While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared tomatoes safe to eat again, the work of rebuilding the industry’s brand is not yet over.
So far, the salmonella-related scare has cost the produce industry an estimated $100 million, sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states, and left millions feeling a new wariness about food safety. Worse yet, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds that nearly half of consumers have changed their eating and buying habits in the past six months because they’re afraid they could get sick by eating contaminated food.
Although the cause of the outbreak remains unknown, now is the time for the produce industry to begin post-crisis marketing in earnest.
Why? Because we know from experience that once a crisis reaches its peak, there exists a teachable moment during which consumers - their interest, for better or worse, piqued by the barrage of news about an issue - are eager to learn about a company’s product.
For example, immediately after FDA officials pin-pointed waste from ruminant pigs on a neighboring farm in California as the source of the fall 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak, consumer anxiety dropped and the industry was able to share positive, credible messages about its product. During that post-marketing period, the produce industry enlisted the services of celebrity moms appearing on television talk shows to demonstrate how to bake, steam, and saute spinach for their families - and did so with great effect.
Industry leaders employed like strategies after the pet-food recalls of 2007 and the lead paint recalls of toys later that same year. As a result, sales after those crises were robust and both industries enjoyed their best quarters in history last fall.
In most cases, it’s best to withhold marketing and advertising spending for product sales until a crisis peaks. Once that happens, an industry or company should then aggressively send positive messages into the marketplace when consumers are in the teachable moment.
It’s an oftern overlooked part of crisis management that can pay great dividends for companies that look ahead after a crisis has occurred.
Gene Grabowski, Senior Vice President of Levick Strategic Communications and manager of the firm’s Crisis, Litigation, Liability, and Recall Practice Group, is a distinguished crisis communications counselor who leads high-profile accounts for major law firms, Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and government agencies. For his work during the spinach E. coli crisis, the industry-wide pet food recalls, and the lead paint toy recalls, Mr. Grabowski was honored by PRNews as their Crisis Manager of the Year for 2007.
