Bach Seat

Domino’s Pizza is the latest firm to realize that social media has the reach and speed to turn tiny incidents into marketing crises.  Domino’s Vice President of Communications Tim McIntyre told AdAge.com: “Any idiot with a webcam and an internet connection can attempt to undo all that’s right about the brand” in reaction to several videos posted on YouTube (and now elsewhere) on Monday (04-13-09) by two Domino’s Pizza employees in North Carolina which showed them allegedly tampering with food to be served to customers.

On Tuesday (04-14-09), the Domino’s franchise owner brought in the local health department, which advised him to discard all open containers of food, which cost hundreds of dollars and fired the employees, identified as Kristy Lynn Hammonds, 31, of Taylorsville, N.C., who was convicted of sexual battery last June and was convicted of possession of stolen goods and damaging a vending machine in 1995 according to media reports and Michael Anthony Setzer, 32, of Conover N.C. are each charged with felony distributing prohibited foods Setzer was released from the Catawba County jail on $7,500 bond, while Hammonds remained in custody.

Domino’s McIntyre said, “We’re re-examining all of our hiring practices to make sure that people like this don’t make it into our stores,” McIntyre continues, “We got blindsided by two idiots with a video camera and an awful idea.”

In just a few days, Ann Arbor, MI-based Domino’s reputation was damaged. The perception of its quality among consumers went from positive to negative since Monday (04-13-09), according to the research firm YouGov. “It’s graphic enough in the video, and it’s created enough of a stir, that it gives people a little bit of pause,” said Ted Marzilli, global managing director for YouGov’s BrandIndex in an NYT article.

The company considers each viewing of the video to be damaging to the Domino’s Pizza brand, McIntyre said. “We are absolutely 100 percent going after these people,” McIntyre said. “Our brand is far too valuable to let these guys try to ruin it all in the guise of a hoax.”

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This incident is further proof that companies cannot afford to ignore social media. The Domino’s incident proves that responding to social-media incidents has to be added to disaster recovery plans. Firms need to pay close attention to what is being said about them online. In this case, Domino’s only found out about the videos because a blogger told them, according to the New York Times.

Firms need to add situations including negative stories that appear in social media to their DRP’s. The benefit of a DRP is that a plan of action is in place. During a social-media crisis, there is no time to figure out the technology.  Domino’s response was not to respond aggressively, hoping the controversy would quiet down. “What we missed was the perpetual mushroom effect of viral sensations,” McIntyre said. It is reported that the Domino’s videos were viewed more than 1 million times on YoutTube, references to it were in five of the 12 results on the first page of Google search for “Dominos,” and discussions about Domino’s had spread throughout Twitter before they were taken down by the poster.

In the heat of a crisis, there is little time to open accounts on YouTube, Twitter, or the Web 2.0 du jour, get up to speed on how to use the technology, and formulate the response to the problem while that problem is unfolding.

Firms that are not involved in social media should set up a web 2.0 presence for a defensive position. Firms can use their existing online channel to immediately get their message out to interested readers. The firm’s larger follow-up response should match the offending social-media vector, be it Twitter and YouTube.

Like other elements of the firm’s disaster recovery plan,  firms should stage a mock social-media crisis and figure out what to do if an employee or a customer posts harmful social-media information online.

Of course, all good security policies and DRP’s need strong enforceable policies. The DRP should describe how to respond. in this case,  the company “decided not to respond aggressively, hoping the controversy would quiet down. “What we missed was the perpetual mushroom effect of viral sensations,” Domino’s official, Tim McIntyre, told the Times Before a crisis strikes, the firms must develop a company policy that explains the impact of social media and outlines what employees can and cannot do on social media sites when they are identifiable as members of your value-chain.

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.