A review of the top ten corporate crisis public relations incidents in the first half of 2011, analyzing the diffusion path of the crisis, and exploring crisis response strategies.

Case 1: Carrefour price fraud incident

Protagonist of the incident: Carrefour

Occurrence time: January 2011

Industry: Retail Service industry

Crisis type: Integrity crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event process:

January 2011 In the middle of the month, the Economic Voice's "Tiantian 315" program continuously reported that Carrefour was playing tricks with price tags. It marked a low price on the price tag, but charged a high price at checkout; it was obviously a discount, but the promotional price was the same as the original price

1 On March 26, the National Development and Reform Commission disclosed that consumers in many places reported that "some supermarkets such as Carrefour marked low prices on their price tags and charged high prices at checkout," maliciously harming consumers. It has been verified that some supermarkets in some cities do engage in price gouging. Immediately afterwards, the most important domestic media such as CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, and Sina.com successively, large-scale, and prominently condemned Carrefour. Various media reports were overwhelming, which caused huge social repercussions.

In response to this incident, Carrefour issued a statement on the price tag issue, saying: "The relevant problems are caused by the imperfection of our company's price tag system. We are embarking on upgrading and transformation. In response to the current problems, The company has particularly strengthened its internal supervision and inspection work and frequency of inspections, and will actively communicate with local price and other regulatory authorities, and invite professionals from local price inspection departments to strengthen training for relevant persons in charge and employees of our company. ”

< p>However, media surveys show that the public does not buy into the above remedial measures. It will not be easy for this foreign-owned retail giant to save its integrity issues.

Case analysis:

The two major flaws in Carrefour's response to this crisis are its failure to correct itself when it defrauds consumers and its lack of sincerity when it is forced to apologize.

Carrefour’s apology shows corporate arrogance. The lack of sincerity and sincerity in response prevented Carrefour from regaining the support and trust of consumers in its apology after the crisis, and the public's goodwill towards the company and brand was completely lost. Carrefour claimed to compensate consumers after this incident, but in fact the enforcement was not sufficient.

What is even more disappointing is that after the National Development and Reform Commission announced the list of supermarkets suspected of price fraud, the media conducted on-site interviews with relevant stores in multiple cities. As a result, they still found some supermarkets with low prices and high settlements. commodity. Even after the incident of false preferential prices was exposed, there are still many Carrefour stores across the country that have been investigated and punished for fraud and have not made improvements. The consequences of perfunctory consumers will be serious. For enterprises, the issue of integrity is the foundation. Reflecting on Carrefour's frequent trust crises in recent years, we can see that Carrefour has not found a correct path in crisis public relations from crisis after crisis.

The article you are reading is from "Inventory and Analysis of Ten Major Corporate Crisis Public Relations Events in the First Half of 2011" (Lin Jingxin, Zhao Yuzhu/Written)

Case 2: Kangzhi Nimesulide Incident

Protagonist of the incident: Kangzhi Pharmaceutical

Occurrence time: February 2011

Industry: Pharmaceutical industry

Type of crisis : Credibility crisis

Attention index: ★★★★

Event process:

On November 26, 2010, CCTV News Channel broadcast an article about " Report of the 2010 International Forum on Safe Medication Use in Children. The report said: “When Nimesulide is used to reduce fever in children, cases of damage to the central nervous system and liver occur frequently. According to data from the China Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center, Nimesulide has had several cases in the six years since it was launched in China. Thousands of adverse reactions, including several deaths.” Nimesulide seems to have become the melamine of children’s antipyretics. This rumor and question originated from the International Forum on Safe Medication Use in Children in 2010. It was fueled by the media and caused a drug safety panic in China.

Two months later, the news began to spread wildly on the Internet and was brought up again by the media. They rushed to report and interpret it, and pointed the finger at Kangzhi Pharmaceutical, which produces Nimesulide.

By mid-to-late February 2011, media reported that large pharmacies in many places across the country had begun to remove Nimesulide Granules and other drugs containing Nimesulide from their shelves.

