What happens to a brand’s reputation when they face a PR nightmare that plays out on social media? Alterian analyzed three case studies -Nestle, United Airlines and Dominos - to measure the effect a crisis has on a brand. How severe was the public’s reaction? How long did it take for the brand’s reputation to return to their pre-crisis average? How varied was the impact for each of these slightly different cases? Does the way a brand responds impact the severity of the crisis? Check out our analysis of what happens when a PR nightmare strikes.

1. The Fail Trail:
Analyzing the impact
of a PR Crisis

2. Introduction
Crisis Management Theory
– Proactive Reputation Monitoring
• Looking to understand the significance of, and if actively listening
can decrease the severity of a crisis
– Proactive Reputation Management
• Understanding if a brands initial reputation can decrease severity of
crisis
– Proactive Reputation Response
• Determining if a follow-up response and action affects the opinion of
the brand during a crisis
• Search Setup
• Identified three global brands
• Historical data over 6 month period
• Each a different example of a crisis
• All well known PR disasters

3. Domino’s
• Example of crisis: Employees “Caught in Act”
• Employees post video on YouTube of health violations.
• Domino’s responded with apology video and legal actions against employees.
• We set up historical social search to go back and look at data from 1/16/2009 to 7/16/2009. That is 3
months prior to the crisis and 3 months following.

4. United
• Example of crisis: “Bad Customer Service”
• United breaks Passengers guitar and doesn’t pay for it.
• Musician’s song about it goes viral.
• We went back and looked at conversations from 4/06/2009 to 10/06/2009.

5. Nestle
• Example of crisis: “Brand Hijacking”
• Nestle tries to censor campaign against them regarding deforestation.
• Facebook page gets taken over with negative posts.
• We went back and looked at conversations from 4/06/2009 to 10/06/2009.

6. Overall Analysis
Average Net Positive Pre-Crisis Net Positive Sentiment
Dominos PC United PC Nestle PC Dominos United Nestle
Average Average Average 7.56% 6.93% 24.89%
10.94% 0.00% 14.57%
9.99% 1.69% 19.49%
13.37% -4.07% 18.42%
5.64% -0.97% 17.14%
17.29% 1.07% 12.63%
3.28% 4.44% 18.85%
13.27% 4.80% 19.75%
-0.28% 4.61% 17.77%
12.30% 2.03% 26.43%
13.02% -0.75% 20.51%
10.08% 2.73% 18.60%
13.43% -0.57% 24.34%
-16.72% -9.02% 21.51%
-6.80% -9.78% -11.24%
10.00% -5.54% 1.78%
2.87% -11.51% 13.01%
7.78% -7.88% 18.72%
12.24% 1.16% 11.97%
• Net positive sentiment percentage is defined as the percentage of positive
12.80% 4.09% 20.60%
conversations minus the percentage of negative conversations. 17.70% -5.91% 19.92%
17.28% 0.00% 22.04%
• Prior to the crisis, Nestle had the greater average percentage of overall positive 11.61% 0.79% 15.47%
8.87% 1.02% 15.25%
conversations while United had the fewest. 11.55% 1.44% 16.27%
16.29% 52.39% 21.66%
• Each crisis happened at week 13 and took four to six weeks to return to the pre- 18.10% 7.54% 18.38%
crisis average.

7. Domino’s Analysis
Dominos Dominios
Average DFA
9.99% -2.43%
9.99% 0.95%
9.99% 3.38%
9.99% -4.35%
9.99% 7.30%
9.99% -6.71%
9.99% 3.28%
9.99% -10.27%
9.99% 2.31%
9.99% 3.03%
9.99% 0.09%
9.99% 3.44%
-0.58% -26.71%
-0.58% -16.79%
-0.58% 0.01%
-0.58% -7.12%
-0.58% -2.21%
• There was a large spike in the distance from average when the crisis 14.05% 2.25%
immediately occurred. 14.05% 2.81%
14.05% 7.71%
14.05% 7.29%
• Post-crisis, Domino’s average positive sentiment actually increased from 14.05% 1.62%
9.99% (prior to the crisis) to 14.05%. This could be attributed to what experts 14.05% -1.12%
called immediate response to the crisis and the video apology they issued. 14.05% 1.56%
14.05% 6.30%
14.05% 8.11%

