Sometimes the best communication strategy is to say you’ve won and move on. That’s just what the Obama administration did, announcing on Sunday that the federal healthcare website was working well for “the vast majority” of users. The strategy worked brilliantly. Here’s why.
News articles reported on the successful turnaround, along with a few skeptical comments from health insurers, for good measure. And – poof! – that was the end of it. Plenty of problems remain to get Americans enrolled in Obamacare, but for now the failed website is off the front pages and that’s a big PR win for the president.
How was the president’s team able to take a negative story that was saturating the news cycle and make it disappear? The president’s team followed a few simple rules:
1. Define success on your terms. As the crisis over the website reached its peak in October, the administration set specific goals for improving the website. Yes, the administration set a low bar – defining success in terms that it believed would be achievable – but being specific is what matters. So the administration’s report on Sunday was full of specific data points that helped show demonstrable improvement.
Defining success lets you point to concrete progress (no matter how modest) and leaves your critics in the position of disputing issues on your terms.
2. Give a deadline. Setting a deadline sounds risky, but in fact it helps end a crisis (and focus the team tasked with solving the problem). At the very least it buys time, keeping critics at bay and allowing space for the problem to be resolved.
3. Fix the problem. Good crisis management means solving the problem, not spinning you way out of it. Even if the solution is imperfect or incomplete, it is vital to make progress. Otherwise, the crisis will continue. The administration met its goals for fixing the site, and the crisis abated.
4. Control the data. It’s impossible to independently verify whether the website is performing well. It’s up to the administration to provide data on load times, unique visitors, enrollments and other performance measures.
Owning the data is a big advantage, but it’s important not to overplay it. All it takes to undermine the pr progress is a few colorful anecdotes about frustrated insurance buyers. (Remember, President Bush’s assertion of “mission accomplished” in Iraq was easily contradicted by images of insurgent activity.)
5. Acknowledge remaining challenges. The Obama administration cleared the hurdle it set, but also said there was more to be done. It’s important not to suggest the repairs are finished or are any farther along than the standard you met. That blunts the critics who can be quick to find faults. You want to convey that the team is continuing to work on all the issues.
Like a pack of zombies looking for fresh brains to eat, the media moves on to the next issue once they have exhausted what they’ve been chewing on. A successful PR strategy gets them to move along faster to the next issue.
Still, the administration is not out of the woods entirely. There are other critical tests ahead for implementing Obamacare, and the negative press could flare again if these steps are mishandled. The best way to guard against another pr disaster is to make sure the site works.