means whether it is too much fawning from the media or the biting reviews; this can be detrimental to your business’s image in the long run. Especially, In the case of negative publicity, it is necessary to take preventive action before it assumes overwhelming proportions as it did in the case of Tiger Woods—his brand image got tarnished and he lost big sponsors.
4. Understanding Negative Publicity
Bad reviews are good- as long as they make a product/service look realistic. Contradictory reviews help bring believability to a business. Take a look into the online reviews of, say, a restaurant. Every customer has a different opinion and that makes it more realistic.
5. Be Open to Criticism
If your audiences do not like a particular that you’ve got to offer, stop, and listen. They may be right. Thus, bad publicity actually helps enhance your business by helping you better your product/service.
6. Never React Negatively to Negative Criticism
The saying goes—if you fight it, things only become worse. You steer into the skid, not against it.
7. Be Prompt to Take Remedial Steps
It is crucial to respond immediately and appropriately. Every business should create a digital media worst-case scenario plan, keeping the future in mind.
8. Concluding Thoughts
Negative publicity is good for business when there is a backup plan in place. How an organization tackles bad reviews makes all the difference. Take, for instance, Coca-Cola. All the negative publicity about the aerated drink being a strong bleach agent enough to clean the toilet and still the brand manages to stay at the top. It is the way the business tackles the issue that comes into play.
Parting words—is negative publicity really good for business? To some extent, yes. Is it worth it? Most of the experts would agree on a No.
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