In March, the emergence of an anonymous top-secret email called "Johnson & Johnson Crackdown on Nimesulide" made the whole incident even more confusing. The email stated that this incident that triggered an appalling safety scare may be A conspiracy, a multinational pharmaceutical company planned this business war to squeeze out its opponents and help its similar drugs seize market share. Subsequently, Kangzhi Pharmaceutical issued a statement saying that "some people with ulterior motives spread and unreasonably expanded the side effects of 'Nimesulide Granules' through various media, thereby achieving the purpose of maliciously slandering the reputation of the 'Ruizhiqing' product." For this reason, Kangzhi claimed to have reported it to the relevant departments.

Case analysis:

When the "Nimesulide" drug incident is once again in the spotlight, this petition from Kangzhi Pharmaceutical is more like a public relations exercise to maintain its image. Strategy.

Under the pressure of ruthless market reaction, coupled with the background that the pharmaceutical industry is in the beginning stage of a major reshuffle and major reorganization, at the beginning stage, due to the main product quality issues, which is a fatal problem for pharmaceutical companies, Falling on the starting line due to injury is definitely not what Kangzhi Pharmaceutical wants to see, so it is not incomprehensible that Kangzhi Pharmaceutical is anxious and even angry.

However, the safety of children's drugs has attracted greater attention from society. Kangzhi Pharmaceutical failed to give a clear and convincing response to the media’s questioning reports, and instead pointed the finger at other pharmaceutical companies. Whether this matter truly involves unfair competition is another question. What we urgently need to know is whether Nimesulide is suitable for children and how its safety will be ensured.

If the public and investors' attention was not diverted away from the incident as early as possible during the crisis management, Kangzhi Pharmaceutical will undoubtedly put a psychological nail on the head and lead the company into a real dead end.

Case 3: Kumho Tire Quality Gate Incident

Protagonist of the incident: Kumho Tire

Occurrence time: March 2011

Industry: Tire industry

Crisis type: Image crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event process:

This year CCTV's "March 15" party threw the first bombshell. Kumho Tire, one of the world's top ten tire manufacturers, adulterated a large amount of raw materials. In order to reduce costs, it did not mix rubber according to the proportion and used a large amount of recycled rubber, which seriously affected The quality of tires brings safety risks to cars using their brand tires.

Kumho Tire is one of the top ten tire companies in the world, including Shanghai General Motors, Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, DPCA, FAW Car, Chery, BYD, It provides matching tires for 35 models of 12 automobile companies including Great Wall Motors, Hafei Motors and Brilliance Automobile, ranking first in China's domestic matching market share. The special status of its industry has caused the Kumho Tire incident to affect the whole body. Many car companies have been dragged down by the Kumho Tire incident. Kumho Tire is facing a crisis of trust.

Case analysis:

Although Kumho Tire does not directly face the consumer market, it has become a well-known brand after being exposed on CCTV. It’s really sad that Kumho Tire made its first strong debut in this way. Kumho Tire's response after the crisis also showed its lack of public relations awareness.

After being exposed, Kumho Tire first "refused to admit its fault", saying that there was no quality problem with the tires. This attitude first shocked consumers of its brand image, which also attracted greater attention from the media and ultimately led to greater negative public opinion.

The article I read is from "Inventory and Analysis of the Ten Major Corporate Crisis Public Relations Events in the First Half of 2011" (Lin Jingxin, Zhao Yuzhu/Text)

Afterwards, due to the pressure of public opinion, Kumho Tire China President Li Hanxie publicly issued an apology statement, denying the previous claim that "there is no quality problem" to gain consumers' understanding. At the same time, under the pressure of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, it embarked on a long road of free testing and recall.

However, we still have many questions that need to be answered urgently, such as the scope of the incident, the crux of the problem, the protection of consumer rights, etc. Kumho will still have to pay a long and heavy price for its quality shortcomings.

Case 4: Shuanghui “Clenbuterol” Incident

Protagonist of the incident: Shuanghui Food

Occurrence time: March 2011

Industry: Meat processing industry

Crisis type: Integrity crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event process:

The report of CCTV’s 3.15 special program “The Truth About “Body-Built Pigs”” has drawn Shuanghui Group, my country’s largest meat product processing company, into the “clenbuterol” whirlpool. The report claimed that poisonous pigs raised using the banned animal drug "clenbuterol" in Mengzhou, Henan and other places flowed into Jiyuan Shuanghui, a subsidiary of Shuanghui Group. Because of being involved in the "clenbuterol" scandal, Jiyuan Shuanghui Company, currently in the eye of the storm, suspended production on March 16 for rectification.

