Quote:
Originally Posted by nimblem
kind of seems odd that a company rep wouldn't take the time to reply to peoples thoughts even if they are directed towards her....
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No, it doesn't. RobertB was, as company reps go, *weird.* Most PR people are supposed to be polite and distant, never say anything that might make people annoyed with either the company or the rep herself.
Jenifer's stuck in a hard space here--she's taking over for someone who was well-liked for reasons that have very little to do with the company. It's possible she doesn't know the details about him leaving.
Maybe he was fired. Maybe he is in a rougher spot physically than it seemed. Maybe he was tired of endlessly hyping a product that he knows is going to be constantly compared to the now-cheaper competition with more bells-and-whistles. Maybe his leaving included a "six months away from MR" clause, to let us get used to the new company rep. Maybe everything's fine, and on retiring, he immediately left for a two-month no-internet restful vacation.
Whatever his reasons for not speaking up, they aren't Jenifer's fault, nor her problem to fix. (If there's a problem at all.) And there is *nothing* she can do to make this easier.
If she were as enthusiastic as Robert, she'd be accused of trying to copy his style. If she replies to every comment that's suspicious of Astak's actions, she'd quickly find herself caught in a defensive flamewar. If she tries to cajole people into giving Astak "the benefit of the doubt," she'll be perceived as a corporate shill. (Which she is. But so was Robert, and we liked him.)
Polite & distant isn't bad; it's what we've seen from the handful of other company reps who've spoken up. It's just not what we're used to from Astak.
And, as mentioned, maybe she's focusing more on Facebook. I don't have, and am not planning to get, a Facebook account, so that part of the ad campaign will entirely skip me. Shrug.
I've got no hard feelings. Maybe a touch of suspicion about the switch without warning, but only a touch. I am rather sad that we've lost our happy-friendly Astak rep; I'll get over that.