My advice to a brand in order to deal with its PR disaster

In order to grow, companies may search and evaluate different and new alternatives to send the right information to the right customer. Since many customers are using technology to get information about a company´s products and services, companies may not have much choice but to have an active presence in the internet through different methods.

One method that is used nowadays is the blog, a space where companies and customers interact. Rather than merchandising a product using a blog, a company with this tool has the benefit of having a direct conversation with its customers. In the blog the information goes in two ways: from companies to customers and from customers to companies.

I agree to the use of a blog for the anti aging cosmetic “Peel Microabrasion” because is a way to distribute information and have contact with the customers while marketing the product. Franche Vichy Cosmetics can use the blog to answer doubts, give more information about this and other products, make comparisons, among others, while getting feedback, questions or comments from current or potential customers.

My advice to the brand in dealing with the PR disaster is to apologize to its clients because Franchi Vichy Cosmetics was not transparent while launching the campaign in the blog. In order to send the information to the right people, the company must send the message through the same channel in which it made the mistake.

To regain the lost trust because of this error, I would give the following advices to the company: the person who is going to write the article has to identify him/her, i.e. full name, e-mail, address, telephone. In the communication the company cannot tell the customers that the reason of opening a dialogue with users is “because we knew that this product is new and that it can create doubts”* as that message is assuming that the product´s instructions are not clear or as effective as they should be. Vichy Cosmetics cannot try to give more arguments for the mistake, just accept that the company made a mistake and that it is taking all the measures for this not to happen again. Since the blog is a space to have an open conversation with customers, my advice is not to put limit of time for “reactions, negative criticism or other ideas”, as the company did. The blog must be forever open to the customer´s thoughts, comments or feelings.

Even though the mistake was made by the advertising agency, which I strongly suggest to change, the Franchi Vichy Cosmetics must apologize its clients through the same channel used in making the mistake to be sure the same people who saw the error see the excuses. After this, the company can continue using the blog to have open conversations with its customers and to merchandise its products.

*Case: France Vichy Cosmetics: Blog or not to blog?, January 2006.