Collective GASPing

The fashion retailer GASP has awoken to a public relations nightmare. If you were looking for an example of how quickly one bad experience going viral can severely damage your brand, here is your case in point.

Keeping it simple, a female enters the store, tries on dresses for a special occasion, is indecisive and elects to leave when she is pressured to purchase by a now infamous “superstar” sales assistant. This situation does not sound completely out of the ordinary – sales assistants are typically rewarded on commission and therefore encourage consumer purchases. However, it is the passing slur as she leaves the store is almost an appetiser for the gourmet feast that awaits.

The disgruntled female writes a letter of discontent to the GASP customer service centre. Enter the moment where GASP can turn a negative experience into a positive, or ride their luck on the one customer it risks losing forever. The Area Manager steps up to the plate and drafts a response to the feedback. Unfortunately, the response fails to empathise with the customer and demeans her behaviour. It does however, provide a glowing endorsement for the sales assistant and reinforces that his behaviour was justified. Unfortunately, supposed adhering to the brand values has not matched the customer expectations on this occasion.

The outcome of the situation? The disgruntled female posts the two letters online. The Herald Sun chimes in and writes an article on its website in the afternoon of Thursday 29th September, with other media outlets such as The Age following suit. By early Friday morning there are 90 comments on the Herald Sun website, the vast majority sharing of their similar unsatisfactory experiences and spraying proverbial graffiti all over the brand. GASP has reacted to the negative comments on its Facebook page by temporarily shutting it down. But this only serves to encourage celebrities like Ruby Rose to share her opinion with her 78,000+ followers. It is stunning how quickly bad word of mouth can spread. This is where it gets interesting.

The retail environment is currently fragile. Especially in the fashion retail industry, it is an important month with the spring carnival fashion extravaganza on Melbourne’s doorstep. With many consumers moving to online shopping, customer service is the differentiator that “bricks” has over “clicks”. If this element is sacrificed, consumers suddenly have little reason to venture into a store for a brand experience.

The next move from GASP is vital. The message has spread quickly and now one bad experience has become an instigator for the publication of many more. Operation “save face” starts now as all is not lost. Whether it through in-store specials or a publicised apology, one thing is for sure, acting quickly is paramount. When your customers point out the holes, it gives you a great chance to fill them and be better for the future.

This situation is a timely reminder of how brand reputation can be tarnished instantaneously when events go viral. Organisations need to be mindful of how they treat customer feedback and who should respond to this. Imagine if a single franchisee bought an entire franchise network into disrepute by handling one experience poorly? The ease of public communication in the online space has made nightmare PR a very real threat to all organisations. Contingency strategies and tight management protocols are essential for being able to both limit and prevent extensive damage to the brand.

You can’t control everything your customers say, but you can control how you respond to that feedback. It will be interesting to see what people traffic GASP generates over the weekend. How they respond to the adversity will be a true test of the organisation’s strength, let’s hope they come out the other side stronger and in reasonable shape.

But what if the whole thing is a PR stunt???

DCS Consulting is your business growth specialist. For more information please contact:

Nathan Hudson
Consultant
nathan.hudson@dcstrategy.com
03 8615 7202