Domino's: How One YouTube Video Can Ruin a Brand (Updated)
In terms of its social media presence, Domino's Pizza gets a lot of things right. It has a YouTube Channel, a Twitter account, and both a Facebook and MySpace profile. What Domino's could not plan for, however, was that two of its employees at a North Carolina franchise would use YouTube to broadcast a rather disgusting video that would severely damage the company's brand. Since the video first appeared, Domino's has quickly stepped up its social media presence in order to regain some positive momentum.
The video, which, among other things, features an employee who farts and sneezes on a sandwich, was viewed over 500,000 times. For now, the video has disappeared from YouTube, but you can still see a full version of the employees' exploits here.
Thanks to Trendrr for providing us with these graphs.
Fighting Back on YouTube and Twitter
In response to this uproar, Domino's decided to release its own video on YouTube, which features Domino's president Patrick Doyle. Of course, Doyle's video, which refers to the story as a 'hoax,' will not be able to draw half a million viewers, but Domino's Pizza is doing the right thing by going to YouTube, where, after all, the whole affair began.
The video, however, is not as effective as it could have been, as Doyle is clearly reading from a script and barely looks into the camera.
Domino's is also actively using the company's official Twitter account to reach out to customers who are talking about the company.
Solution: Ban Video Cameras in Stores?
Bruce Horovitz, in USA Today, describes some of the lessons that other companies can learn from from this controversy. Among other things, he recommends that companies actively monitor Twitter and other social media channels, so that companies can respond quickly when problems appear. Comcast is a good example of a company that is using Twitter to rebuild its image.
According to Horovitz, Domino's is now also considering banning video cameras from its stores, which will probably do nothing to alleviate consumers' concerns.
In the end, the only thing a company can do is to quickly react to these events. Doyle's video, however, looks too scripted, and instead of banning cameras, Domino's should welcome cameras in its stores, so that customers can see that this was an isolated incident that is not representative of behavior of the thousands of other employees Domino's and its franchisees have.
Update: we just got some interesting data from communications research company MediaCurves, which did a quick survey of consumer reactions before and after watching Domino's apology.
Here are the results:
"Which of the following actions are you likely to perform in the next three months?"
|
Before Viewing Prank Video |
|
After Viewing Prank Video |
|
After Viewing Apology Video |
|
|
Total (n=243) |
Total (n=243) |
Total (n=243) |
|||
|
Go to a Domino's |
29% |
10% |
20% |
||
|
Order Domino's for delivery |
46% |
15% |
24% |
||
|
Visit Dominos' web site |
25% |
14% |
24% |
||
|
Search for information on Domino's |
14% |
10% |
20% |
||
|
Watch an advertisement/
|
61% |
27% |
42% |
"Do you think the apology response video released by Domino's USA President, Patrick Doyle, was effective in rectifying and restoring Domino's image after this incident?"
|
Total (n=243) |
|
|
Yes |
31% |
|
Somewhat |
60% |
|
No |
9% |
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Domino's == makes you hungry and thirsty and sleep MSG-laden pizza.
Banning cameras seems like attacking the symptoms of a bigger problem (hiring, management). From a tactical perspective, it would very difficult to ban cameras anyway given inclusion in most available phones. I think a big part of the solution is educating on how employee conduct affects them personally in addition to the company.
I liked his video - I'll bet he was told to look to the side. He seemed very genuine though and passionate about what he does. I think most smart people know that it wasn't Domino's, but those two people who were at fault. It's impossible to hire great employees 100% of the time, and I think Domino's is responding very well.
Perhaps Dominos should open the existing store cameras to the web so I can check as my food is made to see who does what to my food? That would embrace transparency and eliminate the risk. Then again, it might drive people away if this sort of thing is more prevelant than first thought.
Does this mean banning security cams too? Ain't a ban unless it covers all visual recoding devices.
I think that it is a good idea from Ed to open the existing store cameras to the web.
Generally the company should improve their public relations, and i don't mean the classical product promotion. Perhaps, the image of the company will increase.
I think the solution it to provide more video. They should put up web cams that let you watch your food be prepared. They already have the progress bar that lets you track your food for delivery. Its a big idea but its also a big problem for them.
how about we wait to find out that sales take a dip before we discuss how much a video impacted the brand? i mean, if anyone out there is surprised about the quality of fast food, they probably are already not eating it...
Domino's response was swift, smart and strong. Their brand will survive this slam exactly because of how Domino's confronted the attack so swiftly and directly.
Score one for the ability of social media to right a wrong triggered by social media! Domino's response will be a "how-to" case study for responding to a viral brand attack.
