Many of us
have heard about the public relations nightmare that Applebee’s is currently facing
after they fired a waitress for uploading a picture of a receipt to Reddit. It
has been disappointing to see a large hospitality operation like this being
disgraced over such a small incident, however it is important to never
underestimate the power of social media on an organization’s image and PR
efforts.
In Steyn’s Contribution of Public Relations to
Organizational Strategy, she explains that communication is part of an
organization’s strategic fabric and not merely a vehicle for spreading messages
about a product or service. I could not agree more. As the public continues to grow angrier over
this incident, Applebee’s must reevaluate its communication strategy so that controversy
will not define its corporate image. Right now the company is simply restating
their policies of customer privacy over and over through their social media channels. It seems
forced and scripted rather than sincere. Effective communication between the
company and the customer is what will save this chain from further disgrace. After all, they have been hypocritical which is by no means ethical (A note from a customer was posted on the company's page a month before this incident).
“PR strategy provides the focus and direction
for an organization’s communication with its stakeholders and other interest
groups...by adapting the organization to values, trends, events, issues and
stakeholders in the environment, it can be regarded as ‘adaptive’ strategy”
(Steyn, 2007). Applebee’s should adopt an adaptive strategy as part of their
organizational fabric. Clearly, Applebee’s must adapt to these recent events
and consider an alternative communication strategy or even reevaluate the
original response that caused this disaster. The key stakeholders here are the
customers as they will give Applebee’s their desired profit so adaptive action
must be taken to win these people back.
PR, social
media, and all other aspects of integrated marketing communication must be fully
linked to deliver an effective line of communication between a company and a
consumer. As Steyn discusses, PR is seen as the thinking and logic (the “what”)
of a company. The “how” of a company is related to marketing tactics (2007). It is important for Applebee’s to learn from what is being said across
its social media channels and implement a communication strategy that convinces
the angry public through their marketing channels of their true overall mission
and vision - “We do the right thing. We are committed to the highest ethical
standards.”
- Some people are only interested in being angry, insulting trolls. (You can’t placate them)
- Some people are genuinely angry or upset over an issue, but are open to accepting an apology. (You can fix it)
- Some people are genuinely angry or upset over an issue, and want more than just an apology. (You might be able to fix it, but it will take more than just one “I’m sorry”)
- Some people are quick to forgive and become your cheerleader if you handle things well. (An unofficial PR team)
- Some people are point out the issue but are made happy just to get a response back of any sort (They just want to know someone is listening)
- No people are interested in being told their feelings or assessment of the situation are wrong. (Being defensive will make the crisis explode)
The Daily Telegraph
CBS News
Today Made
Applebee's
Applebee's Official Facebook Page
B Steyn’s Contribution of Public Relations to Organizational Strategy (2007)
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I had read about the Applebee's social media disaster in detail last week and have been following the situation.
Your post is very thorough and does an excellent job of linking the proposed discussion about Steyn's definition of communication strategy to a real world, current situation.
I am really floored by Applebee's poor tactics in handling this situation. You had mentioned that effective communication is what will save the company going forward, and that an alternative communication strategy is needed.
What changes in communication strategy would you recommend if you were the PR professional handling this crisis for Applebee's?
Thanks, Kristin. I am floored by Applebee's performance as well. It's disappointing to see such a large company make such a blunder. The restaurant industry already has plenty of PR issues to deal with (food safety, service, etc.) that this type of situation is not needed.
DeleteIf I was dealing with this crisis, I would have stood by the employee. In corporate America, many citizens feel as though it is all about money and corporations do not care about their employees.
I think at this point, Applebee's does not want to admit they were wrong. Yes, their policy says that the waitress' actions were wrong, however, public outcry says otherwise. Situations like this should trigger flexibility in policy.
As Lara mentions below in the comments, social media is being debated in government as the equivalent of cafeteria chatter, making this server's photo perfectly fine.
Hi James,
DeleteWhat would you envision Applebee's should do to stand by its employee? What would be the best way for the company to communicate that position if they were to take it?
Good question, Kristin. I do not think I was clear but I actually meant I would have stood by the employee after the picture was posted, not after the firing because that would be hypocritical. Would this have caused a PR nightmare since she was not fired? I highly doubt it.
DeleteAt this point, they need to just ride it out. It has gotten out of hand and nobody will listen to them. After a couple days, they should reach out to the employee, apologize for the media attention, and communicate to the public that they are sorry for their actions. The best thing to do at this point is issue a blunt apology.
Hi James
DeleteI would agree. They owe an apology to that employee and to the public.
