Xic 2

Building Brand Resilience


Emerging factors leading to greater frequency of Issues

• Rise of the Consumer Groups and their ability to investigate and publicize the operations and policies of the organization

• The age of instant communication, facilitated by the electronic media – info can be disseminated throughout the world in a short span of time

• Technological advancements – Issues related to transportation systems , aircraft disasters and human errors

• Issues related to environmental concerns and in the wake of natural disasters

• Change in the economic environment - loss of employment , industrial collapse etc .

All adverse situations have a potential to inflict damage on an organization, However, some can be contained, where as others have the potential to cause tremendous damage , such as product tampering and environmental pollution


An Organizational Crisis Matrix

Controllable

Wide Impact

Local Impact

Not controllable

Product Sabotage Takeover and corporate raids

Product Defects Customer Accidents Poor Trading Results Environmental pollution Merger

Employee Accident Industrial Action Systems breakdown

Terrorism and executive kidnapping Natural Disasters

Application of the contingency based tactics by all those concerned with the event that will determine the strength of the outcome

Coca-Cola Corporate CampaignLittle Drops of Joy

Coca-Cola Corporate Campaign

The Problem• Coca-Cola in India was suffering from major image issue mainly on two fronts:

– Product safety (pesticide issue)– Corporate Image:

• Unconcerned about the environment (water guzzler)• MNC in India: Just to make profits: not very open/transparent

• With the above baggage Coca-Cola had a very ‘defensive’ approach towards media and was seen to be only reactive

– Issues like plant visit (though highly publicised after pesticide issue) was more of an eye-wash

– Company was pushing its CSR activities in the media more for ‘green-washing’

• The Company had a serious trust issue with media who play a great role in forming a negative mindset about them amongst the public


The Campaign Objective

• Position Coca-Cola in India as– An innovative and market leader in its category– A responsible & transparent corporate entity

• The key challenge – Media's negative approach towards the cola category given the issues of health

factor, pesticide and also the ever-increasing number of foreign particles in colas, spurious bottles etc.

– Coca-Cola's resistance to giving information to media


Our Communication Approach• 3 E Approach: Initiate a high-decibel structured ‘corporate’ campaign involving all

stakeholders (media, consumers, NGOs etc.) and showcase company progress in India. – Educate: using mass-media– Engage: through participation in events and involving customers through activation

programs – Endorse: from stakeholders (NGOs, Govt bodies, etc.)

• Mass Media– A new corporate campaign showcasing the company's transformation into a more

open, transparent and communicative company – Bridge Building with the media: through FAM trips and select one on ones

• CSR Activities: Broad based yet controlled coverage– Instead of ‘pushing’ coverage for each and every CSR activity through media, gain

mindshare through word-of-mouth and stakeholder engagement– Partner with credible associations and initiate new activities

• Industry Thought leadership: – Participation in Industry events as speakers, case-study presenter: Marketing, CSR,

HRD, etc– Participation in Industry articles: CSR, Marketing, HR, Advertising, Trends, etc


The Messaging Blocks


Activities undertakenStep 1: • CSR: Coca-Cola partnered with bodies like CII, FICCI, UN Habitat, ICRISAT,

Rotary, FORCE (NGO) and various state Governments to initiate and participate in CSR activities

• Corporate (including marketing): Company ‘opened’ up with the media and participated in Industry stories and also some exclusives with the key spokespersons

Step 2:• Coca-Cola initiated a mass media ‘corporate’ campaign “Little Drops of Joy”:

new logo, new colours, new manifesto• Coca-Cola started participating in national awards and events, seminars etc.

Step 3:• Coca-Cola opened its plant and invited national media for a FAM Trip to Coca-

Cola plants under a new program: My Trip of Joy • These FAM trips used to showcase the CSR activities of Coca-Cola: Community

activities in and around the plant area etc.


