“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst” doesn’t just apply to people, it also applies to organizations. Brand crisis management allows brands to organize crisis response efforts in a way that aligns with the overall goals and voice of the brand. Then, if crisis strikes, swift action can be taken without panicking and without tarnishing your brand reputation.
To ensure that your messaging reflects your intentions, it’s crucial to align crisis response with overall strategy and be mindful of the current tides of public opinion.
What is crisis management?
Crisis management is a set of strategies businesses can use to recover from brand image failures, natural disasters, and other major incidents.
It typically includes measures for public acknowledgment of issues, damage control, and remediation. Ideally, a brand crisis management strategy should pull a business through tough times and enable them to emerge stronger on the other side.
Brand crisis management: Examples of brands getting it right
How crisis management is carried out can vary widely by industry. Some businesses can shift gears and adapt to crises in a way that others can’t.
For example, switching from in-store purchases to delivery only. Or, by changing stock items and prices to meet relevant demands. For retailers, this type of adaptability is especially important, and may form a central aspect of their crisis management strategy.
Some crucial questions to ask when implementing a crisis strategy:
- Who is in charge of managing your response and what support members are needed
- What the responsibilities of each member are and who should they report to
- What customers or platforms you need to target
- What message you will send or actions you will take
When considering a crisis strategy, it’s a good idea to take a look at how big brands respond to a potential brand crisis. Loot at how Nike and Gucci responded to major events that could’ve harmed their brand.
Nike
Nike had to respond quickly when one of their shoes fell apart, causing a star NCAA player to get hurt during a well-publicized game. The incident was seen nationwide and commented on by celebrities and media alike. It even led to a 1.8% stock decrease.
To recover, the brand quickly issued a statement expressing concern for the player and stating that efforts were being taken to identify the cause. These efforts included visiting the scene of the incident, as well as visiting its manufacturers in China.
Rather than letting the issue slip from memory, Nike made a point of implementing what they learned from their investigation. They also created a new, custom pair of shoes for the injured player, regaining his loyalty and earning public praise from him for their efforts.
Gucci
The fashion brand Gucci experienced a crisis when one of its sweaters was called out on Twitter for resembling blackface. To manage the crisis, the brand acted swiftly, removing the item from sales points and issuing an official apology via their Twitter account.
Additionally, to provide further damage control and back up their dedication the incident being a learning moment, the company launched several diversity initiatives, including creating an advisory panel, global scholarship programs, and hiring a director of diversity and inclusion.
The steps Gucci took demonstrated that the brand was listening to customer concerns and that they not only wanted to right the error, they wanted to get better. By including long-term changes in its response, the brand also showed their reactions wasn’t just to make the crisis go away, but to improve in the future.
How to win back your customers during a brand crisis
When a crisis occurs, you need to react quickly to minimize the damage caused and begin recouping any losses. This requires deliberate and methodical steps to avoid causing additional harm.
Following are a few important steps you can take to reclaim your footing and increase your customer’s loyalty.
- Solidify your crisis plan: Your first step in crisis response should be to look at your crisis plan and determine how it applies to the current situation. Assuming you have a well-documented plan, you should be able to begin debriefing your response team and implementing procedures as defined. If you don’t have a crisis plan, prioritize time to make one now. If you begin responding without, your efforts are likely to conflict with your goals and you may overlook essential aspects.
- Monitor your brand in real-time: Monitoring your brand in real-time provides immediate feedback on any actions you take and can help you quickly identify areas of concern. Both pieces of information can help you adjust your crisis management strategy to meet evolving needs as quickly as possible. When monitoring, make sure that you’re watching as many channels as possible. You should pay attention to what industry and general media may be saying, as well as to how your customers and competition are responding. Setting alerts for social media and newsfeed mentions is a good place to start. You can also set alerts on Google and other search engines to notify you when searches related to your brand are trending.
- Ensure clients feel safe and secure: In a crisis, customers often feel just as in peril as an organization. This is particularly true in the current crisis where many individuals’ jobs, homes, and lives are at risk. Because of this, you should take steps to reassure your customers and show them that you have their best interests at heart. Even if you aren’t able to deliver services and products to customers per usual, you can still take the time to empathize with their concerns and build relationships. For example, if you have customers who are canceling services because of tight budgets, offer the option to pause services instead. By allowing them to avoid having to re-setup accounts, you’re reassuring them that you’ll be around when they need your services again.
- Choose your conversations wisely: Conversations with customers during a crisis can quickly turn sour. While most people want to have their frustrations or concerns addressed, others just want to complain or express their opinion. You need to be very careful about how you address these scenarios and ensure that you have a uniform stance.
In addressing these conversions you may also find an opportunity to emphasize the values of your brand. Several brands are firmly and unapologetically giving their take on the COVID crisis. For example, Steak-umm issued a statement about trustworthy media sources. For customers with like values, this is winning loyalty and respect. However, you should be careful when taking this tactic as it could cost you customers as well.
Weathering the storm
While some brands are faster responders than others, perhaps the most important aspect is to ensure that you’re not working blindly. You need to have a plan in place that sets a framework for crisis management.
In this plan, you define roles and responsibilities, but not necessarily the people. This way, if one person isn’t available to help, you have standards that can help you survive the situation, and perhaps even gain new customers.