digital crisis communication kristin m. oberlander · digital crisis communication kristin m....

Digital Crisis Communication Kristin M. Oberlander

CASE STUDY

May 7, 2014 Brendan Eich + Firefox 29.0 Launch

In early 2014, Mozilla Firefox readied the release of its new

browser update and appointed company cofounder Brendan

Eich to serve as its CEO. However, Eich’s past political

contributions caused a crisis in the Firefox community that soon

received mainstream media attention. Here is how they

resolved the issue.


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Case Study B R E N D A N E I C H + F I R E F O X 2 9 . 0 L A U N C H

BACKGROUND In 1998, Brendan Eich and Mitchell Baker co-founded the Mozilla Project. Brendan and Mitchell went on to found the non-profit Mozilla Foundation in 2003. The Los Angeles Times reported on Eich’s 2008 political contribution to California Proposition 8. From 1998-2014, Eich served as CTO and SVP Engineering of Mozilla, among other roles.

Mozilla has offices in the United States, Canada, China, Germany, New Zealand, England, and France.

EICH INITIAL DONATION RESPONSE IN 2012 Mitchell Baker addressed the issue with employees in Google Groups. Brendan Eich responded on his personal blog. The former met with discussions about the larger Mozilla mission and Baker engaged with respondents at times. Eich’s response almost a month later was emotional and set the stage for the 2014 uprising.

Statement on Mozilla Governance (March 8, 2012) Excerpt:

If we start to try to make "Mozilla" mean "those people who share not only the Mozilla mission but also my general political / social / religious / environmental view" we will fail. If we focus Mozilla on our shared consensus regarding the Mozilla mission and manifesto then the opportunities before us are enormous. Mozilla's diversity is a success condition. Our mission and our goal is truly global. Our mission taps into a shared desire for respect and control and user sovereignty that runs across cultures and across many other worldviews. We may even offend each other in some of our other views. Despite this, we share a commitment to the Mozilla mission. This is a remarkable achievement and important to our continued success.

- Mitchell Baker

Kristin M. Oberlander

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Personal Blog, BrendanEich.com (April 5, 2012) Excerpt:

2014 EVENT TIMELINE

March 23 | Brendan Eich CEO appointment announced on Mozilla’s Lizard Wrangler blog

March 25 | Mozil la Statement on Diversity company blog post

March 26 | CREDO, a petit ion site for social change, announces that Brendan Eich’s appointment is a target

March 26 | Brendan Eich issues apology on his blog, BrendanEich.com

March 26 | Mitchell Baker, Chair of the Mozilla Foundation, posts a statement, Building a Global, Diverse, Inclusive Mozil la Project : Addressing Controversy (Lizard Wrangler blog)

March 27/28 | News outlets report internal struggle as 10 or fewer Mozilla employees and board members call for Eich’s resignation (WSJ)

March 29 | Mozil la Supports LGBT Equality company blog post

March 30 | CREDO petit ion launched, reaching 65,000 signatures

March 31 | OKCupid announced it will block Firefox users

April 3 | Brendan Eich resigns, Mozilla Press Center and Mozilla Blog


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April 5 | Mozilla releases FAQ on CEO Resignation on company blog

April 14 | Mozilla announces Chris Beard as interim CEO on company blog

April 29 | Mozilla publically unveils Firefox 29.0

KEY CRISIS PERSONNEL The following individuals should be on the crisis team for this issue on the basis of their place in the organization. Roles are assigned as such in blue.

M I T C H E L L B A K E R

E X E C U T I V E C H A I R W O M A N , M O Z I L L A F O U N D A T I O N

ROLE: COMPANY SPOKESPERSON ON ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

MITCHELL HAS BEEN THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE MOZILLA PROJECT SINCE 1999. SHE SERVED AS CEO OF MOZILLA

UNTIL JANUARY 2008, WHEN THE ORGANIZATION’S RAPID GROWTH ENCOURAGED HER TO SPLIT HER RESPONSIBILITIES AND

ADD A CEO.

B R E N D A N E I C H

C H I E F E X E C U T I V E O F F I C E R

ROLE: SPOKESPERSON TO ADDRESS POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

CHRIS BEARD IS THE INTERIM CEO OF MOZILLA CORPORATION AND A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. HE IS A

PASSIONATE ADVOCATE FOR OPEN SOURCE, AND HAS BEEN LEADING OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS IN ENGINEERING, PRODUCT

AND MARKETING ROLES FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS.


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D E B B I E C O H E N

V P , C H I E F O F P E O P L E

ROLE: HUMAN RESOURCES

DEBBIE COHEN CHAMPIONS COLLEAGUES TO BE THEIR BEST SELF AND ENABLES THEM TO CHANGE THE WORLD OF WORK AT A

VALUES-BASED ORGANIZATION WITH STRONG BELIEF IN HUMAN POTENTIAL.

