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Communication Planning and Programming During a Crisis
In August 2016, there was widespread news about the exploding battery of the Galaxy Note 7 phone after a user uploaded a video on YouTube indicating the explosion. Many complaints were later reported about the same by many users all over the world. Samsung, a multinational technology company that produces the said models of phones, was held responsible, and yet they remained quiet about the issue. Many cases were reported on overheating and the explosion of other models of phones from the company endangering the lives of users (Samsung Newsroom, 2016). It was not until seven months later since the first case was highlighted in the social media that the company came from the darkness to respond to the issue, and it had to recall its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.
From a public relations standpoint, the company’s response to the crisis was not timely, and this, therefore, came with dire consequences. The company was facing a crisis, and it was placed in a situation to lose its face in public. The company’s reputation was going to be severely damaged, and its name tarnished. As a result, its market shares began to fall drastically, and hence it was bound to make huge losses. In times of crisis such as this faced by Samsung Company concerning its Galaxy Note 7 phones, the right communication planning strategies ought to be adopted. Communication planning strategies have to be effective. Thus they should be implemented at the right time, accurately and it should reach as many consumers as possible using the right channel.
Any competent public relations department in any company should be able to counter any bad news in the media about the company as fast as they could and using the best communication approach for effectiveness. The public relations department does this to restore the image of the company. For the Samsung Company, its corporate image was in jeopardy, and it has to take action very fast but failed to do that. Instead, seven months later, they apologized to the public about the issue in the media and through a press release. It was not the best response they should have taken because they delayed. The corporate image of the company and the quality of its products was being questioned.
The best course of action to have been taken by Samsung Company is to make use of the organizational crisis communication to protect its reputation. There are two main crisis communication theories Samsung should have employed; Image Restoration Theory and Situational Crisis Communication Theory (Benoit, 1997b). In image restoration strategies, it is essential to consider the nature of the crisis that had called for a response. According to Benoit’s (1997) explanations, Samsung Company is responsible for complaints from the consumers on exploding batteries, and they have offended them his their corporate image was at risk of being damaged. To avert the crisis, Samsung should have opted for either denial, remedial action, limiting offensiveness, evasion of responsibility, and mortification. By doing this, the company’s image can be restored, and the crisis averted.
In the other hand, by employing Situational Crisis Communication Theory, since the crisis is sudden and poses a huge threat to both the operations of the business, financial stability and its reputation (Coombs,2007), Samsung could have picked the best and pertinent crisis response to the threat of their image. Crisis response strategies to employ to avoid the crisis are vital for Samsung during the time it was facing the accusations from the consumers, and a quick response from the company will have been of utmost importance in protecting its reputation.
In conclusion, the crisis of Galaxy Note 7 presented a deadly to the company’s overall image, and the public and consumers’ uproar made it clear that Samsung Company was responsible for the disaster. When the first report came out, Samsung could have taken the best crisis communication strategy to respond to the consumers’ cries in different social media platforms actively and find a solution to the problem. However, Samsung failed to do this, and hence they risked putting the corporate image of the company at stake.
References
- (2016, October 11). Retrieved April 03, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fwbtZUk8vw
Reilly, C. (2016, September 02). Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 over battery flaw. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-confirms-global-recallreplacement-galaxy-note-7-faulty-battery/
[Statement] Samsung Will Replace Current Note7 with New One. (2016, September 2). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from https://news.samsung.com/global/statement-on-galaxynote7
Benoit, W. L. (1997a). Hugh Grant’s image restoration discourse: An actor apologizes. Communication Quarterly, 45(3), 251-267.
Benoit, W. L. (1997b). Image repair discourse and crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 23(2), 177-186.
Benoit, W. L. (2015). Accounts, excuses, and apologies: image repair theory and research (2nd ed.). Albany: SUNY Press.
Blaney, J. R., Benoit, W. L., & Brazeal, L. M. (2002). Blowout!: Firestone’s image restoration campaign. Public Relations Review, 28(4), 379-392.
Brain, C. (2016). Edexcel Psychology for A level. London: Hodder Education.