Fast growing rocket brands can experience unintended consequences.
You are enjoying the dream. Everything is going great…your product is flying off the shelf, people are signing on in droves and then the ‘crisis’ nightmare hits…product problems, safety complaints, recalls, plummeting stock, strikes, under age workers, scandals and so on. Look no further than Facebook, Netflix’s pricing debacle, Apple’s maps, Tylenol tampering and BP. Nightmares everyday!
Unfortunately media today loves the negative ‘back story’ and feeds on the ‘nothing-is-as-good-as-it-seems’ headlines… especially for a brand that is enjoying mass popularity.
So what should you do if your rocket is being attacked for any ‘nightmare’ reason?
1. Prepare for it. War games. Plan it to happen.
Your rocket success will be a magnet for issues so even before you launch take a few days and answer these questions – as we take off what major issue could sink us, what should we have in place to manage it and how can we turn it into a rocket booster?
A great way to do this is by war gaming. Play out the scenario with different team members and role-play the various players. We did this many times in the early stages of launching brands like Splenda and Celebrex so we could understand what factions around the world would attack the safety, how this would affect revenue growth and, is there an opportunity to turn this into an advantage? Both brands were attacked aggressively and publicly.
Luckily we were prepared and won.
2. Act quickly. Understand the personal problem.
Immediately take public ownership of the personal issue. Remember this one fact. Everyone’s first impulse is to react personally to any ‘news’ crisis. How does this affect me, my family (or my pooch)? If Toyota pick ups are blowing up, and I have one, then I want to know more, if I don’t then I become a spectator. I did not take much note of the recent meningitis problems with a back injection drug until a good friend had one (luckily it was not contaminated). This is true for money issues. The makers of Twinkies just announced that they are closing their doors. Yes, for those that love Twinkies and Ding Dongs, that is bad however, it is also a personal problem for investors, employees and those that counsel them.
Make sure that you identify those most personally involved and understandtheir specific issue. Address those publicly right away. If not themedia will and that is never good.
3. Reset the boosters
The good news is that with quick news cycles today most nightmares are over rather quickly. The better news is that if you are properly prepared even negative publicity is rocket fuel. In the countries where NutraSweet in Diet Coke was most publicly attacked it gained twice the revenues of those where it was not attacked. Tylenol and BP are still minting money.
Plan to win and you might just get a nice new boost.
For a more complete answers and processes, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help you get ready for the inevitable. Visit www.rocketbranding.com.
