Last month, a few brands found themselves caught in the crosshairs of controversy and public opinion, landing them squarely on our list of PR Highs and Lows for the month that was September 2016. Here are a few of the posts we shared. They represent the best and worst in crisis management; demonstrate how actions, reactions, preparation, or the lack thereof can have a significant impact on your business and brand reputation. The posts and stories behind them may very well maximize your marketing momentum before, during, and after a crisis.
PR Highs
4 Tips for Handling a Delta-Sized Customer Experience Debacle
Delta made headlines last week, and not in a good way. The airline grounded, canceled and delayed more than 4,000 flights within three days, leaving customers stranded, fuming and frustrated. Still, Delta did a good job scrambling to fix the system failures responsible and the company combined this with proactive communication via social media and its website newsroom to mend relationships with customers they unintentionally hung out to dry.
Mars Inc. Shows Human Touch in Response to Skittles-Syrian Refugee Analogy
Mars Inc., owner of the Skittles brand of candy, waited five hours to release a statement in response to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. that used an image of a bowl of Skittles and the brand name itself in a political message posted to Twitter. Those five hours were put to good use.
PR Lows
Digging Deeper on the EpiPen Crisis
Your first inclination when hearing the story about Mylan and its EpiPen is to categorize it. Put it in a place alongside similar tales. That’s normal. It’s what the human brain does to make sense of incoming stimuli. The EpiPen saga seems like an easy one to handle.
https://twitter.com/toddzwillich/status/778256209258409984
Wells Fargo’s Textbook Case of Botched Crisis Management
It was clear John Stumpf, chief executive of Wells Fargo & Co., was in trouble on Sept. 20, when senators from both parties castigated him over the bank’s sales practices. “It’s gutless leadership…you should be criminally investigated,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) “This is fraud,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
Marketers, Take Note: Lessons From the Samsung PR Crisis
How to manage a PR crisis with influencer marketing Much like the age-old jokes surrounding the exploding Ford Pinto, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7’s recent explosion fiasco (and resulting memes – just run a quick #SamsungGalaxy7 search on Twitter) could be a nightmare scenario for any technological industry.
Consumers lash out at American Airline’s latest campaign
Those subjected to air travel with any frequency understand the unwritten flight etiquette. If you travel often, you probably also noticed how airlines are slightly less comfortable, far less efficient and significantly more expensive than your average city bus. Consider those elements and you’ll start to understand why American Airlines’ latest ad has sparked such controversy and debate.
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Any memorable PR Highs or Lows from last month on your list or social media streams (the U.S. presidential candidates excluded)? What marketing lessons can we learn? Feel free add your picks in the comments section of this post.
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