This past weekend there was a PR/Social media/Personal branding crisis via twitter. Justine Sacco, a former PR exec with IAG brands, tweeted a racist remark from her personal twitter account and the backlash is something that she will be dealing with for years to come.

A South African by birth, American by residency, Justine tweeted ignorant and derogatory remarks about South Africa’s AIDs epidemic. As a result, she became instantly infamous. Photographers flocked to the airports. News sites reported her faux pas, and countless people joined in to express their discontent and disgust.

But taking it even further, the brand crisis was turned into an opportunity for Aid For Africa, a non-profit organization in partnership with 85 other organizations working to address the primary issues impacting Africa, from health care to education and beyond. From a branding point of view, it immediately brought to mind to me how critically important it is to own your own name as a domain name. Here’s why:

1) It doesn’t matter who yo work for, we are all brand ambassadors. The moment something in your life that doesn’t match up to the values of the organization you work for, there is potential crisis

2) If Justine Sacco has already owned her name, she would have the tools and resources to lay a platform for recovery under her own name, which would be easier than it will now be without it.

3) Owning your name makes as much sense as having a social media profile, email account or home address. It is now one of the standard ways that people will find out about  you and get in touch with you. Having that foundational control is not only smart, but beneficial.

It’s hard when your mistakes are laid bare for all the world to see. As a christian, and reflecting on this Christmas holiday season, my heart goes out to Justine and her family and the scrutiny they must now face. My prayer for Justine is that the lessons she is learning through this crisis serve as a breeding ground for education and change.

We have all made mistakes. We have said stupid things. Done stupid things. Thought stupid things. Most of us have never had them captured by a global audience, and most of us never will. I hope you and I never have to face such a crisis, but just in case… perhaps today is the day to get your “FirstnameLastName.com”?

What insight do you have on this? My goal in writing this post is not to hop on the bandwagon of hate and condemnation but instead to highlight what can be learned from someone else’s mistakes. Comment below, what say you?

Recently the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation had a brand crisis front and center in the media and we were all witness to it unfolding and watched as every consumer and corporate action came together in response. Only time will tell the damage that was done, and how quickly they’ll recover, but we have a lot of lessons to learn from them.

I think to some degree we’ve all experienced a brand in crisis, and even have been the victim of the inconsistencies of executing a brand promise or legal right. A few other examples that come to mind: the Jet Blue flight attendant that opened the chute after a flight and exited the plane; Kyla Ebbert, the passenger deemed “too sexy to fly” when she was asked off the plane because her (gulp) skirt was too short; and the most recent radio rant by Charlie sheen, criticizing his producers and causing CBS and Warner Brothers to halt production of “Two and a Half Men” for the rest of the season.

Your employees, your customers and your decisions are at the forefront of a brand crisis. When just one of these key influencers goes against your brand values, a crisis is either in the making or fully thrust. Since you can’t control what any person will do at any particular time, it’s best to have a plan in place in managing a crisis if it should happen to you.

In short, a brand crisis happens when the favorable perception of your brand has an event that causes tremendous and rapid decline. The perception could be public perception, media perception, stockholder perception, or a combination of them all. Services and value are the main drivers for brand success, and an inconsistent execution of either starts the crisis process.

So how do you safeguard, as best you can, a brand crisis, and how do you repair one? Let’s use the examples above and outline a few steps that you can take, or have prepared, should you need them.

1) You MUST have brand guidelines? Without them, the employees that you hire, the materials you create for marketing and the promises you make to your customers is unclear and hard to manage.

2) Be prepared to respond quickly. Time is critical when a crisis strikes. Though you don’t want to respond before you have all the facts it’s important that you be ready, and have an open mind while reviewing all the FACTS.

3) Claim fault when you’re at fault. The public responds favorably to a company when they admit their wrong. Take the Domino’s pizza “send us your photo” campaign, or the Southwest Airlines “Mini-skirt” fare in response to Kelly Ebbert’s situation, as example.

4) Remain connected and transparent. In order to make sure the case against you doesn’t build and grow unfairly it’s important for you to stay approachable and not disappear. The moment you do, your credibility goes with you.

5) Try to lighten the load, while taking things seriously. People know that companies are ran by people. Connect to human emotions, and humor (when appropriate) and let them know that every measure is taken to create a better situation. Whether the crisis was your fault, the fault of your employee or the fault of the customer, improvement and future prevention is the best remedy.

Every crisis has a time stamp. Time does heal all wounds. Since you can’t determine the time, the best thing to do is treat the wound and try to restore health to your brand as delicately and quickly as possible! The next time you encounter a brand in crisis keep them on your radar, take note of how they handle it and consider their solutions for your own brand crisis plan.

Not sure what your values are and how they’ll stand the test of a brand crisis? Need someone to help you figure it out? Schedule a quick chat and we’ll see how we can help.

If you have questions call me at 888-YOU-BRAND 🙂

Good Morning!

It’s sad to say, but National Entrepreneurship week is over. I had a blast. This week found me checking into lots of events, meeting new friends and growing forward with old ones. I mostly attended events in New York and New Jersey and tomorrow I head to Chicago for one day to connect with my Client Service Manager and some dear colleagues of the Brand Excitement community at Fabienne’s tour (if you’ll be there please let me know so that I can look out for you).

Despite how busy my work load is I make sure to keep in close quarters with my community. They help me keep my finger on the ever changing pulse of business and keep me from doing business with blinders on.

I’m in constant update mode. I have a new video on the website (take a look on the home page at www.brandexcitement.com) and I’ve even opened up my calendar to do 5 free brand strategy sessions. I hope you get a spot (if you didn’t get an invitation to apply, just let me know, I’ll send you one).

I’ve been monitoring the news a bit more than usual and it seems that there’s always a brand in crisis. Last year during this season it was Charlie Sheen. This year it’s the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. The more success you get, ultimately, the more vulnerable you become to brand crisis. That’s why you’ve got to have a crisis management plan (for the media, or that client who is going to flame you due to an unsatisfied experience).

Let me ask you… how many companies, large or small, do you think know how to respond to brand disasters? People are the most important asset for any brand, and what they do, while working for us, and in this day of transparency, even when they’re not, has a huge impact on our brand’s success or failure. Be sure your business has one, and when a crisis strikes you’ll keep your composure.

How was your week? What events or activities did you get involved in?