ELECTRIC NEWS
OH ODEX
IT'S BEEN A PR DISASTER
By Liew Hanqing
September 06, 2007
ON the surface, it was a righteous enforcement exercise. Good money
was spent hiring top lawyers. The weight of the law was on their
side.
But did local anime distributor Odex, now perceived as 'download
enemy No 1', neglect a critical aspect of their action?
We're talking about public relations (PR). We're talking about
being upfront and open - early.
Could the public relations nightmare it now faces have been avoided
with a bit more transparency?
Last week, the beleaguered company finally organised a press
conference to set the record straight. It was reactive, rather than
proactive.
After nearly a month, it finally refuted rife public speculation
that it could make up to $15 million in payments from errant
downloaders, and accusations that it was a heavy-handed bully which
targeted teenagers in its crackdown.
The answers are now out in the open. But whether they will placate
the Internet community is another question.
Before the press conference, Odex kept mum about how much it had
received, what they intend to do with the money, and how many
letters it had sent to those who allegedly downloaded anime
illegally.
Now, it says an independent auditor will look over all the
company's accounts on its collections and the costs of its
enforcement to make sure they are above board. And, after deducting
the enforcement costs, the remainder, if any, will go to
charity.
Odex may have realised that it should have been more transparent to
begin with, but its tardiness has cost it dearly.
The company's crackdown led to a public outcry, including death
threats against director Stephen Sing, an anti-Odex T-shirt
campaign, and an online flaming war.
Public relations veteran RickClements, head of Rick Clements and
Associates, thinks Odex could have handled the matter better.
He said: 'Regardless of the company's legal rights, it was never
going to be easy for Odex to win public support.
'Freeloading is wrong and Odex could not be expected to sit back
and do nothing, but it should have given more thought to the PR
implications of its actions.'
Mr Clements said he feels that Odex should have taken a gentler and
more persuasive approach.
'This would give the offenders time to make a fair and more
affordable settlement. No doubt this would have meant a longer PR
campaign, but not as long as it will take Odex to repair its
reputation,' he said.
And it does seem like Odex is pulling out all the stops to make
peace with the community.
In a 3 Sep announcement made on the company's online forum,
director Stephen Sing said Odex would not send anymore letters to
downloaders it has identified with a recent history of illegal
downloading - provided they stop the downloading activities
immediately.
He also expressed regret over a remark he made on an online forum -
about having 'double-sixed' (a gaming term for hitting)
downloaders, which resulted in him getting flamed.
REPAIRING BRIDGES
He wrote: 'That is entirely my fault, and it has nothing to do with
Odex as a whole. On hindsight, I admit that it was a flippant
remark, and I could have been more sensitive about it.'
Apologies aside, the question remains whether Odex's willingness to
be forthcoming is enough to repair the bridges it has burned.
Managing director Peter Go said he is confident the company will
win back the public's trust.
But Mr Clements says this will be an uphill task.
'Although Odex has offered explanations and clarifications, it is
now a damage limitation exercise.'
