American Idol’s Crisis of Confidence Could Become a Marketing Advantage

Authored By: Richard Levick
May 28, 2009

P.T. Barnum's old expression that "all publicity is good publicity" doesn' t always hold true in the realm of crisis communications. In fact, it rarely does. But as controversy swirls around accusations that recently crowned American Idol Kris Allen won the title via voting irregularities, as opposed to god-given talent, producers of the hit series might be wise to take those words to heart.

At the center of the issue are reports that AT&T employees attended viewing parties in Kris Allen' s hometown and showed his supporters (who were admittedly rooting for a heavy underdog) how to cast a number of votes at once via "power texting." Whether this altered the final results remains unknown, as the vote differential has not been released.

Even though the show' s producers have unequivocally announced that "Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol," thousands of bloggers are crying foul, leading the American public to question the legitimacy of the closed-door tabulation process - and of the show altogether.

As I said in an interview that appeared in this morning' s USA Today, American Idol has nothing to lose by releasing the final results. If the differential is so great that a few "power-texters" couldn' t possibly have affected the outcome, case closed. But if the race is as tight as some expect, making the results public could evolve into a tremendous marketing opportunity if handled the right way.

For instance, why not do something along the lines of "Who Shot J.R.?" and hold a special American Idol rematch on July 4th that showcases Patriotic Americana at its transparent and ratings-inducing best. Not only would this say something about American Idol' s commitment to accuracy; it would keep millions of viewers riveted over the slow summer months as well.

In crisis communications, it is often more important to get out of the news than it is to get into it. But in this particular case - where an issue can be turned into something that keeps viewers interested till next season - it may very well be in American Idol and AT&T' s best interests to keep this story going for at least another episode.

Richard Levick is President and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog.