How much does the issue of the blackout in the League 1 final affect the image and reputation of the club?
Yes, unfortunately the person involved is a traditional Peruvian soccer club. This situation of Alianza Lima has become a communication case precisely to show everything that should not be done in the face of a crisis. First of all, we are talking about a reputation crisis, not an image crisis, it is a reputation crisis because there are facts involved, there are actions. An image crisis is different because in that crisis it is generally what is said, what is talked about, what is commented, what is rumored about a certain person, organization, product, service. On the other hand, the reputation crisis is already facts, they are actions, they are experiences, that is, there is evidence of what happened. In the case of Alianza Lima, from the first moment, it faced a reputation crisis due to turning off the lights, then a series of events began that aggravated and maintained the crisis. Now the authorities from various angles need to take action on what happened that day of the blackout at the Matute stadium.
How much does this crisis of Alianza’s reputation affect business, marketing and sponsorship?
When we talk about a reputation crisis it is much more difficult, the severity is greater, and above all because the reputation crisis is marked as an indelible stain or as a scar in the history of organizations, people, the products. The reality that this crisis will always be talked about in the future and at some point there will always be someone who mentions it or brings it up. On the other hand, when we talk about an image crisis, which is not necessarily proven, which is what is said, what is rumored, at some point it begins to fade and could disappear.
After the incident, no one from Alianza came forward to acknowledge the mistake…
In fact, here come the other parts of the crisis that were present. The first thing is the denial, when that happened a delegate came out to say that this was a matter for the authorities. The second is the lie, because it was also claimed that other people had said or done such a thing. Subsequently, the club’s own communication management also came, through its famous statement, in which they argued that the blackout was to promote a quick exit from the stadium when it is totally contradictory, what generated panic. Until this moment, no club authority has come forward to show their face, to apologize for the case, to confront the situation. The crisis continues and there is an investigation by the prosecutor’s office and also by the Peruvian Football Federation, which has said that it would take disciplinary measures.
The statement that Alianza published must have gone through more than one filter…
We as viewers, perhaps analyzing it from a communication perspective or as the general public, think that there have been filters or that there must have been a process, that the text was collated before coming to light, that is what is logical or reasonable. However, when one reads this text it seems that there was none of that, simply a reactive reaction, there was not even the awareness of putting oneself in the place of who this statement was directed to, which was not only his fans, but it was the general population who already had a feeling against what had happened. Furthermore, let us remember that at the time of releasing the statement this news had already gone around the world and in a shameful way, leaving not only Alianza Lima, but also Peruvian football very bad. By not having gone through the minimum elementary steps when an organization issues a statement, the result is worse than the disease, because it has been the subject of criticism and has been the subject of analysis, as it is content that is totally irrational with what it should be. This statement increases the reputational damage because now we are no longer only talking about the bad actions of the club, the bad actions of the authorities or the people in charge of this event in the stadium, but we are also talking about poor communication management and the communication team that does not have professional abilities to react appropriately. Let’s assume that the club authorities do not have communication knowledge, so for that you have a communications area with professionals or you should have one so that they can recommend the most appropriate communication reaction, here there has not been one. They released this statement that has been like more fuel on the fire, that is what has happened at the communication level, a terrible management that also now leaves the people who work in that area in a very bad position.
The reputational crisis has escalated to greater levels as it has made international news…
When the crisis reaches these dimensions, this transcendence at an international level, it is no longer just talking about a club or a final, it is talking about the country. It is no longer speaking in a particular tone, but in a general tone, we are talking about a team from Peru, with people in Peru, sports leadership in Peru, then Peru’s reputation also begins to be tarnished at a sporting level. This is also one of the dimensions that has not been measured to adequately manage the crisis. This also reveals that an organization like this does not have a professional communication management team, due to how poorly it is managed. This is not exclusive to Alianza Lima, in the Peruvian case we have companies from all sectors in which they have handled crises very poorly. The unfortunate thing is that we do not learn from it and that such basic mistakes continue to be made and the worst of all is that the country’s reputation is already affected. This forces the authorities, be it the prosecutor’s office on the one hand and the Peruvian Football Federation on the other, to take exemplary measures so that it is sanctioned, so that this does not happen again, and to try to accommodate the reputation a little. from the country. If in the end this happens and there is no sanction, the country’s reputation will continue to be affected. We will talk later about how this happened and how the authorities have not taken any measures to precisely punish, sanction, what should have been sanctioned.
