Donald Trump: How To Resolve A Public Relations Crisis In The Era Of Indignation And Culture?

A few days after Donald Trump (Donald Trump) was elected president of the United States, the United States was exposed to polarization. New Balance, however, caused a serious public relations crisis because of an interview with vice president of public affairs.

The vice president told the The Wall StreetJournal that their brands (producing sports shoes in the United States) had great confidence in the Trump administration because Trump and New Balance opposed the p Pacific Partnership trade agreement (Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement) as well as Wall Balance.

This statement has been misinterpreted in social media as a way to keep up with Trump, thus triggering an American vow to boycott the brand.

A few days later, the new Nazi website, Daily Stormer, announced that the brand was "white official shoes".

To this end, New Balance responded quickly and issued a statement that its brand is "a value oriented company. People oriented, integrity and integrity, solidarity and respect for people are their corporate culture."

A strong boycott of the brand quickly disappeared and did not cause any lasting damage.

But this incident also gave the branding party a lesson to let them see that in a politicized social environment where the social media is now ubiquitous, a crisis can break out in a thunderbolt.

Today, if consumers want to buy, businesses need to behave like consumers.

Compared with the past, nowadays, if there is anything wrong with the enterprise, it is much more likely to be seen and publicly condemned, and the Instagram account Diet Prada, which has a great influence, will not miss the relevant opportunities.

The rise of "call-out" network culture means that fashion and beauty brands are more likely to face a public relations crisis, and this kind of public relations crisis will be fermented into global news from several tweets within a few hours.

Some of these public relations crises are self inflicted. For example, in November last year, Dolce & Gabbana offended Chinese consumers for advertising and racial statements. Some of them were external reasons. Adidas was deeply moved by this. Last year, Adidas's partner Kanye West (Kanye West) issued a series of controversial remarks which led to the public relations crisis in the brand.

Just last week, a controversial documentary reintroduced the allegations of child molestation by Michael Jackson, and Mousika Vuitton, the inspiration for the Louis Vuitton autumn men's wear series, immediately dismissed the relationship between Jackson and Michael Jackson.

The brand claims that it will no longer produce anything directly related to Jackson in this series.

In recent months, both Prada and Gucci have published products similar to those of black faces. In February, on the T stage of Burberry, a model wore a strands of strands on its neck.

After that, the three companies made a public apology and set up a diversity Committee.

In a conversation at the Parsons School of design (Parsons) in February, Gucci chief executive MarcoBizzarri expressed his regrets about the company's production of an uneasy black red lipstick Barack lava sweater, describing the incident as a "warning bell" and saying, "we will still make mistakes in the future."

In the future, brands need to examine their own business functions, and examine the way to make products and take pictures so as to pre resolve the crisis.

However, after the mistake occurs, the brand side should also prepare for the quick and efficient response.

The following is an effective solution to the crisis of brand threats.

Closely monitor brand related remarks.

Software services such as Signal and Trendkite can help branding parties track online comments and feedback in advance of their problems.

"This is something to be monitored every day. It is part of the brand's entire process."

Earlier this month, at a conference on public relations crisis at the Council of Fashion Designers ofAmerica headquarters in New York, Ted Sheppard, a partner in the Sheppard Mullin company, specializes in intellectual property and trademarks.

Identify angry customers and identify whether they are brand customers.

Whether or not, the brand side should take measures to protect its reputation, but the nature of the response may be different.

"In the world we live in, it is not that the voice group is not your customer, you can do nothing."

JesseDerris, founder of public relations, brand and content service Derris, said.

It is also important to prevent the spread of false reports before they are widely disseminated.

"All teams in the area need to remind headquarters immediately after finding the situation."

Jonathan Hemus, the founder of Insignia Communications, a crisis management company, said, "once someone is making waves, it will be much harder to deal with."

Quickly authorize appropriate speakers and internal leaders.

Ideally, before a crisis breaks out, the branding party should have a prior knowledge of who will guide the response within the company, and who will be authorized to talk with the media and the public.

Leaders of the management, public relations, information technology, law, human resources and even finance departments need to work together to guide fast and effective coping strategies. Specific staffing depends on the nature of the event.

"For small designers or small brands, two or three people may have multiple jobs."

Max said.

A spokesman should be authoritative and well informed.

Brand contacts should be "compassionate and have high EQ in Taishan."

Hemus said, "a spokesman who is not good at words, arrogant or constantly apologetic is the most unacceptable."

A speaker who is not good at words, arrogant or constantly apologetic is the most intolerable.

If the crisis turns into a wake-up call for the branding party, and when it comes to a time to stand out, such as support for sustainable development or opposition to workplace sexual harassment, corporate executives should openly declare their positions.

Communication within the company is also a top priority.