The meat products industry has once again been questioned by consumers, and it has also increased Chinese residents’ distrust of food safety in the food industry. Chinese consumers have been through many mental and physical struggles, and they are still angry when caught between domestically produced milk powder and foreign brand milk powder. Now that the "clenbuterol" phenomenon has made a comeback, China's meat products industry is also facing a severe test of survival.

Shuanghui products have been withdrawn from supermarkets in some cities on a large scale and a series of remedial measures have been carried out. However, the brand credibility is difficult to restore. Shuanghui products have encountered unprecedented sales "Waterloo" across the country.

Case analysis:

Although Shuanghui has carried out a series of crisis public relations, its attitude and enthusiasm in dealing with public opinion have made great progress compared with Sanlu back then, and it is also more We have taken the initiative to communicate with the public, but it is clear that public opinion in society has not been alleviated.

As the "leading boss" of the national meat industry, Shuanghui has repeatedly shown more care and attention to the company itself after the incident, emphasizing the serious losses caused by the incident to Shuanghui. The health and interests of consumers are rarely mentioned, and the impact of the incident is only explained by "distress". This attitude does not take the interests and emotions of consumers into consideration. This is definitely a taboo in handling crisis incidents.

After the crisis, what Shuanghui needs to do is not only to openly disclose the truth of the incident to the public, but more importantly, to fulfill the social responsibilities of the company itself and reshape the company into a responsible, consumer-rights and concern-oriented company. A healthy positive image can be used to regain the support and trust of consumers through practical actions that demonstrate corporate responsibility. Indeed, only by responding to the crisis with sincerity and only by conducting public relations with respect can the damaged brand be repaired. For Shuanghui, which is facing a crisis, respecting consumers is the best public relations.

Case 5: Gome’s “3.15” exposure scandal

Protagonist of the incident: Gome Electrical Appliances

Time of occurrence: March 2011

Affiliation Industry: Home appliance industry

Crisis type: Integrity crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event process:

Every year CCTV's "3.15 Party" will expose the behavior of some unscrupulous businesses. At the 2011 party, CCTV focused its lens on Gome Electrical Appliances, which has been at the forefront of media reports this year. It mainly exposed Gome Electrical Appliances employees taking advantage of holidays to defraud consumers of gifts and products. Cash card with rebates. Moreover, these criminals also used the home appliance trade-in policy to defraud state subsidy funds by purchasing old home appliances, stealing consumer identity information and other means. This situation exists in many Gome stores. It is understood that this is not the first time Gome has used such a trick.

In the early morning of March 16, Gome responded to this incident, saying that it would strictly investigate the illegal operators of each store and would compensate consumers who caused losses through return visits.

On March 22, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce accused Gome Home Appliances of "old-for-new" fraud, which was of very bad quality. Relevant departments have canceled the qualification of Gome Electric Appliances' related stores in Tianjin to carry out trade-in business. . At the same time, the commerce department also interviewed the person in charge of Gome Electrical Appliances' headquarters and required Gome Electrical Appliances to conduct internal investigations, rectifications, and penalties.

Case analysis:

This crisis in Gome is unusual. The company not only harmed the rights and interests of consumers, but was also accused of "cheating the country's money." Such behavior is very common in China. This is a big taboo in the special market economy environment.

After the crisis, Gome enterprises were able to effectively draw on the government's power, which undoubtedly helped them get twice the result with half the effort. In fact, among the enterprise's stakeholder groups, the government undoubtedly has the greatest influence on the enterprise. The government can directly intervene in the operation of the enterprise and have a significant impact on the enterprise's regulatory behavior, such as product quality spot checks, financial verification and other tasks. It is conceivable that if Gome does not thoroughly investigate the incident this time and submit a satisfactory reply to the country, it will face a more severe living environment in the future.

