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Don’t say one thing to your customers while you’re telling shareholders another…
Target’s massive data breach last year, in which some 70 million pieces of customer data, including names, addresses, and credit card numbers, were stolen by hackers, shook shopper’s confidence and created lower-than-predicted sales during the crucial holiday season. Although the company faced some initial stumbles, its crisis management, including messaging regarding the situation and steps taken sent directly to affected customers and placed in stores, seems to be turning things around.
That is, of course, unless the retailer does something stupid. Something like, ohhh…informing the Securities and Exchange Commission that “it is possible that we will identify additional information that was accessed or stolen, which could materially worsen the losses and reputational damage we have experienced” while they’re busy reassuring the public that the trouble’s past.
Oh, that just happened in Target’s annual 10-k report? Well bollocks.
The instinct to start shouting from the rooftops that you’re past a crisis as soon as possible is completely understandable, but if you stop and think, what really looks worse – saying you’re in the clear and then having to announce you were wrong, or keeping everyone informed as you work through an issue until it’s really and truly resolved?
Target’s drawing shoppers back in, but if the problem is discovered to be bigger than reported you can bet the news won’t be tucked away in a SEC filing, and you can doubly bet that those customers who just barely put their shaken confidence back in the Target brand will be taking their money elsewhere.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]
