Mergers, acquisitions, takeovers – they all come with an element of trepidation, if not risk.
Any communication professional worth their salt should pre-empt potential crises with a cohesive list of FAQs, possible outcomes and potential impact among stakeholders and colleagues.
This week has seen the culmination of a great example of how to counteract potential negativity with proactive clear communication, talking with your audiences, transparency of process and humour. Realise this example is not applicable for every sector or business model, but take a look and let me know what you think. Some food for thought, for sure.
Introducing RR McReynolds Company, LLC
Coming straight outta North Wales, Wrexham AFC hit the headlines earlier this year, when it was revealed that Hollywood royalty were in talks to takeover the club.
Courtesy of BBC website
Ryan Reynolds (of Deadpool and Sexiest Man Alive fame) and Rob McElhenney (star of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) have become joint-owners with a whopping 98% of fans backing their plan.
Described as "a few wild months", RR McReynolds Company LLC (great name BTW), approached one of the club directors through an intermediary before agreeing terms for a takeover bid, that then had to be approved by the supporters trust.
Wrexham AFC, founded in 1864, became fan-owned in 2011 when the Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST) took control of the club. The past few years have been full of the ups and downs of football – playing and financially – but they were not actively seeking any investment.
For Wrexham, a lower league team – and third-oldest club in the world – this is the stuff of dreams.
Mission statement goals
Something that sums up the approach of the two gents is the construct and tone of voice in their mission statement – usually a relatively dry, ambiguous piece of material.
A few points to pick out:
Set the tone within the first few sentences; engage your audience – “We’re two people who’ve made a career of never taking ourselves too seriously. However, we realise taking stewardship of this great and storied club is an incredibly serious matter and something we don’t take lightly. With that in mind, we wanted to take you through our Goal, Principles and Promises.”
Communicate honestly and openly – “Everything we do will be informed by these four principles and never one without the other. We want to be part of Wrexham's story, not drag the club into ours.”
Relevancy with your audience, albeit via humour – Wrexham, as with most sports teams, have a rival; “Always beat Chester“ is repeated three times, last one in CAPS.
Hard Promises; eleven, tangible detailed assurances (some local) to benchmark success and work towards: – including “Guarantee the club cannot be relocated, renamed or rebranded”, “Recognise and reinforce Wrexham AFC's role as a leading force for community good in the town“ and “Invest in a permanent training facility that is worthy of an EFL club.”
See the full statement here: https://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/news/extraordinary-ballot-rob-mcelhenney-and-ryan-reynolds-mission-statement
Charm offensive
This week, they announced the ownership in a special way, revealing an epic video released to announce their success (see below), with a great shout out to main sponsor Ifor Williams Trailers, and Reynolds sharing a recent post of him following games from the US.
Furthermore, the guys seem properly nice people – McElhenney recently paid for the accessible bathroom renovation of a disabled Wrexham fan, and Reynolds is a big supporter of both Make a Wish and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Good luck to them, and to Wrexham.
So, what do you think of the takeover comms? Do you think the story is PR spin, genuine interest and engagement, or something in-between?
Let me know your thoughts below.