The Best Way to Combat Bad Press is Excellence

Watching leaders in Arizona run around like chickens with their heads cut off about boycotts and SB 1070 is almost comical. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Greater Phoenix Leadership, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce are all rallying troops and trying to come up with a way to market themselves out of this public relations nightmare. I don’t really remember them doing much to stop the bill from being passed. I suspect most of them were probably in support of it, but that’s a different post[1].

The best medicine for a fiasco like this is to be so damn good that it doesn’t matter. Doesn’t make sense? Let me give you some examples.

Kobe Bryant – Accused rape
Donald Trump – Multiple bankruptcies
Chris Brown – Accused of hitting Rhianna
Michael Vick – Convicted of animal abuse

All of these people were boycotted and shunned by society immediately following their misdeeds. Their approach? Lay low, let the dust blow over and come back as strong as ever. SB1070 is a political matter. The best thing any business can do to weather the storm of this bad press is to be better than the rest of the competition. If you do that as a business the rest just doesn’t matter. Time heals all wounds.

Some day the economic organizations in Arizona will be more focused on companies that perform at the highest level instead of trying to attract the hot date of the year. So while all these groups spend their time trying to clean up the mess created by the state legislature; Arizona’s best companies will keep doing what they have always done. Perform at the highest level.

If you are blaming SB1070 on how your company is performing, maybe you’re not the best at what you do?

[1] – http://blog.opportunitygreaterphoenix.com/?p=1910