Not only did the brand suffer but the whole country and its ability in the field of AI innovation were questioned.
This deserved a blanket public apology as a first and immediate step.
The university published a letter of apology which was poor in taste.
“She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These are words from the press release by Galgotias University apologising for the recent controversy they faced at the AI Impact Summit held at Delhi. Defensive, petty and insulting!
Let’s take a quick look at what happened and how events unfolded. Galgotias University had a stall at the AI summit expo where they demonstrated an AI innovation named Orion. When the clip went online, people immediately recognised this as the commercially sold robot by a Chinese company. Questions started pouring in on the misinformation and genuineness. Authorities immediately removed this stall, and the university had to withdraw from the expo. The viral clip about fake representation triggered national and international criticism and embarrassment. People started questioning India’s AI credibility. The university published a letter of apology where the entire blame of wrong communication was put on the faculty. The letter was so poor in taste that it added fuel to the fire!
As a marketing professor and a woman, there are multiple issues here and it is problematic. First let me address this issue from the lens of marketing and branding. The first and foremost rule of effective crisis communication is to accept and acknowledge and not defend and blame. And this must be done fast – here the most important would be the speed at which the official communication goes out from the brand to the public. This would mean the brand takes a stand and enters the conversation space especially in news and social media trying to control and minimise the damage! All stakeholders would love an honest response, not one which screams of petty defending statements or making a scapegoat out of vulnerable people. And do not forget the world we all live in – social media age where anyone and everyone can publish and hence “Any PR is not good PR”!
In an AI driven knowledge ecosystem, trust and transparency by brands is a non-negotiable clause. Tokenism today is understood well by the literate audiences and can create a backlash of a larger magnitude for the brand. The so-called apology letter came quite late, giving people more time to spread the news and negative feedback. Here we must take in cognisance the politics and agenda setting of political parties as well. In crisis, a delayed response is treated as no response!
Now let me share what I feel is unethical in this case as a woman. The faculty was made to be the “face” of the problem and the whole emphasis on how she was overwhelmed on camera and that made her make wrong statements. So, it is demeaning to talk about an educated person like this. There were vile memes and jokes about how well dressed she was to face the press and appear on television. These conversations and comments do tell us a lot about how we are as a society. How we feel women are all about saree, outfits, makeup and fashion and how they will lose their demeanor so easily!
This is disturbing to see how a woman professional had to take the whole blame on herself of what clearly was a lapse at multiple levels. It reminds me of the “Glass Cliff” effect that women in India face. The glass cliff is a term from organisational psychology describing a pattern in which women (and sometimes other underrepresented groups) are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles during times of crisis, when the risk of failure is highest. The leadership in this case of Galgotias University failed their own people. Good leaders create a tribe where everyone feels safe and that was missing entirely from their public statement. Simon Sinek, in his famous TED talk on leadership, says, “In times of crisis leaders go first and they never make their teams feel insecure”.
So, what should have been done as an ideal response in this kind of situation? This was a national summit with international visitors and global media coverage. Every participant brand had to understand the impact of such events on the public image of India. As an educational institution when you wronged, the negative impact was multifold. Not only did the brand suffer but the whole country and its ability in the field of AI innovation were questioned. This deserves a blanket public apology as a first and immediate step. No justification, no defensive statements, no blame game, no excuses – just a genuine, heartfelt, plain apology. Here the role of the leadership team is critical. The leaders should shield the vulnerable people in this crisis, mostly those faculty and students who were on ground. And this apology letter should be in press and on all social media assets of the university within the first hour.
After the public statement accepting and apologising for the error, an internal task force for a crisis communication plan needs to be set up immediately. A strategy for media interviews and social media conversations needs to be created. Media spokespersons need to be briefed on the what and how of responses. This is a classic case where social media conversations are going all over, and the brand is a part of the meme culture and jokes. Jumping into these conversations will help but with a content strategy.
Social media listening software should quickly collate everything that is being talked about the university, the stall, the robot and the faculty representative. This listening will help you create a dashboard of what all people are talking about and help you understand what is the most critical and needs to be addressed urgently. Basis the sentiment analysis, content plan needs to be done.
Internal audiences need to be taken into confidence, and every communication should reach them as well. Here, by internal I mean students, employees, parents and more. Everyone connected will have speculations and negative emotions because of publicly available criticisms and negativity. Most brands try to be vigilant in crisis with their external audiences but neglect internal stakeholders and that should not be the case.
Historically, we have witnessed many brands and organisations suffer from crisis and turbulence. In some crisis cases, brands were facing some market-driven factors but in some other cases, the epicentre of the crisis originated from the brand. In this case it is a wrongdoing by the brand and hence it is not a crisis where everything will be forgivable, but the university should now do what best they can to bring back trust and integrity. Make your actions speak. Actions mean excellence in everything that you do. Your people will speak for you and that will help you regain your position. As they say, “What helps you in crisis is what all you have done before the crisis”.
Dr. Falguni Vasavada is Professor of Marketing at MICA, a social media influencer and TEDx Speaker.
Views expressed are personal.
