A major part of effective public relations is handling negative news tactfully. Ola Cabs’ CEO Bhavish Aggarwal found himself stranded in a heated exchange with comedian Kunal Kamra, who slammed the company’s electric scooter servicing on social media. The backlash was immediate. Here industry experts share their perspectives on why brands must learn to roll with the punches rather than browbeat the critic.
Stick to facts, keep your emotions aside
Aashna Iyer
AVP Corporate Strategy & Talent Development, BC Web Wise
As a business leader and public figure, one should realise that negative sentiment voiced online is a customer insight and treat it as such. Reacting, rebutting and trying to win an argument is best left to platforms of debate.
Most people don’t stop to assess the consequences of the messages they are putting out. In fact, most people don’t realise that as brands or brand custodians, everything they put into public view is a message. Audiences today are not blind to the flaws of organisations — but when a leader cannot accept those being pointed out with grace, the message received is that they don’t accept critique.
The most damaging part of this exchange is the fact that it makes a business leader look like a child on a playground, engaging in fights with anyone who passes a comment. Not a great look for someone who’s trying to run a business.
The sad reality is that for the online audience who are all just following along for the entertainment factor of this exchange — it’s all just a big joke! The organisation suffers because it looks like their leadership cannot take critique or accountability, the individual suffers because it shows them in a very poor light, and the actual commenter was just voicing his opinion, and has no skin in the game. This tweet could have been handled with dignity and turned into a chance for Bhavish Aggarwal to maybe even take on an interview with Kunal Kamra and address the issues called out with transparency, or any action that showcases intent to excel. Unfortunately, it was handled carelessly, and with emotion rather than practicality, and has led to a snowball effect of negative results.
Line between publicity, PR disaster is thin
Chetna Israni
Director & Co-founder, Morning Star BrandCom
Its noise. It’s not even publicity. And this screeching noise caused a 9% drop in its stock price following the dispute, wiping out approximately `3,500
crore in market value.Financial loss of this nature underscores how mishandled communication can directly impact a company’s bottom line and investor confidence.
The incident also highlighted and amplified the existing customer service issues at Ola. What started as one comedian’s criticism snowballed into a flood of complaints from dissatisfied customers. This public airing of grievances not only damaged Ola’s reputation but also attracted regulatory scrutiny.The Central Consumer Protection Authority issued a show-cause notice to the firm, a fitting response to the customer grievances that kept pouring in.
Aggarwal missed an opportunity for positive engagement. Instead of addressing the concerns raised constructively, the aggressive approach escalated the situation. If only he had used the conversation towards customer engagement! Whatever happened to learning the most from your unhappiest customer?
His confrontational response to Kamra was viewed as unprofessional, damaging both his personal and the brand’s reputation. In today’s scrutiny-heavy environment, every public interaction counts. The rapid spread of this dispute on social media platforms amplified its impact far beyond what might have been a private disagreement in the past.
In our interconnected world, the line between publicity and public relations disaster is thin. The potential for negative publicity to cause real, measurable harm to a business is greater than ever before.
Before you make noise, consider whether you’d want to hear its echo.
Don’t let a single misstep snowball into a huge crisis
Tripti Sharma
Co-founder, High Hopes Communication Consultancy
In today’s hyper-connected world, bad publicity can be more than just a temporary embarrassment—it can hit where it hurts the most, the bottom line. The spat between Bhavish and Kunal Kamra perfectly illustrates how a single misstep can snowball into a full-blown crisis for a brand. Public figures, especially founders of high-profile companies, have to tread carefully because, thanks to social media, any public exchange can
go viral in minutes, turning a small comment into a reputation-damaging disaster.
In Ola’s case, the spat not only became a PR nightmare but also made people question the company’s leadership and overall stability. There’s a growing intolerance towards aggressive behaviour from corporate heads, and when something like this happens, it sticks in people’s minds. The public’s perception now holds more weight than ever before in determining a company’s success, and bad publicity can directly affect financial performance. It’s no longer just about bouncing back from a scandal. The world we live in today means brands have to think twice before engaging in any controversy, as the stakes are higher than ever.
Stay balanced in the eye of a storm
Rachna Baruah
Founder, Madchatter Brand Solutions
More often than not, it is important for leaders to pay heed to the recommendations of the corporate communications team. This entire issue could have been avoided had Aggarwal decided to let go of the initial tweet and instead worked on fixing things on-ground.
In some scenarios, it is okay if a publicity spike brings back a mental brand recall among audiences but it is a different game when you are a listed firm, and such spikes can have an adverse impact on shareholders and retail investors at large.
I think as a leader of a large organisation, it’s important to be seen as calm and balanced in the eye of a storm so that the board and shareholders have the reliance on the person to lead a company through the ebbs and flows of vortexes. It’s also about the tone one uses while retorting to tough situations, which showcases a glimpse of the person’s psyche and triggers that may be a vulnerability to showcase publicly.
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