Social Media Crises Management

Many companies use social media to build their brand and attract customers (especially e-commerce websites). The management is jubilated by such moves and consider it a huge success. At present, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are considered super effective tools of brand building. However, same are responsible for bringing them down. The halcyons are converted into doldrums. In this article I wish to highlight that how someone's “wall posts” and “status updates” about a particular brand, can tarnish the image of that brand and can work as an inalienable remark to history of the brand.

Let’s discuss some of the recent events that took place. On June 12, 2015 an American citizen, claims he was served a deep fried rat instead of chicken at a California KFC outlet. He posts a picture on Facebook that suffuse viral across the globe. KFC denies the allegations, says it looks like a hoax. On June 16: KFC India posts a Facebook message: "KFC takes customer claims very seriously, and they are investigating this matter. On June 22: A DNA test confirms the product was chicken and the incident was a hoax. KFC asked the “American “to apologize. Even as KFC's 'fried rat' finally turned out to be a canard, for a good 10 days the brand was roasted on social media. Not to forget the denunciation faced by the brand all over the world. During those 10 days the sale of the KFC dropped by 75% in India alone. This whole process of debunking the “truth” turned into legal complications for the perky American customer who posted that picture on Facebook and that turned into gauche.

Companies today are fastidious. However, the only setback for KFC was that it responded to the issue very late. A late response always makes people believe that brand is culprit. So the best trick is to lead from the front and respond as quickly as possible. Asperity is important.

Therefore it’s imperative to use the power of social media in the right direction. Without concrete evidence, never point towards a company. Also, on part of the honchos, crisis management plays an important role. The management needs to stand firm and deter the attacks.  

                                                                                            

Sonalika thukral