FUMBLE - RIM PLAYS TURTLE

I live in Waterloo, run a Toronto PR firm and own RIM stock. That makes me either the most conflicted or the best qualified person to weigh in on the recent communications plays of the beleaguered tech giant. Sadly, these days it feels more like piling-on than weighing-in. But it simply can't be helped. In football terms, watching RIM (and say it isn't so) RIM's agency handle PR matters of late is a lot like watching an endless loop of Brett Favre game video. On the heels of widespread media criticism about the tone taken in the analyst call and even following my colleague Joe Chidley's well-intentioned advice here last week, it continues to look like Fumble after Fumble. Recently, according to a report from a local Waterloo radio station, RIM issued 200 pink slips on Monday. Neither RIM nor their PR agency responded to media inquiries when the story broke, according to Canada's two top news outlets. The CP story that ran the following day suggested RIM wouldn't comment and quoted their agency as having no details about the lay-offs. In the same news cycle, the departure of a senior marketing official who jumped ship for Samsung was covered. How did that story get told, you might ask? Apparently through Samsung and the departing employee's personal tweet. Again, nothing from RIM. I'll hazard an educated guess that there has never been a successful crisis communications strategy based on the "turtle" approach, which it seems RIM has adopted here. As we repeat in this column ad nauseam, the simplest of rules in corporate communications and particularly in crisis communications is "control the message". If you don't, someone else will. The risk is high in this case, where failing to manage the message also gives the impression that things simply may be out of control - a bad impression to leave leading into a critical shareholder vote. These are complicated and difficult times for the organization, but proactive, clear communications has proven time and again to be the only way companies come out the other end of crisis with the least bruises. RIM is a global leader and an iconic Canadian brand. We all want them to do just that.

A veteran of communications and politics, Beverly Hammond is the President and CEO of Veritas Communications.