Zhu Zhu Pets came under attack a week ago by the consumer protection website GoodGuide.com and within 24-hours ZhuZhu manufacturer Cepia, LLC went on the offensive.
The company launched an aggressive and fact-based crisis communication plan that was based on the idea "they had nothing to hide," and using traditional media, they drove concerned parents and grandparents to their www.zhuzhupets.com web site with reassuring information about the safety of their product.
At the same time, Cepia contacted their distributors and toy stores, such as Toys R Us to give them information they could use and to reassure them the toy was safe.
Then, Cepia was able to capitalize on third-party endorsers, including the US Consumer Product Safety Commission which quickly declared the toys met all federal safety standards.
Cepia also took advantage of their core of "mommy bloggers" that helped promote the toy in its initial launch.
It didn't hurt any that the toy industry, as a whole, had a stake in this fight. Cepia vice-president of marketing Natalie Hornsby was quick to point out that the entire toy industry has very high safety standards.
Toy marketing experts predict the "bump in the road" for the mechanical hamster will be minor and Hornsby says they still expect to sell 6-million ZhuZhu pets by the end of this year.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Ouch! Did someone yell "FOUR?"
I tried, heaven knows I tried, to avoid a golfing metaphor, but I'm just too weak!
It has been almost as fascinating to hear and read all the different points of view about Tiger Woods and his lack of public response, as it has been to see the details trickle out, one morsel at a time, day after day.
Every day we work with intelligent men and women -- well educated, well read, well financed, used to authority and power and deferential treatment from almost everyone around them. And I still am amazed out how naive, self-centered and "above it all" some of them can be.
If you are a super star CEO, actor, politician, President of the United States or even the best golfer in the world, how can you convince yourself that you can do whatever feels good, or strokes your ego and no one will ever find out?
How many tell-all books and "exclusive" interviews are done every year by groupies who give themselves to celebrities and then try to cash in on it?
The first big name client of ours, who was about to be exposed by a woman, did not take our advice and ended up in the headlines for months. When he decided to ignore the threat and take his chances, I offered him one more bit of advise: "When you get ready to go to sleep each evening, make sure all the kitchen knives are locked up." He must have taken that advice. There was never a noticeable change in his voice after his wife found out.
When the tabloids broke the story about Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton, he dug in and denied knowing her and for months the story was in the news daily. It distracted him and Congress from dealing with serious national and world issues and went on until early the next year when he conceded he DID know "that woman."
After months of constant scrutiny and negative public attention, he finally took responsibility for his past misdeeds and the country got on with business, but his legacy will forever include an asterisk noting his dalliance with a White House intern.
Tiger is a lesson for any man or woman in the public eye. If you know anything at all about the Institute for Crisis Management, you know we study and track business and organizational crises. And for at least the past 20 years, we have documented that two-thirds of all crises are preventable. If you run a business and want to avoid losing it or having it badly damaged, keep an eye out for all those things that can smolder and simmer and eventually grow into a public disruption.
The same is true for Governors, NBA basketball stars, university basketball coaches and Congressmen.
It has been almost as fascinating to hear and read all the different points of view about Tiger Woods and his lack of public response, as it has been to see the details trickle out, one morsel at a time, day after day.
Every day we work with intelligent men and women -- well educated, well read, well financed, used to authority and power and deferential treatment from almost everyone around them. And I still am amazed out how naive, self-centered and "above it all" some of them can be.
If you are a super star CEO, actor, politician, President of the United States or even the best golfer in the world, how can you convince yourself that you can do whatever feels good, or strokes your ego and no one will ever find out?
How many tell-all books and "exclusive" interviews are done every year by groupies who give themselves to celebrities and then try to cash in on it?
The first big name client of ours, who was about to be exposed by a woman, did not take our advice and ended up in the headlines for months. When he decided to ignore the threat and take his chances, I offered him one more bit of advise: "When you get ready to go to sleep each evening, make sure all the kitchen knives are locked up." He must have taken that advice. There was never a noticeable change in his voice after his wife found out.
When the tabloids broke the story about Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton, he dug in and denied knowing her and for months the story was in the news daily. It distracted him and Congress from dealing with serious national and world issues and went on until early the next year when he conceded he DID know "that woman."
After months of constant scrutiny and negative public attention, he finally took responsibility for his past misdeeds and the country got on with business, but his legacy will forever include an asterisk noting his dalliance with a White House intern.
Tiger is a lesson for any man or woman in the public eye. If you know anything at all about the Institute for Crisis Management, you know we study and track business and organizational crises. And for at least the past 20 years, we have documented that two-thirds of all crises are preventable. If you run a business and want to avoid losing it or having it badly damaged, keep an eye out for all those things that can smolder and simmer and eventually grow into a public disruption.
The same is true for Governors, NBA basketball stars, university basketball coaches and Congressmen.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
What Should Tiger Do?
He hasn't asked me, but others are asking, "What should Tiger do or say?"
It's hard to give advice without some facts.
What we know is, the National Enquirer did a story recently claiming he was having an affair with a New York City night club hostess. Florida police did not test him for alcohol or other drugs and three days later, he has avoided talking to investigators.
We also know that if he were to lose all of his product endorsement contracts and never win another tournament, he still would not be able to spend all the money he has earned so far in his 33-years.
He basically has two choices. He can follow the route he has chosen so far, and refuse to answer questions and let the speculation go unchallenged. Or, he can conduct a news conference -- make a brief statement about what happened -- and refuse to answer questions, beyond the statement.
In either case, the rumors and speculation will continue just like they have for David Letterman, UofL Coach Rick Pitino, a couple of governors and other miscellaneous celebrities.
Remember what I said at the beginning of this post. We don't have enough facts to give definitive counsel. However, in almost all cases, it is still better to "take responsibility" for what you've done and make one effort to put your facts on the record, and then never get drawn into any more discussions about it.
That won't make the problem disappear, but reasonable people will accept a sincere explanation and apology if one is appropriate, and forget about it until the next time that person does something potentially scandalous. Unreasonable people will continue to talk about it until someone else trips up in public and they will then move on to gossip about the next celebrity's mistake.
It's hard to give advice without some facts.
What we know is, the National Enquirer did a story recently claiming he was having an affair with a New York City night club hostess. Florida police did not test him for alcohol or other drugs and three days later, he has avoided talking to investigators.
We also know that if he were to lose all of his product endorsement contracts and never win another tournament, he still would not be able to spend all the money he has earned so far in his 33-years.
He basically has two choices. He can follow the route he has chosen so far, and refuse to answer questions and let the speculation go unchallenged. Or, he can conduct a news conference -- make a brief statement about what happened -- and refuse to answer questions, beyond the statement.
In either case, the rumors and speculation will continue just like they have for David Letterman, UofL Coach Rick Pitino, a couple of governors and other miscellaneous celebrities.
Remember what I said at the beginning of this post. We don't have enough facts to give definitive counsel. However, in almost all cases, it is still better to "take responsibility" for what you've done and make one effort to put your facts on the record, and then never get drawn into any more discussions about it.
That won't make the problem disappear, but reasonable people will accept a sincere explanation and apology if one is appropriate, and forget about it until the next time that person does something potentially scandalous. Unreasonable people will continue to talk about it until someone else trips up in public and they will then move on to gossip about the next celebrity's mistake.
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