“Oh I just don’t know where to begin…”
(Opening line of “Accidents Will Happen” by Elvis Costello.)
Thanks to the now-infamous July 16 Coldplay concert “kiss cam” video — featuring Astronomer CEO Andy Byron very warmly embracing Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot — the tech company scored something every PR pro dreams about: massive worldwide press coverage.
At the same time, the reason for this exposure is simultaneously dreaded.
We’re talking roughly 31,000 unique articles.
Axios reported about 1,400 articles alone over five days generated some 125 million reads.
This kind of press coverage places this incident among the most-read PR events of the year.
A team of 1,000 seasoned PR pros working for this client couldn’t have come close to that.
Sure, PR’s first of two main jobs is to create awareness.
You can check that box with a King Kong-sized black marker. ✅
I hesitate to state the other main function of PR — but it’s to build relationships. Ahh… awkward… especially since the relationship exposed in this story seems like it was already well-established.
Whew.
I feel like I’m ready to run 99 directions at once with my PR commentary.
But let me first start with this…
Real People, Real Feelings, Real Fallout
We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. It’s not our place to judge others when each of us have our own imperfections.
This story — while ripe for late-night jokes — includes very real people dealing with very real consequences.
Spouses. Families. Employees. Investors.
There are many lives profoundly affected by some very poor choices by a couple of people. How must the spouses and other family members feel about this? How in the world do Bryon and Cabot recover professionally and personally?
How do Astronomer employees process what happened?
This has got to be emotionally rough for all connected to this incident.
I’m sure they can all use some prayers for healing some very deep wounds.
Grace Springer, the person who shot this video of the jumbotron and posted it the next day on her TikTok account, summed up the entire incident nicely: “Those who play stupid games…win stupid prizes.” Her video reached over 50 million views after only a few days.
5 PR Lessons from This Coldplay Concert Kiss Cam Crisis
Let’s focus on the PR lessons learned from this incident:
- Have a crisis communications plan ready to implement – Your corporate communications executive or PR lead should prepare for every possible crisis scenario. That includes natural disasters, a shooting, product recall, etc. OK, you’re not going to have a scenario specifically titled, “CEO caught on video at a concert having a supposed affair with his company’s HR lead.” But what you should have is what to do if someone on the executive team does something highly unethical and/or breaks the law.
- Take immediate, swift action – It took five days before the interim Astronomer CEO Pete DeJoy issued an official statement on July 21 on behalf of the company. Five days. That’s way too long. And it’s a disappointing statement. The second paragraph launches into a blatant promotion for the company. The third paragraph only alludes to the incident. The rest of the statement touts the resiliency of the company and its employees. I’m about 100% certain a PR pro wrote this for DeJoy — one not trained in authenticity. It reads more like a rallying cry to the Astronomer employees than a public statement.
Kudos for Astronomer for linking to the interim CEO’s statement on the company’s home page, but shame for making it as small and inconspicuous as possible (see image below, magnifying glass recommended).
However, the company did post on July 18 in a very timely manner on X: “Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is currently serving as interim CEO given Andy Byron has been placed on leave. We will share more details as appropriate in the coming days.”
That was a swift response, given the video was posted the day before and it probably took a day to realize the magnitude of the situation. Their July 19 X post was very good:
- Vet your employees, especially those in leadership positions – Do your best to hire those who embrace ethics and have integrity. Weave ethics into your corporate culture, your values. Make it who you are. Have your employees sign an ethics pledge — and be clear what happens when it’s broken. And if it’s confirmed someone at the top violates it? Resignation should be immediate and non-negotiable. The guilty party should also agree to issue a statement within 24 hours that accepts ownership for the action. This will help protect the company’s reputation by further separating the person from the company.
- Have a succession plan – If the CEO is forced to resign, know ahead of time who will immediately step in to lead the company and right the ship. Astronomy had an interim CEO announced within two days. That’s pretty swift. Kudos.
- Give PR a direct report to the CEO/executive team – I don’t know what Astronomy’s corporate org chart is, but this is the classic example of why the lead PR person should not be under the marketing umbrella. Marketing has ZERO to do with crisis communications. They’re not trained in it. Marketing sells the brand. PR defends the brand when it’s under attack. It should act as the conscience of your company. The lead PR person at a company needs a seat at the table and a direct report to the CEO (or the person next in line).
The 3 Big Takeaways
- Massive press coverage is awesome — unless it’s for the wrong reasons.
- Ethics should never be optional — especially from those in trusted leadership positions.
- Have a crisis communications plan in place ready to immediately implement.
I’ve never intentionally listened to Coldplay before. Are they a 90s band? 2000s? I have no idea. What song(s) should I check out by them? Do share!
In the meantime, embrace authenticity (and not fellow employees at a concert — or ANYWHERE for that matter).
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR (seen here in a vintage photo circa 1983 serendipitously doing a Clash impersonation in a since-forgotten location) is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s the Chief Authentic Officer of the Johnson City, TN-based public relations firm, AuthenticityPR. He also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University (rise and shout!). He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, write songs, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