Applebee’s missed the most crucial lesson in this situation. And that is this: the customer is NOT always right. I’m not sure if this goes about everything that the food service industry is taught but I think that’s irrelevant. I believe that Applebee’s was so afraid of the possible repercussions from siding with their employee, that they created a larger firestorm than they anticipated. They were afraid of a forbidden topic: religion.
ReplyDeleteNow, I don’t mean for this to turn into a discussion about religious beliefs or the practice or religion. The fact that the customer (the pastor) tipped God but would not tip the waitress is infuriating. If anyone does not see a problem with this, then we have missed a larger issue amongst our nation and its corporations.
Applebee’s shouldn’t have had to fire a waitress, who was merely making fun of the ridiculous tip she received. A customer who clearly has no idea how difficult the food industry is shouldn’t win in this situation. But we allowed her to win, because we are afraid to question a community religious leader. I think I have not tipped a food service worker once, and that was because the service was terrible. Every other time I go out to eat, I give a standard 15% tip, possibly more. I even give tips to the baristas when I get my coffee. It may only be a dollar or a quarter, but that’s a small token and it creates a bond with that establishment.
By firing this employee, Applebee’s essentially said that once you bring religion into a situation, we won’t fight it. They need to do a lot more than apologize at this point too. I ask that everyone login to www.buzzfeed.com and search this topic. Buzzfeed is my absolute favorite social media site. It’s essentially a website that allows bloggers, journalist and collaborators to come together and make ridiculous posts about everyday topics. If Buzzfeed is the pulse of American internet culture (and I believe it is), you will see that America is disappointed with Applebee’s. America also doesn’t want religion to win, when it is clearly doing the opposite of what religion should do.
Social Media is powerful and incredibly fun. Applebee’s should take notes from Nabisco (specifically Oreos) and Nissan. They had some of the best marketing in the form of social media during the super bowl. These post on twitter and other social media were in the form of advertisement, but Applebee’s can easily make a statement through this form of advertisement and be a company that takes care of their employees instead of crucifying them as soon as the topic becomes difficult.
Thanks for your reply, Shannon! Thanks for sharing buzzfeed as well. I think your thoughts on religion being forbidden are spot on. Applebee's did not know how to tackle such a complicated issue so they hid behind their "policies." I think a company's policies need to have a certain level of flexibility to adapt to certain situations.
DeleteThe customer was rude, a photo was shared, and yes maybe the employee should not have shared the photo but the company 100% sided with the customer. Clearly the public is not OK with this outcome. One of the number one rules of PR is to communicate with the various publics that an organization reaches. Applebee's is not communicating properly with the general public on this one. I think to save themselves, they need to acknowledge they messed up.
Believe me, you are always taught in customer service that the customer is always right. However, the always does not apply to a customer demeaning an employee or belittling them.
Thanks again for sharing!
The Applebee’s incident makes for an interesting case study in how not to handle crisis. Seems to me Applebee’s strategy of repeating their customer service policy over and over is a based on simply repeating the message often enough and loud enough and people will eventually believe it. Scripted and forces is a good description. I’ve always taken this kind of messaging to be the equivalent of a “no comment” and serious lack of a credible communication policy.
ReplyDeleteApplbee’s is in damage control, but they don’t appear to be getting any sympathy. Since the firing there has been a lot of support for the waitress in the social media world. Here is an interesting article highlighting some of the fallout that Applebee’s is experiencing and the what has become a debacle in how they are handling it: http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/ Looks like a lesson in how not to engage in damage control.
Hi George,
DeleteYou're absolutely right - repeating their policy over and over again is not helping. It's definitely not credible and just a fancy way of saying "no comment." I truly understand standing by your beliefs, however, this situation is a little ridiculous not to admit fault. The issue is though that Applebee's broke their own policy by posting a different customer's receipt a few weeks earlier. They then deleted this post which just shows guilt in the internet world.
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteThe Applebee's situation is unfortunate and a reminder to all brands that they must have a social media crisis plan in place.
With all the attention this has received, you can bet Applebee's is second-guessing their decision. Especially after recent news of labor laws protecting employees' social speech - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/technology/employers-social-media-policies-come-under-regulatory-scrutiny.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Thanks for this, Lara. You bet they are questioning their decision! I think the government is doing the right thing by stepping in. Social media should make our world more social as the name implies, not force it to be afraid of what to say.
DeleteHi James,
ReplyDeleteAnother thought, as I read through your post again and those of others, is the relation of this situation to Mintzberg's (1987) views on deliberate vs. emergent PR strategy as outlined in Steyn's excerpt.
It seems as though the company is employing the wrong type of strategy for this situation. Which of those two strategies do you think would best handle this situation, and why?
