Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Half measures rarely work in sports or apologies. The media are reporting that Nike is cutting ties with Livestrong, the cancer-fighting foundation started by Lance Armstrong. Armstrong himself broke away from Livestrong months ago in hopes of minimizing the blow back  the charity received from news that the bicyclist finally admitted the long-rumored story that he had used performance enhancing drugs. The New York Times today reminds us that Nike stood by Tiger Woods after his reputation had a collision with a fire hydrant - and it initiate a new endorsement deal with Michael Vick after the quarterback got out of prison where he did time because of his role in dog fighting ring. But Nike is abandoning the Foundation built on Armstrong's reputation....

...Here’s the problem with that sentence: It doesn’t define what a “crisis” is. Does that advice mean that you should respond to every allegation some random dude hurls at you on Twitter? Or that you should respond immediately to mini-crises that may never be known to more than 12 people? And how can you tell the difference between a true brewing crisis and a small annoyance that will quickly flame out on its own?

 

To help answer those questions, I reached out to four respected crisis communicators. They offered smart suggestions to help guide you in the earliest moments of a “crisis.”...

Mountain Dew might have thought twice about the risk and reward from a deal with someone just as focused on branding as it is.

 

...The company even earned some good press for buying a promoted tweet to publicize its mea culpa. And the top of its website leads with a giant “We Apologize” note. Following these comments, PepsiCo hasn’t put an executive on a public chopping block, and Tyler has declared they loved the idea when it pitched it. Which begs the question of how sincere this apology is. Audiences will probably trust artists more than brands, so PepsiCo cutting their losses must also include a loss of credibility with Tyler’s base....

A dark website is a pre-developed site that is not set live until your corporation finds itself in the midst of a social media crisis. Pre-crisis, a dark website is equipped with the appropriate legal and other documentations that your corporation may feel will be needed, but not have the opportunity to acquire during an attack. In the event of a crisis, the dark site is set live and the appropriate information and details are added to it – such as communications to the public, as well as direct information and news concerning both the crisis and the brand.

 

Dark websites are a highly effective social media crisis management strategy used in different situations by major corporations who want to position themselves as the leading source of information throughout the crisis.

The following is a free white paper on dark websites and best practices for using them as a social media crisis management strategy....

So far, during an overwhelming flood disaster, Calgary emergency personnel and police have performed incredibly well.

Twitter? Absolutely not!

As flooding surprised the city last Thursday, Calgary Police put its crisis management plan into action. Part of the plan included using its official Twitter account @CalgaryPolice. Providing updates, critical crisis information and engaging with residents wherever possible.

That is, until Twitter shut down the account for exceeding the daily 1,000-post limit....

Carnival Cruise is an example of a company suffering long-term repercussions from a crisis. Not only has it affected the company, but the entire industry.

 

I often mention the differences between a social media crisis and a social media issue. Yesterday, I evaluated how JC Penney handled their recent social media issue like a pro, and how they will suffer no negative consequences as a result – which is what defines it as an issue, rather than a crisis.

 

Today, let’s evaluate the repercussions of a crisis. In doing this, I hope to help you clearly differentiate between a social media crisis and a social media issue....

Abercrombie & Fitch’s two-hour meeting this week with critics of its no-large-sizes strategy, and of CEO Mike Jeffries’ 2006 remarks that it only courts “attractive, cool” kids, prompted a mea culpa from the chain, and a vow to “take concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying in addition to our ongoing support of diversity and inclusion,” the teen retailer said in a statement.

During the meeting, 18-year old activist Benjamin O’Keefe — whose Change.org petition urged A&F to carry larger sizes – Lyne Grefe, the CEO of the National Eating Disorder Association, among others, urged Abercrombie executives to add bigger clothes to store shelves, feature larger models in their branding efforts, cease hawking hyper sexualized advertising to its teen audience and redefine its warped, harmful notions of cool, O’Keefe told Forbes.com. Although the CEO was not at the meeting, the retailer offered a tacit apology for Jeffries’ remarks seven years ago, which included this gem: “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes] and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”...

As long as this aspect of our culture remains true, I would argue the problem is really one of society and that we are all complicit to some degree. It is not a coincidence that virtually all fashion and cosmetic companies behave somewhat similarly to Abercrombie & Fitch.

 

Among the mainstream brands, perhaps only Dove, with its real beauty campaign, has ever seriously committed to a marketing campaign with a counter-culture heart. If Jeffries did anything, he figured out his customer’s aspirations and designed advertising that appears to fulfill them. This has, and likely always will be, his job as a marketer. In that sense, he’s perhaps only guilty of being both good at his job and terrible at PR.... 

Owner Samy threatens diner after 90 min wait for pizza"

 

You're about to witness one of the biggest social media meltdowns and PR fails in the short recorded history of the Internet. The big question is was it all a staged publicity stunt?

 

It all happened on the season finale of chef Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Caribou Coffee’s announcement last week, that the company was shuttering stores and laying off employees, proves that relying exclusively on a press release to deliver unpleasant news is a bad strategy in the digital age.