3 Brands that faced reputation issue online

For an online marketing assignment, I was told to research on Brands which faced reputation issues online. The insights were pretty interesting. I thought of sharing on my blog as well. 

Roping in stars to build a brand can sometimes backfire in an unexpected manner. This is what happened in the first 2 cases. 

Case 1 :  Ban of Pan Masala Ad featuring Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan, better known as the famous James Bond, triggered a controversy when newspapers flashed his picture holding a box of Pan Bahar as pan masala often contain tobacco. The ad was banned from national and satellite television by none other than Central Board Of Film Certification Chief Pahlaj Nihalani.

Pierce Brosnan alleged that the company made “unauthorised and deceptive use” of his image to promote a potentially harmful product. The Irish actor on Thursday apologised to the people of India, and told People magazine that his contract was to advertise a “breath freshener/tooth whitener” which wouldn't include an ingredient that “turns saliva red”.  He asked the company to remove him from the advertising. 

Case 2 : Jack & Jones “Sexist” ad featuring Ranveer Singh

A Jack & Jones advertisement showed Ranveer Singh picking up a miniskirt-clad girl on his shoulders with the tagline ‘Take you work home’. The ad was slammed by many on social networking sites for being sexist.

After facing heavy backlash on social media, Danish fashion brand Jack and Jones apologised for the sexist ad featuring Ranveer Singh. The brand also immediately pulled off around 30 hoardings from all across India. The company personally responded to tweets of celebrities with apology.  

In an email statement to Live Mint, Vineet Gautam, country head, Bestseller India that sells Jack and Jones, said, "As a progressive brand that is loved by youth the world over, we take our responsibility of always being respectful, as seriously as we do our bold attitude. We regret that a billboard of our current campaign has caused people distress. We did not intend to offend anyone, and have discontinued it immediately."

Case 3 : Samsung's new 'safe' Galaxy Note 7 phones are overheating and exploding, say customers

 The incident is a huge blow to the world's biggest smartphone maker, which had won rave reviews for the device. Samsung had been desperate to launch the Note 7 before the new iPhone and ahead of a device set to be unveiled by Google.

Samsung suspended sales of its brand-new top-end Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and offered replacements for anyone who has already purchased one. 

Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile business, said on Friday, two weeks after the Note 7’s launch: “We have received several reports of battery explosions on the Note 7... and it has been confirmed that it was a battery cell problem. There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process so it was very difficult to find out.” 

Samsung’s advertising campaign, including a high-profile wrap of the Metro newspaper, had to be switched to the company’s popular Galaxy S7 series, which make up the mainstay of the company’s high-end smartphone sales.

The success of a company is defined by 2 things - flawless products / service. And if at all an issue crops up, how swiftly and diligently the customer is catered to. A dissatisfied customer is not merely a loss of a single sale. But it has the potential to create a chain effect. I personally feel that customer is the king. And we do our best to please and pacify them. Definitely we need to draw a line between genuine concerns and baseless allegations.

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Swati