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Crisis Management

Inclusive Marketing: A Bud Light Case Study

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On April 1st, 2023, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on Instagram presenting a custom Bud Light can featuring her image. The custom can celebrates Mulvaney’s one-year anniversary of transitioning to being a woman. While the marketing move was lauded by Mulvaney’s followers and supporters of the LGBTQ community, others were critical of the company.

As the controversy extended into late April and beyond, people can agree on one thing in particular: Annheuser-Busch’s response to the backlash leaves something to be desired. But why has the biggest and most successful beer brand in America struggled to resolve this story? And what marketing lessons can other companies take from this experience?

Bug Light’s Digital Marketing Crisis

The origins of Bud Light’s marketing controversy are fairly mundane. The company regularly partners with prominent online influencers for brand visibility. As part of a promotion for a March Madness contest, Dylan Mulvaney shared a sponsored video in which she revealed a custom, personalized can with her face on it. Bud Light did not distribute the can for retail purchases. 

In the days that followed, the company came under heavy scrutiny online. On April 14th, Annheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a press release. In it, he made the following statement:

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.

My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work, and respect for one another. As CEO of Anheuser-Busch, I am focused on building and protecting our remarkable history and heritage.”

While well-intentioned, this statement has only brought further scrutiny. The problem that many digital marketing experts have with this response is that it fails to take a stand.

Staying Prepared for Inclusive Marketing

The initial controversy stemmed from an act of inclusive marketing. Bud Light partnered with an influencer representing a marginalized community. In doing so, clients perceived Bud Light as aligning itself with that community. However, company critics noted that Bud Light should have been prepared for the ensuing controversy. 

Inclusive marketing is not a new concept, nor is Annheuser-Busch unfamiliar with inclusive marketing campaigns. In fact, many consumers have celebrated inclusive marketing campaigns for breaking ground or making strong statements. But companies do need to strike the right tone and prepare to defend their position when backlash occurs.

Bud Light’s response has resonated as unprepared, with the company now committing to spending more on marketing than in recent months. But, the company could have avoided this serious expenditure had they been more prepared to deal with the initial controversy.

Tips From an Online Marketing Agency: What Can We Learn?

The most important lesson that other companies can take from this saga is the importance of preparation and consistent messaging. Branding is crucial for any business that wants to succeed. A major component of effective branding is consistency, across both products and messaging.

The Bud Light controversy shouldn’t signal to other companies that they should avoid inclusive marketing. Inclusive marketing can still be highly effective, and a very crucial part of some brands’ images. Instead, this controversy highlights the importance of understanding your brand image and how it reflects in marketing content. 

The controversy originated from Annheuser-Busch making a statement in its promotional content. Due to Bud Light’s failure to address its statement, the controversy continues. In doing so, the company failed to take control of the narrative. This has allowed the controversy to extend into a crisis for the brand, prompting more spending for more advertising.

Most business owners will never need to think about a public controversy on a national scale. But even small business owners can learn some valuable lessons from this episode. Understanding how your company’s branding will resonate with all consumers, of varying demographics, is very important. Additionally, every company should have a thorough crisis management plan, just in case.

Reach Out to Web Content Development Today

If you would like to learn more about how to be successful in digital marketing, contact Web Content Development. Web Content Development is an online marketing agency that takes a personalized, hands-on approach to service every client’s unique needs. From reputation management and brand strategies to content management, WCD can help your business grow online in many ways.

From Hot to Not: The Rise and Fall of Kmart

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Many of us may remember a time when department stores were all the rage. While a few may have withstood the tests of time, other stores, such as Kmart, did not fare so well. At the time of writing this, there are only three Kmart stores left operating in the US. A far cry from its heyday, when it felt as if you couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a Kmart. What happened? Why was its life cut down in such an abrupt way?

The Rise of Kmart

Let’s have a brief history lesson! The Kmart corporation had humble beginnings, as many department stores do. The founder, named S.S. Kresge, opened his first five and dime store in downtown Detroit, circa 1899. Charging only five to ten cents for goods appealed to shoppers, which allowed him to greatly expand his store. By 1912, Kresge was able to open 85 stores nationwide, with sales accruing more than $85 million. Despite war, famine, and economic collapse hitting the US, the store stayed open, offering families prices they could afford. Their motivation was simple: provide what customers need at a price they can afford. In 1937, S.S. Kresge and his company opened the nation’s first suburban shopping center in Kansas City, Missouri.

By 1959, Harry B. Cunningham, the president of the Kresge company, made some major changes to the company. In 1962, he opened the first Kmart Department Store, whose aim was to deliver a reliable source of cheaply priced, but quality items. This concept has now become a familiar staple of our daily lives (we’re looking at you, Wal-Mart), but at the time, it had a revolutionary impact on the face of regular retail commerce. This starting year is important to keep in mind. 

