A BRAND NEW DAY Series, Patrick Vogt

How a Brand Can Tumble Like Dominos

As everyone now knows, it doesn’t take much to damage a brand in today’s world of powerful social media tools. The scope, reach and speed with which harmful content can ricochet around the web are truly alarming. Just like the Somali pirates at sea armed with automatic weapons, disgruntled users can leverage social media to hijack your company and take everyone aboard hostage. Because of the interconnectedness of social media platforms, and the fast-growing expansion of personal-cluster networks, management teams can be tied up for weeks in such a crisis (metaphorically speaking), unable to do anything besides try to contain the damage. While the near-term harm can be localized to lost sales and productivity, the long-term damage can be severe and far-reaching, causing serious brand repercussions. This can impact brand trust, reputation and customer loyalty.

The Dominos story that unfolded last week has been widely viewed as a cautionary tale about how not to handle a growing public relations disaster in a real time world. In other words, how do we manage an old-school problem like bad publicity, using new -school tools like social media? Most of Domino’s media coverage focused on three areas for improvement. They were the importance of a media crisis team, the ability to follow real time developments, and the need to respond quickly. While all are valid points, there is an important component to the Domino’s narrative that has yet to be explored. That is, there are preventative strategies that can be put in place to protect your brand from social media attacks.

First, let’s walk through the facts as they happened. In a small Domino’s franchise in North Carolina, two employees posted a prank video of some unsanitary and pretty disgusting food preparation practices. Thanks to the power and reach of social media, within a few days there were more than a million views on YouTube, a viral spread of the subject on Twitter, and five references on page one of a Google search for Domino's. Then, things got worse. Domino’s responded too late, about 48 hours after the video post, and it took time to get the video down from YouTube. The lag in response time left the online conversation to grow and fester, and the story continued to proliferate throughout social media channels, ripe with speculation about the authenticity of the video and the location of the Domino’s store. Domino’s did not issue a formal press release, but did finally open a Twitter account to answer questions, and then posted a YouTube apology to try to diffuse the public relations fiasco.

The apology from Domino’s president Patrick Doyle can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l6AJ49xNSQ.

The Domino’s apology was both heartfelt and honest, and I’m sure Mr. Doyle meant it when he said that there was nothing more important and sacred to Domino’s than their customer’s trust. He then continued, “It sickens me, to think that two individuals can impact our great system, where 125,000 men and women work for local business owners.”

In another interview, company spokesperson Tim McIntyre confessed that 10 and 15 year customers were now second-guessing their relationship with Domino’s, and he added, “That’s not fair.” Not fair indeed. Welcome to the world of net -zero response time.

The cost to the Domino's national brand equity over the long term is still undetermined. Two recent surveys seemed to indicate that it will take time for the national brand to recover. An online research firm called YouGov confirmed that the perception of Dominos’ brand quality went from positive to negative in approximately 48 hours. In addition, a national study conducted by HCD Research using its Media Curves Web site found that 65% of respondents who would previously visit or order Domino’s Pizza were less likely to do so after viewing the offensive video.

For consumer brands out there, this is a serious wake up call. Social Media can be a double-edged sword. The good news is, viral content with an interesting hook can travel fast, and that makes social media rich with possibilities for brand marketers. The bad news is that intentional or unintentional lies and disinformation about a brand may have to be reeled in occasionally. Protecting your brand against this kind of sabotage is absolutely essential.

Luckily, there are a few concrete steps that companies can take to defend against unprovoked attacks.

1. Create a Face – Think about Facebook or Twitter accounts where users have not yet uploaded a photograph. Kind of leaves you cold, right? Humanize your company through Executive Branding by creating a face for your company. Select either the CEO or your best corporate spokesperson, and brand them across all social media channels. Market capital flows from high social capital, and an authentic company spokesperson who talks about strategy and direction will build confidence with customers. This should be a real company executive, not a team of social media interns. Patrick Doyle of Domino’s strikes me as a perfect candidate for Executive Branding. He is sincere and passionate, and therefore believable. For customers, this executive becomes the trusted, familiar face of the company. When a crisis does strike, the public will look to that face to find answers.

2. Advocate for Your Brand- Social Media is not just for crisis management or new product releases. On the contrary, these communication channels are participatory, and can be used to resolve issues and build bridges to connect with your customers. A Brand Advocate can be employed to stay at the forefront of the company’s social media connections, to help to shape the external perception of the company. The Brand Advocate’s role must be transparent, and ought to be viewed as a way to exchange information with customers and fans. Engagement on Facebook, Twitter and in the Blogosphere should be active, timely and honest, and issues that arise should be addressed in real time. Efforts at simple self-promotion will quickly be exposed as disingenuous. Topics that do surface have tremendous value for a learning organization, and must be catalogued and reviewed by senior management on a regular basis.

3. Articulate Brand Values– Insight into a company’s core values and business philosophies will put your brand in a better light. Use Social Media to articulate your Brand Values. Talk about philanthropic or environmental causes, and charitable organizations that your company supports. Manage social media channels as an organizing principal to invite customers to join your employees in programs like fun runs, food drives, or any altruistic endeavors. These activities provide a more comprehensive picture of the company, and the positive associations will help to establish you as more than just a purveyor of products or services. At its best, articulating Brand Values demonstrates good will and shows that a company has a heart. This can help sustain your brand through difficult times.

If the Domino’s story has taught us anything, it is that our brands and our reputations are vulnerable in new and unexpected ways. It is true that we live and work in different times now. New technology and new media have empowered customers to take action as individuals, and as parts of a collective whole. But it is also true that this new reality has a very big plus side for brands. We now know what our customers are saying about us, instantly and endlessly. It sometimes feels as if we can practically hear them think. We used to pay a lot of money to acquire this knowledge, so let’s recognize it as active market intelligence and use it to improve our business.

Finally, the Domino’s story should be put into its proper perspective. Admittedly, two rogue employees with a video camera caused a blow to the company. It should be noted however, that at any other time in history, Domino’s response time of 48 hours would have been considered exceptional. We now know that we need to move faster than that, but the real story was how big the Domino’s story became. The post-game press surely eclipsed the actual video viewing population exponentially. This is because Domino’s became one of the first companies to take a hit from social media. I’m betting this experience will make them a stronger company, with a more robust online presence going forward.

Finally it’s good to bear in mind that Americans are notorious for their short attention spans. With any luck, in three month’s time this whole incident will be long forgotten. Quick, who remembers the name of the man from Vermont who was held hostage by pirates for five days and then rescued? It’s Captain Richard Phillips, and he seems to be doing just fine.