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Kelloggs (US) cereal recall: Lessons for online crisis communications

June 26, 2010

Yesterday Kelloggs (US)voluntarily recalled a variety of cereals due to a strange odour.  But how are they faring with regard to online crisis communications management?

First up a check of their website shows a recall message on the homepage so they are off to a good start. Within the recall message there are a range of well crafted FAQs regarding the recall.

Viewing the Australian Kelloggs website there is no mention of the recall yet Australians hooked into Twitter and reading about the recall will be wondering this morning if their cereal is affected.

Now on to Twitter… there is certainly a lot of chatter this morning from consumers regarding the recall (see below) 

tffny705264: RT @mykidseatfree: Kellogg Issues Massive Cereal Recall; 28-Million Boxes Pulled – https://bit.ly/aAOjXo https://myloc.me/8pFzw 40 minutes ago via UberTwitter

kmohara: Recall on Kelloggs Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Honey Smacks and Pops. https://ow.ly/23sBI

  • Picsay-1276452298_normal AndYaSayChIcitY: RT @ThickGirlThin: Re: recalled cereal. https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20100625/kelloggs-cereal-recall-due-to-odd-smell
  • Interestingly, it does not appear that Kelloggs have an official Twitter handle with which they could certainly respond and keep consumers updated hour by hour. 

    I certainly hope in the least they have claimed their Twitter name or we could see someone having fun with the Kelloggs brand in the next few hours and day ala BP style.

    Update! the Twitter handle looks to be taken by a consumer not the organisation view twitter handle – the last entry is about basketball! I have followed this character to see what unfolds in the coming days.

    It is still surprising when organisations are not claiming their name or using Twitter as an online crisis communication tool.  Back   in 2007 when writing for Freshchat I noted the use of Twitter for this purpose but back then this Twitter thing was still reasonably new. Today no organisation can claim that Twitter is new or untested.

    In fact only recently in Australia the ACCC encouraged Australian food companies to embrace Twitter and other web 2.0 mediums to get the message out to consumers – Twitter has indeed gone mainstream.

    The Fruit Loops Community Page on Facebook will certainly be pulling in some negative comments over the next few hours so you would be hoping that Kelloggs are monitoring that page as will the Honey Smacks page.  This is a good lesson for organisations – even if you don’t want to have a Facebook prescence Community Pages exists so at least monitor those and get proactive on the site.

    The company also has a  Froot Loops application on Facebook so it will be interesting to see if any messages appear via this mechanism (this is one of the cereals recalled).

    Quick search of YouTube on the subject – nothing as yet although news reports regarding the recall have already appeared right now a statement from a Kelloggs official on youtube would be recommended but will they respond? it is possible that creative types might have a field day with the recall so expect to see some humorous videos on this channel in coming days.

    Update: there is already one consumer recall video posted as of 1pm today.  Also notable was a news video that accidentally mixed up the Kelloggs story with another – to interesting effect.

    Bloggers – yes they will be out in force and already there are murmerings about the cereal recall so let’s hope Kellogg’s have their social media monitoring in place and their blogger relations under control. Here’s one recall blog post I quite like regarding the quantities recalled.

    Let’s not forget Online Forums and it is evident that the US  ‘mommy forums’ are already quite active which you may expect but less obvious forums such as Pirate 4×4  (for offroad vehicles) are also discussing the recall and by nature the product itself.

    Google Trends (in the US) is showing Kelloggs Recall as number 2 only surpassed by the World Cup.  It is interesting to note that no adwords have been purchased at the current time.

     Hot TopicsNew!   (USA)
      1. brazil portugal
      2. kelloggs recall
      3. adam sandler
      4. vick

    Naturally the issue is hitting online news sites and The Huffington Post have a nice wrap up including integrated Twitter feed.

    Lessons for Online Crisis Communications

    1. Use a variety of online platforms to get the message out – a simple line on your website simply does not cut it anymore

    2. Claim your name in all the online platforms to ensure no spoofing of your brand occurs particularly during a crisis

    3. Local organisations should  monitor the international situation and quickly get a message out on their websites that local stock are not affected (if this is the case) we are clearly operating in a global economy.

    4. Twitter is a vital online crisis comms platform – understand it and use it in a crisis. Develop and stick to a relevant hashtag.

    5. Don’t leave it till a crisis occurs to integrate online comms platforms into your existing crisis comms plans

    6. Have a good social media monitoring system in place and monitor it regularly

    7. Research what terms people are searching for online and ensure they are incorporated into your content strategy.  Understand the basics of SEO – if you are a communicator this is critical.

    8. Buy adwords for the key terms to ensure that your messages get through.  Ensure your link sends consumers directly to your recall page.

    Filed Under: Crisis Communications, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube Tagged With: cereal recall, crisis comms, Crisis Communications, crisis management, froot loop recall, kelloggs cereal recall, kelloggs online reputation, kelloggs recall, kelogg recall, online crisis comms and social media, online crisis communications, online crisis management, online crisis plan, online pr, online reputation management, twitter and crisis comms

    Comments

    1. avatarAnn says

      July 1, 2010 at 12:37 pm

      Great post Jenni and I also notice that the Twitter handle http://www.twitter.com/kelloggsAU does not appear to be taken. Up for grabs as they say.

      A few months ago a well known online company launched a new business. Seeing as how their market is very into social networking I checked their Twitter handle but it didnt exist. I emailed the company CEO and within 10mins the Twitter handle was registered which was great. Did I ever get a return email saying a simple “thanks”? No. I emailed a few days later just to follow up ( hey it’s nice to say “thanks”!) and once again no reply.

      What I’m saying is that this is a great post on crisis management and I hope someone at Kelloggs reads it but don’t be surprised if they do read it and register the handles but never acknowledge the source of this ‘inspiration’ (i.e your article)!

      For some people / companies saying thanks can be construed as admitting they are not on top of their game, something some people and companies do not like to do.

      Ann

      PS (You might want to check a past blog post i wrote on how a NGO in the US is using social media to manage a PR situation – http://bit.ly/9o5vAl)

      Log in to Reply
    2. avatarbeattiej says

      July 1, 2010 at 1:08 pm

      Thanks Ann for your comments above, yes you would expect that a large fmcg would have their social media monitoring in check
      cheers!

      Log in to Reply

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