It is necessary to inform the store manager and customer service representative who directly conversed with the customer.

When there is a small crisis, such as the lack of customer service or improper marketing words, the brand should be prepared to respond.

"Some of the crises are only temporary small problems, and they should not develop into big trouble."

Max said.

It is urgent to apologize.

The world does not specify when a brand name should be publicly apology, but when a brand is accused of being belittled or regarded as insensitive to traditional culture, it is best to apologize.

Be sincere in apology.

Listening is like apologizing or looking reluctant. Apology should reflect the marketing tone of a company.

If the brand is positioning itself as a close friend of the customer, then a businesslike cold response will not produce any effect.

"What you choose to say and the tone, content and way of speaking are very important."

Chris Giglio, a minister of public relations company HL Group (HL StrategicSolutions) said he also spoke at the conference of the American Fashion Designers Association.

For example, after Dolce & Gabbana launched a question advertisement in China, the apology video posted by designer Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce was criticized by netizens as artificial.

Apologize and be quick.

The brand should be responsible for the incident. In addition to making an apology and explaining why it has done wrong, it must declare that it will never commit again.

In Burberry's autumn show in 2019, a model's neck was tied with necklaces.

The odd accessory was not only on the newspaper but also a lot of people, including a model of Burberry, who was deeply disturbed, but a short and clear apology issued by Burberry ended all of this.

"I promise that it won't happen again in the future," Riccardo Tisci, creative director of Burberry, said in a statement.

Now, for Burberry, fulfilling that commitment is crucial.

Branding should not commit themselves to things that they cannot change.

"When an isolated incident or a problem arises, you will usually forgive you as long as you are firm and responsive, and avoid two times in the same place," he said.

Hemus said, "those who keep making mistakes and are always pushed to the cusp of the wrong ones are less likely to be forgiven and more likely to be at a disadvantage for a long time."

Those who keep making mistakes and are always pushed to the cusp of the wrong ones are unlikely to be forgiven.

The brand can apologize directly in the social media, or in the news media, so that the apology can be easily seen by the offending customers.

Don't overreact.

Not all crises require public statements or public responses.

Sometimes, the so-called angry voice on the Internet won't get the trust of the brand audience, or it is just trying to arouse public anger.

At this point, we need to monitor such practices and ignore them if there is no escalation.

Or, if negative feedback comes from individuals, this problem can be solved effectively by apologizing privately and making up for it.

Private communication is also an effective strategy for Brand Ambassador with unusual behavior.

Giglio complained that people who complain usually feel that they are not respected.

He said, "sometimes you can get through the activities of outreach, changing the way of news delivery and the external relationship of the brand."

Another important case without overreaction is the deliberate disagreement of the brand side.

After Nike signed the athlete and former American Professional Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick as spokesperson, the brand attracted the criticism of conservatives because they were rather dissatisfied with Kaepernick's protest against police violence.

But the brand believes that in a time when a customer wants a brand to have a clear sense of value, the risk of having clear values is actually greater than that of return.

"Sometimes you have to make a decision.

Ask yourself, are we going to take a lot of criticism? Will that kind of attack really remind you of what we are doing? "Molly Morse, general manager of Kekst CNC, a strategic communications company, said she also spoke at the American Fashion Designers Association Conference.

"Advertising is often like walking on a tightrope."

Reviewing potential problem materials.

Today, the brand side needs many different stakeholders, which come from inside and outside the company, and examine the company's creative products.

And that means that the leaders of enterprises should be more diverse, so that they can bring more useful viewpoints to the enterprises.

Hemus recommends that a group of "creative pessimists" be set up to critically assess their potential problems before marketing campaigns have been launched and product photos have not yet been released.

You have problems with your inspiration this season? If so, the problem material will be blocked by the "creative pessimists" group before it is open, or the company will be prepared for at least the potential crisis, so as to closely monitor the market reaction.

Find out where brands are most vulnerable.

Keep a close watch on business and engage in serious dialogue within the company.

What can be misunderstood? What do people think of the reputation of your brand? Are there many negative comments? What unpleasant facts are there in the business? What kind of crisis will cause a very bad impact on the company?

If a brand boasts that it puts its energy on sustainable development, then a scandal in related fields will do more harm to the brand.

"Unless you are prepared for the worst, you will be dumb."

Hemus said.

Crisis rehearsal.

The experience of competitors of their own brands will be set as exercise scenarios and corresponding measures should be formulated.

After the outbreak of the crisis, no matter what the important decision makers of the brand need, they need to ensure that they can be easily used at the first time, including the basic information of all retailers and business networks.

"Making plans not only helps the implementation of the plan, but also the insurance does not provoke the lawsuit."

Max said.

But no two crises are the same, so the plan can not be static.

"When dealing with crises, don't get lost in planning."

Giglio said.