In addition to the need to communicate and coordinate with the government and the country, Gome can adopt a "beneficial to consumers" approach to regain the favor and trust of consumers. After all, after a crisis occurs, only by winning the trust and support of consumers can a company continue to implement its corporate strategies and tactics at every step. Gome's main integrity crisis occurred in this incident. Employees committed fraud and deceived consumers, which had a negative impact on the company. It reflected a moral crisis and more importantly, a system crisis. At this time, Gome must take certain actions to deliver positive information to consumers and make consumers believe that Gome is still a good company that stands on the same side as consumers and cares about their actual interests.

Case 6: Carl Denton’s “Fake Foreign Devil” incident

Protagonist of the incident: Carl Denton Men’s Wear

Occurrence time: March 2011

Industry: Clothing industry

Crisis type: Image crisis

Attention index: ★★★★

Event process:

< p>A clothing brand called "Cardenton" is said to be produced in Italy. It is said to be the top men's clothing brand in Europe, and its design is mainly based on Italian style. Because it is a high-end brand, the price is much higher than ordinary brands. It has been 18 years since Caldenton was introduced to China in 1993. Currently, it has hundreds of branches across the country, including more than 30 airport stores alone.

On March 16, a CCTV program exposed that the famous domestic so-called Italian brand "Cardenton" is actually a purely domestic brand, pretending to be a fake foreign brand, and asking for thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan. Yuan, harming the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese consumers. According to reports, Caldenton, "Europe's top men's clothing brand" that currently has counters in many domestic airports and high-end shopping malls, is actually only a registered trademark in Italy. Caldenton is just an empty Italian trademark registered by an individual, and the longest overseas registration history is only 13 years. There are no stores abroad, Italy is just the place where the brand is registered.

However, starting from March 18, many positive reports related to Caldenton can be found on the Internet. From these reports, what we can read is the high-end taste and excellent quality of the Caldenton brand, and at the same time, by focusing on the brand's reputation and influence in the industry.

Case analysis:

If public relations is done well, the crisis will be invisible. If public relations is improper or if you do not act in the face of crisis, the enterprise that has been accumulated for many years may be destroyed in one day. Caldenton's "fake foreign devil" incident is another social discussion on a hot topic caused by negative news. What we see is that after the crisis, Caldenton found another way and chose to adhere to the taste and connotation of the brand. , continue to strengthen the image as a brand of "national independent innovation and self-reliance". Publish a large number of brand image reports on major online media, and create positive public opinions that are conducive to the shaping and construction of Cardon's brand image through media reports.

Case 7: Sinopec’s “sky-high-priced wine” incident

Protagonist of the incident: Sinopec Guangdong Petroleum Branch

Occurrence time: April 2011

< p>Industry: Petrochemical energy industry

Crisis type: Image crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event review:

< p>On April 11, 2011, a post titled "Sinopec Guangdong Petroleum General Manager Lu Guangyu's shocking squandering of huge public funds" appeared on the Tianya Forum. Four invoices for purchasing wine were posted online, with a total consumption amount of about 1.68 million yuan. , triggering discussion among netizens.

On the 13th, the Guangdong branch stated in an interview with the media that the purchase of high-end wine was true, but the purchase of wine had nothing to do with Lu Guangyu, and that the wine was mainly used for "non-oil business" and was not reported to him. The media tells the truth.

Afterwards, Sinopec Group Company set up an investigation team and went to Guangdong to investigate.

Since then, many media have reported on Sinopec’s “sky-high-priced wine” incident. The communication pattern of “online media + traditional media” has accelerated the spread of the incident, making the entire crisis event like a “nuclear fission” incident. "As the development continues to intensify, the media has become the center of public opinion, and questions and accusations against Sinopec have become the focus of reports for a while.

On April 15, the investigation team announced the decision of the Sinopec Party Group: Lu Guangyu, general manager of the Guangdong Branch, was suspended to cooperate with the investigation, and Xia Yufei, deputy general manager of the Sinopec Oil Products Sales Division, temporarily took charge of the Guangdong Branch. Work.

On April 25, the Sinopec Group Party Committee held a briefing to respond to the sky-high price of Maotai liquor incident. Sinopec Group decided to remove Lu Guangyu from the post of general manager of Guangdong Petroleum Branch, demote him, and give Lu Guangyu Financial penalties. The "sky-high price of wine" incident that triggered a big discussion in society has come to an end for the time being.