The Fall of Many Kmart Locations

By the 1980’s, Kmart had expanded to roughly 2000 individual locations, making it the primary face of the retail world. Zellers–a name most reading this might have to Google–had been beat. The late ‘80’s was, however, the start of the franchise’s decline. Remember that starting year we mentioned to keep in mind earlier? Well, by this point, many locations were coming up on the 30 year mark. Many were run down and out-dated, dealing with poor structural problems and simply unattractive designs. It was also around this point that the Kresge Company had started to venture out. Acquisitions in The Sports Authority, Borders Book Stores, and percentages of Office Max had made it so that their debut retail store Kmart was no longer a priority. They even acquired SEARS around that era. You might initially think this sounded good, but it actually sped up their rate of decay. It had become a situation in which the company had bitten off more than they could chew.

Downward Pressure

Their flagship stores were no longer bringing in the necessary amount of profits and these acquisitions led to a great deal of debts to work through. Starting to come together? Larger debt with fewer profits is a huge red flag for any company. The goal is to maintain a low amount of debt with a high amount of equity. Well, Kmart definitely headed in the wrong direction in that regard. To put things in perspective, based on some calculations that we won’t go into detail here, there is something called a debt-to-equity value. A good score to be around for a company is typically less than 4. Kmart had reached 14 by 2011. At least it’s some kind of success, just in a different kind of way…right? The rest speaks for itself. Combine this with never-renovated store spaces in locations that were no longer in the public’s main scope, and the snowball just keeps growing as it cruises downhill. By 2020, Kmart had filed for bankruptcy twice.

Even for large companies, it can be the small things piling up. A brief recap of the factors: too much debt with too little income, stores going as far as 50 years without any updates, and inability to meet modern demands, are a few of the things that led to the nostalgic shopping center collapsing beneath its own weight. While the ‘80’s will never truly die, it goes to show that even if everybody wants to rule the world, even the largest can fall in subtle ways.

Reputation Management: What To Do When Having Negative Results

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One of the worst feelings for a growing company is opening up a search engine and seeing negative results. How many people have seen it? What can we do to make it right? To make matters worse, you can’t take down negative results. What’s next? Thousands of questions like this go through the minds of the marketing department. But have no fear! Read on to learn how you can work through this crisis with a reputation management strategy.

Be in the Top 5

When searching for your business, your website should be one of the first things a consumer sees. By making sure your content is always within the first few links, you have a better chance of some of the negative results falling later down the page or on other, less seen pages. You can also maintain an active social media presence to push positive responses to the top.

If You Have Bad Business Reputation, Say You’re Sorry

If a negative review or result comes to your attention and you aren’t able to take it down, face it head-on. You might be able to remedy situations like a missing product or a bad experience with an otherwise fine product. It is always in the best interest of the company to assess the situation and take stock of what could happen. Ask yourself what will happen if you do or do not respond, then act. Most consumers don’t want a formal apology through a public tweet. Most want a member of the company to show what they are doing to work on the negative issues.

Improve Your Business Reputation By Creating Marketing Around Satisfaction

If a consumer is seeking a service or an establishment and the first result or review is negative, the impact is made. If you can’t delete this comment, create a positive one! Many companies will create a piece of media that talks about their happy consumers. This is a great way to get positive statistics to be upvoted over negativity. This tactic is also called a testimonial approach and it is effective.

Concur Early

Acting early could mean the difference between sustainability and destruction. By setting up keywords that alert your company when mentioned, you can quickly respond. The time between a negative result being posted and the time your company sees it is crucial. If you do not see it soon enough, your company could be looking at irreparable damage. The internet never stops moving, and you can’t either.

Proper brand management is all about making consumers see what you want them to see first. By controlling your search results, your company has a better chance of combating negative results. It gives you a chance to handle them before they can get out of control.

Learn More About Dealing with Negative Results

At Web Content Development, we know the internet can be a tricky place to keep up a positive image. Give us a call today at (800) 316-9664 to set up an appointment. At Web Content Development, we can help to create a reputation management strategy to push your company forward and how to create positive results without deleting anything.


Why Tesla’s Brand Strategy Stands Out During a Car Industry Crisis

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In the long run, a brand strategy is what will keep a business alive. This long-term plan will help a company develop a successful product and reach their short term and long term goals. A well-done brand strategy will affect every aspect of a business and is directly linked to a consumer’s needs. When it comes to brand strategies, Tesla provides some amazing brand strategy examples that anyone could apply to their business. Even if carmakers manage to copy Tesla’s model, they will fail due to the lack of brand marketing strategy that Tesla has. 