References
Steyn, B. (2007). "Contribution of Public Relations to Organizational Strategy Formulation." Retrieved from http://www.prconversations.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/excerpt-excellence-book.pdf.
Hi Kristin,
DeleteGood question. I believe Applebee's has employed an emergent strategy which was clearly a poor choice. Steyn describes this strategy as a short term solution that is used when the final outcome is unclear and during constantly changing crisis situations. Applebee's saw this crisis as a short term issue that would quickly resolve itself. That was a wrong assumption and a deliberate strategy would have been more appropriate.
Steyn describes deliberate strategy as a pattern of decisions using communication as a tool to build relationships with stakeholders, maintain a good reputation, and increase positive image. This would have been the stronger approach because clearly Applebee's needed to build stronger relationships with the public, maintain their reputation, and preserve their image. Applebee's saw this as a short term problem (which it very well could be - only time will tell)however, the public through social media can leave a lasting impact.
To carry your response to Kristin a little further I'll play devil's advocate here for a moment. Could it be possible that Applebee's made the correct decision (to fire the employee), but employed the wrong way to go about it (emergent strategy)? Generally speaking, one has the right to freedom of speech, but that doesn't equate to freedom from consequences. Should Applebee's in some way have been clearer with their internal policies that this kind of conduct is not to be tolerated with the employee knowing full well that such an action can lead to termination? Maybe this whole thing is avoided if the employee takes a deep breath and doesn't post the picture in the first place.
DeleteHi George,
DeleteAbsolutely! I was discussing this with our classmate Amanda at work today. I don't blame Applebee's for firing this employee. I do not particularly think what she did was too horrible, however, she did violate company policy. What Applebee's did wrong here was that they employed an emergent strategy. Through a deliberate strategy before the incident, Applebee's could have communicated policies better to the employees. Honestly, I bet most people do not read the policies and handbooks they sign when starting a new job. If they do, there is no way they remember anything. Internal communication is very important to public relations since employees are the face of the company. Applebee's failed on this principle.
James,
DeleteI think this could have been a short term problem if they had handled it correctly. But since they chose the handle it the way they did, the company is now dealing with a full blown crisis.
This was a very nice blog post James. It was well written and informative. I will say that prior to this I have not read about the Applebee’s incident but I have read similar stories as to waiters/waitresses taking to social media to complain about customers and every time I read about it the ending seems the same, the waiter/waitress was fired. I don’t always agree with the outcome, but I can see why it happened.
ReplyDeleteThis Applebee's incident has definitely created a lot of chatter and an overwhelming amount of negative feedback. Like Lara said, there needs to be a social media crisis plan in place for organizations that partake in the usage of social media. Sometimes ripping off a bandaid is not as painless and easy as it seems. In this case scenario, terminating the employee has left some serious negative repercussions.
ReplyDeleteThe customer is not always right and there are other ways to deal with situations that are exposed to mass medias. If you were to join Applebee's public relations team today, what would you do to alleviate this situation?
Hi Amanda,
DeleteHonestly, there is not too much Applebee's can do right now. Hindsight is 20/20 but they should have issued statements through a status update sooner. Much of their communication was done in comment threads and their response was getting buried. This meant that many people could not see it. Here's an interesting website that chronicled all of the events - it's very interesting! http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnight-social-media-meltdown-a-photo-essay/
Wow, I'd heard of this but hadn't followed all of the details. Reading the site that chronicles how it unfolded is like watching someone throw gasoline on a fire. While I'm sure that Applebee's would like to claim that they were using an emergent strategy, I don't see it that way. Just because an emergent strategy is adjusted as you go doesn't mean that it's shooting in the dark. Applebee's was completely shooting in the dark. (Quite literally--at 2:00 a.m.!)
ReplyDeleteA better approach might have been to reprimand the employee for violating the policy but not firing her, and just laying low. People might have gone to Applebee's out of sympathy for the servers. Now they're boycotting!
After this statement, http://applebees.mwnewsroom.com/manual-releases/Statement-from-Applebee-s-President-Mike-Archer Applebees continues to delete posts and block users from posting on its facebook page if you post a negative comment, comment concerning chelsea welch or if you "like" a negative comment. Applebees has not reinstated any posting privelages to those it has blocked from posting on its page so that we can participate in the so called forum. Some of us have created a second facebook acct. but we still cannot post on the applebees facebook page, here is where we are gathering https://www.facebook.com/PickingApples2013 to talk about the Chelsea firing and the low wage that servers are paid. As you can see, there is not any foul language used ,please visit the site to see the conversations, it may be news worthy.
ReplyDelete