Sounds a touch like a Fox special, but I am referring to an incident that occurred last week when the top human resources executive at media firm Carat inadvertently emailed working drafts of messaging documents to the company’s entire staff. Unfortunately, the documents were developed to communicate information about impending layoffs at the company. There’s been plenty of banter already about whether it is appropriate to develop canned messaging for such a sensitive situation.
Others questioned the positioning intended for clients and whether it was disingenuous. North America CEO Sarah Fay said in an interview with Adweek that she hadn’t even seen the documents before they were sent. What I can’t stop thinking about is what they could have done to prevent something like this from happening in the first place. Whether sensitive news is good or bad, a communications plan – including messaging – is key. It would be naive to think a plan such as theirs isn’t necessary. In similar situations with clients, we’ve found ways to prevent information from leaking prematurely. Of course, no one is perfect. More than anything, this recent email gaffe reminds me we can never be too cautious with the information we receive.