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June 26, 2007
Gotta love those passionate NASCAR fans
One wouldn't normally associate our good client Rockwell Automation with a NASCAR controversy, but in PR, never say never...
The Rockwell Automation-sponsored car in the NASCAR Busch Series is driven by hot rookie driver Denny Hamlin. It all started with some excitement at Sunday's AT&T 250 race at the Milwaukee Mile (in Rockwell Automation's back yard).
Hamlin is a no-show at the start of the race because - get this - his helicopter can't find a place to land. Backup driver Aric Almarola steps in and performs admirably until Hamlin gets his feet on the ground (literally). When Hamlin takes over mid-race, Almarola storms off in a huff. It was, after all, his big chance. Hamlin goes on to win the race, and Almarola gets "credit" for the victory, but isn't anywhere to be found when the trophy's handed over, so Hamlin gets the spotlight.
Here's where it gets interesting from a PR perspective. ESPN2 reports during the whole incident that it was Rockwell Automation's decision to pull Almarola and put Hamlin in -- saying that the company wanted Hamlin to drive in front of its employees in attendance. The story was wrong -- it was actually Gibbs Racing who made the final decision. The story is picked up in media around the country, and nasty emails -- hundreds of them -- come flooding in to Rockwell Automation and NASCAR claming that it was "Busch League" (pun intended) to pull Almarola.
In this situation, Rockwell Automation had a choice -- either issue a statement saying "it wasn't us," which frankly would have looked a bit hollow, or let the story play out . It did the latter, which appears to be the right thing. While the controversy continues to play out, Gibbs Racing took responsibility for the decision and communicated that to many of the top racing publications (here's the Sporting News story). Rockwell Automation's PR people were able to point to the statement when answering email complaints, and it's likely this'll trail off in the next couple of days.
Lesson -- when faced with a critical issue, sometimes it's best to let a third party (in this case Gibbs Racing) speak on your behalf, especially if they're more of an expert than you are. Remember that the next time you're working with emergency authorities such as fire, police or EMTs in a crisis situation.
Posted by Matt Kucharski at June 26, 2007 9:56 AM
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Comments
Interesting...however, how many people might pin ESPN2 with "media bias" on the story they ran with?
Posted by: luke rasmussen at June 26, 2007 10:44 AM
Good comment from Luke -- what I meant by "credible third party" was Gibbs Racing -- not ESPN.
Posted by: Matt Kucharski at June 26, 2007 10:52 AM
I think that the flood of e-mails Rockwell Automation received was not by true NASCAR fans. The pit crew and racing team have much more influence than the car's sponsor in terms of winning the race. In this case, Gibbs Racing felt Hamlin gave them the best chance to win the race. True NASCAR fans would know that and likely not respond with a barrage of e-mails.
Without pretending to know the situation too much, it seems that those who sent e-mails were underdog fans rooting for an unlikely hopeful to win, rather than die-hard fans.
I think it was correct for Rockwell Automation to let the story play out before issuing a statement. Rather than placing blame on others and creating additional speculation, the wait-and-see approach allowed Rockwell Automation a chance to point to another organization's actual words, adding credibility to their statement.
Posted by: Craig Rentmeester at June 29, 2007 5:02 PM