Crisis Communication: Ray Rice Case Study

On February 15, 2014, Baltimore Ravens star running back Ray Rice was caught on camera dragging his fiancé, Janay Palmer, out of an elevator in an Atlantic City casino.  Local police investigated and arrested both Rice and Palmer.

Video still published by TMZ on February 19, 2014

Four days later, security footage was leaked to TMZ, on which Rice could be seen callously dragging and dropping the unconscious body of his fiancé onto a carpet in a hallway. Charges against Palmer were dropped and Rice’s charges were upgraded to aggravated assault in March.  Rice later pled guilty and accepted a deal in May for first offenders that enabled him to avoid jail time and more importantly, to keep the video of the assault from being released. 

TMZ, as part of the new media (Argenti & Barnes, Ch. 4), not only broke the story but kept it in the public eye.  This caused other more traditional media outlets to pick up the story as well.  For Ray Rice, his then fiancé, the Ravens and the NFL, the heightened scrutiny turned into a public relations crisis.  According to the Institute for Crisis Management (ICM), this crisis falls into the “Sudden” category (Argenti & Barnes, Ch. 9) as it was unexpected and unpredictable.

Initial Crisis Management

According to the Raven’s own blog posted on February 21st, John Harbaugh, head coach of the Ravens, and Ozzie Newsome, the team’s general manager, both came out in defense of Rice and termed it a private issue that wouldn’t affect Rice playing for the team. This is a good example of using the new media tools as part of a PR strategy (Argenti & Barnes, Ch. 9). In March, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti promised that Rice "will definitely be back".

Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, spoke at the annual owners meeting in March and stated that the league was monitoring the situation. It was now seven weeks after the assault before the league commented on the incident. In a new media age, speed is of the essence and such a delayed response is outdated and glacial.

Rice hired a prominent criminal attorney, Michael Diamondstein, who told anyone who would listen, that the video posted by TMZ only told part of the story and that once the whole truth was learned, people would feel differently:

"We'll assure the public that when this matter is fully tried and completed, you'll have a better understanding of what happened and we ask the public to reserve making any judgment until all of the facts come out."

Diamondstein didn't know how eerily prescient his comment would become.

Crisis Management Take 2

Up until now, Rice remained silent, letting teammates and team officials speak on his behalf.  In late May, Ray Rice and his now wife, Janay, held a press conference with the support of the Ravens.  

                                                      Press Conference, May 23, 2014

What is striking about the press conference was that Rice apologized to everyone except to his wife.  Rice talked about shared responsibility – always referring to himself and his wife (“me and Janay”).  Rice looked nervous and uneasy and was constantly checking his phone for his notes so he could ‘hit’ all of his talking points, even repeating the ill-chosen line about someone who fails is not the person who gets knocked down, but the one who doesn't get up.  Rice became more emotional when he talked about his coaches and family than he did when talking about his wife or the assault.  Rice’s voice cracked when he addressed his father-in-law and apologized for letting him down.  Rice never looked at his wife during the conference, not even when he gave her the opportunity to speak.  His own words showed that he still wasn't taking full personal responsibility for his actions that night: “I think my wife has something to say. I don’t want to be the only one who [speaks]. We’re in this together.”

Rice’s wife pulled out a very short written statement and spoke very quickly.  She appeared extremely uncomfortable and rarely ever looked up during Rice’s speech or her own statement except to glance over quickly at her husband at the start of her statement.  She did not come across as a person who wanted to be there and share her side of a story.

Video still from May 23, 2014 Press Conference

With her head down, and a dejected look on her face, Janay’s body language was that of someone who was subjected and not one who was embarrassed by her own actions.  

It definitely seemed scripted as Janay also took shared responsibility, “I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night”. The focus wasn’t on the assault but more on the damage to Rice’s career.

Initial Ruling

A full 130 days after the assault, Rice along with the Ravens owner, headed to a hearing with NFL commissioner Goodell.  In addition to player union representation and legal counsel, Janay Rice was also part of the hearing --- a very unusual occurrence to have an assault victim attend a disciplinary hearing.  38 eight days later, the league handed down a 2 game suspension.  The Ravens chose to wait until the league made its ruling.

