This deck was presented for a class presentation for the core Communications course at Ivey in the MBA program.

1. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
THE EXPLOSIVE LAUNCH
OF GALAXY NOTE 7
Presented by Team 10:
Colton James
Kai Dai
Manan Bhatia
Meghaa Nayyar
Nihal Nishadul
Patrick K Graham
Susanna Shu

2. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
1
HOW WOULD
YOU FEEL?

3. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
2
Takeaways
Recommendations
Crisis Timeline and Facts: it is evident from the sequence of
events that Samsung struggled to get ahead of the issue
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background 1. Galaxy Note 7 crisis by the numbers: Samsung investigates (ibtimes.co.uk)
2. Galaxy Note 7: Timeline of Samsung's phones woes - BBC News
02 Aug 2016
Samsung
launches
Galaxy Note 7
24 Aug
First report of
“explosion” appear
in the news 2
02 Sep
First public
statement
Offers refund or
replacement 2
1
35
10 Sep
Second public
statement 2
15 Sep
Video statement
issued by COO of
Americas.
Assures new Note
7s are safe 2
92
11 Oct
Final public
statement.
Stops all sales of
the phone and
recommends to
power down 1
140
14 Oct
US Department of
Transportation
bans all Note 7s
from airplanes
19 Sep
New Note 7s in
China catch fire
despite assurance
that they are safe 2
= ‘explosion’ count
19 Aug
Note7
goes on sale

4. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
3
Three Fundamental Issues: at the core of Samsung’s handling
of Note 7 crisis communications
Takeaways
Recommendations
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background
Samsung took over 10 days to release the first official statement
addressing the explosions
LACK OF URGENCY
01
03
02 Samsung’s initial statements did not explicitly reference the risk of phone
explosion: the risk was simply called an “incident”
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY
Samsung response to the developed markets (US/EU) was markedly more
deliberate and sensitive compared to developing markets (China/India)
LACK OF CONSISTENCY

5. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
4
Recommendation (1/3): With our recommendations, the
timeline now becomes front loaded with communications…
Takeaways
Recommendations
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background
02 Aug 2016
Samsung
launches
Galaxy Note 7
24 Aug
First report of
“explosion” appear
in the news 2
1
25 Aug
Assemble a global
crisis communication
team
Issue a public
statement that
Samsung is aware
of an issue and is
investigating
Prepare a replacement
program with regulatory
bodies and mobile carriers.
1
2
24 HOURS IN
31 Aug
1 WEEK IN
Reestablish the fact that
Samsung is committed to
a thorough investigation
Take full responsibility
for the lapse in quality
and empathize with
valuable customers who
were affected
4
5
02 Sep
35
= ‘explosion’ count
19 Aug
Note 7s go on sale
Advise relevant
regulatory bodies
and mobile carriers
of a possible issue
6
3

6. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
5
Recommendation (2/3): ... to immediately address the issue
within the ‘golden period’ of 4 weeks
Takeaways
Recommendations
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background
7 Sep 21 Sep
Press conference to express apologies
for the incident. Publicly disclose the
investigation process and any
preliminary findings.
Acknowledge the incident using
facts and outline the risk of
explosion. Be succinct and
instruct customers to stop
using the phone
Discontinue all Note 7 sales
and inform Samsung
customers that a replacement
program is available at their
carrier
Provide clear and consistent
instructions on how to
exchange devices. Use SMS
and targeted ads to broadcast
instructions.
8
7
8
4 WEEKS IN
2 WEEKS IN
15 Sep
92
= ‘explosion’ count
Continue implementing a global
replacement program. Provide clear and
consistent instructions across all
affected markets.
9

7. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
6
Recommendation (3/3): Additional recommendations for
Samsung aim to prevent future PR crisis
Takeaways
Recommendations
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background
ESTABLISH FEEDBACK LOOP
Communicate frequently with
early adopters and pre-order
customers for quicker feedback
01
INFUSE FEEDBACK IN QA
Include feedback in the QC
process to identify and fixes
issues quicker in fresh products
02
03 04
FREQUENT UPDATES
During future crisis, notify
public/customers on inquiry
process and new developments
CRISIS PR PLAYBOOK
Prepare manual with best
practices to deliver an efficient
response to future crisis events.

8. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
7
Takeaways: Despite shortcomings in PR, Samsung has been able to
recover due to its operational and branding prowess
Takeaways
Recommendations
Fundamental Issues
Crisis Background
What were the key problems
- Lack of Urgency
- Lack of Transparency
- Lack of Consistency
What we recommend
During-crisis
- Empathize with customers and stakeholders
- Provide regular fact based updates on
investigations
- Be sincere, honest and quick to take ownership
Post-crisis
- Knowledge management through crisis playbook
What they did well
During-crisis
- Provide software updates as stop gap fix
- Management of device recall logistics
Post-crisis
- Thorough root cause analysis and investigation

9. Triangle
Consulting
Group
Team 10 – Section 2
THANK YOU