{"id":42515,"date":"2023-10-20T15:21:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/top-10-pr-disasters-of-2011-page-2-of-2-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:21:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:21:46","slug":"top-10-pr-disasters-of-2011-page-2-of-2-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/top-10-pr-disasters-of-2011-page-2-of-2-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 PR disasters of 2011 – Page 2 of 2 – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
Customers of Netflix had a pretty good deal \u2013 for $10 a month, you could rent DVDs through the post as well as watch movies online.<\/p>\n
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Inexplicably, Netflix decided to separate these two options and hike the price. Cue outraged customers. Netflix apologised and backed away from its plans to split the services, but not before its share price was decimated and it lost 800,000 subscribers in the September.<\/p>\n
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The lesson? If your business\u2019 proposition is simple and popular, tread carefully and involve your loyal customers when making any changes.<\/p>\n
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Start-up can get great marketing leverage from major events in the news. Whether it\u2019s the AFL Grand Final or the latest political uproar in Canberra, quick-thinking businesses can exploit public recognition of a current issue.<\/p>\n
It can go horribly wrong, however, as fashion house Kenneth Cole discovered in the wake of the popular uprisings in Egypt earlier this year. It decided the time was ripe for a Twitter offer:<\/p>\n
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The swift apology wasn\u2019t enough to spare Kenneth Cole from widespread scorn.<\/p>\n
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The problem with PR mistakes is that it doesn\u2019t really matter whether the subsequent outrage is justified or not.<\/p>\n
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When online retail portal RedBubble started getting complaints over its stocking of \u2018Hipster Hitler\u2019 t-shirts, it took a firm line that freedom of expression should be protected. Vocal opponents claimed that the merchandise glorified Hitler and made light of his crimes.<\/p>\n
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