Case analysis:

The sky-high-priced wine incident is a loss to Lu Guangyu himself and the entire corporate image; more importantly, the state-owned monopoly represented by Sinopec The successive crises in the work style of enterprises cannot but be said to be a major blow to the image of the entire state-owned enterprise industry. Faced with such an image crisis, every enterprise should have a clear attitude to deal with it. Especially for central enterprises like Sinopec, they should pay more attention to the prevention and handling of crises, starting from the establishment of crisis awareness, the establishment of response mechanisms and the implementation of social responsibilities. Implement multi-party efforts to eliminate the root causes of the crisis.

The article you are reading is from "Inventory and Analysis of the Ten Major Corporate Crisis Public Relations Events in the First Half of 2011" (Lin Jingxin, Zhao Yuzhu/Text)

Case 8: Taiwan Plasticizer Incident< /p>

Protagonist of the incident: Taiwan’s food industry

Time of occurrence: May 2011

Industry: Food production industry

Type of crisis: Quality Crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event review:

On May 24, 2011, Taiwanese media stated that May 23 was Taiwan’s Food safety has collapsed. In addition to other food safety issues, plasticizer drinks have emerged. Tens of thousands of metric tons of "carcinogenic clouding agents" flowed into more than 30 downstream manufacturers, producing various drinks and jellies, affecting food production and sales across Taiwan.

The reason why the incident attracted great attention from all parties is that clouding agent is originally a legal food additive that can promote food emulsification and is commonly used in juices, drinks, jelly and yogurt powder. However, in order to reduce costs, some manufacturers use DEHP instead of clouding agents. DEHP is an environmental hormone that can harm male reproductive capacity and promote premature puberty in women. Taiwan has classified it as a Category IV toxic chemical substance and must not be added to food.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Health stated on May 30 that food related to problematic clouding agents containing the carcinogenic plasticizer DEHP has been distributed to Hong Kong, mainland China and Southeast Asia.

In June, the mainland began to launch a heated social discussion on the plasticizer incident in Taiwan. In particular, the attention of netizens on Weibo and other online platforms caused panic about plasticizers in the mainland. Subsequently, major traditional media also reported in real time, and the plasticizer incident became a hot topic of concern to the entire society.

Case analysis:

Compared with crisis cases such as the Sanlu tainted milk powder, the fatal weakness of the Taiwan plasticizer incident is that it spread to the entire food industry from the beginning, and major industries such as Uni-President Lao is even more famous on the black list, which has seriously hindered the production and sales of Taiwan's food industry.

In this incident, both Taiwanese officials and the companies involved actively responded to the crisis, cooperated with the investigation and disclosed relevant progress and results in a timely manner. It can be said that it is more timely in crisis management. However, we have to see that crisis management must be based on product quality and industry legal regulatory norms. Crisis public relations can only be based on facts and guide media reports, public opinion and related events to the positive development. It must not avoid the serious problems of the product itself and cover up the fault.

Case 9: Blue Moon Laundry Detergent "Fluorescent Whitening Agent" Incident

Protagonist of the incident: Guangzhou Blue Moon Company

Time of occurrence: June 2011< /p>

Industry: Daily chemical industry

Crisis type: Integrity crisis

Attention index: ★★★★

Event review: < /p>

On June 20, 2011, Wang Hai, known as "China's number one anti-counterfeiter", pointed out on his personal Weibo that the Blue Moon laundry detergent (brightening and brightening) endorsed by Yang Lan was detected to contain Carcinogen fluorescent whitening agent, and relevant test reports have been issued, which has attracted widespread attention from many netizens and all parties in society.

Blue Moon Company quickly refuted this. Its deputy general manager Deng Gang explained to the media that the national industry standards allow the addition of two types of fluorescent whitening agents in detergents, and many countries allow the addition of fluorescent whitening agents to clothing. Used in detergents. At the same time, the China Detergent Products Industry Association issued a special statement on this matter, saying that the optical brighteners stipulated in industry standards are safe and reliable, will not cause negative effects on the human body and the environment, and can improve and enhance the washing effect.