8. United Analysis
United United
Average DFA
1.69% 5.24%
1.69% -1.69%
1.69% -5.76%
1.69% -2.66%
1.69% -0.62%
1.69% 2.75%
1.69% 3.11%
1.69% 2.92%
1.69% 0.34%
1.69% -2.44%
1.69% 1.04%
1.69% -2.26%
-7.38% -10.71%
-7.38% -11.47%
-7.38% -7.23%
-7.38% -13.20%
• The plunge in sentiment when the crisis occurred wasn’t as drastic as the -7.38% -9.57%
other brands. This could be due to the already low sentiment surrounding the -7.38% -0.53%
6.95% 2.40%
United Brand.
6.95% -7.60%
6.95% -1.69%
• Following the crisis the average positive sentiment was actually greater than 6.95% -0.90%
it was prior as well. This is due to the giant spike in conversations towards 6.95% -0.67%
6.95% -0.25%
the end of our 6 month search range, around a Starbuck gift card giveaway 6.95% 50.70%
on all domestic flights on United. 6.95% 5.85%

9. Nestle Analysis
30.00% Nestle Nestle
Average DFA
25.00% 19.49% 5.40%
19.49% -4.92%
20.00%
19.49% -1.07%
15.00% 19.49% -2.35%
Nestle 19.49% -6.86%
10.00% 19.49% -0.64%
Nestle PC Average 19.49% 0.26%
5.00%
4 per. Mov. Avg. (Nestle) 19.49% -1.72%
0.00% 19.49% 6.94%
19.49% 1.02%
‐5.00% 19.49% -0.89%
19.49% 4.85%
‐10.00%
9.29% 2.02%
‐15.00% 9.29% -30.73%
9.29% -17.71%
9.29% -6.48%
9.29% -0.77%
• Nestle had the greatest drop in positive sentiment from the average at the 9.29% -7.52%
time of the crisis. Fittingly, Nestle also had the highest overall positive 17.95% 1.11%
sentiment and thus the “furthest to fall.” 17.95% 0.43%
17.95% 2.55%
17.95% -4.02%
• After the crisis Nestle’s brand returned to nearly the same average as it was 17.95% -4.24%
prior to the crisis. The difference could be attributed to the lasting affect that 17.95% -3.22%
17.95% 2.17%
the crisis had on some brand supporters.
17.95% -1.11%

10. Domino’s vs. Nestle Analysis
• Nestle and Domino’s are very similar in their sentiment pattern.
• Possible reasons could be that they are both in the food industry and have a
positive average sentiment prior to the crisis.
• United has a more stable, but lower sentiment percentage, thus the
percentage doesn’t move as much when a crisis occurs.

11. Insights
• Monitoring
– If a brand is monitoring the conversations surrounding sentiment, they may be
more likely to take action on a crisis in a positive manner by learning from
experiences.
– An example is United defending their customer service and increasing positive
sentiment by issuing Starbucks gift cards on flights.
• Management
– It seems as though a brand’s initial reputation and average sentiment does have
an effect on the crisis, but in an inverted fashion.
– Both Nestle and United had a greater positive sentiment and dropped further.
United, on the other hand, didn’t drop as much during the crisis because people
expected this from the brand.
• Response
– Initial response is not necessarily a good thing, and interaction can influence an
audience’s perception of the brand.
– An example is Nestle and how they attempted to defuse a growing social
situation by censoring content and going back and forth with commenters on
their Facebook page. This is not an ideal way to respond to a crisis.

12. Future Analysis
Areas for Future Investigation:
– Does the brand’s industry affect the impact of the crisis (similar patterns with
Domino's and Nestle)?
– Does the public’s sentiment about a brand *before* a crisis affect the negative
impact of a PR Crisis?
– Can a brand’s response lessen the long term impact of a PR Crisis?

13. THANK YOU!
Please contact us with any questions
Steve True: steve.true@alterian.com
@steventrue
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Web: www.alterian.com | Blog: www.engagingtimes.com | Twitter: @Alterian
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