Issues Management – Yellow Wiggle-gate

January 23, 2012

They should have had an Issues Management Plan…

Last week tragedy struck the Australian public with the news that the replacement Yellow Wiggle Sam, would be ousted by the original Yellow Wiggle Greg (we say ‘tragedy’ with tongue firmly in cheek). What could have been a minor blip and a celebratory event, turned into a media car-crash – watch here for the TODAY show’s Wiggles interview disaster.

Following the Blue Wiggle’s fumbling and perceived apathy when asked about Sam, The Wiggles were labeled ‘cruel’, ‘heartless’ and ‘money-hungry’ on  Facebook pages and news websites.

And the majority of this negativity (and damage to their brand) could have been avoided with an Issues Management Plan…

If The Wiggles were our client, these are just a few of the key things we’d have done:

1. Announced the news in a most positive way, whilst sincerely thanking Sam; mentioning how sad we were to see him go; acknowledging that a number of ‘new’ fans would be upset (empathy is very important), then wishing Sam all the best, through every form of media. This would have included social media, and, we would have appointed a social media community manager to respond to all messages about Sam, quickly, and in a most positive and comforting way.
2. Appointed one Wiggle to be the spokesperson for the news, and have equipped him with a prepared statement to stick to for interviews, before presenting him to the media firing-squad.
3. Anticipated and prepared responses to ‘curly’ interview questions.
4. Paired Sam’s departure announcement with some positive news e.g. A free concert in each major city to re-introduce Greg to The Wiggles’ fan base.

By acting quickly, showing empathy, sticking to prepared statements and providing an accompanying bit of positive news, The Wiggles could have avoided being received as cold spaghetti, cold spaghetti.  Sorry. We couldn’t help ourselves.

Speak to us if you need help with your Issues Management Plan.