How can we prevent a reputational crisis?
1. Create a specialized team and identify potential crisis points:
It is more effective to prevent crises than to try to manage them when they happen. To do this, it is essential to have a qualified team ready to act at any time and to develop a crisis management plan.
2. Invest in building trust in the brand and its values:
Consumers prefer to identify with the values of the brands they admire.
3. Give priority to transparency:
Lying, misleading advertising or hiding essential information have proven to be one of the main ways of damaging a brand's reputation.
Exemplos de grandes marcas que viram a sua imagem ser manchada na internet:
• Dove: an ad showing a black woman transforming into a white woman.
• Balenciaga: uma campanha apresentava crianças com ursinhos de peluche vestidos com roupas alusivas a temas inapropriados.
• Dior: The “Sauvage” campaign faced criticism for cultural appropriation due to its use of indigenous symbols.
These three situations resulted in thousands of negative comments, accusations of racism and a clear drop in sales. Even with a good crisis management strategy and several apologies from brands, some situations are very difficult to recover from. In other words, we can guarantee that investing in prevention, transparency and alignment with public values are essential measures to avoid reputational crises.
Os exemplos de comunicação negativa acima referidos mostram-nos a importância de agir com responsibly and sensitively in all marketing and communication intiatives. Just like a domino effect, a small slip can have great significance.
