The Danish newspaper ‘Politiken’ is today printing a letter from me in the Op-Ed or Debate section. The letter is about web2.0 and i have tried to explain some of the basic changes that web2.0 brings to the stage of Public Relations like openness, transparency as a way to public support and trust.
The background for the article is the story of Michael Rasmussen the Danish cyclist who was kicked out of the Tour de France last month by his own team Rabobank. if you followed the race you know what I am talking about, and I you didn’t the short explanation is that Michael Rasmussen was not found to be using doping like some of his competitors but since he was unable to unquestionably account for where he had been before the Tour, there was no trust in the public that he was playing ‘clean’ and there was no trust in the professional field or in his team-management. The result is that what looked like a certain win became a complete crash, maybe even for Rasmussen’s career.
My suggestion was then to change the name of the game and use a web2.0 strategy to rebuild trust and support from the public. If Rasmussen would share everything about his everyday life with the public in e.g. a blog, then we would all know that he is a good guy competing without doping. A lot of the problems for professional cycling right now is that the public does not trust them to compete fairly – without doping – and there is a code of secrecy within the field that enhances this distrust. But the vicious cycle of distrust can easily be broken by an overly generous view into the world. The barrier of closeness should be broken down and replaced by total transparency.
This same strategy goes for a much wider industry too. In the old days it was important to guard your secrets since they could be seen a weapons in the fight with your opponents. Today it is important to share what you know with the entire field of business because this is the best way to participate at the top of the game – and show that you are able to participate at the top. Furthermore it is also the best way we can evolve and survive as a collective field. Sharing the most knowledge gets us closer to the best solutions!
Article:
Web 2.0 Strategy for Michael Rasmussen
These days a lot of Danes are trying to shake of the Tour de France. What looked like a great Danish win disappeared without a convincing explanation. Especially one Dane must be particularly confused. When Michael Rasmussen right now is thinking about how to reposition himself in order to come back and win the Tour next year he might want to consider if there is something to be learned in the new trends within public relations and corporate strategy, brought about by the latest developments in Internet technology – namely the web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is among other things about how we have started to put more and more personal content the net. For example on blogs and in the comments on blogs we are participating in the public debate and sharing on a range of issues.
Companies from an old-school public relation thinking would see it as a problem if employees were constantly talking freely on the internet about important issues in their field of business. Instead they would try and make a well-coordinated, unidirectional and ‘clean’ communication from the company. In the new world that web 2.0 is opening this paradigm is turned completely up-side-down. Instead of control and purity the new keywords are diversity, participation and openness.
And this is precise where Michael Rasmussen might change his current situation. He could choose the reinforce the negative spiral around him by making counter-accusations, law-suits etc. – and these are probably needed for cleaning the air for various imaginations. But instead of going with anger and the role of the victim, Rasmussen might leave this to the experts – his lawyers, and then focus himself on what he does best, namely biking and sports.
A web 2.0 strategy in this context would be about playing with totally open cards, putting everything on the net so people can see for themselves who Michael Rasmussen is, how he thinks, what’s going on right now in his life and how he is preparing his cycling.
In short Michael Rasmussen should get himself a blog where he can tell all those who are interested (probably a few) what he is thinking and how he is going to come-back from the current situation. Furthermore he should buy himself a new mobile phone with a camera and a GPS which he could bring on every training ride and document everything around him: put his training days on the net, tell everyone where he is and how he prepares trials, cycling and Christmas with the family.
The point is to overwhelm the world with openness and make life as ‘Rasmyssen’ totally transparent so everyone can see that he is not playing with hidden cards. Besides that this will making it easier for the doping authorities to find him, it will connect him to all the fans who are not certain whether he is playing fair. This would turn the Public Opinion to his advantage and remove the risk of being ousted by the People’s Court again.
The important aspect of such a strategy is to share your knowledge in order for the collective field to understand and act based on as much knowledge as possible. In this case the field is all those who have been affected by chaos of the Tour this year. Michael Rasmussen’s best bet on turning the game that is currently burying him is to top his opponents in generosity. His best option for a comeback is not through a solo-ride this time, but through sharing as much as possible with as many as possible, and create transparency about himself.