It might be a case of the Temu management ruthlessly editing a press release and the PR team being unable to push back. In PR, you often win by 'losing' and mentioning your rivals in the spirit of contributing to something bigger than yourselves.
A great little case study of how not to do Public Relations. Two points stand out for me Ivy. First, the context of China and the size of the protagonists engaged in a very public commercial tussle for dominance in which the stakes are unparalleled. Second, lawyers, in my exerience in working with them, is that they often do not make good public relations officers.Their training is not in communication but in a narrow view focussed on law and risk management - a very different approach.
That is something I want to write about! Why lawyers make for the worst crisis communicators- managing downside risks in the court of public perception VS law requires vastly different skillsets and awareness...
Though in the case of Temu, well, I don't think it goes that far.
Reading the press release, the Temu version is all about not mentioning the competition, a good guideline BUT lacks nuance and savvy. It also makes Temu look like an IP infringer being brought to heel rather than a good corporate statesperson as brand - which would have been the case if Alibaba et al were in there.
Thanks, very interesting and instructive!
It might be a case of the Temu management ruthlessly editing a press release and the PR team being unable to push back. In PR, you often win by 'losing' and mentioning your rivals in the spirit of contributing to something bigger than yourselves.
Whether it's the PR, GR, lawyers, or Mgmt team making the call on this... it just looks ..not great for Temu overall.
A great little case study of how not to do Public Relations. Two points stand out for me Ivy. First, the context of China and the size of the protagonists engaged in a very public commercial tussle for dominance in which the stakes are unparalleled. Second, lawyers, in my exerience in working with them, is that they often do not make good public relations officers.Their training is not in communication but in a narrow view focussed on law and risk management - a very different approach.
That is something I want to write about! Why lawyers make for the worst crisis communicators- managing downside risks in the court of public perception VS law requires vastly different skillsets and awareness...
Though in the case of Temu, well, I don't think it goes that far.
Yes that was definitely my experience when working in crisis communications. I even published a book with Oxford University Press about it https://www.amazon.com/Disaster-Management-Chris-Skinner/dp/0195783131.
Dealing with Crisis communications around th issue of pollution is very tricky https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/bf395e61-ab0f-4968-a390-b90a4cd474d7/content
Reading the press release, the Temu version is all about not mentioning the competition, a good guideline BUT lacks nuance and savvy. It also makes Temu look like an IP infringer being brought to heel rather than a good corporate statesperson as brand - which would have been the case if Alibaba et al were in there.
Exactly, the omission becomes the messaging. Too bad...