The Math of Undertracking

[amirnetz]

redspear said:
I am not picking on Sony here it is just that at the start of this gen theywere the worst aggravators of the type thing we are discussing here.

So amirnetz you mean to tell me that when Sony announced that the famous Killzone 2 trailer was actual in game realtime footage and not a target render that they were breaking the law?

Remember when Sony said the PS3 was sold out in a PR statement and the internet flooded with pictures of it in complete stock?
(it was likely sold out at one or two retailers)

Or win they made a PR statement about the PS3 being cheaper than the 360?
(after they added the HD-DVD player, 20 GB HDD and wireless controller and XBOX live gold account to the cost of a core system)

This is what companies do they spin during the PR announcements. This isn't the same type of claim and much more grouunded in reality but you can see how a good PR person can stretch the tiniest grain of a fact and push into an exageration.

BTW if we are undertracking here how about NPD. The fact is there is a bigger more established I will not say more accurate but no offense Ioi (I love this site) more reliable data source for this sort of thing GFK and chart track. Have you looked at those.

It is a fact that PR statements are not held to the same standards as aquarterly report and even if it were than it is not enforced and therefor Null.
As you can see from the above the truth is irrelevant and if the actual number were 4.6 they CAN round it up 5 million if they wanted tobecasue 5 is closer to 4.6 and they are releasing a whole number. It could also be an approximation based on a cursory glance of reprots as well the truth is you I don't know. But to take a PR statement as gold and instead of adding it to the bigger picture makes you look narrow.

BTW forgive the typos I have to write these posts fast at work.

Let me tackle this one-by-one...

First, the "breaking the law" part has only to do with business performance statements (sales, profits, etc). The law does not deal with general PR statements that are not about business performance. That said, lying in a public statement on anything can get you liable in a civil case (for example, bragging about a feature that does not exist could get you into Class Action suit).

Please understand, lying is just bad business in general and the market punish you severely you can tell the truth 100 times and lie only once and the market will remember the one lie. This is why businesses try as hard as they can not to do it. The KZ2 example is a great one. It’s been 4 years and we still all remember it. Whoever did the mistake for saying it was a live game footage (likely an innocent mistake being fed misinformation from Gorilla, or maybe even intentional lie) is probably wishing he could have a "redo" on this. Similarly, the comments by Trenton about the unavailability of the PS3 in early 2007 were treated just as severely by the market (as can see - we all still remember them). I am pretty sure that Trenton thought it is true when he said it as he would not be so stupid knowingly tell a lie that can be refuted in minutes. Again, neither of those are about business performance so there is no law breaking. But both of these were cases where the actual facts were not verified properly and the consequences to the company image and credibility were severe.

BTW, the "PS3  being cheaper than the 360" from Sony was not lying. They were trying to show that the value of the PS3 is better than a similarly configured 360.  This was absolutely fair game and a common practice to show that your deal is better.

Back to business performance statements. You are not allowed to round the numbers when you are reporting business performance. This is a big no-no and can land you with criminal charges. This is serious business and professionals just don't mess around with this. When it comes to business performance, if the numbers don't look good then you have the option of keeping your mouth shut and say nothing. If you do go with a public statement then it is on real, verified numbers.

I feel that some members here have this mental image of the PR guys regularly sitting in a smoke filled room plotting the next set of lies to tell. Some of you think that companies feel they have freedom with the truth. It is so easy to demonize the “greedy companies who’ll stop at nothing to get what they want”. For those of you I beg to grow up a little. This is just not how it works.

If you look back at every case where a company was caught with an inaccurate statement and realize the major negative consequences of each one of these cases, you’ll understand why companies try so hard to be accurate and why every statement is vetted so carefully. It is just very bad business to be caught with a lie or even inaccuracy. The market just crucifies you. These “greedy companies” knows it and knows that to have a better business they must not be caught with a lie. This is just the ABC of PR and enterprise business in general.

And then there is the other level – lying about your business performance. That could really land you in jail.