Lately, when something negative happens with a brand, the first responses on Twitter, blogs or other media outlets seem to give “kudos” to the brand in question for responding, or maybe they mention the “power of Twitter and the internet!” Yea power! Yea internet! Please, just stop. The parroting of the what the A-list is saying is really getting insane. In this case, the response from Domino’s president Patrick Boyle needed to be done, like, yesterday.
Stop reading into the video quality, or how he didn’t make eye contact, or his Disney animatronic-like delivery, or how clever of them to respond on the same social net the damaging clip first appeared on. Normally, I’d agree, because that’s the same shit I go after brands for all the time.
But that’s not important here.
Boyle did what he had to with a straight-forward message because, well, it’s food and people want reassurance—now. A store and an entire company were basically brought to their knees by two dumbasses who played the brand. If you want to read into anything, see the sleepless face of a president who’s watching profits take a hit behind the scenes because of this. Also check out how surprised he was that it could happen, because that’s just as telling. Brands should be happy—and fortunate—that it hasn’t happened far more.
Employee guidelines are nice, but all it takes is two who could care less. Twitteria ensues!
The more important point here involves how agencies and clients work together. PR, TV, internet, social nets, outdoor, in-store, radio, etc., all have to be used because there will always be a need for each. TV ain’t going anywhere. Neither is radio, or outdoor, or in-store, or whatever your poison.
You don’t just employ one media channel or tactic and call it a day because they're not mutually exclusive.
Yet comments I see once again on Twitter act as if they are. There actually is life outside Twitter’s narrow confines. The inverse of this is where people think if it isn’t mentioned on Twitter, it didn’t happen. (See: This.)
Twitter may “replace” PR in some people’s minds, (and I give flacks flack a LOT here), but you still need the “art” of of damage control and messaging. Twitter and YouTube at this point become tools for the spin. As such, I’d expect at some point to see a more formal TV spot with either Boyle above or CEO David Brandon. Print ads will start appearing trying to win back trust. Outdoor even. Facebook groups will start up. Whatever.
Point is, you need to employ everything with a brand, not just at crisis time, or at launch, but all the time.
Skittles, Snickers, Segway, Pepsi, Tropicana and this week, Domino’s. Why does it seem there’s never a case study on really cool stuff being done—except here of course—but rather, the missteps people think brands take? Hmmm.
As for YouTube or Twitter being the only things that will make or break a brand, I’ll let you know after they catch the two and fame hits. In this “We’ll get fired but we’ll get famous” culture, I bet their arrest clip ends up a bigger hit than the original, thus growing their “personal brand.”
Tags: Patrick Boyle, Domino’s
9 comments:
Not quite clear on what you’re saying here. Don’t you think Domino’s used YouTube for “professional” reasons? That is, it was the quickest – and even the most cost-effective – way to spread their message. There’s no need to do print and TV, because the news channels/papers/radio/etc. will likely pick up the story, driving even more people to YouTube. Plus, the message will continue when the Booger Man gets arrested – with no need for Domino’s to do anything but let the media cover it all. It seems like a case of knowing which media vehicles to use to best solve the problem, and letting word-of-mouth do the rest.
“Don’t you think Domino’s used YouTube for “professional” reasons?” Yes they did, and that’s fine, but that's not my point.
“There’s no need to do print and TV, because the news channels/papers/radio/etc.”
That’s not a given though. The “Why worry about the other stuff” attitude is my point. How do you not think beyond one form of media when advising a brand?
I'd agree that it will take on a life of its own, especially with parodies, but they can still stay on top of things.
Hey, dude, it was me commenting earlier. Didn’t feel like logging in. Anyway, part of my point is, why should an advertiser have to spend its own money to produce a TV spot and print ads and run it all on expensive media because two jackasses messed up? Even if the dipshit duo are tried and convicted, don’t expect them to foot the bill. I think this is a proper case of being media neutral – that is, they found the best vehicles for the task. I think it’s wrong to think integrated marketing requires using all the media. Sometimes a client doesn’t need a spot. Or a print ad. Or a website. Or a viral video. Etc.
lol, np. I'm not saying you need to use all either, just saying as a brand, I’d rather work with someone who could draw from a wider range of experience because they might offer up solutions that are better than just whatever a Web 2.0 “guru” comes up with.
Yeah, but I guarantee you, the ad guys would want two weeks just to come up with a solution. Like the ex-employee in the video (and I don’t understand why it’s still on YouTube when the Domino’s president said it was removed), they spend too much time picking their noses.
The problem I have with the Domino's video is that it so not genuine. It has the feel of "let's do a youtube video response to look like we did something/ we care, so people stop talking about it."
I would liked to see some emotion in the video - anger, shock, guilt - or at the very least a sense of being apologetic to the consumer for this happening.
I do agree with you MTLB - this video is not enough. The damage to the brand that 2 idiot employees have committed is HUGE and we've not seen the total impact yet. Domino's needs to act hard and fast to save their reputation.
dearjanesample,
I’ve gone back and forth on this. At first, my opinion was Domino’s is a victim of two stupid assholes. It’s like when Wendy’s took a hit because of one woman faking finding a finger in her chili. With the CEO’s video, Domino’s took quick action. I think ad people are being too critical of the video. The CEO looks legitimately concerned and human. I believe him. Anything else might have appeared too slick. I also think ad people spend too much time examining marketing tactics versus examining the real event.
On the other hand, today’s news revealed the woman in the video is a twice-convicted felon – including being a sex offender. So the CEO’s claims about re-examining hiring practices takes on new meaning. Is he admitting the hiring practices are faulty? It seems possible. Which shows Domino’s kinda got what it deserved. That is, if you go ahead and hire any convicted felon-sex offender, well, don’t be surprised to get in trouble.
The tough part for me is that I have literally NEVER used Domino’s services. So I don’t know what the typical customer belief is about the employees. Are the video artists aberrations, or are they symbolic of the typical Domino’s employee? If it’s the former, Domino’s is going to be OK. If it’s the latter, Domino’s will need more than a response video and integrated efforts from its marketing partners. They need to reset their basic business practices. The last place to look for advice in that area would be with its marketing partners.
@hj - To that last point, I saw a few mentions in articles of how Domino’s should now use this is as a way to review and implement strict hiring practices. Like they don’t now? Comparing the situation to terrorists and homeland security, dumbasses with video cameras only have to be right once, while companies almost always have to be vigilant 24/7.
That it isn't Taco Bell (or whatever res. chain) is moot. To paraquote Dan Patrick, you can't stop it, you can only hope to contain it.
This is true. But it really looks bad for Domino’s now. They’ve gone from victim to, um, not sure what. No one looks favorably on corporations that hire convicted felons/sex offenders—especially corporations that are family restaurants/pizza delivery services. The Domino’s CEO mentioned reviewing hiring practices in his video. Did he know then that girlfriend was a fiend? Like I said before, I don’t have a personal viewpoint on the typical Domino’s employee. Again, if customers view the vidiots as representative of Domino’s workers, there’s trouble in pizza paradise. Get the door. It’s Armageddon.
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