By the way, scripted or not, Domino's video response struck me as well-crafted and responsive to the several concerns raised by the awful acts of their former employees.
http://Twitter.com/TrendTracker
This is a great article and a great example of how brand management is VERY IMPORTANT and also VERY VALUABLE! Nothing's worse than one or two people shaking things up for thousands! Brand Equity takes time, effort and resources to build but it only takes one mistake to lose huge amounts of brand equity. Consistency with branding is key!
Thanks again for a great article!
Amber
www.ambersims.com
Their approach in addressing the issue is not people-oriented enough. William actually have a nice suggestion there on putting a web cam in the kitchen to let customers see how the food are prepared.
All in all, I hope companies or corporations out there noticed about this incident and learn something or two from it.
Dominos might want to tone down it's public anti-gay views.
This damage is already done for me. I ain't going to no Dominos ever again... even if it was just a hoax. I will never ever go to a Dominos again.
I found a used bandaid that slipped off an employee's finger cooked into my Dominos pizza, around 25 years ago. I still have not gone back. Had Youtube been around then, you know I would have posted it.
Hate to break it to anyone bagging Dominos... but it's not an isolated incident to just them. Think of what they did every time you visit a restaurant or order food from any place. We will start to see more things like this happen, KFC a few months ago. Even though the guy was reading from a script he did seem sincere and I think it was a great way to respond.
I agree that Domino's should not ban cameras but install cameras in the stores.
Ilike how you can order from Domino's online and then watch the status bar relaying the status of your order from intake to prep to cooking and delivery. When I saw that on their site a few months ago I actually sent a suggestion in to them to put a webcam in the kitchen and allow us to send in orders from Twitter.
The damage is already done. the web 2.0 frenzy has spread like anything and companies should keep a check on the online media communication. i remember a similar problem with google blog when an employee accidentally deleted the entire blog.
They should know that these kind of media exposure has a long term effect and competitors could easily play dirty tricks to ruin your business.
The "ban the camera" comment really takes focus from the real issue. How many times does this happen when a camera isn't around. It makes it sound like its not a crime if there is no documentation. Whether you ban cameras or not is only a PR move and is very shallow that consumers see right through. Domino's and/or the local authorities should make an example out of the criminals in this case. Local municipalities can support the process by not just classifying the crime as "food contamination", but turn it up and map it against premeditated public endangerment.
Banning cameras is not a solution to this problem, employee education and consequences should be imposed. As for this moron of an employee, he should be sued for every penny he has.
Yeah, sue the Domino's employee for every penny he has! Oh wait, he works for Domino's, nm, he doesn't have any because his company doesn't give two shits about him and never did. He's more important to the company in fucking them over than he ever was making pizzas.
I can't believe it takes an event like this to turn you off fast food. Bunch of big fascist corporations and they give you tainted food? What a surprise! Shocked, I'm shocked I tell you! What's funny is it's not markedly worse for you after all the contamination- the shit's basically genetically modified poison baked in an oven. Tastes overwhelmingly like the cheap grease it's made of, overpriced, awful crap.
Also, if I was at Papa John's, I could probably hire some mafia-style buddy for less than $10k to do a PR hit like this. He pays each of the kids like $100 to fuck with the food on camera (for laughs, he tells them), he puts it on youtube and sends it to the right people, and there's no way to trace it back to Papa John's. It's not unheard of. We are talking about big fascist companies, after all, not like they're morally above screwing their competition if they think they can get away with it. Bunch of cocklickers, not worth a damn, the lot of them.
Dominos sells rubbish, to rubbish lazy fat people, who don't wipe their asses properly. I was manager at a mcdonalds a few years ago, I used to stick my hand in my ass crack just to spite the customers when I would handle the buns for the burgers. Basically, we get paid nothing, treated like dirt, you're complicit in our exploitation as wage slaves and hot smelly kitchens, so you can eat it. You can eat whatever I serve up, and 100,000 times out of 100,000, you'll never know you ingested my waste.
I think we can all agree this is nasty! Dominos should post their apology on a website like Apology Center and let the Internet world decide if it's worthy, ya know?
Apology Center
Thats weird cuz I just got a pizza delivered with a cockroach in it.
I have been a chef for 35 years..I guess I was sheltered from this type of behavior in the food industry.It is Ethics and Morals these employees lack.Where was a sanitation manager or shift manager during this episode? Some of you blame it on minimum wage as the culprit..Get real people..Training of management should be the issue at hand."MANAGEMENT"Leaving Kids unattended with the preparation of our food is what Dominos should be addressing.Wake Up Dominos!!
