There are cases that you look at and think – oh my goodness, what were they thinking? This is going to be a case study for how a corporation had to deal with a crisis through social media. Domino’s has hit a complete media frenzy over a video that was posted on YouTube about a couple of employees defacing some of their food products. This is very damaging because if this was just a story – that is a crisis in itself, but this actually is a video showing people in action! Wow! This has a huge negative impact on the Domino’s brand.
In response, the president of Domino’s has issued his own statement and course of action in in dealing with this crisis. In the crisis communication, President Patrick Doyle is personally addressing members of the online community in this YouTube video with the Domino’s logo in the background, and made the following statement:
“We sincerely apologize for this incident. We thank members of the online community who quickly alerted us and allowed us to take immediate action. Although the individuals in question claim it’s a hoax, we are taking this incredibly seriously….It sickens me that the actions of two individuals could impact our great system. There are so many people who have come through with messages of support for us and we want to thank you for hanging in there as we work to regain your trust.”
Domino’s did several things right here. They did address this situation immediately and in the right medium (YouTube and Social Media). They also had a credible spokesperson at the helm to make these announcements and steps that they corporations was going to take (President of Domino’s). It make take some time for the brand to recover, and as I have mentioned previously in several posts – a reputation is hard to build, and it only takes one incident like this to bring it all down. Plus, what is online stays online – and this video is going to be viewed a lot more for days, weeks, or even years to come. Who knows – this could be one of the fundamental cases that we study in the future in PR classes on a brand dealing with a crisis using social media.
It seems that both Amazon and Domino’s have faced different PR crises that have resulted by consumers, fans, the media, and others using social media. An article by AdAge offers some great tips about how corporations can deal with a crisis in social media – such as really listening to what others have to say and what are their main issues (environmental scanning) as well as making sure that the tone in the message is appropriate for the situation at hand, and really investing in preparing the corporations for incidents like this.
Corporations and individuals have to be aware of the power of the Internet and social media. Anyone can post anything, say what they want about others, and it can indeed cause a PR crisis unless it is not handled in a professional and effective manner. More than ever, public relations professionals (students, professors, practitioners, researchers, etc) need to know not only what social media is, but really understand the use of it and be able to form effective strategies and tactics to address these situations. Other corporations and individuals should learn from this case study for their own business practices and be aware of the use and impact of social media has on PR.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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