While it is not clear exactly how much information the team or league had at the time of the initial ruling, it is clear that they underestimated the fall-out and backlash they would receive from the public regarding the ruling.  Domestic violence is not a new issue in the NFL, there have been over 80 incidents since 2000 according to an article on NBC News.  Prior suspensions have averaged 1.5 games; most incidents went without punishment by the team or league.  The Ravens and NFL treated the Rice domestic violence incident in the same fashion as the others --- with a slap on the wrist.

Infographic from harkeraquila.com

Crisis Management Take 3

While the NFL was hoping media attention would soon fade, incidents with other players kept the focus on the NFL and its “thug life” reputation. Commissioner Goodell was under fire for not only the light sentence Rice received but for years of lax attention to violence and illegal activities off the field by NFL players.  In 2012, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fired over 10 shots into his girlfriend killing her while their child and his mother were in the next room; Belcher then drove to the stadium and took his own life in the parking lot.  Still, the league took no action to revise its policies on domestic violence until it was forced to by the outrage over its handling of the Rice incident.  Goodell announced in late August, a new domestic violence policy with a minimum 6 game suspension for first offenses and a lifetime ban for second offenses.  The impetus for the new policy was public opinion and video evidence.

Compounding the bad PR issue was the release of security footage from inside the elevator on September 8, 2014.  This time, both the league and team acted swiftly.  The Ravens terminated Rice’s contract that same day.  In a completely reactionary (and ill thought out) move, Goodell changed Rice’s suspension to a lifetime ban.  In what Goodell hoped would put an end to his PR nightmare actually only served to continue it.  There were (and continue to be) numerous calls for Goodell to resign.  Goodell, a lawyer by trade, unsurprisingly has taken the same defense that Rice did --- shared responsibility.  Goodell has claimed: not to have seen the tape; that the league never knew about the tape; that they requested all tapes but didn’t get them; that Rice and his wife told them a different version of events; and perhaps most egregiously, that he didn’t want to appear to be insensitive by questioning Janay Rice.  Goodell’s lack of leadership in this area has caught the attention of Congress.  It’s apparent that a change needs to be made and it should start at the top.

Social Media Missteps

After TMZ published the footage from inside the elevator, the Ravens deleted a tweet they sent on May 23rd.  The Ravens’ tweet (stating that Janay Rice apologized for her role in the incident) only added fuel to the fire and many said it smacked of victim blaming.

NFL Spokesman, Greg Aiello, announced the indefinite suspension on Twitter:

It was retweeted thousands of time.  Most of the retweets and responses though, were not favorable to the NFL, and some decried it as “too little, too late”.   While the NFL continued to use silence as their main response, a parody account of Roger Goodell (@RogInCharge) did not:

Crisis Management Take 4

With all the contradicting reports of who knew what when and who saw what when, the NFL promised that it would investigate its own investigation.  To that end, Goodell has appointed his friends, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney and New York Giants owner John Mara, along with former FBI chief Robert Mueller as independent investigators.  Mueller is a partner in the law firm that previously employed Dick Cass, president of the Ravens.  Appointing this team of investigators is akin to hiring a fox to guard a hen house.

As public sentiment continued to be negative, the Ravens made yet another curious move.  This time, they held a Jersey Exchange event over 2 days in September, whereby fans could trade in a Rice jersey for another player.  This was an unprecedented move.   When Ray Lewis was arrested for two murders in 2000, and Jamal Lewis (no relation) in 2004 was arrested for cocaine trafficking, the Ravens didn't hold Jersey Exchange events.  M&T Bank, the team’s biggest sponsor, dropped Rice as its spokesperson while the team turned its back on Rice, a star player who was coming off a bad season.  It's questionable if the Ravens wanted the Jersey Exchange event to be a success, or if it was another public relations tactic.  The event was held over 2 consecutive days in September at M&T Bank stadium (where the Ravens play) and fans had to bring their jersey to the arena in person to have it verified.  The team would only exchange 1 jersey per fan and those jerseys had to have been purchased at an official Ravens’ store.  This served to limit the amount of exchanges.  According to reports, more than 7,000 fans turned up at the event seeking a replacement jersey. 