With this reputation crisis, how much does the issue of business and sponsorship affect the club?
It will have a lot to do with what is called the sponsors’ scale of values. If I have a sponsor who has a very strict scale of values and does not agree with what happened, they can deny me the sponsorship. Now if I have a sponsoring company whose scale of values is not so extreme, but rather medium, suddenly they think about it, hold on for a bit and then continue. For those who are not absolutely interested in this, they continue betting because what interests them most is visibility, what interests them most is having the advertising factor, what interests them most are sales. So, that’s what I mean, it has to do with your scale of values. However, this also impacts the reputation of the sponsor. Let’s look at cases that have happened in other fields, when there has been an influencer who has been reported for some hostile behavior against the company, the sponsors have immediately reacted and removed the sponsorship, because they did not want their brand to be linked to this character. So, a similar behavior could occur with Alianza Lima, it will depend on the values of the sponsoring companies. So this has to be handled very carefully.
Does the reputational crisis worsen much more when there are also judicial factors?
It’s not that it gets so bad, it’s that it damages the case more. Because if we had talked about a blackout in a stadium with two teams of calichines, of neighborhood people, well, look, suddenly it is an event that has had danger, that has had an impact, but it no longer goes beyond that, it does not go beyond that local level, it does not transcend. However, not here, we are talking about a final of the national championship, with the two most traditional teams, we are talking about much higher levels of visibility, and we are talking about the club as Alianza Lima, that is what makes it more serious. and greater media visibility. And if, in addition, then the Judiciary has to intervene, which is the complaint that the prosecutor’s office can make, then the crisis will continue until the measures, sanctions, and consequences of this action are finally given. That is the danger faced by a character or organization that has that level of notoriety, like Alianza Lima.
What errors have you identified in this reputational crisis?
At the beginning it was the evasion of responsibility, the delegate who was interviewed as soon as the game ended said that the blackout had nothing to do with them, that it was a matter for the authorities. Second, the lie, the deception, because then he attributed the responsibility to third parties who had absolutely nothing to do with it. There is also irresponsibility and negligence, there was no action on the part of the club to help the audience in the middle of the blackout. Because if you tell me that there were complementary measures to deal with this issue, suppose it was due to electrical issues in the area, they should have had an emergency plan and there it is revealed that there was no emergency plan either, that is, there is negligence of part of the club. And then comes the issue of evasion of responsibility with the statement, of not wanting to face reality, the lie appears again. Finally, I would add, although it sounds very harsh, cowardice, because up to this moment there is no authority in the club who has come out to show their face, to give explanations, to apologize, to even say anything. So, all of this precisely means that the crisis persists, it is a great wound that is very difficult to close, and it will always be present throughout the world, in the fans, in the managers, in Peruvian football, as a bad example of What a bad loser this team is, and they will surely be blamed for it all the time. They have not measured the consequences of the situation.
What should Alianza Lima have done after the blackout?
The thing is that until now there is no official version of what really happened, everything is in the field of speculation. Everything we are analyzing is only what we know and what is undeniable. But what is behind it, that is, knowing what are the things that were ordered, why they ordered it, and all that type of things, we still don’t know. So, not knowing that, it is woven into many speculations. The person who must leave has to say what the truth is, because if not, as long as this chapter is not closed, the crisis will remain open, regardless of the sanctions that there may be, that is, this crisis does not end there.
How to respond to this crisis?
Admitting responsibility, there has to be an admission of responsibility that until now has not been anywhere, and there has not been because the truth is not known. If they accuse me of something that I have not committed and I have the evidence, that’s it, the crisis is over. On the other hand, if they accuse me of something and I really did it, what do you have left? Accept it and see how to try to repair what I have done. Not here, here we are in nothingness, here we are in the air. So, as long as we continue in that air, in that vacuum, the crisis will continue and we will continue talking about the Alianza Lima blackout.
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