Managing the Brand Crisis – Do Organizations Need a Disaster Management Team?

The meaning and message of the term “Brand” has undergone metamorphosis over the last few decades. From a simple mark on some cattle on their way to a slaughter house, it has taken several manifestations, presently to represent a set of attributes an individual, a product, a service or a name. Further, it calls for assurance and delivery of these attributes to the market it serves. The impactful and intense relationship it develops with a customer, a consumer of a user underscores its market value immaterial of certain latent deficiencies it might have at a given period. Oftentimes certain ‘brands’ try to conquer an entire market space with extremely low competition, though there could be several other players with almost the same value deliverables and even at a lower cost. The ‘brands’ sometimes speak so loudly that communities cannot think of a kind of a different product or service on its name. It causes powerful neural connects in minds that it is difficult to de-brand them. It is also acknowledged that each ‘brand’ has a shelf-value and it is important to be conscious of this life cycle to extend its longevity or to let it to be reborn like a phoenix.

The ‘brand crisis’ has been a historical phenomenon both for an individual or an organization or a State. In recent times, it is seen that the factors that lead to brand crisis leading to an avalanche of their products in markets are too many. Though the brand crisis could also occur consequent to slow assimilation of negativities within the systems, the challenges one might have to face when the attack is of the nature of a ‘Tsunami’. Either way it needs to be managed. Sometimes it could also be consequent to an ‘outbreak’ over a trivial issue in which the role of the brand has least relevance, but a section of the society might be waiting to see ‘proxy business games’ for the fun of it.

  

Here are a few things to ponder:

1.     

    Organizational insensitivity - Several organizations tend to be ‘celebrating’ their brand and looking for greater ‘out-reaches’ in scale – both in terms of numbers and profits. Their engagement with present success often blinds their future, thanks to their romance in their comfort zones, till they realize, the competition in terms of newer products and services could mesmerize the ‘mindsets’ of the customers and thus ‘wash away’ their own brand value in shorter periods than expected. Such short notices could be even a couple of days. Absence of market research and insensitivity to future are unpardonable. They turn out to be ‘boiled frogs’.

2.  Insider issues – Some organizations which celebrate their supremacy in the market consider their processes and products with higher importance than the human resources that are involved in the organization. Neglect, indifference, absence of recognition, lack of shared vision, poor team games and lack of rewards prompt the insiders to turn as villain invisible. The challenges of such kind are realized when it is too late when the brand value in the market has started touching low ebbs. Unknown internal viruses can land organizations in ICUs.

3.  Poor Public Relations – I have seen huge business empires crumbling within weeks, thanks to the negative publicity, which sweeps the social mind leading to ideological, strategic and political assaults on the organization downgrading them to an extent which they might not indeed deserve. Tamed crocodiles engaged to liquidate the brands, eager and hungry vultures waiting to salvage organizations and anti-socials who always enjoy in destruction wherever it happens for whatever reasons become big players using their bugles and trumpets to make noises (not music) and even committed consumers and customers tend to hide in oblivion, to avoid the nuisance value. And ‘the breaking news’ gatherers want to break something of utmost value to keep the fire burning. These happen like ‘tornadoes’ or like ‘Tsunami’ – with organizations or system finding hardly anytime to respond meaningfully. It might take several years to reconstruct the brand or to resurface with an entirely new brand.  They turn from” bulls’ to “bears” which need a clinical subsidy

  

   These and more call for a “Crisis Management Team” to be in place in all institutions and organizations.  Mere fire-fighting teams won’t help.

     

      The members of the Crisis Management Teams should be well-versed

a.        

     In understanding the strategic and pragmatic management techniques in crisis.

b.    

      Have faith and commitment to the brand value and its details in all dimensions.

c.   

    Have a high degree of emotional intelligence to deal with most provocative situations

d.     

     Have the capacity to reach out to people to restore and build confidence profiles.

e.     

     Spokespersons who are trained in conversational diplomacy

f.    

          Who have ‘positive mindsets’ to diffuse the negativities that cloud around them.

g.  

          Who represent the confidence of the present with promises of the future.

Disaster Management is no more an issue of ‘natural or physical or biological environment’; it has relevance to ‘organization existence and environment’ in commercial and human governance. Investment in such ventures is an insurance to the safety and future of the organizations.