Here's a brief Q&A from PRNews about the Kryptonite bike-lock scandal.



Blogs’ Effect On PR

The name "Kryptonite" could not have been more appropriate for a case that demonstrated how the blogosphere can bring an otherwise strong company to its knees. Late last year, Kryptonite (Canton, Mass.) had to recall nearly 40,000 of its industry-standard U-Lock bike locks after it was posted on the Web -- and quickly spread throughout the blogosphere -- that anyone can easily break the locks with a ballpoint pen (PR News, Feb 23).

A subsequent exchange program cost Kryptonite an estimated $10 million (as of late February) but the costs of embarrassment cannot be calculated. PR News recently spoke with Steve Down, Kryptonite's general manager, about the new business realities brought on by bloggers.

Do you think Kryptonite was the unofficial poster child for companies burned by the blogosphere?

We've been one of the first companies hit by [the blogosphere], so yes. When these [stories] break, it's very difficult the first couple of days to judge what the problem of the product is and what should be the adequate response. For us, the overriding principle is to look after our customers, so we tried to protect brand integrity and limit the damage to the company, which are by-products of trying to do the right thing.

How do you think blogs have started to impact the ways in which companies communicate with their various stakeholders?

When you are dealing with traditional media, there are some balances. The difficulty with Weblogs is that anyone can put out information in an anonymous way. [But] for any business, Weblogs are a reality, and companies have to look at what they do and be able to respond adequately to concerns that are raised in such a forum.

If blogs are here to stay, what's the best PR strategy to deal with them?

Awareness that these individuals and groups are discussing your product and/or service is most important. You have to balance it, though, because of all the anonymity among bloggers, and figure out why they are putting a particular spin on things. But you have to be ready to respond if there are specific issues being addressed and [if the arguments] have enough momentum behind them.

Ciao,
Bob.