Criticism or appreciation both, need to be handled with a sense of calm. As much as one would like to believe that words are ‘mere’ words, they can turn out to be a game changer when it comes the reputation of your brand.
The Delete Uber hashtag is a classic example of this. Two words, ten letters, and one big brand disaster. Uber suffered a major loss, something that could have been avoided with a smarter brand response strategy. Online Response Management helps in creating a rapport with your target audience and cultivating a strong brand image in their mind. It is a crucial part of any business and the easiest way to leave a mark on people. (Literally!) With a strong response management strategy, one can understand customer expectations and align brand objectives better with them.
Let's dive deeper into the topic of brand response management and look at a few brands who've got this right or otherwise?!
Nike - Doing It The Right Way
A good strategy is essential to the success of any brand. The key to their success is often held by the target audience. Therefore, it becomes an even bigger priority for them to respond to their queries, compliments, as well as complaints.
Nike does this efficiently because they have created a separate Twitter account altogether which is only responsible for managing and answering customer queries. Often, brands keep away from responding to negative comments in order to avoid a disaster. However, what they must remember is that avoidance will only lead to bigger disasters. Therefore, one can learn from Nike and just do it!
When Pepsi Chose Empathy
In 2017, PepsiCo launched the “Live for now- moments” campaign. It created a lot of controversy among the audience, and most of them found it to be insensitive. Pepsi understood the severity of the situation and, instead of panicking, chose to deal with it with transparency and honesty by sincerely apologizing to the people. This is a classic example of how brands must never let go of their honesty, no matter what the situation is.
Slack's Uncalled-For Outage
In 2022, Slack- an online messaging platform- faced a widespread outage and many users were unable to access it for a while. The outage lasted for five hours. However, after seeing the discomfort of the audience, the brand decided to provide a progress update via Twitter, with all transparency. This not only improved their overall image but also developed a sense of trust in their target audience.
Small steps are what build trust between brands and their customers, and these brands are a testament to how little care and strategy can pay off.
What Does The Future Hold?
With the ongoing buzz around Chat GPT, the debate of whether machines can replace humans has taken the front seat again. This might make us wonder what the future holds for brand response management.
A lot of us may agree that responses can be AI-generated, and it is not something new. Many websites function on machine-generated responses. However, no matter how advanced technology gets, it can never replace human emotions in their true forms. Therefore, whatever the future holds, the truth is that unless and until your brand speaks up with utmost sincerity and transparency, you will never truly manage to build a connection with your customers. After all, can a machine really convey the voice of your brand in its true nature?
Brand reputation management is the key to humanizing your brand and building credibility. We believe it's best to embrace BRM rather than let go of difficult situations.
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