Communications Plan Addressing Livestrong's Pressing Reputational Issues
Communications Plan Addressing Most Pressing Reputational Issues Facing Livestrong
Background of current issue facing Livestrong Foundation
Lance Armstrong – the 7 time Tour De France winner, cancer survivor and founding chairman of the Livestrong Foundation, has been facing a lot of pressure and criticism from the media and the public due to allegations of doping made by the United States Anti Doping Agency (BBC, 2012). On October 17 2012 Armstrong resigned as Chairman due to allegation of doping (Mary, 2012). In November 2012, Lance Armstrong officially stepped down from the board of directors and ended his association with the Livestrong Foundation which was then known as The Lance Armstrong Foundation (Mclaggan, 2012; Vertuno, 2012).
However, despite this, the opinion of the people towards the Livestrong Foundation is one of prejudice. Many companies who formally endorsed Armstrong have dropped him from their campaigns. Some of these companies were Nike, Trek Bicycles, Giro, FRS (energy products), and 24 Hours Fitness (Petchesky, 2012).
Various reasons were given by the heads of these organizations as to why Armstrong was dropped. FRS Chief of Marketing commented: “this seems like a good time to part ways” while 24 Hours Fitness stated: “our business relationship with Armstrong no longer aligns with our company’s mission and values” (Schrotenboer, 2012). These and many more statements were made in regards to the doping allegations. Armstrong’s reputation and image is currently deteriorating rapidly.
There are many opinions from segments of society (such as the public and the media,) regarding the Livestrong Foundation after this alleged scandal. Here is a brief overview of the situation from various stakeholders (See Appendix for Livestrong Foundation view):
The Public:
The public had varied opinions. There has been one section of people who have stood strongly by Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong Foundation. They stand by the fact that the
Background of current issue facing Livestrong Foundation
Lance Armstrong – the 7 time Tour De France winner, cancer survivor and founding chairman of the Livestrong Foundation, has been facing a lot of pressure and criticism from the media and the public due to allegations of doping made by the United States Anti Doping Agency (BBC, 2012). On October 17 2012 Armstrong resigned as Chairman due to allegation of doping (Mary, 2012). In November 2012, Lance Armstrong officially stepped down from the board of directors and ended his association with the Livestrong Foundation which was then known as The Lance Armstrong Foundation (Mclaggan, 2012; Vertuno, 2012).
However, despite this, the opinion of the people towards the Livestrong Foundation is one of prejudice. Many companies who formally endorsed Armstrong have dropped him from their campaigns. Some of these companies were Nike, Trek Bicycles, Giro, FRS (energy products), and 24 Hours Fitness (Petchesky, 2012).
Various reasons were given by the heads of these organizations as to why Armstrong was dropped. FRS Chief of Marketing commented: “this seems like a good time to part ways” while 24 Hours Fitness stated: “our business relationship with Armstrong no longer aligns with our company’s mission and values” (Schrotenboer, 2012). These and many more statements were made in regards to the doping allegations. Armstrong’s reputation and image is currently deteriorating rapidly.
There are many opinions from segments of society (such as the public and the media,) regarding the Livestrong Foundation after this alleged scandal. Here is a brief overview of the situation from various stakeholders (See Appendix for Livestrong Foundation view):
The Public:
The public had varied opinions. There has been one section of people who have stood strongly by Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong Foundation. They stand by the fact that the
References: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). (2012), “Lance Armstrong receives US Anti-Doping Agency charges.’ [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18435771 [Accessed: 1 December 2012]. Burleigh, N. (2012), ‘Will Livestrong Stay Strong?’ [Online] Available at: http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/will-livestrong-stay-strong?page=0,1 [Accessed: 1 December 2012] CNN (2012) ‘Livestrong bracelet: To wear or not to wear?.’ [Online] Gifford, B. (2012), ‘It 's not about the lab rats.’ [Online]. Available at: http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/athletes/lance-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html?page=all [Accessed: 1 December 2012]. Golly Slater (2012), ‘Golly Slater launches Fresh Start Wales.’ [Online]. Available at: http://www.golleyslater.co.uk/services/public-relations/news/news-detail.php?id=976 [Accessed 29 November 2012] Livestrong (2012) Livestrong Milestones [Online] New York Times (2012) ‘Times Topic: Lance Armstrong.’ [Online]. Available at: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/lance_armstrong/index.html [Accessed: 1 December 2012]. Schrotenboer, B. (2012), ‘Livestrong: Only 8 donors asked for their money back.’ [Online]. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2012/11/12/livestrong-lance-armstrong-doping/1700831/ [Accessed: 1 December 2012]. Scope (2012), ‘The Spastics Society to Scope: The story of the name change and relaunch November in 1994.’ [Online] Available at: http://www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdfs/History/Scope_name_change.pdf [Accessed: 1 December 2012]. Vertuno, J Wall Street Journal (2012) Statement by Lance Armstrong [Online]. Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303734204577464962634804348.html [Accessed: 1 December 2012].