Following the riots in London recently, there has been a lot of talk about the ensuing clean-up operation and also about how to re-build ‘The London Brand’ prior to the 2012 Olympics. This poses an interesting related question; how do you effectively clean-up or re-build a brand’s reputation? Some brands such as Cadbury’s Wispa have been re-built from discontinuity. Others, such as Apple, have bounced back from poor brand images to have great success. So here we look at 3 key ways brands can help themselves in the face of adversity.
The Law of Candor
Jack Trout and Al Reis claim that admitting a negative will generate a positive. When a brand has produced a poor product, or has knowingly fallen behind a competitor, the worst thing it can do is try to hide from it. Consumers are smart – in a society filled with marketing speak they tend to know when brands are up-selling and will be sceptical of overly positive statements. Therefore, when trying to limit damage to a brand often the best thing to do is admit deficiency. Doing so will not only limit further damage to a brand, but will gain consumer respect for admitting weakness. This is classically epitomised by the ‘Avis Number 2’ campaign where Avis admitted to consumers they were behind Hertz in the car rental market.
Give Back To Customers
Brands are built on customer affinity. This means during a time of crisis a brand needs to give back to its customers to appease them and attempt to rescue loyalty. For example, when Toyota had to recall millions of vehicles in the US they understandably lost the image of being a quality and reliable car manufacturer. In order to re-build this reputation, Toyota invited their customers to suggest new ideas for the brand based around existing technologies in the ‘Ideas for Good’ campaign. By doing so, Toyota aimed to show customers they cared about them and valued their thoughts in an attempt to revitalise brand loyalty, whilst also gaining new ideas.
There’s a Time and a Place
When a brand is mid-crisis or has a failing product, it will generate a lot of publicity – albeit with mostly negative sentiment. It is at this time – when share of voice is high – that brands need to communicate and attempt to turn negative sentiment into positive. How is this done? Firstly, brands need to communicate through all mediums to ensure maximum reach. Secondly, their communications should be based around the two previous points – giving back to consumers and candor. By doing this brands can publicly be seen as being fast to appease their customers whilst being honest and trustworthy.
So, what can ‘Brand Cameron’ learn from this regarding how to react to the riots? Firstly, admit wrong doing and deficiency where appropriate – don’t hide behind a smokescreen of false positivity. Secondly, offer to give back to the public – show you value and care for them. Finally, let them know you are doing this. Not all of the UK watch BBC News or read The Telegraph, so be sure to communicate through all possible channels. Will this result in politicians being viewed as honest and trustworthy? Extremely unlikely, but at least they can try!
Tags: apple, Avis, Brand building, Hertz, London Riots, Looting, Rioting
Copyright © 2011 Northstar Research Partners
