The 2017 Oscar Snafu & the Take-Away for Small Businesses

The Oscars is one of the most anticipated award shows that has attracted millions of viewers across the globe for the past 89 years. The Oscars has provided decades of entertainment through its hosts, nominees, winners, heart-felt speeches and interesting fodder for the media. But this year, everybody has been only talking about the BIG OSCAR SNAFU that happened with the Best Picture awards mix-up. There were a few other blunders that happened that night but the award mix-up between La La Land and Moonlight stole the show, sadly in a wrong way.

Unfortunately, this is the case with negative publicity. The impressive work of Jimmy Kimmel, the speeches of multiple winners, the history that La La Land created with record breaking nominations, Viola Davis speech, etc. all took second place to the Best Picture mix-up. Such snafu’s affect the credibility and reputations of the organization while creating negative publicity for days to follow. The Oscars are the most prestigious film awards that have been well established for the last 89 years. Each actor nominated for an Oscar is a Brand Ambassador of their film and the Academy itself. The general public might forgive the Academy for its mix-up based on their stellar past performance and current apology. The ambassadors of the Academy awards, most importantly the cast of La La Land, handled the chaos so beautifully and gracefully. Of course, The Academy and PwC both issued an apology statement to the cast and crew of both films, but their was bound to be internal and external consequences to this negative publicity. We will have to see if PwC will carry the brunt of the mistake and if they be working with the Academy Awards next year. People don’t forget mistakes and mishaps easily. Jimmy Kimmel's comedic wit was quick to point out Steve Harvey’s famous mistake when he announced the wrong winner of the Miss Universe contest. That is the challenge with a snafu – it haunts you like the big bad wolf.

In today's world, there is very small room for errors with a small business. A few bad reviews or bad experiences can create a strong negative impact and ween away customers from the establishment. It is imperative for an organization to ensure they are extremely well represented. Small businesses have to run like a well-oiled machine. It is imperative to market your business well and be represented very well. There are some golden rules to handle negative publicity which may yield success

Don’t poke and prod your haters – It is difficult to handle criticism but you have to draft a diplomatic response and apologize if needed.
Do you want to engage in a battle or war – Decide how you want to handle the problem. Sometimes an apology followed by silence is sufficient. Other times, you may need to engage in a courteous conversation. Learn to know when to engage and disengage from the conversation.
Silence is golden – If you have responded, and your haters continue to haunt, stop responding to those posts. Step away from the scenario with a dignified silence
Outperform the disaster - Work on outperforming any marketing disaster that may have happened. There is no other way than working hard to prove yourself and getting in the good books of your customers.
Positive marketing - Do not be shy when it comes to marketing your good work. Unless there is a channel to advertise your services and good reviews, small business will not be able to acquire new clients. Remember good performance accompanied with positive marketing creates amnesia and tolerance for past disasters.
Finding opportunities in disasters - Create opportunities even in disasters. Use this as an opportunity to show yourself as a company who listens to their customers and create a solution to solve their problems.

Written By: Aparnaa Vinod