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Reuters
Papa John's is perhaps the latest brand to be hit with a public relations crisis, but branding experts consider the situation a mere case of déjà vu.
More precisely, it reminds them of Uber.
They see parallels between what happened to Papa John that led to the resignation of John Schnatter as president this week and how the Uber crisis unfolded in 2017, eventually leading to the death. ousting its founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick.
Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John's, resigned from his position as president of the company Wednesday after acknowledging using the N-word during a conference call. The incident occurred during a conference call with the Laundry Service advertising agency in May, reported Forbes.
But it was not the first time that he – and by extension Papa John – was at the center of a public maelstrom.
Papa John entered a polarizing debate in November when Schnatter, then CEO of the company, criticized the NFL leadership for the fact that the players were kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and the police. brutality.
The comments sparked a reaction left and support right, and the chain finally killed its sponsorship deal with the NFL.
Similarly, Uber's departure from Kalanick was not motivated by a one-time incident, but by a multi-month crisis – including allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, concerns about privacy and data.
"It's like déjà vu," said Chris Allieri, founder and director of the brand consulting firm Mulberry & Astor. "In both cases, it was a series of actions, statements and official and informal reports on how they acted, conducted and conducted.
The similarities do not stop there. Kalanick and Schnatter were not only the founders but also the very visible public faces of their companies. They were inextricably linked to their brands – especially in the case of Schnatter, who was the literal face of Papa John's marketing campaigns.
This meant that each action would directly affect the perception of their brand. They have also been two outspoken figures who have sometimes courted controversy. And it ended up coming back to bite them. "Schnatter should have learned both from his previous experience with the NFL and from the negative impact on the fall of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick," said Nick Peters, vice president senior at CommCore Consulting. "In the current media and social environment, all C-Suite executives must ensure that everything they say can be repeated in public, often to their detriment."
And of course, both situations end up having an impact on brands.
Uber controversies hit brand hard, and Dad John's should suffer for some time
US consumer popularity of Uber hit its all-time low in June 2017 According to Morning Consult Brand Intelligence, 40% of the 40,000 respondents have a favorable impression of the brand. Online conversations around Papa John's, likewise, were as negative as 78% the day Schnatter resigned, according to Brandwatch data, with the hashtag #BoycottPapaJohns garnering over 4.3 million. ; prints.
Still, not everything is lost for Papa John. The exit of Schnatter may seem like a big shot, but it's not the end of the road for the mark. Several leading companies, including Wells Fargo, Volkswagen and, of course, Uber, have recovered well after the leaders left in a crisis.
In addition, Papa John seems to have taken the example of Uber 's missteps, Schnatter' s exit arriving much earlier after the incident than Kalanick 's incitement. This sends a signal that the company is serious in solving problems, experts say, and may well be the first step it has to take to reinvent itself – even if it does not of public relations agency to guide it.
"When the leader of an organization does not conform to the declared values of the organization, its brand and its culture, it creates confusion in the marketplace and pushes customers away," he said. said Deb Gabor, CEO of the brand. -strategy consultancy Sol Marketing. "The fact that Schnatter is leaving his role as president is pretty much Papa John's only choice to prevent the mark from becoming a fire pit."
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