The business world is full of disasters and, in today’s digital age, these issues make their way into the public eye for larger companies. A few PR disasters in a row can lead to a company losing quite a bit of money and potentially lead to employees losing their jobs. Recovery from a PR disaster could not be more important as the current image of the company is the only important image. Below, we will look at companies that have seen a fair share of turmoil over the last few years and a look at how they are recovering.
Facebook has been in the media for the right reasons in terms of their stock’s growth and wrong reasons for selling data/accepting ads for certain political movements. The PR campaign after selling the data of its users seemed to work with the stock only rising higher. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been interviewed in front of Congress multiple times, which rarely a company wants an executive to have to do. The investments Facebook has made in Instagram along with other companies will allow the Facebook brand to thrive even if the social media platform sees a decrease in popularity.
Juul
The rise of vaping changed the way tobacco usage was practiced as well as viewed. Plenty of people looked at vaping as a way to quit smoking, but it just made smoking more palatable to a variety of people. Being able to smoke without smelling like cigarettes was a huge draw. False claims about vaping have led to deaths of people while others have had their lungs permanently damaged. Seeking out an e-cigarette attorney can be wise as legal action could be warranted. The CEO of Juul resigned in October among all of the allegations of false claims and lack of research done. The popularity of vaping and e-cigarettes has declined a bit but nicotine addiction can be tough to break without the appropriate tools.
Target
Target lost the trust of quite a few customers when information was leaked due to a hack. The sheer size of this retail and e-commerce juggernaut compromised the credit card account information of 41 million customers. The company had to pay out over 18 million dollars due to their negligence with customer’s vital information. Target has continued to thrive as a staple of American shopping and rewards programs that help shoppers save. Large retail stores are shrinking in popularity due to e-commerce giants like Amazon dominating the market.
Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had quite the reputation for exploding while being charged. There were airlines that banned the phones on their planes totally due to the chance one ignited while in the air. Samsung has since come out with quite a few phones that have been a success. Instead of trying to fix the error or errors that were causing the phones to catch fire, the tech juggernaut discontinued this model completely instead.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo had quite the corporate scandal when it was discovered it was a common practice to create fake accounts. The reason this was done was to meet goals that many considered unrealistic in terms of account openings of checking, credit cards, and other accounts. Over 5,000 people lost their jobs due to this coming to light. Sales goals were likely adjusted due to this, and current customers were not likely to leave their bank due to an internal matter.
A great PR team can really help a company recover in the eyes of the public. Fixing internal issues and taking proactive approaches to prevent disaster can help both large and small companies avoid major headaches.
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