Fumble: Contrite GM gets yardage out of apology but drops ball in end zone

Veritas Team Huddle Compiled By Beverley Hammond

This week, as Washington attempted to put together the massive Big Three bailout, General Motors issued a blunt mea culpa in the Automotive News, a trade publication read by industry executives and lobbyists. This sweeping full-page confession "GM's Commitment to the American People” chronicles a litany of sins including an admission that “…we disappointed you. At times we even violated your trust by letting our quality fall below industry standards and our designs become lackluster…” The automaker suggests it has learned from those mistakes and is working to fix them. Here at Veritas, we counsel clients to take appropriate ownership in a time of crisis, so overall, our team gave the initiative positive reviews. Further, even though the ad ran in a publication not read by the “American People” at all, the international media attention it received ensured that everybody knew about this bold act of contrition. So we saw it as an effective use of PR to get terrific return on a small advertising investment. For these reasons, we believe GM ran the ball into points range. But the TD pass got dropped in the end-zone, because the only thing more important than an apology in a time of crisis is a genuine apology - and for our team of savvy communicators, this one simply didn’t pass the smell test. First, GM spokesman Greg Martin called the ad an attempt to present "a pledge directly to the public." Adding, "we believe we need to deliver this commitment unfiltered since quite a bit of media commentary has not kept pace with our actual progress to transform the company.” Oh c’mon Greg – the only way anyone heard about this was because it got covered by every media outlet on the planet (read: filtered). There isn’t a hint of it on GM’s own website - hardly an effort to speak directly to the public. Disingenuous spin is a fumble, period. Finally, the authenticity of a “sorry” comes into question when it’s been used before: if this week’s message sounds familiar, it may be because five years ago GM launched a very public ad campaign called “The Road to Redemption” chock full of the same confessions and admissions. In its 2003 campaign GM called the last decade "our long journey back," with much time spent "breaking out of our own bureaucratic gridlock" while learning "some humbling lessons." So five years ago, Americans were promised that the company had learned its lessons and was turning around. Among other things, we think GM may have taken a wrong communications turn along the way.