Insights Into Building Stakeholder Loyalty from the Pros

Report by Sue Masaracchia-Roberts

What happens when a brand is tarnished by unfavorable news? How do those brands retain the support of their shareholders? Those attending the February 2006 Publicity Club of Chicago luncheon at Maggiano's heard United Airlines media relations manager Robin Urbanski and Black Hawks director of community relations Jim Blaney discuss how they overcame adverse situations. Sun-Times business editor, Dan Miller, moderated the discussion.

Dan Miller

Over Dan Miller's illustrious career, he worked with Governor Jim Edgar as the chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, and as a business reporter, editorial writer and assistant financial editor for the Chicago Daily News. He also worked at Crain Communications, where he helped launch Crain's Chicago Business and served as editor and associate publisher. He has been at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1999.

Miller acknowledged that his position and that of PR people are codependent, saying, "Even when there are times we get testy, we don’t mean it."

In introducing the afternoon’s speakers, Miller explained the focus was on those that, in the face of adversity, resurrected and even strengthened strong brand names. One example was the year-and-half lock-out by NHL owners that interrupted professional hockey and further eroded a shrinking fan base.

"After the baseball strike, it took the MLB10 years to regain its audience," said Miller, "Yet the NHL got back to normal because of the way the Blackhawks and other teams took strong measures to protect and resurrect their brands."

Another example of this brand protection involved United Airlines. He commended United on their timely media updates and handed out special kudos to United’s communications department, which gave media 24/7 access to the staff including pager, cell phone and home phone numbers. "We got answers every time, offering a transparent view of their bankruptcy recovery operations," said Miller, explaining that its leader, Glen Tilton, led it out of bankruptcy via an enormous amount of work.

With his oil industry background, Tilton, like other executives in the oil industry, were lax to engage in conversations with journalists. Robin Urbanski and her staff were able to persuade Tilton that it was vital that he become the "face" of United, even to the point of going to O’Hare and personally greeting employees and customers.

Robin Urbanski

Responsible for all United Airlines media relations efforts, Robin Urbanski has been in the background throughout the airline's bankruptcy proceedings, guiding the communications efforts to ensure that customers were unaware of all the progress being made behind the scenes. She also played a role in convincing management to continue its effective advertising campaign against mounting internal pressures to save money by cutting marketing dollars. As a result the carrier's award-winning advertising campaign continued airing, including support of the recently launched low-cost Ted service.

"We worked to keep the brand strong and service great," said Urbanski, "so, after the bankruptcy, the two companies were restructured with a customer focus. We didn’t want to take anything away from the customer so they had the same United experience, including the use of the familiar Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue theme. It was coupled with the tag line: ‘It’s time to fly,’ which was already familiar to the business traveler. We felt this differentiated us from the competition and showed customers that we take a step above our competitors. We really worked at building an emotional connection with customers."

Appealing to employees became a more daunting task as United recovered from bankruptcy, because executive compensation was recalibrated so that more than $30 million went back to United executives. "Although bankruptcy court scaled it back, a problem arose with employees who worked for a rather outspoken union. Concerned by the union reaction," Urbanski said, "PR met with them up front, prepared to compare United’s compensation package with those of other industries and public companies. We showed them that there is no better way to compensate a CEO than with stock. If the company does well, so does the stock; if it doesn’t, the CEO loses money also. At the end of the day, you need to reward a CEO for the performance of the company, along with the employees. One thing we learned was that you need the support of the majority of your employees. Most really did want to strike, as they were not willing to lose their jobs and their salaries. We learned to stay in touch will all our employees, not just the unions."

United has continued to build a strong relationship with families, especially through its commercials where only the theme song is heard in the background and the visual conveys the prominent message: "trust us and fly with us."

Jim Blaney

Although currently the director of community outreach for the Chicago Blackhawks, Jim Blaney actually got his start on the other side of the camera as a 20-year broadcaster, anchor and reporter. Prior to joining the Blackhawks, he held the position of marketing director for the Chicago Bulls/White Sox Training Academy. As a result of all his experience, he is well-versed in helping teams maintain their audiences whether the team is winning or losing.

Like Urbanski, managing unions are a challenge for Blaney. Consequently, he was quite involved with the players during collective bargaining. "This is a partnership of players and owners, but we play for the fans," said Blaney. "That is the message we needed to keep in front of the fans. We are selling an entertainment product, an arena experience. The [United] Center has a lot that is easy to get into and is a place that is safe to walk in. The food is good. Whether or not the Blackhawks win a game, the question is, did the fan have a good time? I have to show fans that if they were satisfied with 75 to 80 percent of the evening, it was a good experience."

One illustration of this came when, two days before Christmas, the lure of the Red Wings as a Blackhawk opponent filled half the United Center. The Hawks lost in the last tenth of a second of play. "I was selling ornaments in the concourse and the fans were naturally angry," said Blaney. "We had a plan in place to help neutralize some this anger by encouraging every member of the Blackhawk organization to distribute business cards that gave recipients access to two free tickets to a home game by accessing them via the internet. Overall, this is an entertainment experience, not just a game. We need to provide a high-end experience each night."

He fiercely believes in protecting the brand. To do that, in the preseason, visitors saw several player stationed at each gate and others at the entrance, to personally thank patrons for coming to the game. They also handed out game schedules.

"After spending 12 years as a sports reporter," said Blaney, "I find that hockey players are the most grounded group pf guys. In fact, when asked, about 99 percent will stay for autographs. However, we had to be careful during the blackout." He explained that it was a sticky situation involving tooth and nail fights during labor disputes; players being called selfish confronted owners they called greedy, making it awkward.

During Q&A, Blaney defended the team’s use of the Blackhawk logo, and made it clear that it is as an asset for which the team is very protective. The original owner of the team fought in World War I in the Blackhawk battalion. Before adopting the logo, they checked with several Native American tribes to make sure this would not be controversial. This sentiment came from the fact that Chief Blackhawk – from the Sauk tribe once located in south suburban Chicago – is regal-looking rather than being a caricature, and the mascot, Tommy Hawk, is a bird, not an Indian. Also, the logo of the Indianhead in the locker room is considered off limits and is treated with reverence; cordoned off, the players will tell anyone approaching it not even to think about stepping on it.

The official Indianhead logo, developed over the years and considered by many to be among the best logos around, is printed in seven colors, making it difficult and pricey to duplicate. The Blackhawks also are known for having the best uniforms in hockey.

One other controversy arouse during Q&A, one that Blaney knew would pop up: the Blackhawk’s decision to blackout home games. Blaney proposed that since season ticket holders are valuable customers, the ownership feels it would be disloyal to televise games that patrons pay to see. Consequently, don’t look for Blackhawk home games to be aired locally anytime soon.