Reputation Management Online

Gordon Brown had to answer to 65-year-old Labour loyalist, Gillian Duffy, during his election campaign, and boy, did she have a thing or two to say about lost Labour glories!!

Wired still with the Sky News microphone, Brown unwittingly made a couple of comments that were promptly caught on tape and re-run all across the media ad nauseam.  And this is what he said…

“That was a disaster – they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Ridiculous.”

Asked what she had said, he replied: “Everything, she was just a sort of bigoted woman.”

On a day when the Labour electioneers were hoping to talk policy, this incident took over. More so, when Ms Duffy was heard saying that Gordon Brown is a very nice man and that she has and will continue to vote for Labour.

So, what did Gordon Brown do for damage control?

• Dash off to Duffy’s house for a personal apology…speak to the media about it so…

“I am mortified by what has happened,” Brown added. “I have given her my sincere apologies. I misunderstood what she said. She has accepted that there was a misunderstanding, and she has accepted my apology. If you like, I am a penitent sinner.”

• Continue appearing in the media to show that he is not afraid to meet people after the incident and
• Have his wife give an interview showing her support to him

From a reputation management view – this was the only thing he could have done to save face. Though grinning from ear to ear may not have been the right expression to show while exiting Duffy’s house.

The words were chosen right and damage control was quick, but, Gordon Brown would look to see this die down quickly, and hope like hell more Labour loyalists don’t get disillusioned with this gaffe.

As for his PR team this is a lesson in the unthinkable happening! They have to remember that there are microphones, cameras and other gadgets out there to pick the most unimaginable things and throw it under the spotlight.

For politicians in particular a reputation crisis is always just around the corner, like the proverbial sword it’s just a matter of ‘when’!

So will Gillian Duffy bring down Gordon Brown? What’s your take?

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