“Making a Murderer,” from a PR perspective

The criminal justice system has been put on blast in Netflix’s recent documentary, “Making a Murder.” While the story is certainly compelling and has created a firestorm in its wake, there are many things that can be learned.

 

1. Headlines are everything

I’m not sure about anyone else…but when I first saw the title I thought “Oh he was trained to be a killer.” While the headline was confusing at first, I feel that it could not have been a better sell. A headline should create mystery and a desire to learn more, and “Making a Murderer,” certainly does. When creating headlines…aim to capture the audience.

2. Word of mouth – or social media – is golden

The explosion of “Making a Murderer,” can mostly be credited to social media. I heard about the Netflix documentary via Facebook, and upon tweeting I had interactions with people I had never once met. Retweets from people across the country, all equally feeling what I was and engaging. We were watching the series together, despite the geography differences. This is what good PR does, it spreads the word and promotes engagement. Sometimes powerful campaigns have to rely on word of mouth; utilize it.

3. Emotional connections

Spoiler Alert, when Steven Avery got convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison…I cried. I had gotten invested in this man I had never met, and why? The entire series featured interviews and footage from the trial; it was real. I had gotten so wrapped up in his story, I felt that I was there; as did much of the viewership. When the market gets invested, big changes happen. To reach a market, we have to be human; we have to reach to their emotions.

4. When a crisis arises, handle it…don’t deny

It is safe to say that since the documentary the Manitowoc County Police Department has come under fire, with many people calling for a full investigation into their policing tactics and their ethics. It is extraordinarily important to realize that when situations like this arise, it’s time to own up to the dirty laundry that exists. Own up to the mistakes made, and propose a new plan of action to “fix,” the problem and move forward.

What we can learn from SeaWorld

Seaworld is expected to announce second-quarter 2015 results on August 6, 2015. Financial experts are predicting that the company will announce 1.7% decline in revenue and a 7% drop in earnings per share.

I am the first to admit I know nothing about business finances. That being said, I think what people are failing to realize is that this is not just about finances and money; it’s about public opinion.

After searching “SeaWorld” on Twitter, hashtags such as #OpSeaWorld and #Blackfish immediately pop up. Many users are crying for SeaWorld to be shut down. Even #SeaWorld is filled with negativity and company bashing.

Blackfish is a documentary that was released in 2013 by CNN, centering on the life of one of SeaWorld’s whales, Tilikum.Whether the documentary is valid or not the damage has been done to SeaWorld’s reputation and credibility. But there is much that can be learned from SeaWorld’s struggle since the release of Blackfish.

Transparency is key. 

Let’s say for the sake of argument, that all of the reports in Blackfish are undoubtedly true. People hate liars. What irritates the public is that this has been going on for decades and has been covered up for the sake of money. We have been lied to. As a corporation it is essential to remain open and honest about any issues that happen with the company, especially ones that are unethical.

Address issues head on.

Once again let’s assume all of the reports are true concerning SeaWorld’s treatment of it’s animals. Now that it has been plastered all over the news and social media, it is time to face the issues and come clean. Once an organization is caught red-handed, their is no going back. The only way that SeaWorld can recover from this is to own up and fix it, the propaganda ads are just making it worse. Address the issues head on and own up to mistakes; the public doesn’t like liars.

Plan for the worst.

This entire SeaWorld situation could have been avoided if they would’ve planned ahead. If the allegations are true, and they had no intention of stopping the abuse, a contingency plan put in place BB (Before Blackfish) could have saved SeaWorld a lot of headache.

While we don’t want to (openly) celebrate in another company’s failure…at least learn from it.