Crisis Management Failure

While some have claimed that the league and team officials fumbled the investigation due to incompetence, they were only partially correct.  There was nothing unintentional about how those officials handled this incident.  There was an immediate and coordinated effort to squash all videos and reports of the assault and an all-out campaign was launched to lessen Rice’s role.  Rice's own lawyer, Diamondstein spoke in hypotheticals about what if Janay was actually the aggressor.  

Rice was extremely popular, well liked on & off the field and was a star athlete --- the officials thought they could ride out this incident through silence and misinformation.  What all involved underestimated was the power and tenacity of the new media to dig and dig and dig.  Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, explained the tenacity of new media:

"Online journalists, meanwhile, tend to have OCD [Obsessive Compulsive Disorder] – we chomp down on a story, refusing to move until we’ve gotten down to the marrow” (Argenti & Barnes, Ch. 4).  

Unfortunately for Rice, Goodell, the NFL, and the Ravens, their lack of honesty, transparency and immediacy only fueled the fire.  Instead of a legacy of starring only in record books, Rice will also be in text books – as the subject of how not to handle a PR crisis.

Furniture Sharehouse Online

Furniture Sharehouse has an active online presence across social media and its website.  Most of the social media posts drive the viewer to the website to either learn more or to take a specific action (i.e.: donate money, time or goods).  In that respect, the digital strategy is cohesive and utilizes the functions of each platform.  Furniture Sharehouse follows best practices with regards to naming conventions for most of their web presence which clearly identifies the organization.

The website, www.furnituresharehouse.org, is nicely laid out with a rotator that is updated frequently.  The stories in the rotator are timely and match what is being promoted on social media.  Next to the rotator, they have action buttons for donations of furniture, funds and time (volunteerism); these are prominently displayed and are static.  On top, in the header row, they have five tabs in the nav bar:  About Us; Agencies; How You Can Help; Our Supporters; and News & Events.  The nav bar along with the buttons makes it easy for visitors to find exactly what they need.  In the footer, they have a newsletter subscription button as well as the standard links for privacy, contact us, and logins.   On the far left, they have the share buttons for email and the popular social media sites: Google+, Facebook; Twitter; plus an expander for more sites.  

The website is on brand.  The colors, logo and purpose are all on point.  As Furniture Sharehouse is a nonprofit that focuses on needy individuals and families that are transitioning out of shelters or who have lost their homes due to a disaster, most of the content is informative and not ‘fun’ or amusing.  There is some interactivity with a video and many components are clickable.  Under How You Can Help, there are many ways for people to get involved with the organization.

The Donate Furniture button takes the visitor to a page that gives an overview of donation items and process.  There are more links on that page for Guidelines; Drop-off; Pick-up; and other organizations.  All of this is useful information and using separate links keeps the page from being cluttered.  Another option which would work is to use blinds; embed the links in overview section and have the titles be clickable and expandable.  That keeps the information organized and streamlined as well as it keeps the visitor on the same page which is a better experience.

They could add more interaction on the donation page; perhaps a slider that shows what your donation buys.  Example: slide the bar to $20 and a lamp appears, slide it to $50 and a table and chairs appears; slide it to $100 and a bed appears etc. That would make it more interesting but I’m not sure that would serve to boost donations.

The Volunteer page shows a wealth of opportunities for individuals and groups – both behind the scenes as well as hands-on.  The Volunteer application is at the bottom of the page after the group activities; suggest moving it up between individual and group so that it’s more accessible.

The majority of the content on the website is original; they do feature outside content if it relates to interviews of the founder or staff, or if it focuses on the organization itself.  The organization does share external content more on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Those channels do tend to feature more original content as well as news articles about the organization.