Since then, Blue Moon Company has published articles on its official website and official Weibo specifically explaining the basic knowledge and usage regulations of the "fluorescent whitening agents" involved in its products, while continuing to emphasize that The use of "fluorescent whitening agents" in its laundry detergent products complies with national laws and regulations, and the company will not stop using it.

The article you are reading is from "Inventory Analysis of the Top Ten Corporate Crisis Public Relations Events in the First Half of 2011" (Lin Jingxin, Zhao Yuzhu/Written)

Case Analysis:

The incident that Blue Moon laundry detergent may cause cancer is closely related to Weibo. The warning given to us in crisis management is also related to the online public opinion supervision atmosphere represented by Weibo and the sensitive nerves of consumers in reality.

However, the degree of information disclosure and the effect of effective communication to the audience are still not optimistic. In the process of crisis management, timely release of information is far from enough. Enterprises should consider more consumer needs. What kind of information should be obtained, and at the same time consider how to effectively and accurately convey this information to consumers through different platforms.

As one of the major manufacturers in the industry, Blue Moon must have a deep understanding of the unspoken rules in this industry. This sometimes becomes a key point in the outbreak of crises, so companies need to formalize their own rules in the industry. Existing unspoken rules, analyze the damage they may bring to corporate image and integrity, and avoid becoming the crisis bearer who "shoots the first bird" among peers.

Case 10: Guo Meimei showing off her wealth on Weibo

Protagonist of the incident: Red Cross Society of China

Occurrence time: June 2011

< p>Industry: Social welfare organization

Crisis type: Credibility crisis

Attention index: ★★★★★

Event review:

< p>On June 21, 2011, Sina Weibo user "Guo Meimei Baby" attracted much attention from netizens. This 20-year-old girl who claimed to "live in a big villa and drive a Maserati" was certified as the "Commercial Director of the Red Cross Society of China". Manager", netizens are also speculating about her true identity. Some netizens believe that she is the daughter of Guo Changjiang, vice president of the Red Cross Society of China, which has triggered heated discussions among netizens about the Red Cross Society of China.

On the morning of June 21, an uncertified Weibo account named "Guo Changjiang RC-" and "Guo Meimei" appeared on Sina Weibo to follow each other. The three posts he posted on Weibo, less than two hours after being posted, attracted the attention of many netizens. Many netizens believed that this was the Weibo of Guo Changjiang, vice president of the Red Cross Society of China. Some netizens are still sarcastically saying, "Spit kills people, your daughter is too high-profile."

On June 22, the Red Cross Society of China said that "Guo Meimei" had nothing to do with the Red Cross Society, and Sina also said We apologize for the error in real-name authentication.

On June 29, Tianya and Maopu successively deleted the posts that originally revealed the incident of Guo Meimei showing off her wealth. The Beijing police also formally filed a case against Guo Meimei. The report concluded that Guo Meimei and her mother had no direct connection with the Red Cross Society of China, and their certified identity as "Commercial General Manager of the Red Cross Society of China" was fabricated on their own.

The final police report seems to have completely distanced the Guo Meimei incident from the Red Cross Society of China. However, the wave of public opinion has already been out of control, and the Red Cross Society is in a deep credibility crisis.

Case analysis:

The Red Cross, which should be the most caring, has become an evil representative of extravagance and extravagance.

The credibility crisis of the Red Cross Society of China is no accident. Guo Meimei is undoubtedly just a trigger, detonating latent factors accumulated over a long period of time. As a public welfare organization, the Red Cross has never kept its financial information secret. The public donates money and materials to show their love, but they never know where their love has ended up. It can be said that the credibility crisis of the Red Cross Society of China is caused by its long-term opaque management and closed internal and external information channels. To a certain extent, it has also led to public questioning of China’s public welfare organization system.

From the perspective of crisis communication, Weibo has undoubtedly become the core media of this incident. In the context of all media, SNS platforms such as Weibo have assumed the role of socially responsible media. Therefore, enterprises or industry organizations should pay more attention to the shaping of online images. On the one hand, they know how to use Weibo to promote their own good image; on the other hand, they must promptly Grasp the trend of online public opinion and prevent crises from the beginning of Weibo communication.