The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Former FirstGroup PR man on what it needs to do to win over skeptical rail passengers

Author

By Andy Barr, Head Yeti

August 15, 2012 | 6 min read

Being a PR, I am all about transparency; I used to work for FirstGroup - there, I admitted it. Don't hate me!

So, today was a glorious day for FirstGroup. It was announced that they had won the West Coast Mainline having bid £5.5bn and defeated the Beardy-Biz-Wonder's super brand, aka, Virgin and his rail outfit (and don't forget, double win for First: Virgin Rail is actually a partnership with FirstGroup's arch-rivals, Stagecoach). A glorious glorious day, that has resulted in them getting more negative reaction than I can ever recall.

First has a massive challenge ahead and in my eyes are paying the price for doing far less positive and pro-active media activity than Virgin. Virgin is the blushing bride of the brand world, regularly featuring in the Top 10 super brands in the UK; whereas First is probably, in punters’ eyes at least, at the other end of the spectrum.

First also appears to have been less prepared for this announcement and the media backlash than Virgin. Virgin had stakeholders and third parties lined up to put the boot into First, and let's not be naive, both companies will have known the result in advance. The problem is that First, and this is just my opinion, has burnt so many stakeholder and community bridges with its aggressive approach to running the company at local levels, that it did not really have anywhere to turn to get support. That should be action number one for First; start building stakeholder relations, and get some fans on-board.

Looking at a different area that also has a massive impact, the respective reactions from employees of both companies is also interesting. A quick Google and Twitter search shows a number of people associated with Virgin (maybe employees, maybe not) sounding deflated about the decision. Not one positive thing has been written by a First member of staff (independently) that I can find. Now, this could be because they have all been told to shush up, but drawing on my experience there, even if that edict had been issued, many would not have listened and commented anyway.

Staff morale and attitude is a key factor for me in why First is faring (pardon the pun) so badly. If you have ever been on a Virgin train, and I commuted via them for four years, you will have no doubt experienced the more upbeat train manager and catering announcements. They dare to have fun, sometimes they even sing (I know WTAF?)! Contrast this with First staff and its announcements and it could not be more straight laced if it tried. What will happen now? When Virgin staff switch over to First, will they be told to pack in that funny stuff and adhere to the First way, or will the company see the light and instead adopt Virgin's approach across FirstGroup? Action number two: lighten up a bit, get some positive online sentiment by empowering your staff to use common sense (obviously within reason).

Looking behind the scenes I think First has missed a trick regarding shouting about and celebrating its staff. When I worked there, I was fortunate enough to work alongside some of the brightest minds. (I stuck out like a sore thumb for my lack of sharpness in the toolbox department). One guy who worked in the same building as me invented a new engine than could run on all kinds of much healthier and responsible fuels, including chip fat amongst other things. He mother-fricking invented that! INVENTED IT. He should be the face of the engineering side of the company and whored around the media with greater success than at present. (No, i was not responsible for PR'ing him before you japesters begin!).

First has thousands of success stories out there like this within its ranks but, and this comes back to the contrast in the pro-active PR approach of the two companies, First is seemingly scared of going big-time pro-active because they fear the reaction of the media and worry about the spike that comes at the end of every article relating to fee increases, job cuts or alike. Action number three: go big-time in the positive PR approach.

Lastly, and this is PR101, why oh why did First not have its most senior person, its CEO of FirstGroup, reacting to the win instead of the head of the rail division? They knew they were up against the media-beast that is Branson. He was sat there ready, waiting, and with the kind of size 10 hammer that was going to punch holes in anything FirstGroup tried to offer up as a defence. First may have stood no chance with their reaction, but they should have given it their best shot and put up their most senior person to lead the charge Braveheart style, (they are a Scottish company, get it?) right in the face of the Virgin media machine.

Ok, so the last point was not so "lastly" after all… what else can First do to turn it around and limit the damage (don't forget their share price fell on the news today)? Well, they can deliver. The best way to get positive sentiment and coverage is to have a business that performs well, delivers upon its promises and has a solid foundation on which to go out and get good coverage.

Can they deliver? Yes. Will they go bust as Beardy Branson reckons? Not a chance. The senior management teams at FirstGroup, both at local and national levels, are a canny bunch. For all my berating of the company, the senior team know what they are doing, but it all kinda falls apart at the execution level. Why so? Well that is a story for another day but I bet you that share price will go back up again soon (not an actual bet, I am not that stupid).

Along with his time at FirstGroup, Andy Barr worked for a number of financial institutions including AXA and Chelsea Building Society before co-founding the PR agency 10 Yetis.

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +