Blizzard: An Example of a PR Breakdown
Their contentious stance on the Hong Kong issue has
sparked accusations
from human rights organizations of being anti-free speech. But what is Blizzard?
For those of you who, like me, are not very familiar with gaming, they are the
creators of popular games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and
Hearthstone. Last week, they hosted a tournament for the latter game. During an
interview after the tournament ended, one of the players, Ng Wai Chung, shouted
“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution in our times”. This was a direct response to
the growing economic and political influence of China in Hong Kong.
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| The now-famous Ng Wai Chung |
What exactly was the breakdown in communication that occurred on Blizzard’s part in this situation? For starters, they are continuing to use a top-down communication style that is outdated in the current era of social media. Simply stating that “our relationships in China had no influence on our decision” does little good when, for example, users are able to cross-check the fact that Blizzard’s C.O.O. admitted in 2018 that “Blizzard results benefited from the continued success of our business in China and the extension of our partnership with [Chinese telecom company] NetEase”. In addition, many are quick to point out that one of Blizzard’s self-proclaimed “core values”, according to their website, is “Every Voice Matters”, which they seemed to directly contradict. People in the groundswell today want to know that the companies they support are acting in an ethical manner, rather than just talking without actions to back that talk up.
Epic supports the rights of Fortnite players and creators to speak about politics and human rights.https://t.co/GWxDjKVjeJ— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 9, 2019
Another
lesson is that companies should not try to “play both sides” of an issue. By
returning Chung’s money while still condemning his actions, Blizzard gives the
impression that they are wishy-washy and unable to commit to their decisions.
Actions can often speak louder than words. However, in an age where words can
be repeated and are permanently on record for all too see, CEO’s and other company
employees should be careful to choose their words wisely.
What
do you all think of Blizzard’s stance on this issue? Can you think of any other
cases where a company used a competitor’s PR failure to their advantage?
What a good example of your brand being what those in the groundswell it is. The fact that the logo altered to look like the Chinese flag is the first thing that comes up in a search proves it. It's also a good example of why listening to the groundswell and then acting on what you hear is so important. They were wishy-washy in their response, for sure, and could have acted better in response to what they were hearing to protect their company's image.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, there is a trend in the United States that forces multinational corporations to choose a political position. This is a social and political issue. In the next 10 to 30 years, this trend will intensify and conflict with the ideas of other countries. In October of this year, the first round of conflict broke out between the United States and China. Blizzard and NBA incidents almost occurred at the same time. And, at the same time, the United States invited Chinese government personnel to come to the United States to discuss trade war agreements. Those are very typical cases of using groundswell as a weapon to attack others, and it is very dangerous. From the NBA to Blizzard, bringing political ideas to the game undoubtedly created a window-breaking effect. In the two days of , Spain's National Day (10/12/2019), a few days after the NBA and Blizzard incident, a group of 'people' (I don't know what to call them, the wrong word may hurt both sides) in the NBA display an flag during Warriors pre-season game, intended to promote the independence of the Catalonia region. (https://twitter.com/MrGiolitti/status/1182624821437485056?s=19 , This message seems to have been some sort of The blockade and it is not reported in most English news. If you can search in other languages, such as Spanish, or read the news from Spain directly, you can find out that this kind of offensive application of using social media has undoubtedly hurts others, and It may continue to expand, such as Scotland, or any area that has had residual effects after the two world wars and the colonial era.
ReplyDeleteAs the way of using international company platforms to publish a highly controversial political view has been discovered, more and more companies will be involved in chaos and being used as an weapon. It is foreseeable that groundswell now has tremendous lethality.
I may be impulsive when writing the comment. If the above paragraph offends someone, then I will apologize and be responsible for my words. I just spent a lot of time writing a draft of the blog (Oct 15, 2019, 5:56 PM, until Oct 16, 2019, 2:50 AM), because I took long time to carefully analyze the recent NBA event. NBA incident and Blizzard Incident, these two cases have many similarities, I have written my point of view, maybe it can answer your question a bit, I will release it after a little modification.
DeleteThis is a great example of a company that still hasn’t fully apologized for its actions. Blizzard seems to be digging a deeper hole every time it tries to rectify their mistake without fully taking the blame. The company’s actions have given them further bad press among its audience. One of my favorite YouTube channels, Kinda Funny, was sent a World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition by Blizzard to unbox on their channel. Instead of doing this, Kinda Funny wrote “Free Hong Kong” with a link to Amnesty International on a piece of white paper attached to the box (https://www.instagram.com/tv/B3c5ZDJBucr/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet). Fans have clearly been outspoken against Blizzard, who continues to act in their own interests. Great post!
ReplyDeleteAllison,
ReplyDeleteI love your point that "People in the groundswell today want to know that the companies they support are acting in an ethical manner, rather than just talking without actions to back that talk up." I feel that holding companies accountable for their actions is central to the groundswell's function. Its interesting to see how companies, like Blizzard, are navigating appeasing the groundswell while also maintaining business relationships and practices that may conflict with what the groundswell likes. Your closing about how companies shouldn't "play both sides of an issue" is really important and ties up your post well. I think Blizzard was wrong to try and police Chung's remark and them doing so was very telling of their true politics. The personal is always political and that applies to companies too. Great post, thanks for breaking it down for non-gamers like me!
Great example of how the groundswell is power to the people. Since everything is so public now, companies need to be careful of what they say and how they say it. The result could be a PR nightmare like this. I'm currently in the the crisis communication class and your post is a great crossover into how social media can be used in crisis management. Although Fortnite is a completely different game, they are also impacted by what happened with Blizzard so it was smart on their end to also be vocal about the issue--gaining more trust from their customers.
ReplyDelete