5 Lessons from the Target Nightmare

Target is currently in a windstorm of controversy.  The question of the day is ‘How are they handling this crisis that could happen to any large retailer?’  And what lessons should other large and small organizations learn from this nightmare.

target red card1. Revisit your crisis communication plan.  Or, create a crisis communication plan if you do not have one.  We all hope that our organizations do not have to face controversy.  Unfortunately, many when do and it happens when you least expect it.  You should review your plan quarterly. When people need to go into action to correct the situation, you want to make sure these individuals are still in that role.  In many large companies, people change roles regularly.  This quickly puts your plan out of date.

2. Control the situation, do not let the situation control you.  One hug mistake made by Target is letting the media break the story.  Target’s team should have immediately devised talking points to tell the story as they wanted it to be told.  Now, it seems like Target is having to run from behind to manage the story.

3. Constantly communicate with your consumers. Target has a very loyal fan base.  Similarly to our own customers and clients, Target’s customers would be more understanding if they were getting constant updates about what is going on to rectify the situation.  I am almost certain that I used my Target Red Card during the days that they mentioned and I have yet to receive an email or notification about what I should do. 

4. Use social media to your advantage.  Social media is a great way to respond directly to your consumers.  It is also a great way to listen to how your consumers are feeling about a particular situation.  Target is taking a beating on Facebook.  They are giving 10% off this weekend, but it looks like customers do not feel that it is enough.  But, from Target’s perspective, can they really do enough to satisfy some customers.  It looks like they will have to take a loss and gradually earn the trust of their audience back.

5. Keep your employees in the loop. Employees can be your biggest ambassadors, but only if they know exactly what is going on.  Your employees do not need to hear the information from the media, they need to hear it from their managers.  The employees on the front lines also need to be well versed on how to handle the comments, concerns, and complaints that they are going to get from customers over the next few weeks.

What lessons have you learned from this incident?  Leave us a note in the comments section.  I am sure that this is a situation that we will be watching into the New Year.

Dear Target,

If you need help with your crisis communication and PR efforts to rebuild your reputation, give us a call!  Selsi Enterprises would love to help!

Sincerely,

Selsi Enterprises CEO

Additional articles about the topic:

A Message from the Target CEO (Behind the Scenes at Target)

Target’s PR Nightmare: Customer Service Gridlock (MarketWatch)

Target on Facebook

Target Breach Likely Involved Inside Knowledge, Experts Say (PC World)

A Fortune Worth Sharing: Fortune Cookies, Marketing, & Events

This story is a true testament to the power of social media.

A few weeks back I received an email requesting a product review for a product that is baked all of the way on the other side of the country. After the exchange of a few emails, this 25-year-old bakery in the SF Bay area is now connected with a wonderful PR boutique in Atlanta . Product reviews are not something we normally do at Selsi Enterprises, but for the effort made by the company to share their products with us, we said ‘Yes!’

The Product: Fortune Cookies
The Company: Fortune Cookie Creations
Website: http://www.fortunecookiecreations.com/
Our Verdict: Excellent

The freshly baked, colorful fortune cookies arrived and immediately I was blown away by the concept. My event planning wheels started to roll nonstop. What an AWESOME way to complete a theme at a wedding, a sweet 16, or even a corporate holiday party. Not only can the color be customized, but so can the message on the inside.

Fortune Cookies

Custom Fortune Cookies in a variety of colors and flavors with your own personalized messages

The true test — do they taste as good as they look??? I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle flavor associated with each color.  The flavors are not overwhelming.  I think that even if someone did not like strawberries for example, they could still appreciate the slight flavor added to the cookie. This is important because if you do have the cookies at an event or to hand out to potential clients, you do not want the flavor so strong that you can easily turn someone off.  Our team felt like there is a safe level of flavor in each cookie that would allow most people to like any of the cookies that they were offered. 

Red = Strawberry
Brown = Chocolate
Blue = Raspberry
Orange = Orange
Green = Lime
Yellow = Coconut

 

I must say that out of all of us in the office, the Chocolate was our favorite. Orange pulled a close second!

The company has a great website. Click here to take a look around their site. I love the information they shared in the ‘About Us’ section. You are able to find out some interesting facts about the company immediately. A couple of facts that stood out to me was that the company was created in 1986. 10 years ago, they decided to add in the colors and flavors.

Event Planners

What a nice touch this would be to any event. You could continue your theme and put an event appropriate message inside the cookie.  We all know that it is details like this that make an event memorable for guest at your events.  If done right, this is something that will be talked about way after the event is over.

Marketing Nugget

Fortune cookies are a great leave behind when you call on a perspective client. They are also great to use on trade show tables. The fact that you can customize the color and the message on the inside can prove to be a great marketing tool for your company.

Let us know if you order any fortune cookies from Fortune Cookie Creations.

Skitch By Evernote

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We just discovered the app Skitch. This app will allow you to take a photo and mark up any changes that you may
need to share with someone else. The concept is great and extremely useful!

As visual story telling becomes more and more prevalent, showing the right visual becomes critical to conveying your brands story.

Try this app out and let us know what you think. Or, if you are using something different, leave us a note on that in the comments also.