D E N E L L E D I X O N - T H A Y E R

V P , B U S I N E S S A N D L E G A L A F F A I R S

ROLE: ATTORNEY

AS VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS AND LEGAL AFFAIRS, DENELLE DIXON-THAYER LEADS MOZILLA’S LEGAL TEAM AND

MANAGES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND PUBLIC POLICY INITIATIVES. DENELLE JOINED MOZILLA IN 2012 AS ASSOCIATE

GENERAL COUNSEL AFTER WORKING AS AN OUTSIDE ADVISOR TO THE PROJECT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

P E T E S C A N L O N

A C T I N G C H I E F M A R K E T I N G O F F I C E R

ROLE: MARKETING VOICE FOR NEW FIREFOX RELEASE


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SINCE THE DAYS OF DIAL-UP, PETE HAS BEEN PART OF CREATIVE AND TECHNOLOGY TEAMS THAT BUILD OUTSTANDING

EXPERIENCES AND ESTABLISH STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH AUDIENCES. HE CURRENTLY LEADS ALL ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS

FOR MOZILLA AS ITS ACTING CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER.

J O H N A T H A N N I G H T I N G A L E

V I C E P R E S I D E N T , F I R E F O X

ROLE: VOICE OF THE BROWSERR

JOHNATHAN NIGHTINGALE IS MOZILLA’S VICE PRESIDENT OF FIREFOX AND HELPS AN INCREDIBLE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE

BUILD THE BEST WEB BROWSER ON THE PLANET.

U N I T E D S T A T E S P R E S S & S O C I A L M E D I A T E A M : P R E S S @ M O Z I L L A . C O M

T O B E D E T E R M I N E D

ROLE: ASSIST COMPANY SPOKESPERSONS AND DIRECT STRATEGY

SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE TO EICH’S APPOINTMENT

Key Detractors Chris McAvoy – Chicago – Mozilla Foundation

Chloe Varelidi – Mozilla employee

John Beven – London – Mozilla employee

Sydney Moyer – New York – Mozilla employee

[Tweets appear on the following page]


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Twitter: Mozilla Directed followers back to company blogs and website.

Twitter: Firefox Directed followers back to company statements on blog and website.

[Screenshots on the next page]


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Facebook: Mozilla Firefox Mozilla posts an image to promote Firefox on March 25th and links back to the Firefox download page. Moderators direct critical comments on LGBT rights back to statements on Mitchell Baker’s blog, LizardWrangler.com, and Brendan Eich’s blog, BrendanEich.com.

[Screen shot on the next page]


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[Graphic, including negative comments and responses by Mozilla on the next page}


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Firefox posts the announcement of Eich’s departure on April 3rd. Mozilla engages with critics and the post receives 243 shares, 789 likes and over 6,500 comments.

[Screenshot on the next page]


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Posts by Others feature is not activated on the Mozilla Firefox Facebook page.

SEARCH ENGINE DATA Google Trends noted an increase in search from March-May 2014, but Brendan Eich barely registers (blue line, next page). Most of the news headlines surround Firefox (red line) and not Mozilla (yellow line). Even so,


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Firefox coverage remained steady throughout the controversy until the new product release on April 30th, at which point it spiked. For comparison, a green line denotes NCAA March Madness coverage, which occurred during the same time period.

Search for Brendan Eich was based entirely in the United States, but for Firefox attention remains outside the United States.

Interesting. Firefox in Spanish search jumps eight-fold.


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Across the major platforms, Google search shows remnants of the struggle eight days after the launch of the new browser, with CEO as a top term.

On Bing, CEO only appears when searching the company name (at the bottom of the list), but not with the Firefox product.


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No mention on Yahoo! at all.

PIVOTING After CEO Brendan Eich resigns on April 3rd, Mozilla appoints temporary leadership nine days later.

C H R I S B E A R D

I N T E R I M C E O


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CHRIS BEARD IS THE INTERIM CEO OF MOZILLA CORPORATION AND A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. HE IS A

PASSIONATE ADVOCATE FOR OPEN SOURCE, AND HAS BEEN LEADING OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS IN ENGINEERING, PRODUCT

AND MARKETING ROLES FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS.

And two weeks later, the new browser launches.

DEBRIEF Prop 8 was a divisive issue in 2008 that marginally passed in California. Campaign contributions are publicly reported, but it would be interesting to dig further into who reported Eich’s donation at the Los Angeles Times and even more, who tipped off the paper about it. Perhaps they are one in the same, but maybe not.

Mozilla appeared to have expected some push back on Brendan Eich’s appointment, immediately releasing statements on the company’s position on LGBT rights and diversity shortly after the announcement. However, it seems that they did not expect the avalanche of criticism.

Mozilla stayed the course and continued to direct individuals back to company messaging by leadership. Ultimately, the internal strife distracted from the release of Firefox 29.0 and only intensified when the mainstream media and tech blogs caught wind. Employees and consumers often focus on dissenting opinions and attack leaders who express those opinions, even privately. When in crisis, companies tend to experience personnel turnover in high-stakes high-profile positions, including and especially company leadership.

Public perception of the company plays a huge part in the success of new products. With that reality, a cofounder exited Mozilla either at his own behest or that of current leadership. What cannot be estimated, however, is that the browser market is crowded with multiple versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox, among others. No doubt the company is aware of this reality when it makes staffing decisions, or they will in the future after a misstep.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

How to avoid this situation again:

n Thorough leadership background checks, as the public takes great interest in reading about leaked company or personal information

n Watch and respond early to internal detractors, particularly when these individuals take their complaints public

n Keep calm and follow the crisis plan, if there is one. If not, create a wireframe at the very least

digital crisis communication kristin m. oberlander · digital crisis communication kristin m....

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