DKNY recently found themselves in an online situation that very well could have gone viral, creating a potential crisis for the brand. However, it didn’t. Instead, DKNY handled the situation promptly, directly, responsibly, sincerely, honestly, sympathetically and strategically – and wham! Crisis averted. So much so, in fact, that there was nothing more anybody could say on the matter other than “Go DKNY, you rock!”
And that’s how it’s done, ladies and gentlemen!
I often elaborate on, and explore, the differences between a social media issue and a social media crisis. More often than not, what ends up developing into a crisis could have been avoided, had the brand addressed and dealt with the issue while it was still in the “issues” phase. The fact that so many fires can easily be avoided by evaluating the risks, identifying the red flags and potential of the issue on-hand, and by responding appropriately, is a reason in itself why every company out there needs to be prepared with a proper social media issues and crisis management plan, as well as proper training for the brand’s executives, frontline employees and crisis management teams.
Because both posts explain within themselves the potential threat and the reason why this issue was quickly resolved and never escalated further, I need not post more than the two screenshots below. Read both the initial provocation and the excellent reply by DKNY, and then ask yourself the following:
If faced with a similar situation, are you confident that your team would:
a) Be one of the first to become aware of the situation, in real-time?
b) Be able to extinguish this potential fire before it began to go viral, quickly escalating into a potential crisis?
The DKNY social media issue that never escalated
Brandon Stanton, of Humans of New York, posted the following to his Facebook Fan page:
Within a few short hours, DKNY posted the following post to their Facebook fan page:
Crisis well-averted, DKNY, props to you and your team! Now how bout you? Are you confident that your team is able to avert a social media crisis by promptly and appropriately responding to an online issue or problem?