Matt Earle is an entrepreneur based in Toronto, Canada, and is the President of Reputation.ca, an online reputation management company.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a steep rise in popular opinion movements doing significant damage to brands. It comes from all directions—from assault allegations in Activision, people burning Nike merchandise for taking a stance on inclusivity, to boycotts over mask mandates and lack thereof.
A public relations crisis can strike at any moment, from any angle and for nearly any reason, including for simple misinformation. How your company handles a situation determines how well you can weather the storm and make it through the other side. After all, if public opinion has proven anything over the decades, it’s that it can rarely hold attention on any one subject for long.
Here are four examples of cases where brands have used clever strategies to handle a crisis and what your brand can learn from it.
KFC’s Shortages
In 2018, KFC in the U.K. experienced supply line and logistical issues that led to shutting down restaurants due to a lack of chicken. Rather than trying to stay silent or downplay the issue, KFC took to social media, setting up hashtags and a microsite to explain the problem and keep people appraised of the situation. They even ran a full-page ad of an empty chicken bucket to apologize.
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The takeaway here is accountability. When something goes wrong, own up to it. Otherwise, if things escalate, you look worse for trying to downplay it.
Southwest’s Fatality
Also in 2018, Southwest Airlines had a catastrophic failure of a plane engine in flight. A passenger died when debris ripped through the plane and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. Southwest handled the issue with tact and seriousness, despite the brand’s usual lighthearted social media presence. More importantly, they took the initiative to suspend social advertising during the crisis.
How many times have you seen ill-timed scheduled posts or ads that run during a crisis, leading to screenshots of what appears to be mocking a tragedy? Step one of crisis management is to have a kill switch for anything that could lead to that juxtaposition.
Gucci’s Sweater
In 2019, Gucci came under fire when people noticed a sweater design they had been producing and selling for months. The sweater, a kind of extended turtleneck that turned into a lower-face mask with a mouth hole, happened to be black with red lips—distressingly similar to blackface.
Though Gucci should have had someone somewhere in the process of producing the item in question, capable of looking at it and seeing the apparent issue, their response was about the best that you could hope for. They immediately apologized, pulled the product and labeled it a learning moment.
More importantly, however, Gucci took the opportunity to launch a series of global scholarships to put its money where its mouth is. The takeaway? Tangible action speaks far louder than words.
The Tylenol Killer
In the ’80s, Tylenol came under fire for deaths associated with its medication. As the investigation proceeded, it came to light that someone was poisoning bottles of pills. Though they never caught the killer, their actions led to significant changes in how medication—all medication—is packaged today.
Johnson & Johnson spearheaded new packaging designs to help prevent tampering of medications and make it more evident if such tampering occurs. It sounds far-fetched today that a single company can proactively make such massive changes; it’s an example any brand should follow. Take action as soon as is reasonably possible—not just to solve the immediate problem but also to prevent it from ever happening again.
Unfortunately, there are many more examples of ways PR can go wrong than there are ways they go right. The best things you can do are:
• Throw the switch to halt any marketing that could have an adverse effect while a crisis is ongoing.
• Immediately launch an investigation to determine the extent of the crisis, the root cause and how you can solve it.
• Make an initial statement/apology as necessary.
• Treat your audience with respect, especially if a crisis is actively dangerous or deadly.
• Put your money on the line and take tangible actions to fix and prevent the crisis from happening again.
Most brands won’t have to deal with their product being associated with someone’s death, but treating a crisis with the utmost seriousness is critical.
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Author: Matthew Earle, Forbes Councils Member