What does a company do to change their image after experiencing a fiasco that creates consumer mistrust?

Posted by Allan Steinmetz on 24 July 2017

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What does a company do to change their image after a consumer fiasco and mistrust?

Five examples come to mind.  Recently, United Continental Holdings forcibly removing passengers from planes and Uber sexist bias and practices.  In the past, BP and their Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.  Wells Fargo and their bogus account scandal in September 2016.  Volkswagen and their “dieselgates” EPA deception in 2015.

I’d like to focus on BP, Wells Fargo and VW.

BP - Their slow response shattered consumer confidence of their brand. BP’s response was the now infamous “we’re sorry” TV spot which earned praise, mockery, tribute, parody, and a place in advertising and marketing folklore. http://bit.ly/1L6SNnX The candid language delivered in a remorseful tone undoubtedly signified BP’s focus on limiting damage to its brand image amongst consumers. For me, it had an adverse effect. I remember being in Chicago driving a rental car late one night on business and needing a gas fill up. I came to a corner with two gas stations; a Shell and a BP station. I vividly remember that I made a conscious decision to avoid BP because of how they nearly destroyed the Gulf of Mexico with their oil spill. I wondered how many people felt and responded the same way I did?

Wells Fargo - Clients began to notice the fraud after being charged unanticipated fees and receiving unexpected credit or debit cards or lines of credit. Initial reports blamed individual Wells Fargo branch workers and managers for the problem, as well as sales incentives associated with selling multiple "solutions" or financial products. This blame was later shifted to a top-down pressure from higher-level management to open as many accounts as possible through cross-selling. The LA times reported in 2013 that “Wells Fargo CEO knew for years about problems with unauthorized accounts” but chose to do nothing about it. Finally in April 2017, they agreed to a customer settlement of $142 million over their fake accounts Here is a video from their CEO and their affirmation to address their deeds and move forward. http://bit.ly/2tiSzHG. They followed up with a consumer ad campaign that was direct and to the point about what they were doing about what they were doing to correct the situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again. http://bit.ly/2fez8Ib

 VW - Today I want to talk about Volkswagen. The German car company who swindled the EPA and the American public. They get caught! Heads rolled, mea culpa by management, paid a huge criminal fine of $4.7 billion, had a massive 11 million car recall and paid customers huge sums of money. Full details of how they pulled it off are sketchy, although the EPA has said that the engines had computer software that could sense test scenarios by monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and even the position of the steering wheel.  When the cars were operating under controlled laboratory conditions - which typically involve putting them on a stationary test rig - the device appears to have put the vehicle into a sort of safety mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance. Once on the road, the engines switched out of this test mode.  The result? The engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.

So what do they do? They run a well done large image ad campaign that pretty much ignores the entire scandal. I must admit that their adverting campaigns are outstanding, but they don’t address the scandal and the breach of trust with the American public. It is as if the entire EPA’s deception never even happen. The only admission I found was in a recent interview in January 2017 at the International Auto Show with Ad Age,  by Vinay Shahani, U.S. marketing VP for the VW brand, said "we've got a lot of work to do to win back trust and really become relevant again in the United States."

They have great adverting – but will it work? Is an admission of guilt to restore their image a better way to go? Soft sell or hard sell? Remember they had the best spot in the Super Bowl (little kid as Darth Vader) in 2012, and a new recent trailer assist spot with laughing horses. (if you haven’t seen this spot it is an absolute MUST click HERE http://bit.ly/2gNnOJa and now they launch a tear jerker campaign called “America”.

YOU THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO WIN YOU OVER?

This past May, VW, revealed, a broad new advertising campaign to launch the all-new Atlas, Volkswagen’s first family-sized SUV built in America. With a total of eight spots, the campaign shares a heartfelt story of a three-generation family and their cross-country journey through the United States.

In their press release, they state, “The ’America’ campaign tells the story of Atlas through the lens of an American family traveling across this beautiful country.” – Yeah, to spread the ashes of their departed grandfather and dad and fulfil is last wish to have the family see America - to the tune of “America by Simon and Garfunkel” – When the grandmother says, “I wish Grandpa was here, a granddaughter says, “He’s here right between the boys in the back of the car”. I guess that means there is room for a family and plenty of legroom – right? The last scene shows them spreading the ashes at sea on the west coast at sunset. Watch here http://bit.ly/2oYTsqV 

AD WEEK said, “The German automaker last month effectively resolved the emissions scandal that dogged its brand since 2015, and its newest campaign from Deutsch looks to reintroduce VW to an American public that wasn’t quite as invested in “Dieselgate” as in other, more directly political controversies.” I am entertained by the spots, but bothered at the same time.

I admit, it is a touching and meaningful spot. I loved the song. But, I still feel cheated and wonder if they will cheat us again. Can we trust them, because the ads are so well done? Can the message they are sending to our hearts overcome what our brains already know? What do you think?