SE calls for nominations – 2013 NonProfit Challenge

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Selsi Enterprises announces a call for nominations for their 2013 Nonprofit Challenge. The 12-month pro bono public relations initiative was created to help generate community awareness for a select nonprofit 501(c)(3).

The nomination and submission information for the Selsi Enterprises Nonprofit Challenge is now available. All Georgia based nonprofits are eligible to apply. The application can be found here on the Selsi Enterprises website in the column on the right in the Box.com widget. Simply download the application and email it in. The deadline for nominations/applications is Thursday, November 28, 2013, at 6:00 PM EST. The winner will be announced on Friday, December 6, 2013.

For one year, the Selsi Enterprises team will work collaboratively with the selected nonprofit to provide communications guidance and support via news releases, media relations, media training, community outreach, social media, communications training and other related services.

Selsi Enterprises also invites other Georgia based firms specializing in branding, advertising, marketing and social media to join the Nonprofit Challenge and provide complementary services to the selected Nonprofit Challenge recipient. Firms interested in donating their time and talents to this initiative can email nonprofitchallenge@selsienterprises.com or telephone Selsi Enterprises directly at 494-939-1594.

About Selsi Enterprises

Based in Atlanta, Georgia Selsi Enterprises is a comprehensive communications firm specializing primarily in servicing small/medium size business, corporate communication, as well as nonprofits across the country. The firm utilizes the most relevant and current communications tools—with a hybrid of traditional and new media approaches—to develop and execute strategic public relations initiatives for its clients.

America’s Top Brand –At Least for 1 More Day–The Race to the White House

Brand managers can learn a lot from this election!

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When asked what the top recognizable brands are in the United States today, one might say Apple, Coke, or even Dell. Actually, what is dominating the consciousness of most Americans at this moment is ‘The Race to the White House.’ As brand managers, it does not matter your political affiliation when it comes to analyzing the communication strategy choices made by each campaign. Here are some lessons that I have pulled from all of the political excitement:

1. Stay on message. If you run a business that has several spokespeople, then you will need to review your key messages and disseminate that information accordingly. Think about the many examples that have come out of the campaign when individuals veered off message.

2.Fully define your product or service. Romney struggled in the beginning because many had an impression of who he was, but did not KNOW him as an individual. Once his campaign began to better define his personal brand, he merged to the forefront of the other republican candidates. Make sure that your product or service is defined in a way that your target audience can fully understand what you are offering.

3. Brand advocates are your friend. You can not be in multiple places at one time. One thing that we can learn from the Obama camp is the art if growing your brand advocates. These individuals can work areas of your target market that you may not have the time to work.

4. Fact check everything. It is not worth tarnishing your brand by including false information in your communication strategy. Once your target audience realizes you are giving out false information, you may never get that person to trust your brand again.

5. React quickly. No one can tell your story like you can. When something is publicly stated incorrectly about your brand, correct it quickly and with facts. To sum it up, abide by this rule: Accept responsibility where appropriate, reinforce what you stand for, and emphasize the positive.

I know that there are many more lessons that a PR specialist can pull from the current political contest. Please respectfully share your lessons learned in the comment section. We are not looking for political preference, but simply the communication strategy elements that we can all apply to our PR functions.

Customer Experience

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Have you ever thought about the experience that your customers have when they engage with your business?

One of the keys to creating a loyal customer base is to make sure that each time the customer concludes an interaction with your organization, he/she leaves satisfied. Many of us are fortunate enough to eat at nice restaurants regularly. One of the tactics that the best restaurants use is the idea of creating the best customer dining experience that they can create.

No matter what type of company you work in, work to make sure you are creating the best customer experience that you can create. You can work on anything from the way the phone is answered to providing fresh baked cookies to everyone that comes in your store. Take some time to think of ways to make your ‘customer experience’ tie into your brand identity. This change could be the difference in a one time customer and a customer for life.

Feel free to leave a comment about how you are currently managing your customer experience, what you plan to do in the future to better manage the customer experience, or a company that you feel provides the ultimate customer experience.

100 Days of Blogging

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It’s time to put what the experts say to the test! You probably hear all of the time that ‘content is king and consistency is vital.’ So, Selsi Enterprises has come up with a simple project. We are going to put out great content on a consistent basis for the next 100 days.

We would like to have some of you join us in this effort. The more people that join in, the better we will be able to test our theory. Leave us a comment if you are interested in diving in with us. When you share your blog post with the world, use the hash tag #100Days.

Happy blogging!

Brand Narrative: What is your story?

Most small business owners are not thinking about their “brand narrative.” Unfortunately, it is an important piece to growing any business.  If you own a business, it is important to make sure your brand is giving off the story that you would like for it to tell. Many brands are having a harder time controlling their narrative now that social media is in the picture.

Your challenge for today is to look at all of the places that you have a brand presence.  If you personally are attached to your brand, then you will also need to look at what your personal brand is saying about your organization.  Here are a few questions to guide you on your efforts of reviewing your brand narrative:

  1. Is my message consistent?
  2. Is my message conveying what I would like for it to convey?
  3. Does the brand narrative help me to reach my goals and objectives?
  4. What are the top 3 messages that I need to convey in my messaging?
  5. Can I make the necessary changes in order to improve my brand narrative?