Just too little too late

Chapter 7 of Real Time Marketing & PR focused on how quickly time passes in the real-time world. If a company doesn’t act fast, the moment will pass and it will be too late.

It reminded me, yet again, of the United Airlines debacle. Delta eventually issued a public and personal apology to Dave, but it was too little too late (cue the JoJo song.)

The reading also brought to mind a permanent rule in the PR world, “no comment” is never an option. If you are not speaking to the press and giving them information first hand, they will absolutely get it somewhere else. I talked a little more about this here. This speaks true to most audiences in a real-time world. Employees, journalists and consumers will all go somewhere else to find the information they desire if a company isn’t offering it.

To give a real world example, it’s similar to getting in an argument with someone. While discussing (or yelling) about the matter both parties try to explain their concerns. Regardless of the outcome of the discussion, I always walk away thinking, “I should have said…” But the moment has passed and it’s too late to say anything else.

If a company waits too long to make their move or give a statement, the world will quit listening. The consumers will get their services somewhere else and the press will interview someone else.