If I Were Bukalapak (Amid Netizens’ Criticism)

Another Indonesian tech giant has been hit by a crisis: Bukalapak. I’m sure most of us who frequently browse social media and read online news are already aware of how a tweet by Bukalapak CEO Achmad Zaky sparked outrage among netizens and negative coverage in the Indonesian media.

Timeline of the Bukalapak Crisis

“Bukalapak CEO Admits Mistake, Assures Tweet Wasn’t Related to Presidential Election,” read the headline on Detik.com just a few minutes ago. Meanwhile, harsh and scathing comments from netizens continue to pour in on the second day of the Bukalapak crisis. Within 48 hours of Achmad Zaky’s tweet about “nonsense R&D funding” and the phrase “new president”—which ignited the anger of many—there were already around 180 articles containing the hashtag #uninstallbukalapak, not including TV or print news reports.

Netizens’ comments, as usual, are five times more scathing than media coverage. On Twitter, the number of tweets using #uninstallbukalapak is approaching 70,000, with 80–90 percent expressing negative views toward Achmad Zaky—a sentiment that has spread to the Bukalapak app itself.

“REPORT BUKALAPAK ON THE PLAY STORE… GOOGLE WILL SHUT IT DOWN TOO… 1. SEARCH FOR BUKALAPAK ON THE PLAY STORE 2. CLICK THE THREE-DOT MENU IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER 3. CLICK ‘REPORT AS INAPPROPRIATE’ 4. CLICK …” reads a comment by @Sri Purbahayu Salserosa on her Facebook wall.

And this call to uninstall isn’t just empty talk. On the App Store (where users generally have higher purchasing power and “should” be better educated), Bukalapak’s rating has dropped from 4.4 to 4.3, with over a hundred 1-star reviews in the last 48 hours. The most critical aspect of Bukalapak’s crisis isn’t about public perception or the negative media coverage.

Judging by the crises that have already hit Tokopedia and Traveloka, the barrage of criticism will subside within the next 4–7 days. The media will move on to other stories, and netizens will find new issues to comment on.

But what we need to watch out for is the “invisible long-term effect” that previously occurred with Uber and Grab.

As I’ve written before, Uber founder Travis Kalanick’s failure to address negative perceptions about the company’s toxic, macho culture and sexual harassment in the workplace ultimately led to his “firing” by shareholders. Meanwhile, at Grab, the company’s arrogance in its response to the 2016 protests led many Grab partners to cement the company’s reputation as one that mistreats its partners—even a year after the crisis had subsided. 

The Formula for Calming Netizens

In the world of public relations—or corporate communications, if we’re in Bukalapak’s position—crises on social media are nothing new, but they’re also not something that’s fully understood or easily resolved. Crisis management protocols developed by seasoned PR professionals long ago have primarily focused on mitigating negative media coverage and addressing the concerns of stakeholders—such as shareholders, employees, business partners, consumers, the government, and relevant communities.

But a formula for calming netizens’ anger doesn’t yet exist in the PR world. This morning, I challenged the team at Media Buffet to brainstorm what we might do if we were in Bukalapak’s shoes. Several ideas emerged (of course, after following standard protocols such as identifying the problem, listening to stakeholders’ concerns, and forming a crisis team), for example:

1) Consolidate internally via a town hall meeting. Here, AZ must clarify the intent of his tweet in front of all Bukalapak employees. The goal is to align perceptions and ensure no employee adds “fuel to the fire” by leaking emails (as happened at Tokopedia) or letting critical voices be heard externally.

2) Once Bukalapak realizes that AZ’s apology tweet was ineffective, they—or whichever agency is currently handling the matter—can try to reach out to President Jokowi’s inner circle with the same intention: to set the record straight. Reach out to PDIP figures or Jokowi’s campaign team to demonstrate that Bukalapak is genuinely serious about apologizing and setting the record straight. This is important because as you read this, the media is actively seeking a statement from President Jokowi’s camp, asking for their response to AZ’s tweet. If key figures in President Jokowi’s camp do not feel they have been properly approached, there is a high likelihood they will issue an offensive statement that will prolong the cycle of negative coverage surrounding Bukalapak.

3) Paying a courtesy call to key figures in Jokowi’s camp will pave the way for a meeting to set the record straight and apologize to Jokowi himself. Why does AZ need to apologize to him? Because the Indonesian public is more easily moved by sincere apologies and genuine actions. It’s pointless for AZ to apologize to Jokowi supporters out there via his tweets. Because text-based communication doesn’t come across as sincere to most Indonesians. But this isn’t easy and it takes time to secure a meeting with the President of Indonesia.

4) If, for various reasons, step 3 cannot be fulfilled, there are several other options. AZ and Bukalapak can create a short video to apologize and clarify their intentions to President Jokowi regarding the unrest they’ve caused. Why a video? Because gestures, intonation, and facial expressions that convey sincerity are much easier to perceive. This video won’t be 100 percent effective, but it will be more effective than just a tweet. Video is also a medium that’s easy to share with Bukalapak’s various stakeholders—from employees and Bukalapak merchant partners across Indonesia to shareholders at Emtek.

5) An unconventional approach Bukalapak could take is to reframe AZ’s tweet into something positive. Bukalapak has done this before on Youth Pledge Day. It certainly won’t be that easy, though, because AZ has touched on one of the two most sensitive issues in Indonesia: politics (the second being religion). This aligns with the reputation Bukalapak has built through its content—unconventional and creative. If Bukalapak takes this route, the condition is that option number 4 above must not be implemented first.

There’s no approach that’s 100 percent guaranteed to succeed and go smoothly for Bukalapak and Achmad Zaky, but once again, if I were in their shoes, this is what I would do.

Most importantly, following this incident, Bukalapak’s team and PR agency must scrutinize every piece of content released by its executives, word for word. The thought leadership that AZ has been practicing is superb, and I always recommend it to clients because it effectively builds AZ’s own reputation as a key opinion leader in the digital economy—and automatically boosts Bukalapak’s reputation along with it.

But thought leadership via social media also carries many risks if not handled in a structured way. For example, this post of mine, which I suspect will be duplicated (in full or in part) by whichever agency is currently handling the crisis at Bukalapak.

In any case, as someone who has witnessed Bukalapak’s growth from its early days—and as a friend of Zaky, his wife Evi, and the Bukalapak PR team—this post is free advice from a friend dating back to 2014.

Good luck, Bukalapak!