As a popular hair care brand began receiving negative feedback due to allegations of its products causing adverse effects among former partners and consumers, Edelman was challenged with quantifying and understanding media coverage, awareness, and feedback from users in order to inform the client’s communication strategy and help repair reputation.

STRATEGY & EXECUTION

Edelman’s DxI team initiated a cross-methodology approach to help the brand diagnose the severity of the crisis and inform its crisis response strategy.

Firstly we implemented Edelman Trust Management Tracking, with ongoing surveys of consumers to track trend issue awareness, perceived blame and brand trust over time, as well as uncover consumers’ expectations for the brand’s response.

We conducted a forensic commentary analysis of social channels, analyzing both positive and negative responses on brand posts to understand what drives these types of comments to inform the company’s responses to individual social media users.

Finally, we established media monitoring, assessing the evolving issues conversation over the course of 11 months.

OUTCOME

The research helped the client navigate the crisis at its onset by clarifying the severity of the issue and establishing the need for a direct brand response. In the following months, as the crisis continued to develop and evolve, our regular media monitoring and trust tracking surveys confirmed the need for a more robust brand response and informed the right actions to take – including convening third-party experts to validate product safety, interacting directly with customers on social channels, and deploying a paid advertising campaign specifically targeting those who had been exposed to the issue.