Iagree that Domino's
Oh please!! You hire teenagers & under pay them & what do you expect? This has been going on since the cave me & will continue.
In 1967 I was 15 & MickeyD's paid us 90 cents/hr, I just looked up 1967 min wage = $1.40. That's less than 2/3 min wage & we worked VERY hard, not like McD's today. I received a 5 cent raise after 3 months & NO Free food ever, we had to pay for it no discount!!! Needless to say we ate well, just didn't chew much. lol
I've got alot of funny stories, but none were ever directed at specific customers, even though they ate some "stuff." Now cops were a different story. They always pestered us & ate for free ... that really pissed us off, especially as we were allowed NO Food. Cops got the biz EVERY time. My friend used to put pubes on their burgers, I told him to quit as he'd get caught ... so he used to put the buns in his butt-crack & waddle around ... to the delight of all of us teenagers.
We weren't slackers or fools, we all now have advanced degrees ... its kids stuff & it was hilarious. At 90 cents/hr we surely didn't worry about losing our jobs. Besides, the managers treated us very poorly ... sending us home when things got slow after working 1 hour, scrubbing crap on our hands & knees, verbal abuse. When those managers came into our next jobs, guess what they ate!?! lol
Tip: Be real nice to them & keep your eye on them!!
If one YouTube video can kill the Domnino's brand in particular, then it wasn't very strong to begin with. I personally don't care whether employees put butt juice or boogers on their pizzas, because as is, the pies are virtually toxic anyway. Pure junk food garbage. THAT is my impression of the Domino's brand, which had been cemented in my mind long before this stupid video broohaha surfaced.
LETTER OF DEMAND
in nov. 2009, from americana 5 motel, in las vegas, nv, i ordered a thin crust pizza with olives from dominos pizza on decatur blvd. when i was eating it & i bit right into a "hard round black object" that looked just like an olive, and it chipped my tooth. they sent someone out to pick up the pizza and object. i talk to manager on duty that night, then i talk to a "marca (head manager)" the next morning. from that time up til now i placed many calls to marca and other store mangers and continued to attempt to make contact with upper management at the regional office. all to no-avail! each time i have got the run-around, and told to contact another person, whom every time gave me the same run-around.
however, from time-to-time, i did find myself out of touch because some "minor" trouble, which has caused me to be away, unable to resolve this matter [if you know what i mean]. this provided them with some time, but the fact remain... it did happened, i informed them immediately, i talked to several people throughout the dominos franchise, and they still want to give me the run-around. they better be aware.., i refuse to go down without a helleva fight!
now, i'm taking my fight directly to the media so that the public can get another unfortunate awakening about dominos pizza employees. yes, i'm sure there's are many dominos employees whom would never do such a thing, but what about the employees that dressed my pizza with this foreign object that had no business on my pizza? then, was the employees who were putting booggers on pizzas. that's real nasty! i was some what traumatized, mainly because at the time, i was staying in a motel and was forced to eat out. then, i ad no car, so before this incident i ordered out. then, afterwards, believe it or not.., i lost a lot of weight because i was paranoid by who was fixing my food, plus i had to spend additional money when i caught cabs to eat, which provided me with some relief.
now, i want to conclude this matter a.s.a.p, "without" future courtroom litigation, which i'm ready and able to proceed if we can't reach an "immediate" settlement satisfying interest of both parties. due to bad publicity that dominos been receiving regarding similar issues; where employees placing foreign objects in pizzas, i'm sure they'd wish to settle this matter out of court and eyes of media/public whom i will begin contacting if no "immediate" resolution.
let's get ready to rumble dominos, or I DEMAND that dominos settle up with me--immediately, i'm not greedy!
if anybody else have complaints on food establishments, we have an obligation to inform thy neighbor. don't you think so?
Chipped tooth ex-dominos customer
i was contacted last by one their excutives, seems like to give me another run-around. he promised he would get this resolved and that i would hear from some at the store i'm complaining on, to no avail. i haven't heard anything. so i turn to the media again.
Not quite sure what will happen with all this, but i'm seeing more and more cameras pointed at the cooks and employees of fast food restaurants. Restaurant owners are becoming more aware of all the trouble a single stupid employee can make. That sure won't solve the problem, but i guess every step in the right direction helps when it comes to the food we eat!
This is great! I must say I always like domino better than hut. I actually like the game better than both, but that's a whole other issue :)
maybe those people were hire vy pizza hut to make them look bad anyway very funny