PR Tactics

• Identified key message blocks for the Spokespersons to be embedded in the media

• Focus on 5Ps – Idea was to share larger concept behind this initiative (profit – changed to performance)

– LDJ as the underlying aspect of the company’s strategy

• Media training for key spokespersons: Preparing them for the media

• Press Conference to announce the company’s initiatives under the 5Ps – ‘Little Drops of Joy’ unveiled at the conference– Invited media from across India to achieve national footprint for this

announcement

• Press Release– Localization of the press note for each region by translating it for

vernacular media- making the news relevant and easily accessible to media pan India


The Results

Market leadership

• Sparkling beverage category: Thums Up and Coke

• Lemon drink category: Limca

• Fruit juice drink based category: Mazaa and Minute Maid

Ranked 24 out of 300 in prestigious Business World –IMRB “India’s Most RESPECTED Companies 2007” survey • 19th for Innovativeness• 28th for Ethics and transparency• 29: Quality of products & services • 22: People practices & Talent

management

CIRRUS Corporate Image Monitor reported Coca-Cola’s coverage as 42% higher than nearest competition Pepsi

Cadbury Infestation Controversy


Background

• On October 2003, just a month before Diwali, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner received complaints about infestation in two bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury India’s flagship brand with over 70% market share. Over the following 3-week period, resultant adverse media coverage touched close to 1000 clips in print and 120 on TV news channels, bringing the company’s reputation and credibility was under intense scrutiny.

• Sales volumes came down drastically in the first 10 weeks, which was the festival season; The heat of negative publicity melted Cadbury’s sales by 30 per cent, at a time when it sees a festive spike of 15 per cent.

• Retailer stocking and display dropped, employee morale – especially that of the sales team – was shaken. For the first time, Cadbury’s advertising went off air for a month and a half after Diwali, following the controversy. Consumers seemed to ignore their chocolate cravings.


Challenge

• The incident came close on the heels of a cola controversy where a scientific laboratory declared colas unsafe due to high levels of pesticide. The jury was still out on that issue and so this incident acquired political overtones with parties decrying Cadbury as an irresponsible MNC. Andrea Dawson- Shepherd, Global Corporate Communication Counsel, Cadbury Schweppes called it ‘the worst worm infestation-related crisis anywhere in the world’.

• The challenge was to restore confidence in the key stakeholders (consumers, trade and employees, particularly the sales team) and build back credibility for the corporate brand through the same channels (the media) that had questioned it.

• The immediate objective was to get the following key messages across:– Infestation could never occur at the manufacturing stage – The problem was storage linked; this without alienating trade channels – Cadbury Dairy Milk continued to be safe for consumption


Strategy

Phase 1: Presenting Cadbury’s view (October-December 2003)

• A media desk was set up to ensure that no media query went unanswered. The Cadbury’s Managing Director addressed consumer concerns with the following key messages:

– Infestation is a storage linked problem. – It is safe to eat Cadbury chocolates. – Consumers must exercise the same care in purchasing a chocolate as they would when

buying any food item.

• At a second media briefing, Cadbury announced significant steps to restore consumer confidence called Project Vishwas (Trust), this entailed:

– A retail monitoring and education program undertaken to address storage problems. – Significant packaging changes to ‘reduce dependency on storage conditions as much as

possible’ –to be launched within two months.


StrategyPhase 1: Presenting Cadbury’s view (October-December 2003)

• An Editorial Outreach program with 31 media editors across 5 most affected cities was orchestrated by the agency to get senior Cadbury spokespeople to share their version of events in one-on-one meetings.

– National launch of a press advertisement on ‘Facts about Cadbury’, released in 55 publications in 11 languages. It highlighted Cadbury manufacturing and storage and corrective steps being taken by the company.

– A response cell with a toll free number and an e-mail id were put in place to give trade a means to directly contact the company, reinforcing the company’s commitment to quality.

– From the beginning, a series of town hall meetings were held with senior managers addressing employees on how to manage media, help trade and ensure future occurrences of such incidents were kept to the minimum.

– Regular email updates from the MD were also used to communicate the company’s point of view and to ensure consistency of messaging since employees are the company’s ambassadors.


Strategy

Phase 2: Packaging change (January- March 2004)

• The new ‘purity sealed’ packaging was launched in January 2004. – This entailed double wrapping for maximum protection to reducing the possibility of

infestation. By investing up to Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) on imported machinery, Cadbury’s revamped the packaging of Dairy Milk. This was costlier by 10-15 per cent, but Cadbury didn’t hike the pack price.

– To communicate these significant changes the company was making, Cadbury brought in a brand ambassador to reinforce the credibility that the company had demonstrated through its actions. Amitabh Bachchan, a legendary Indian film star, was chosen, as he embodied the values of Cadbury as a brand and connected with all of India.

• A media conference was organized in Mumbai to launch the new packaging. And this was followed with press conferences in cities worst affected by the crisis – Pune and Nagpur in Maharashtra and Cochin in Kerala.

– In these conferences, media persons were encouraged to compare the old and new packs with an innovative comparison kit and experience the significant changes in packaging first hand.