History of Tesla

Tesla.Inc was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. This company was created after General Motors forced a recall on all of their EV-1 electric cars from their customers and destroyed them in a junkyard. Elon Musk, the catalyst of Tesla, joined the company in 2004 with the necessary capital to run the company. Musk’s main goal was (and still is) to demolish the need for oil in cars and offering affordable electric cars. This leads to Tesla’s mission statement: “Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

Social Media Engagement

Many CEOs are reluctant to use social media for their business. To them, social media means potential controversy and requires careful work. Elon Musk, however, threw that fear right out the window. Elon Musk engages with Twitter about two to three times a day, either through retweets or his own posts. Currently, Elon Musk has 29.9 million followers. 

You may expect that Musk simply promotes Tesla on his twitter with well-worded tweets, but it’s the opposite. Elon Musk is very human on his twitter account. He complained about his account getting locked, posts memes, and has live-broadcasts rocket launches. 95% of those looking to buy a car research their choices online. Elon Musk’s personal approach to marketing certainly has attracted an interested audience. While it is obviously risky to be so free on social media as the CEO of a multi-billion dollar, Elon Musk does it artfully well. 

Being Hard to Get is a Brand Strategy

In order to even test drive a Tesla, you must pay $5,000. Teslas are extraordinarily hard to get, which draws even more attention to the brand. There are no Tesla dealerships, all transactions are conducted online, the price is not negotiated, and you may wait months (or even years) to get your car. 

How does this attract consumers if it is so difficult to get? It attracts consumers for that very reason, it’s hard to get. Everybody wants the best pick of the bunch. The difficult road to obtain a Tesla makes the cars even more appetizing, as they almost seem forbidden. In the midst of a crisis within the car industry, Tesla is admirably brave to require so much in order to purchase a car. 

These hurdles do not exist for no reason, however. Teslas are often produced in a scarce amount, not mass-produced. The longer it takes for a person to obtain a Tesla, the longer Tesla has to create more cars. 

Brand Management for Your Business

Looking for an efficient brand marketing strategy? Need some more brand strategy examples that you can apply to your business? Web Content Development provides brand management services that will change the way consumers look at your business for the best. We know what approaches will work the best and are excited to help you and your business succeed.

Crisis Management: Facebook’s Recovery from the Cambridge Analytica Scandal

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In March, the New York Times, in collaboration with The Observer in London, published an article that led to Facebook’s biggest challenge yet. You’re probably familiar with the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. The data firm, Cambridge Analytica, improperly obtained user data from Facebook in order to build and sell psychological profiles to political campaigns. This user data was then used to manipulate Facebook users in various ways throughout the presidential election. Facebook has been under fire ever since, with many people electing to remove themselves from the service altogether.

In an attempt to save face and rebuild trust in the brand, Facebook has been undergoing crisis management since the March article’s release. Reputation management and crisis management is key for any business. Perhaps, by looking at Facebook’s handling of the Cambridge Analytica Scandal, we can gain valuable insight for how to, or how not to, handle a crisis.

Building Distance

Facebook is now attempting to distance itself from terms like “data misuse” and “fake news,” heavy-hitting keywords associated with the scandal. The new marketing campaigns have focused on data transparency for its users. Denouncing fake news and data misuse are expected, of course. But, regulators are still on the case and the Facebook brand is still trending downward. As much as they have tried to make themselves look like the trustworthy good guy, the jury is still out.

Found Guilty

In the UK., the Information Commissioner’s Office, or ICO, found Facebook guilty of failure to safeguard users’ data. They also found them guilty of failing to be transparent about how that user data was used by third parties, issuing a £500,000 fine. Facebook admits it made a mistake. But, it remains unclear whether they intend to pay the fine (pocket change for such a large company).

Slow to Act

When the news originally broke, Facebook – specifically Mark Zuckerberg – was slow to issue a response. As celebrities bashed Facebook on social media and encouraged others to quit their accounts, the lack of any public response from the heads of the company seemed to fester negative public perception.

Key Takeaways: Crisis Management

Many companies today rely on the data of their users, data which can be exceptionally marketable to third parties. The way in which you protect this data is essentially the way you protect the future of your business. And, transparency is always key. You may find yourself in a situation like that of Facebook’s. Here are several key takeaways that will help you in a time of crisis management.

