On the 25th, yesterday the founder of Nongfu Spring, Zhong Sui, became the richest man in China for the fourth time. This article is for the reference of Mr. Zhong, the richest man in China
Nongfu Spring public relations failure warning, don't take the brand official as a cadre~ Ye Zhengchao
Nongfu Spring failed to deal with the online social media public relations crisis. The main reason is that the boss Zhong should not stand in the front desk and become the protagonist in dealing with the brand crisis. What I want to express is, bosses, don't take brand officials as cadres.
A few days ago, the number of Chinese netizens exceeded 1 billion, and netizens became archaeologists of "Internet fragments", so that Zhong Sui, the owner of Nongfu Spring, did not expect to fall into an infinitely entangled "black hole".
It is true that in an era when public sentiment dominates, any unsystematic, rhythmless, and ununderstood overreaction of young people may stimulate an overwhelming flow of traffic, whether you are rational or not, wronged or not, black and white reversal is in between moments.
Because this is the era of online self-media, everyone is a reporter!
Nongfu Spring's public relations failure for the first time in 28 years reminds me of Gree Dong Mingzhu. Dong Mingzhu was also a marketing master back then, Dong Mingzhu was also keen to go to the front desk to show up, go live and be on the hot search, and personally endorsed Gree, did a bunch of things done by brand officials, and put the brand officials aside, but the results were unsatisfactory.
Once you become a boss, you are no longer suitable to be a brand officer. It's still professional people who do professional things. Be the boss, don't take the brand official as a cadre.
The personal brand image of a brand founder is linked to the brand image of the company, and in many cases it is even the same. The personal brand of the boss is the brand of the enterprise, and even the product brand of the enterprise. Therefore, the boss's business, that is the brand's business. Although the public opinion is aimed at the boss, the brand department has the responsibility. At this time, the boss doesn't have to stand up. If the boss does not stand up, he needs a comprehensive research and judgment of the brand. This time Nongfu Spring's public opinion crisis, Zhong Sui stood up. But the effect of standing up twice backfired.
The first time he stood up was on the day of Zong Qinghou's "first seven", and posted on the official WeChat public account "I have two or three things with Zong Lao", saying, "Taking advantage of Zong Lao's death, there have been a lot of slanders against me and Nongfu Spring on the Internet." In the article, he explained netizens' questions about "starting a business in Wahaha to earn the first pot of gold" and "being expelled", and hoped that the public would not be led to rhythm. In fact, to a large extent, the public opinion on the Internet at this time was played by the topic, who called Zhong Sui and Zong Qinghou both in Hangzhou? Who called Nongfu Spring and Wahaha had a "tearing war" back then? Who called your son an American citizen, and Sino-US relations are in a sensitive period?!
In fact, once the memorial service of Zong Qinghou passes, the heat may soon disappear. Do you want to be like Dong Yuhui, hundreds of hot searches a year, how can it be so easy. But Zhong couldn't hold back after all, and ended up in person, and made a hot search for himself. At least it is certain that if he doesn't write this article, there will be no hot search. Whether there is a climax of follow-up public opinion can also be another matter.
The second time Zhong stood up was when his 95-year-old mother died. He posted on Moments that "my mother is healthy, smiling, happy, and has no underlying diseases", but "because I was inexplicably cyberbullied, which affected my mother and worried about me, I passed away on the afternoon of March 11, and I am very sad." Originally, public opinion was about to die down, and I made a hot search for myself.
The important thing is that it did not bring a reversal of public opinion to itself, but brought more criticism.
Quite simply, Zhong stood on the opposite side of netizens and public sentiment.
First of all, he believes that netizens are committing violence, regardless of whether this characterization is accurate or not, whether it is recognized or not, it is certainly unpleasant.
Second, he believes that cyberbullying affected his mother, which led to his mother's death. This causal relationship, without the support of a chain of evidence, falls into an unwarranted argument. The reaction of many netizens is that they don't want to be the backstabber.
Since he has never scolded the old man, why should he carry this black cauldron?
There are also many netizens who think that Zhong Sui is selling miserably, pulling the old mother out to be a shield and eating the old man's blood steamed buns.
You see, at the beginning, you thought that many netizens were eating Zong Qinghou's human blood steamed buns, and now these netizens think that Zhong Sui is eating his old mother's human blood steamed buns.
What is the reason, what logic? Stop, back to the brand. The fundamental problem with Zhong is that he sees himself as a brand officer, he does what a brand officer should do, or does what the brand officer does not want him to do.
In a crisis of public opinion, should the boss stand up or not? Of course, it depends on the situation. For example, when the boss needs to take responsibility, clarify the truth, and reflect responsibility, perhaps only the boss can turn the tide.
But when it is necessary to appease the emotions of the Internet, what does the boss stand up for? Instead of calming the situation, he adds fuel to the fire, adds to the fire, and even loses more than anything.
It stands to reason that a big boss like Zhong Sui is the biggest brand spokesperson of Nongfu Spring. His words and deeds are related to the brand image of the enterprise, and it should also be the object of Nongfu Spring's brand department to be meticulously crafted and even carefully dressed.
Under normal circumstances, his article "Two or Three Things with Zong Lao" should be the result of Zhong Sui's dictation, packaging and polishing by the brand department, and then it may be officially published in the company; Note that this is normal. If this is really the case, Nongfu Spring's brand department is derelict in its duty and can be collectively dismissed. Because their brand crisis response is very bad.
But it is more likely that Zhong made his own decisions, crossed the brand department, or forcibly made arrangements.
The brand department is just a "vase", but the will of the boss is the supreme will.
In the public opinion crisis of Nongfu Spring, Zhong obviously did not regard himself as the boss, but as a brand official.
It feels like he's out of the control of the branding department.
But Zhong Sui, as a brand official, is obviously a failure. Although he has been dominant in the past, he has won a big victory in the brand marketing of packaged water, from Nongfu Spring a little sweet to nature's porter, creating a classic case of brand creativity.
Maybe Zhong is overconfident and thinks that dealing with public opinion and brand marketing is his forte, but in the face of a decentralized all-media era, he is unable to extricate himself from the whirlpool of public opinion.