Furniture Sharehouse’s Facebook page looks on brand and is consistent with the website.  There is more interaction on this page and there are posts by other organizations, volunteers and fans.  The header image changes periodically to match the current campaign and there are frequent posts.  They participate in some social media trends such as #motivationalmondays, #tbt, and #FF.

While they don’t use polls or ask questions like some brands do, they encourage their fans/followers to share their experiences and photos.  When a fan/follower does post, they get a prompt acknowledgement from the organization.

The content overall is informative but also fun.  Visitors can learn about the organization and those that it serves.  One of the techniques Furniture Sharehouse uses to engage its visitors is the use of photos – while they cannot share photos of clients, they do show staff, volunteers, donors and donated items.   They also create images such as word clouds and banners to promote campaigns or participate in holidays. 

In addition to the newsfeed, there’s a donation button on the Facebook page which drives to PayPal; an event tab that announces furniture drives and drop-off dates; and a map that helps guide donors and volunteers to the Sharehouse facility.

Furniture Sharehouse also maintains a presence on Twitter where they are very active; Google+ which is mostly reposts of Facebook items; YouTube which contains mainly videos produced by news agencies; and LinkedIn where they have a company page which has select posts that are versioned from Facebook news items for the audience.  Furniture Sharehouse’s cross platform strategy seems to be to use social media to get their message out about their overall mission and also with specific campaigns while the website is used as a repository and an end destination for their campaigns.  

To learn more about the Sharehouse, please visit their website: www.furnituresharehouse.org

Join the Sharehouse community:

                              Facebook   Twitter  Google+   LinkedIn  YouTube

Furniture Sharehouse: Wise-Mother or Hero-Friend?

There are many organizations that collect used furniture and furnishings – what sets Furniture Sharehouse apart?  This blog will explore both brand equity and its personality based on a lecture by Anita Valdes of Millward-Brown and Rohit Bhargava’s UAT (Unique, Authentic, Talkable) filter. 

Bhargava suggests that brands need to be unique, authentic and talkable in order to succeed in today's business world.  Furniture Sharehouse is unique in that it is the only non-profit in Westchester County that redistributes donated furniture free-of-charge directly to needy recipients.  Others collect select pieces of furniture for their retail stores to sell to the general public regardless of need.  Furniture Sharehouse accepts all usable pieces of furniture that are suitable for home use.  The authenticity of the organization is apparent in the faces (and hands) of the dedicated volunteers; this charity has only one paid staff member --- all other duties are manned by volunteers who are passionate about the Sharehouse’s mission.  This means that money raised goes towards purchasing beds and other needed items as well as covering storage and delivery.  Talkability is the main challenge for the Sharehouse in 2015 as it tries to continue to grow its brand recognition across the county; it currently enjoys a fiercely loyal base in the shoreline area of Westchester and is making strides in Northern Westchester County.  Once people learn about the Sharehouse – they get it and love it.  It’s a very simple concept that resonates well.  

Last Fall, Furniture Sharehouse ran a very successful awareness and fundraising campaign, “Sittin’ Round the Table”.  In addition to the normal channels (i.e.: email, direct mail, social media posts), the Sharehouse had a short PSA video made (comped by a local news station) which featured a song written and performed for the charity by the Grammy winning group – The Blind Boys of Alabama.  This video was a viral hit on social media as the content was very talkable and sharable.

That video perfectly captures Furniture Sharehouse’s value proposition which is described in its motto, Help Make a House a Home.  By redistributing donated furniture to needy local families, Furniture Sharehouse not only reduces the amount of waste going to landfills, they also provide the basic furnishings required to make a house a home.  

