Some time ago, a propaganda poster of “China·The Year of the Horse” by Ford caused heated public opinion.
I was also confused. There is an atmosphere of bull rushing everywhere in China. The relationship between bull and horse in the New Year is not like the style of the old brand. What’s wrong?
There was a lot of scolding on the Internet, and Ford shyly explained: We are going to launch Mustang cars in China, so this is the reason.
The subtext is “You don’t understand, people who know cars naturally understand it”; so everyone gets even more angry, what does this mean? Isn’t it for us to do a half-day advertisement?
In the end, a public apology was publicly quelled, and the public anger was somewhat calmed; many people said that Ford earned a wave of attention, went on hot searches, and created hot spots. In my opinion, such “hype” is really not clever.
Most of the product information disseminated by the brand needs to be recognized from being learned to the final purchase of real money (except for some fast-moving products, double 11 promotional products, etc.).
Knowing is knowing, but all are bad impressions, how to sell? Either the product is really good and has no rivals, or the brand is re-whitewashed, or the promotion is low-price…Troubled and hurtful, why bother?
For the Ford incident, if time goes back, is there a good way to deal with it? I think so.
For example, the official explanation of the connotation of this poster design is the first time. If everyone’s feedback is too far from the traditional Chinese culture and cannot be accepted, then apologize frankly and withdraw it, and reissue a sincere new design at the right time; this kind of secondary communication, The effect is much better than the current “shaking wit”.
The core difference between the two approaches lies in the word “sincerity”. The vernacular is “really respect the IQ of the public and respect the trust of customers in the brand.”
The word “sincere” seems extremely common and very chicken soup, but in the field of brand communication and corporate public relations, this is the most basic and important commitment of the brand to the public.
1. Is the brand “surplus” or “overdraft” in the user’s emotional bank?
In the book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, the concept of “emotional bank” was mentioned.
The effect is that when people get along with each other, everyone has an emotional bank account in their heart.
If everyone trusts each other, gets along with each other happily, and often gives each other small surprises, and is moved a lot, then it is like “saving money” in an emotional bank.
But cheating, failing to abide by the agreement, saying one thing and doing one thing are “withdrawal”. If there is no deposit in the account, there will be an emotional “overdraft”, and to a certain extent, it will “bankrupt”, that is, the relationship is broken.
This simple truth also applies to the relationship between each of us and each brand.
For example, a certain brand’s product is amazing, and we can experience the intentions everywhere in the process of using it, then it is undoubtedly a large “deposit”; if the quality of the product goes wrong, the customer repeatedly communicates with the customer service and it will be bad , Then the previous deposit will soon become a negative number, returning to a surplus state requires re-depositing.
Those brands with high customer stickiness and high repurchase rates are generally brands that hold a large amount of “deposits” in the minds of users.
These brands and customers may not be smooth sailing, but once expenditures occur, stop losses as soon as possible and quickly bring the relationship back to normal levels; the key to this is to communicate sincerely and quickly correct errors.
Therefore, sincerity is particularly important in the emotional banking between people, and there is nothing wrong with brands and users.
This principle is too simple, everyone knows it, and the brand must also know it. But why are there frequent offensive rollovers?
2. The reason why the brand is “overdrawn”
I have summed it up, and there are probably the following: carelessness, arrogance, fluke (small cleverness), malpractice (value problems).
First of all, let’s talk about “careless”: This refers to unintentional mistakes. For example, the information disseminated is rushed online without verification, or if the test sample is limited, it will be fully promoted; it is not rigorous or professional, and it is actually not to the customer. Be responsible for.
There is also a lack of professional knowledge. Some companies do not realize the importance of brand public relations and do not understand the 5S principles, so there will be some errors that are not timely.
After the emergence of a crisis event, I thought of hiding it first, and quickly resolved it before releasing it.
The incident of salesforce’s system crash due to the rapid increase in the number of users that year was that the feedback was not timely and the users considered it to be evasive and irresponsible; the corporate image plummeted, and the stock price fell all the way; fortunately, the follow-up response was appropriate and the loss was recovered, but at a cost huge.
