What drives a social media innovator to sit silent while his stock plummets?
With Facebook stock, one of the most anticipated public offerings, well…ever, sinking from day one, you would think that the company would be eager to trot out the man who brought it all together, THE face of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg himself. After all, he created an empire on the ability to convince people that his ideas are worth investing in, so why did it take nearly half a year for Zuckerberg to break his silence to take on an interview meant to give worried investors a boost of confidence?
One of our favorite sayings here at BCM is, “in the absence of communication, rumor and innuendo fill the gap,” and in those six months of silence there was certainly all type of gossip and hearsay that helped drop Facebook’s stock price to half its original worth.
Especially in today’s news-hungry climate, it’s crucial to communicate, and to keep the crisis management process transparent. If you want an example, take a look back at the beginning of Toyota’s string of recalls. Their old school, “don’t talk unless you have to” stance led to a huge reputation hit, and although a total communications overhaul helped turn sales around, the disruption in operations allowed competitors like Hyundai and GM to make themselves serious competitors in the market. When you see a company as social as Facebook taking the same failed tack, it makes them look far less than confident, which (as it should) spooks investors.
If there’s no confidence, there’s no money, so gaining the confidence and trust of stakeholders has got to be the focus of Facebook’s crisis management strategy if it wishes to make a recovery. Judging by the fact that Zuckerberg’s 30-minute talk at the TechCrunch Disrupt industry conference earlier this week resulted in a 13% uptick in Facebook stock price as of today, we’d recommend the hoodie-toting CEO gets very comfortable behind that mic.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/