Qantas, ‘the Bureau’ and Spotify: The PR wins and sins of 2022

As businesses emerged from lockdown fatigue in 2022, they experienced a swathe of new challenges, from skills shortages to managing workforce isolation and downtime. Some businesses were revived and made their mark, while others attracted the wrong kind of media attention for their operations.

So here’s a round-up of the PR wins and sins of 2022.

The sins

Ultrafast delivery crash

This year became somewhat of a grave site for companies attempting to recover from the pandemic, or those scraping by or trading on unsustainable business models. Deliveroo announced late this year it was closing its Australian operations, which came as the hospitality sector criticised its margin demands and the treatment of the delivery workforce. VOLY — the grocery disrupter touting ultrafast delivery — slashed its team and also announced it was ceasing operations. The models of speed and sector disruption should not come at the expense of workplace conditions and recognising future states enables businesses to be agile through shifting economic conditions.

Qantas

As flights began to restore this year following state and international border closures, Qantas has been a serial headliner in the media — for all the wrong reasons. The airline was criticised for its inability to perform operations at the most basic level. Its customer service line was severely blasted in media and social forums with unanswered questions and claims of some customers waiting up to 20 hours on hold.

Lost baggage became another major area of concern, with one passenger calling out Qantas after waiting three months for her bag to be returned. The airline streamlined and simplified its core offering and for meals this translated to “chicken or chicken”. Once priding itself as a leading airline with chef-designed meals, customers were paying exorbitant flight fees and receiving an under-par experience on so many levels.

CEO decisions

The evolution of hybrid workplaces has created a curious approach for some CEOs in their handling of business decisions. Vishal Garg, CEO of better.com became one the first to infamously fire 900 of his staff on a swift Zoom call with more reportedly sacked in a similar vein as he sought to reduce his 8000-person workforce by half. While over at Peloton, almost 3000 employees woke one morning without a job, with many realising through a lack of access to Slack.

CEO Braden Wallake faced backlash after he posted a crying selfie on LinkedIn while communicating the layoffs he was undertaking. The CEO is not the victim in this scenario and viewers cringed seeing the leader cry in a public way. Restructures require significant planning and a sincere level of personal communication to ensure they are handled professionally and sensitively while allowing employees to communicate directly and privately.

The Bureau

As extreme weather events confronted the nation and Sydney battled its wettest year on record, it appeared the Bureau of Meteorology wanted to get in on its rising notoriety. The Bureau asked media outlets to stop referring to it as “the BoM” and for it to be referred to as “the Bureau”.

There were reactions of outrage and jokes at the mere suggestion, and days later the Bureau conceded and finally withdrew its name change. While it is understood the rebranding was part of a project implemented over a year prior, the $220,000 price tag for a superficial and unnecessary difference at a time when homes and businesses were facing severe damage and uncertainty was especially tone-deaf.

Playzone gone

This year Fitness First withdrew its Playzone– a creche designed to allow parents to work out while having their children minded. The company was progressive in introducing this initiative — paid for by parents utilising this service. But mid-year, just as the population began returning to gyms, the company withdrew the service in a blanket shutdown and with no communication.

Members found out through media or turning up with their children. A step-change from a core offering should be made with a communication strategy in place and enabling opportunities for feedback or a new framework.

Optus

In 2021 Optus called it a little too early when it announced its ambitions to be Australia’s most loved everyday brand. This optimism was shattered in a data breach at the end of September that affected as many as 9.7 million customers. Communication with customers was delayed and unclear. Consumers were unsure of exactly how they were affected and the steps they should or can take. From a communications company, people rightly expected more.

Instagram

Founded on the premise to promote free speech, Instagram this year released a monetised service where subscribed followers are charged anywhere from 99c to $99.99 a month to view content from accounts with more than 10,000 followers. The charge is discretionary and there is no arbitrary determination to set the fee. A quick surf of the platform shows one mega influencer with over 1 million followers is charging $4.49 each month, while a macro influencer with 147,000 followers has chosen to charge a monthly fee of $14.49.

The wins

Ukraine support

Between October and November 2021, Russia began a massive buildup of troops and military equipment along its border with Ukraine. During this invasion, there have been estimations of 50,000 alleged war crimes in Ukraine devastating the community and affecting world relations. Favourably, we saw a myriad of corporations respond with acts of commercial protest, from Visa, Mastercard and American Express to McDonald’s, Samsung, Paypal and Zara.

Spotify

Cancel culture was targeted at Spotify earlier this year relating to the Joe Rogan podcasts. The relationship was set up to diversify the brand and establish its podcast offering. Calls to #deletespotify were triggered by claims of COVID-19 misinformation and past use of a racial slur.

Rogan apologised and Spotify removed 42 shows. Companies can be quick to react to the loudest voices, but sometimes those voices aren’t representative of the total market and it’s a judgment call on the direction to take. Spotify handled the situation by acknowledging there were causes for concern and acted by removing those shows. However, the Joe Rogan Experience was just announced as the ‘the most-streamed’ podcast worldwide — demonstrating its widespread appeal.

Immediate action

More recently, 2GB and Sky News sought to uphold their reputations by taking immediate action towards host and journalist Chris Smith over allegations about his behaviour at a Christmas work function. It is so easy for corporations to delay or sweep scandals under the carpet, but acknowledging the protection of their staff has been paramount to how the public and advertisers will perceive these media brands.

After a couple of lockdown years, it appears people and culture heads need to remain vigorous and communicate policies of harassment during the party season. Employees, whether involved or not involved, can also comment to the media, which means another element to consider is company statements and media and social media policies.

In-person events

Finally, 2022 has seen the return of physical events. What was a better way to celebrate this than with a 2,500 gathering of naked bodies in Bondi Beach — all for health awareness? The activation attracted widespread mainstream headlines — a win for the organisers.