Crisis PR expert Brian Dobson, writing in CBA Retailers+Resources Magazine, says, "Product recalls and lax quality control that put the toy industry in crisis have shaken consumer confidence," noting stores and businesses have to communicate effectively to limit damage and control a crisis.
Ridgefield, CT (PRWEB) November 24, 2007 -- Product recalls by Mattel and other toy companies have awakened a trusting public, legislators and regulatory authorities to the need for more vigilance over quality control and have focused a spotlight on retailers' need to communicate effectively with shoppers during a product crisis, said a public relations expert writing in a leading retail industry magazine.
"Many store operators are unprepared for crisis," said Brian Dobson, President of Dobson Communications, a public relations firm specializing in crisis communications, marketing and corporate relations. "Shoppers want answers about problem products, especially when quality control deteriorates on items directed at the most innocent consumers, children."
Writing in this month's CBA Retailers+Resources Magazine, a trade publication read by retailers worldwide, Dobson said, "Manufactures, marketers and trade associations should make sure that store operators are kept in the communications loop and ready to respond factually to shoppers with questions about products during a crisis."
He added, "Product recalls and lax quality control that put the toy industry in crisis have shaken consumer confidence. Businesses have to communicate openly and honestly with the public and do the right thing quickly and effectively to limit damage and control a crisis."
In a guest column headlined "Crisis Preparation: A Retail Reality," Dobson wrote, "In business you get what you inspect, not what you expect." He noted, "Toy company executives, asleep at the switch, have got to wake up to market realities and realize that informed consumers are fed up with lackluster quality, especially with products for their kids."
Mattel recalled millions of toys, most with defectively designed small magnets that children could swallow, or decorated with damagingly high levels of banned leaded paint. Another company, RC2, recalled Thomas the Tank Engine wooden trains tainted with leaded paint. More recently, Canada's Spin Master recalled Aqua Dots due to a so-called date-rape like substance on its toy. "The public, although somewhat accustomed to bad corporate news, was shocked since children's safety was compromised," he said.
Dobson, located in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and New York City, added, "When Toronto-based Spin Master recalled tainted Aqua Dots, the public drew the line and regulators in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and elsewhere focused on the problem."
Aqua Dots are manufactured by Australian company Moose Enterprises, which sells them as Bindeez. In playing with the toy, water is added to the beads to bind them into various shapes, but the water added to the recalled products also created a harmful effect when mixed with chemicals wrongly used in the beads' production. On the recalled Aqua Dots of Spin Master, a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolized into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. Several children went into comas and were hospitalized after ingesting Aqua Dots, while some children who swallowed the Mattel magnets needed surgery to dislodge them from their intestines.
Mattel at first cited poor quality control in China as the primary source of its recall problems but later recanted and apologized to China for that tactic, claiming responsibility rests with Mattel. International reaction to the Mattel recalls included the European Commission reviewing all product safety regulations, Brazil banning Mattel products and U.S. legislators conducting hearings and calling for changes."
"Bottom line," said Dobson, "shoppers feel the marketer of a product is responsible, start to finish, for the quality of the toys they sell to the public."
Toy companies with recalls, from Mattel and Spin Master to RC2 and others, face many problems during product crises, ranging from legislative hearings and stricter regulatory oversight to competitive pressures and falling stock prices.
"At times, crises can make companies vulnerable to takeovers," Dobson added. He noted that in the stock market, RC2 (RCRC) gave up considerable value and Mattel (MAT) saw its stock drop roughly one-third from summer to Thanksgiving, despite Mattel's adding $500 million to its stock repurchase program. Wall Street may see Mattel stock as a bargain now if management convinces investors that quality control has improved.
Dobson explained, "Incidents of product recalls in the toy business are not new and have occurred routinely in past years when products sometimes slip through the quality control net. However, the latest round of recalls drew media and public focus. Iconic brand names, such as Barbie and Dora the Explorer, are top-of-mind now in the crisis and big retailers, such as Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Toys R Us initiated toy testing of their own to protect their customers, and their market shares. Disney (DIS) and Nickelodeon, part of the Viacom (VIA) MTV Network, were among children's entertainment property owners that also started testing to protect their brand names and avoid public association with quality problems.
In the article, Dobson writes, "Preparation helps companies avoid or better manage crisis if its hits. Retailers are on the frontline with consumers who view them as responsible for the products they sell." He added, "Crisis preparation could have anticipated these developments," noting that companies should form Crisis Committees to aggressively review areas of business that might cause problems and then apply corrective actions.
Dobson, who formerly headed public relations at a Fortune 50 company and was a financial journalist at two international news organizations, Dow Jones and Reuters, said, "As seen in our proprietary Dobson Communications Crisis Arc™, crises have common elements but each is unique. Basic principles, including common sense, are important in managing a crisis."
Dobson added, "Controlling news is vital. Companies should be concise, consistent and straight forward in the messages they deliver and spokespeople should be limited to top management, such as the CEO or senior public relations executive. Initiating news gets your message out as you want it stated."
To read Brian Dobson's article in CBA Retailers+Resources Magazine visit its website at: http://www.retailers-resources.com/cba/200711/?sub_id=DL3zstTRoiAXf and for more information about Dobson Communications, visit www.DobsonPR.com.
Source: PRWeb: Legal / Law
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