Taco Bell, Connoisseurs of Damage Control
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Written By Peter Hershberg | March 1, 2007 | Share This
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Last week a dozen or so rats invaded a KFC/Taco Bell in New York City, whose scurryings were caught on tape by local onlookers. I was particularly touched by the story because I’ve spent close to five years living a mere three blocks from the scene of the “ratfest”.
What I found *almost* as fascinating […]
Last week a dozen or so rats invaded a KFC/Taco Bell in New York City, whose scurryings were caught on tape by local onlookers. I was particularly touched by the story because I’ve spent close to five years living a mere three blocks from the scene of the “ratfest”.
What I found *almost* as fascinating as watching a dozen giant rats consume low-quality meat off a filthy floor, however, was the way that Yum Brands (owner of KFC/Taco Bell) used search to respond to the crisis. According to Pete Blackshaw, quoted in an AdAge article, neither KFC nor Taco Bell bought ads against “negative terms” on the major search engines the day the story broke. While this oversight was seemingly corrected at some point later in the day, Blackshaw rightly points out that “this is a missed opportunity because the organic search results generally reinforced negative perceptions about food hygiene.” Who knows how many people searched for terms along the lines of “taco bell rats” before Yum Brands realized they had the opportunity to respond to those users with their position (however weak it was) on the issue.
Here’s a screen shot of the Huffington Post’s early coverage of the story:
And the NYT’s coverage shortly thereafter..
AdAge reports, “By midday Friday, more than 1,000 blogs had cited or spread the story and footage… A search on Google News for “rats and KFC” yielded 443 stories and “rats and Tago Bell” some 600 stories posted on websites of publications from Wyoming to the UK.” I bring this up to illustrate something that marketers and P.R. agent often overlook - when responding to negative criticism, start with the publisher pages. Consider the number of major media sites like NYTimes.com and Huffington that use AdSense to monetize their pages. By including contextual ads in a damage control campaign, marketers can feature their side of the story alongside an article that’s likely to be critical of the company. More importantly, this can be done at the same speed at which the story is likely to travel.
Yum Brands eventually caught on:
(from Huffington)
(From the NYT)
Despite the fact that Yum Brands was a little late in responding to the rat crisis, it’s good to see that marketers are finally starting to understand the role of search in the distribution of information online. As for my local KFC/Taco Bell, it may be time to call in…
Topics: Advertising: Contextual |
You would think that after Yum Brands’ total failure in December 2006 to communicate effectively during the Taco Bell E.coli crisis that it would have done a better job in February 2007as soon as WCBS-TV in New York aired the rats.
Back in December 2006, I wrote on my crisis communications blog that Yum and Taco Bell failed miserably in their handling of the E.coli contamination crisis that spread to some eight Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast, mostly on Long Island.
Here’s passage from my Dember 2006 posting:
“A visit today to the company website continues to promote its brand with no mention of the issue. Even the “Press Release” page has a news release posted yesterday about a college football sponsorship. Parent company Yum! also has no information on its website at http://www.yum.com about the crisis.
With two people in critical condition and three dozen people sick, the company has a responsibility to communicate about the safety of each restaurant in New Jersey, Long Island and elsewhere. The company finally put out a statement Monday saying “there is no immediate threat” to consumers. What’s troubling is that the company seems to be more interested in reopening its restaurants quickly rather than taking time to make sure that every Taco Bell in the country has been sanitized by employees and then inspected by health officials.
Actions speak louder than words. So far, Yum! is putting out a message that profits come before people’s safety by rushing to reopen stores. This head-in-the-sand attitude will surely harm their reputation over the long term.