Kenneth Cole’s Twitter Crisis

Kim Schmohl

#Cairo Kenneth Cole is an American clothing brand

named after the designer himself February 3, 2011- Kenneth Cole used uprising in

Cairo to promote spring collection Used the trending topic #Cairo to create buzz

and generate traffic to website Tweet provided direct link to collection

How the public reacted Public was outraged by the offensive tweet

Kenneth Cole seen as insensitive toward the situation in Egypt

Negative comments toward brand on the internet "And the day's award for corporate insensitivity goes

to: Kenneth Cole," wrote Nick McMaster on Newser Fake Twitter feed @KennethColePR mocked

designer “People of Haiti, fall into our store for earth-

shattering savings! #KennethColeTweets” “People from New Orleans are flooding into Kenneth

Cole stores! #KennethColeTweets”

On Twitter

Kenneth Cole store

How Kenneth Cole reacted Took down post within a few hours Apologized for tweet on Twitter and Facebook Laura Kline,  spokeswoman for Kenneth Cole,

confirmed that the designer himself had written the original tweet and the apology

Kenneth Cole’s apology

“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.”- Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer

Celeb Boutique and #Aurora

How Celeb Boutique reacted Public had similar reaction Celeb Boutique also took down tweet and publicly

apologized right away CB said that they didn't check what the trend meant "We are incredibly sorry for our tweet about Aurora -

Our PR is NOT US based and had not checked the reason for the trend, at that time our social media was totally UNAWARE of the situation and simply thought it was another trending topic - we have removed the very insensitive tweet and will of course take more care in future to look into what we say in our tweets. Again we do apologize for any offense caused. This was not intentional & will not occur again. Our most sincere apologies for both the tweet and situation. - CB"

Impact on Kenneth Cole Brand

Tweet was harmful to brand image Overall reputation was not severely harmed Crisis not in the news for very long Handled crisis well Not involved in other major crises

Kenneth Cole as a person and CEO Directly said it However reputation was not severely harmed

either Supports other social causes that positively

portray him Intentional?

Impact on industry and public relations Social media is huge today

Directly interact, build relationships and inform Companies need to monitor their social media 24/7 Companies should be respectful of current events

Not capitalize on them! “Hijacking” hashtags

Changes meaning of hashtag Influence of social media in crisis

Sent instantaneously- everyone can see right away Company can respond to crisis right away Need to check and confirm information before it goes viral Think about audience- put yourself in their position

BEFORE posting

The Page Principles “Listen to the customer”

Original tweet made company seem insincere Customers didn’t think tweet was funny Didn’t fulfill public’s wants and needs

“Tell the truth” Acknowledged situation and publicly apologized Didn’t just take down post or justify position

“Prove it with action” Acted immediately Didn’t wait to respond

“Realize a company’s true character is expressed by its people” Kenneth Cole himself had written tweet and apology Face of the company

Works Cited http://mashable.com/2011/02/03/kenneth-cole

-egypt/

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-501369_162-7315074.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/celebboutique-tweet-colorado-batman-shooting_n_1690308.html

http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Did_Kenneth_Cole_commit_brand_suicide_on_Twitter_42678.aspx#

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/03/kenneth-coles-egypt-tweet-offends-just-about-everyone-on-twitte/