Book Review: Some lessons in fighting brand crises from the marketplace

In their book 'Managing Brand Transgressions: 8 Principles to Transform Your Brand', S P Jain and S S Jain attempt to draw the right lessons that are to be learnt from brand challenges

Managing Brand Transgressions: 8 Principles to Transform Your Brand 

Author: S P Jain & S S Jain

Publisher: De Gruyter

Pages: 195

Price: Rs 2,741

‘Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan’ is a quote attributed to many including President John F Kennedy. In a similar vein, there are many books about brand successes but very few on brand failures or brand “transgressions”. One of the books I managed to read many years ago, Brand Failures by Matt Haig, lists 100 biggest branding mistakes, nicely categorised as PR failures, culture failures, extension failures and so on.

Brands have faced challenges in India too and I was involved in a retreat at a business school that was set up to get brand thinkers to capture the learning from such stories. The book that came out of it, Brands Under Fire, edited by Ivan Arthur and Kurien Mathews, captured the challenges faced by Cadbury Dairy Milk, Pepsi/Coke, and UTI 64. All four brands had to confront major challenges—some self-created, some arising from a hostile environment—but they all managed to survive (UTI 64 vanished, but UTI Mutual Fund emerged from the maelstrom). Ramya Ramamurthy, who was part of the CNBC team that curated the retreat, has written a wonderful book, Rebuild, which is about how some brands overcame crises and emerged stronger. This book, published in 2018, includes 20+ Indian brand stories, including Maggi Noodles, Kingfisher Airlines, Satyam, Tata Nano, and Nokia.

There are many lessons to be learnt from brand challenges and that is exactly what Professors Shailendra Pratap Jain and Shalini Sarin Jain are attempting to do through their book Managing Brand Transgressions. S P Jain is a professor of marketing and international business at the Foster School of Business, University of Washington, Seattle, and S S Jain is a professor of management and the inaugural director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Milgard School of Business, University of Washington, Tacoma. Their research areas include marketing communication, consumer psychology, and business ethics. Unlike the heavy tomes that university professors often write, this book is an easy read.

First, what is a “transgression”? The authors define it as “a harm-causing violation of some fundamental rules and norms of the relationship”. All brands make promises to their customers. When a brand violates this promise it becomes a transgression. There could be many types of transgressions. Some that come from out of left field, difficult to predict. Then there are those that could be termed transgressions waiting to happen, companies know there could be issues but continue with the job of marketing the product. Finally, there is what I would call “extreme transgression,” where an organisation hides the truth in order to sell a product that could cause bodily harm to its customers.

The book presents numerous examples from around the world to bring out the different types of transgressions and what could be the eight lessons or principles to extract from these brand transgression stories. The first principle is “Do the right thing” and the case that is presented here is that of the Tylenol poisoning; something that came out of left field but the response by the company is today a much-discussed case in business school. I wish the authors had also delved into the asbestos controversy that Johnson & Johnson Baby Talc had to face in the recent past. While they mention the new challenge, they have not examined it in detail.

The second principle is “Take Accountability”. Here the authors present the case of Dalkon Shield, a birth control device that was  mis-marketed in the US and around the world. They contrast this with the Nokia India case where the company reacted with speed to a battery issue.

The third principle is “Act with Lightning Speed”. The case that is presented here is of how Starbucks reacted with speed to the issue that was created when the staff in one of their coffee shops behaved in an inappropriate manner with customers who were non-white. The company owned up to the mistake, did not blame the staff but instead admitted to the lack of sensitisation of their staff. Then, they decided to shut all their outlets across the US for a day to provide their staff with the requisite training. Nestle Maggi India case is highlighted here for not acting with speed.

The other principles presented in the book include “Communicate Transparently”, “Choose Principles over Profit”, “Treat Each Life With Dignity”, “Leadership Sets The Tone” and “Build Brand Authenticity”. The cases discussed include Volkswagen (the diesel pollution issue), Boeing (the 737 issue), Dolce & Gabbana (a culture clash in China), Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Fox New (#metoo), Taj Hotels [terrorist attack], Patagonia, among others.

The book points out that some transgressions are forgiven, especially if the brand is big and the harm is not physical, Volkswagen being an example. Some transgressions can be deep and may take years to get over the negative backlash (such as D&C in China). Finally, there are some that lead to the company being sued for millions of dollars and filing for bankruptcy.

The book holds some very valuable lessons for CEOs and brand owners.

The reviewer is a branding veteran and the author of over 11 books on branding, advertising and consumer behaviour