Donovan RocheDonovan Roche

Let’s agree on one thing out of the gate: We all make mistakes. Some are certainly bigger than others, and the biggest are typically made in public — for all to see and develop opinions of your brand.

Whether a CPG stalwart, tech giant or one of the world’s most trusted banks, you’re not exempt from becoming embroiled in a PR crisis. And 2016 saw its fair share of doozies. As these and others who experienced a major misstep discovered, few things are worse than getting caught with your pants down (metaphorically speaking, of course). The best one could hope for in such situation is to learn from the mistake, and hope that others do, too. Here are three of this year’s headline-stealers and what we can learn from them:

Cheerios angers fans with tweet about Prince’s death

Soon after rock icon Prince’s passing, General Mills-owned and Minneapolis-based Cheerios tweeted an image of the words “Rest in Peace” on a purple background with #Prince in the message. That probably would have been fine, but to put the brand’s stamp on it, they dotted the “i” with a Cheerio. This creative touch set off mourning fans, who viewed the tweet as an insensitive marketing ploy.

Lesson Learned: Attempting to capitalize on a high-profile celebrity’s death rarely puts a brand in a positive light, and it’s usually deemed tasteless. It was no different for Cheerios. Part of the issue here is the timing of the post — mere hours after Prince’s death was confirmed — which was difficult to digest. With fans still in disbelief, the perception was that Cheerios was hopping on the bandwagon to align their brand with the artist. Few were probably aware that Cheerios was located in the same city as Prince, so the company was likely feeling the loss as much if not more than others. 

To the brand’s credit, when it was clear the Twittersphere was upset over the post, Cheerios quickly removed it and released a statement explaining that the company wanted to “acknowledge the loss of a musical legend in its hometown.” However, by that time, the damage was done (and enough people had captured the image to repost with their displeasure). Bottom line is when it comes to a national loss or tragedy, a brand is better off to either express sympathy without incorporating a commercial message, or avoid it altogether. Well-meaning or not, some will likely raise a social stink over it.

Samsung’s response to Galaxy Note 7 crisis draws criticism

Mere weeks after the release of its flagship Galaxy Note 7, Samsung started to receive reports of the smartphones catching fire while charging. Initial analysis pointed to overheating batteries, so the South Korean company suggested owners return the phone to where they purchased it for an exchange or refund, extending the crisis to carriers like Verizon and AT&T. When reports of fires continued with the replacement devices, the brand decided to recall all Galaxy Note 7s and ceased production.

Lesson Learned: Though relatively quick in responding to the situation, Samsung made several mistakes along the way. To begin with, the company treated the crisis with kid gloves when it should have been much more direct and transparent. For example, their initial notification to consumers was an easy-to-miss tab on their website. Given the severity of the situation (people’s safety at risk), it would have been much more appropriate and effective to feature this important news prominently on their home page, as well as on all of their social channels (this came days later). Secondly, Samsung mistakenly executed the recall without adhering to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guidelines, and issued a statement in Hong Kong to reassure customers that their phones were not subject to the same faulty manufacturing … only to retract it once this was discovered erroneous. 

By acting passively and communicating misinformation, Samsung’s brand reputation was put into question while their mobile division’s bottom line dropped a whopping 96 percent. The company could have minimized this blow by immediately distributing a holding statement to all stakeholders that acknowledged they were aware of the situation, care for the well-being of their customers, and were working to quickly resolve the matter. Then they could have focused on getting their facts straight before going out with errant information.       

Crisis of the week: fake accounts scandal rocks Wells Fargo

One of the largest and most trusted financial institutions in the world, Wells Fargo experienced what was arguably the biggest crisis of the year, and botched it entirely. It began when the bank was fined $185 million for opening up to 2 million false customer accounts. CEO John Stumpf immediately blamed 5,300 employees and allowed consumer banking head Carrie Tolstedt, who oversaw the unit responsible for the fraudulent behavior, to “retire” with a $125 million payout. And that was just the beginning of Stumpf’s slippery slope.

Lesson Learned: Stumpf’s first mistake was assigning all culpability to the company’s worker bees and not holding him or other senior management accountable for these actions, which employees claim was the result of unrealistically high sales goals. Clearly, the problem was deeply rooted in Wells Fargo’s culture and the fix was going to require a deeper examination of their corporate practices. Secondly, the CEO was slow to apologize, which didn’t come until a week-plus later when Stumpf was required to appear before the Senate Banking Committee. 

By not admitting fault, blaming others and showing little concern for their customers, Wells Fargo’s credibility and reputation was seriously put into question, ultimately leading to Stumpf’s ouster (he also willingly left with an estimated $130 million payout). While new CEO Tim Sloan appears to be handling the fallout much more transparently, employees are feeling the repercussions and remain understandably unsettled. It will be a long road ahead for Wells Fargo to regain the trust of both employees and customers, but like many big brands before them, they will be successful if they learn from their mistakes and implement changes to ensure they are never made again.

Those operating in the crisis world recognize that it’s not a matter of if a crisis will occur, but when. Every brand, no matter how big or small, will one day find themselves with their proverbial pants down. While each crisis will provide learning lessons, the best first step any brand can take is to be prepared.

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Donovan Roche is vice president strategic services for Havas Formula, a subsidiary of Havas.