PR lessons from Cecil’s death

The dust raised by the death of Cecil, the iconic lion that was hunted down three months ago, appears to have settled since the hunter, Walter Palmer, finally broke silence over his infamous act. While this is a case of a brutal killing of a famous lion there are PR lessons to be leant from the whole episode.

The slaying of Cecil triggered sympathy, mourning, revenge, justice and raging debate on the issue in different parts of the world with the media, prominent people and celebrities sharing their experiences with Cecil.

The Cecil case revealed the linear object PR or product PR. Cecil was a popular animal (product) in the Hwange National Park.

After its death Cecil’s name and popularity surpassed the popularity of its home, the Hwange National Park, which is the largest game reserve in the country.

The Cecil case is a clear issue of object PR where the object or product is magnified more than its parent root or organisation.

That kind of PR practice is very dangerous for the reputation and image of the parent root or organisation.

For instance, in this case nobody could magnify the reputation and image of the Hwange National Park and its staff and how they nurtured Cecil to become the popular and respected lion it was.

Can anyone magnify the KFC drumstick without magnifying KFC?

Can anyone magnify the Coca-Cola soft drink without magnifying the Coca-Cola company?

Can anyone magnify OK Grand Challenge without magnifying the organisation behind it — OK Zimbabwe?

Certainly not, because the product and the organisation make the corporate image and reputation.

In the case of Cecil no one applauded the staff that looked after the lion, in PR it is difficult to separate the tree from its fruit.

As much as it is sad to lose such a revered beast in the mould of Cecil, the whole issue exposes gaps in corporate identity ownership.

In today’s corporate world all elements of an organisation have got to own the corporate identity of the said organisation.

That means every worker from the least to the greatest have to own the spine and vision of an organisation.

Corporate identity ownership can never be sacrificed either in bad or good times. Cecil’s reputation should entail the reputation of the Hwange National Park.

Even those who made petitions for the arrest of the hunter, Palmer, at the White House never made petitions for the enactment of regulations to protect the surviving “Cecils” within the Hwange National Park.

The people involved failed to appreciate corporate identity ownership of the national park and its animals.

PR requires the appreciation and understanding of organisational culture. Cecil’s demise informed us of the lack of organisational culture appreciation.

Mourning a lion is weird in these parts of the world but not for people abroad. Understanding the organisational culture would not have taken the Cecil issue thus far no matter how much tourism lucre the lion brought.

When a crisis occurs it can only be managed from within and not from the sky. The Cecil case revealed to all PR practitioners that crisis management is not done from the sky but from within.

While we expected to see the national park taking centre stage on the Cecil issue it was not to be as outsiders and onlookers tried to manage the crisis from the eagle’s eye-view.

While calls for Palmer’s arrest were made here they were louder from outside. It is important to note that crisis management is harnessed and planned from within. Outside influence can only be used to the benefit of the internal craft.

PR practitioners must never allow a scenario where certain characters mourn more than the bereaved.

It is dangerous for organisations to allow other stakeholders and publics to take central roles in such crises.

That may actually damage the organisational image further. There is no doubt that the Cecil case presented a lot of questions, answers and lessons in the way it was magnified but it is important to know how, as PR practitioners, we should navigate the terrain of our organisations to spruce up their images and reputation.

• This article was prepared by the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations. For feedback, comments and inquiries on the work of ZIPR, please email [email protected] .