I’m sorry. Seems simple, doesn’t it? How have two words become so divisive, so maligned and so suspect in the last year? Those two words are used to begin the journey towards repairing broken trust. In the time of a crisis, how do you develop a meaningful apology to rebuild connections and confidence in a brand? Take a page out of Psychologist Harriet Lerner’s book, “Why Won’t You Apologize?” – a favorite of mine – and first breakdown what an authentic, impactful apology looks like.Failure to effectively address issues could result in unrepairable brand damage. Here, we’ve outlined a proposed framework for creating an impactful apology:
Take responsibility and show remorse
Do not deflect and keep the focus on the actions or incidents the company is responsible for. Adidas’ apology for their 2017 email marketing issue is a good example of how to take full responsibility. Their response was heartfelt, direct and honest. While backlash was immediate, so was their response – acting swiftly during the time of a crisis is paramount.
Corroborate wrong doing
This may be the most important piece to a genuine apology. Facing the issue straight on with factual elements and a truthful response is key to beginning to rebuild potential lost trust or damage.
Offer restitution
What are you doing to repair and amend? Paint a clear picture on how your company is going to take action. Is it reexamining food safety procedures? Offering support to consumers affected by a data breach? Make sure the public is aware of your next step. Recently, KFC took a bold and unique approach to its chicken shortage with their apology.When was the last time you reexamined your crisis strategy? It might be time for a refresh to ensure you’re prepared the next time an issue arises and an updated crisis playbook is needed.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