In order to keep funds going directly to help the needy, Furniture Sharehouse doesn’t advertise. Instead it relies on word-of-mouth to promote its positive brand equity in the county.  I recently had the occasion to meet several long term donors of their organization.  All were very engaged with the brand and were more than willing to share their story of how they first connected with the Sharehouse.  While each donor had a different story, the message was the same --- they appreciated how the Sharehouse was different from all the other non-profits: 

1. Local grass roots organization serving the same community it was born in
2. Providing furniture directly to those who need it most, free-of-charge  
3. Being environmentally conscious by diverting unwanted items from the landfill

All of the above make Furniture Sharehouse unique, authentic, talkable and salient.  The key words used to describe the Sharehouse are: Generous, Helpful, Caring, Trustworthy, Kind, Different and Straightforward.  According to Millward-Brown, this falls between Wise and Mother on the brand archetype scale with some elements of Friend and Dreamer.  Those that have been helped by the Sharehouse use different attributes in their thank you letters and would likely term the Sharehouse as Hero-Friend.  Regardless of the label, the brand is true to the organization’s mission – to provide free furniture to economically disadvantaged individuals and families living in Westchester County, giving them the basic household furnishings that enable them to rebuild their lives and live with dignity.

To learn more about the Sharehouse, please visit their website: www.furnituresharehouse.org

Join the Sharehouse community:

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Beyond Ruddymentary

DISCLAIMER

As part of my degree requirements for a Masters in Communications from Sacred Heart University, I will be posting weekly blogs on topics assigned by our professor.  The content will be solely based on my informed opinions, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of the university or any past or present employer. Content will be vetted by Hank, pictured on the home page wearing his green sparkly bow-tie.

TOPICS

Assigned topics may be on current events or of a more general nature.  Depending on time constraints, I may also share posts and essays from my other courses.  I might even share my photo essays which are shot in my trademark dynasty-style soft focus.  Consider yourselves forewarned.

BEYOND RUDDYMENTARY

The blog is named Beyond Ruddymentary as I hope my posts serve to elevate the discussion past the basic fundamentals of each topic.  

Furniture Sharehouse - Westchester's only furniture bank

Furniture Sharehouse is a small homegrown not-for-profit based in Westchester County, NY.  The Sharehouse provides gently-used furniture free of charge directly to local families in need, enabling them to create a comfortable and stable home so they can rebuild their lives with dignity.  This organization was started by Kate Bialo, a Larchmont resident who saw families struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Irene.  Kate secured funding from the Junior League of Westchester and with a matching grant from HUD, leased warehouse space at the Westchester County Airport.  The Sharehouse has been open for donations and deliveries since 2007 and has distributed over 40,000 pieces of furniture to over 2,500 families.

I first heard about Furniture Sharehouse in 2012 when I was looking for a local not-for-profit which could utilize my marketing and web design skills.  I went online to the Volunteer NY website and narrowed my selection down to three local charities.  After reading their mission and talking to one of their volunteer organizers, I decided to visit the Sharehouse in person during client hours.  I stayed the entire morning, following different volunteers and assisting with clients.  I was hooked.  I came back the next day and then again and again over the next two months. 

As the Sharehouse is open for clients during the week, I cannot make it too often due to work responsibilities but I try to get there at least once per quarter.  What I can (and do) do for the Sharehouse is provide marketing expertise.  I devised a social media marketing strategy for the organization to complement their existing communications and have been running the day to day communities for the past eighteen months.

Facebook   Twitter  Google+   LinkedIn  YouTube

The biggest challenge the Sharehouse faces is awareness.  There is a great deal of furniture that is discarded every year and even a greater need in families needing furniture.  Once people learn about the Sharehouse, they love it and donate and/or volunteer regularly.  What sets the Sharehouse apart from other organizations that collect used furniture is that the Sharehouse gives the furniture directly to needy individuals and families free of charge; other organizations such as Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill etc., collect furniture to resell in their stores.  While name/brand recognition is slowly climbing, Furniture Sharehouse’s reputation continues to soar.

Furniture Sharehouse’s tag line is: Help Make A House A Home and their logo nicely plays off ‘house’ with a pitched roof. To learn more about the Sharehouse, please visit their website www.furnituresharehouse.org.   

Join the Sharehouse community:

Facebook          www.facebook.com/FurnitureSharehouse

Twitter             twitter.com/furnsharehouse

LinkedIn            www.linkedin.com/company/furniture-sharehouse

Google+            plus.google.com/u/0/108498793629984009621