– An audio visual with a message from Amitabh Bachchan, was beamed to build credibility and excitement.

– Simultaneously, senior Cadbury spokespersons had one-on-ones with the Editors of the Outreach program initiated in November 2003.


StrategyPhase 2: Packaging change (January- March 2004)

• The announcement of the new pack was done through a testimonial advertisement on TV called ‘Sincerity’.

– It consciously addressed the problem head-on, with the superstar talking straight into camera about how before doing the ad he first convinced himself about the quality of Cadbury chocolates by visiting the factory.

– Consumers respected the brand for not skirting the issue but acknowledging it and giving a solution to the problem


Result

• Media Coverage: The media relationship effort clearly helped in making media accept that the infestation was genuinely caused by storage-linked problems. From the start, all media reports carried the Cadbury’s point-of-view. The agency helped Cadbury get a total of 378 clips in over 11 languages covering the new packaging, and its benefits, in January 2004.

• Sales: Sales volumes, which declined drastically between week 1 and week 10 of crisis, climbed back almost to the pre-incident levels by week. within 8 weeks of introduction of new packaging and communication. This is a clear reflection of restoration of consumer and hence trade confidence in the corporate brand.

• Image: There was significant upward movement in ratings amongst consumers on parameters like company image, responsiveness of company and behavioral parameters like intention to buy Cadbury chocolates. While the new product introduction and advertising had their role to play in the changing consumer perceptions, the media’s positive coverage and the trade’s positive pre-disposition played a huge part in helping Cadbury regain its reputation in the market.

• Measure and monitor online reputation on a continuous basis on key metrics

• Brand reputation• Products & Services• Competitors• Campaigns• Daily positive and

negative alerts

• Respond to stakeholders and other stakeholders in social media

• Identify and qualify leads

• Track mentions of brand, products, leadership and competition

• Identify and share online posts that need online or offline intervention

LISTEN ENGAGE

MEASUREINSIGHTS

What is ORM

Online reputation management (or monitoring) is the practice of monitoring a reputation on the internet with a view to controlling the negatives about you, your company or your institution

• Set up sound monitoring – Listening • Complete Those Social Media Profiles• Create A Flood Of Positive Content• Present Yourself As You’d Prefer To Be Perceived

4 easy steps to ORM

1

• When customers have a problem with a product, 57% of consumers (including 71% of 16-24 year olds, 65% of 25-34 year olds, and 64% of 35 to 44 year olds) search for a solution online first. – Source: 2012 Sitel Study

2

• More than 50% of Facebook users, and 80% of Twitter users, expect a response to a customer service inquiry in a day or less. – Source: Consumer Views of Live Help Online 2012, A Global Perspective, Oracle

3

• 17% of customers age 16-34 said companies could most drastically improve customer experience by “responding quickly when I ask a question on Twitter.” – Source: 2012 Sitel Study

4

• 15% of 16-24 year olds prefer social media over any other channel for customer service. – Source: 2012 Sitel Study

5

• More than 40% of consumers using social sites such as Facebook value access to customer service and nearly one in three expect a company to provide direct access to customer support and product experts. – Source: 2012 Consumer Views of Live Help Online, A Global Perspective, Oracle

The Importance of Customer Redressal

1. Don’t take it personally.

2. Let them vent.

3. Ask for clarification if there

is something that you do not

understand.

4. Validate your customer.

5. State back to the customer

what you heard him say.

6. You don’t have to have all the

answers.

7. Share your commonalities with

your customer instead of focusing on the differences.

8. Tell your customer what you can do for

him.

9. If your suggestion doesn’t appeal to the

customer, ask him what he would like you to do

and see if you can accommodate him.

10. Explain why you may be

limited in what you can do.

11. Thank your customer for

bringing this to your attention.

Handling negative reviews/comments

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD SAY

Forget trying to "win." Instead, make the customer feel you're working together to make things right.

“I’m sorry.” “We’re going to solve this together.” “What would you consider a fair and reasonable solution?” “Are you satisfied with our solution, and will you consider doing

business with us in the future?” “Thank you.”

FIVE THINGS TO AVOID SAYINGX Almost nothing leads to a customer service meltdown more

quickly than the use of one particularly offensive phrase. X 'That’s our policy.'X 'There’s nothing I can do'X 'You’ll have to go to our website.'X 'That’s the manufacturer’s responsibility.'X 'We’ll get back to you shortly'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpy75q2DDow

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Documents

Xic 2