Let’s talk about “arrogance” again. In some large companies, especially those companies that have absolute advantages in their products and don’t worry about selling, they tend to rise above them.
Tesla’s frequent public relations rollovers in the past six months (spokesperson’s social media response to reporters, dumping of the State Grid, and new models) have made the public feel arrogant and indifferent whether it is professionalism or attitude.
Perhaps many people will say that their products are powerful, and bad public opinion quickly became a cloud of smoke; now perhaps because of innovation, the public emotional bank has more deposits, but overdrafts are repeated, as the technological gap narrows, the possibility of overdrafts The sex will be greater.
As long as consumers hesitate or delay buying, they give competitors a chance. In addition, being kind to every opportunity to communicate with customers is actually the most efficient way to accumulate brand equity. (Efficiency, but Musk, the originator of time management, is best at it)
The third type is “lucky”, in fact, it can also be called “scratching the ball.” The touch of porcelain in public relations, the exaggerated effect in brand communication, and the promotion of copycats may be this kind of psychology. The subtext is “Try it, maybe it will be hot”.
The bird’s nest sold in Simba’s live studio is actually just bird’s nest flavored beverage (sugar water), which is probably a fluke. The final result was severe penalties, and the brand estimated that it would be difficult for the brand to stand up.
The principles of imitating, copying and even touching porcelain are similar, that is, Bo Yi Bo, maybe the other party can’t find it? That’s a thief, right? Such a brand is definitely impossible to become a big weapon (if any one has become, tell me secretly by private message)
The last one is “incorrect mind”, which means that values are a bit collapsed. For example, creating a malicious topic, hoping to cause a sensation, and then whitewash it. Generally speaking, it is difficult. This kind of company is either stupid or bad.
For example, in the cotton-era advertisements, the mistakes are so outrageous, and the apology letter can be written softly. What kind of routine? Which master taught it?
Also, the salute advertisements of previous domineering cars ended in an apology. All these years, everyone still remembers that they were itchy.
If we say that in the era of opaque information, this method of gaining attention may be able to correct it. Now, in an era where everyone can speak up, “opportunity” is likely to be laughable and self-destructive.
3. Sincerely, what should we do?
Just like sincerity among friends, sincerity in brand communication is simply: say one thing, be rigorous, and communicate honestly.
First of all, the information disseminated by the brand must be true, scientifically verified and tested; not exaggerated, not concealed, not deliberately unintelligible…
For companies in the To B industry, the most terrible thing is false cases; if you just contact and have not really become a customer and have used it, don’t lie.
What is the effectiveness of consumer products? Don’t be vague and deceive the audience.
In addition, all content that has direct or indirect contact with customers must be carefully reviewed to ensure that every time they go out of the street, they are all fine products.
Whether in the traditional era or the current Internet, A/B advertising testing is a method for seed users to detect and feedback adjustments, at least to avoid low-level errors.
For example, the poster of Sony Headphones paying tribute to Beethoven, but anyone with common sense will know where the problem is. Let customers test it on a small scale. This idea must have been killed in the morning.
In the face of crisis, respond candidly at the first time, express your attitude within 24 hours, and activate the investigation mechanism; always remember to give customers an explanation, don’t think about solving it, let’s say that users, fans, and customers need the right to know.
Finally, it is best to have long-term communication channels with customers, such as fan groups, CEO feedback mailboxes, etc., so that corporate executives can grasp the feedback from customers at the first line.
Speaking of this, do you still feel that brands and friends get along too much? Be sincere, and always have innovations and surprises, friendship will last forever.
Instead of putting “customer first” on the lips, it is better to act quickly, remove false and exaggerated information, communicate with customers humbly, give feedback quickly, and solve user problems in the first time…
To build long-term trust between enterprises and customers, “going heart” is the key. I hope every brand can become a good friend of users.