  • Act Fast – If your business finds itself in a crisis, it is best to acknowledge any mistake as quickly – and publicly – as possible. Sincerity here will also go a long way, particularly if an apology is necessary.
  • Be Transparent – When attempting to regain the trust of customers, marketing attempts that aim to rebuild brand awareness should focus on honesty and transparency.
  • Embrace Change – If change is in order, whatever the issue, don’t be afraid to make it. Facebook changed the way they communicate, share, and handle user data as a result of the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. If they can do it, so can you.
  • Rely on your Core Team – As the leader of your company or brand, it will be important to rely on the core individuals that you trust, those that believe in your leadership and support you. Crisis management is difficult. Many will question you, which is necessary. However, keeping a core team in place will provide a foundation on which your leadership. Therefore, your business, can thrive upon.
Crisis Management with Web Content Development

For more information about crisis management, reputation management or how to build your brand, contact Web Content Development today.

KFC’s PR Crisis: Reputation Management Warning Signs

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Does everyone hate your company and you don’t know why? No, probably not. That may be a bit extreme. However, there are probably some negative reviews floating around online. Reputation management determines if those reviews make or break a brand.

Reviews that could be damaging your company’s online reputation. Maintaining your online reputation is a big responsibility. A big part of that is having a dynamic action plan for reputation management. You may think that you already have good relationships with your customers. Or, that your business is too small to have to worry about. Not necessarily.

What is Crisis Reputation Management?

Let’s say your customers are generally satisfied. But what about the general public? What about your suppliers? Pleasing your customers is just one part of having a good online reputation. And, even if your company has a solid reputation, one misstep in crisis management could spell disaster.

Take Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example. Families have been enjoying their southern-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw for years. But, did you know they once ran out of chicken?

Kentucky Fried Chicken, the nation’s second-largest fast-food chain ran out of the one item that is their business title. Many customers were dissatisfied with the company. They did not hesitate to make their complaints heard via social media. If a company like KFC can have their reputation endangered by a scandal, then imagine how much worse it could be for a smaller company.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken Brand

Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in Kentucky in 1930. What started off as a place called Sanders’ Court & Cafe’ ended up being a hugely successful North American franchise. They eventually expanded to Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom by the ‘60s. The thing that set them apart from other fried chicken restaurants was the use of 11 herbs and spices. A trade secret that many have tried to imitate.  They now have almost 20,000 locations worldwide. They are in 123 countries and territories.

In recent years, KFC’s marketing campaign has been focused on having different celebrities playing the role of the beloved Colonel Sanders. Celebrities like Darrell Hammond, Norm Macdonald, and most recently Reba McEntire have appeared on tv and radio commercials. They have all been encouraging people to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

6 Ways to Tell You Need Reputation Management

  1. You don’t have a consolidated, real-time view of your online reputation. Perhaps, a customer has a negative experience with your business. They write a bad review online. A reputation management team will be able to address the negative review. And immediately resolve the issue with the customer. If you don’t know the review is there, how can you respond to the customer and alleviate their frustration?
  2. You’ve seen an increase in customer service issues. Have you been getting a lot of negative feedback regarding your customer service? A reputation management company can recognize patterns in reviews and help you address the issue.
  3. Increased Negative Sentiment. You have noticed a largely negative response to your online presence.
  4. Talking positively about your competition. Doing things like trash-talking your clients or competition to get ahead will reflect poorly on your business character.
  5. Your negative reviews are seen more than your positive reviews. If the negative is all people can find online, they will focus on the negative.
  6. Shrinking Leads or Conversions. The sales team is converting fewer leads. This is despite increasing your advertising dollars. You’re losing your leads because of your reputation management issue. 
5 Steps in Repairing your Online Reputation
  1. Encourage customer reviews! Make sure you give a little nudge to your daily satisfied customers. Encourage them to write you a positive review.
  2. Quick Response. Be upfront with your customers about what went wrong. Discuss what you’ll do to fix the current situation, and how you’ll do better going forward.
  3. Start monitoring your positive and negative reviews. You should be aware of someone damaging your reputation. It will be difficult to fix it if you’re not. 
  4. Invest in a good reputation management software.
  5. Make sure you are monitoring search engines for any business-related keywords daily.

Having an actionable crisis management plan in place is invaluable to any business. It doesn’t matter how big or small the business is. By staying ahead of any possible problem, you will be able to make decisions that will ultimately improve your online reputation. This will drive up your ROI. Did you know that every one-star improvement typically results in a net revenue increase of anywhere from 5-9%? You will be able to keep track of your detractors and advocates. And, be able to capitalize on trends through this feedback.

KFC did the following when they experienced their chicken shortage in the United Kingdom. First, they responded quickly and with exactly the right attitude. Then, KFC released a statement in the newspaper. Significantly, they did this with the company’s initials scrambled around to read “FCK”. Finally, their social media account was transparent with its customers. It kept a humorous attitude throughout the whole ordeal.

By having a reputation management company working for your business will ensure you are prepared for any crisis! Reach out to us for custom online reputation management strategies.