Marketing and Nestle
The paracrisis: The challenges created by publicly managing crisis prevention
A Case Analysis
Communication is faster than ever due to the advent of the Internet and social media which are venues for forum, interaction and information/issue dissemination, Today, nearly half a billion people around the world utilize the Internet. In the United States alone, about 155 million Americans access the Internet at home, with some citizens accessing the Internet only at work. Internet use by consumers in other countries, especially Japan (49 million users), the United Kingdom (29 million), Germany (36 million), Brazil (25 million) and France (31 million), has escalated rapidly. (Ferrell, Thorne, & Ferrell, 2012). The increasing number of Internet users warrant firms’ closer attention to and effective management of paracrises.
In particular, Nestle’s case in 2010 exemplifies the need to respond pro-actively to social media attack initiated by Greenpeace rather than by not acknowledging the challenge or fighting back against the challenge. If not properly and timely addressed, this may result to a web of chaos for Nestle. Greenpeace is a global campaigning organisation that enhances to change attitudes and behaviour of people in order to protect and conserve the environment. (About Greenpeace, n.d.)
The reputational threat instigated by Greenpeace stemmed from Nestle’s weak stakeholder/customer relations which is a factor in selling products/services, one of the seven basic functions of marketing. Though it is true that supplier contracts including one with Sinar Mas Group should have been reviewed at the onset to check if these are aligned to the company’s social responsibility mandate, the paracrisis could have been immediately addressed should management responded to every single complaint in its social media.
Based on my analysis, in general, Nestle’s performance in individual functional areas of business is strong. Financial performance is outstanding as
A Case Analysis
Communication is faster than ever due to the advent of the Internet and social media which are venues for forum, interaction and information/issue dissemination, Today, nearly half a billion people around the world utilize the Internet. In the United States alone, about 155 million Americans access the Internet at home, with some citizens accessing the Internet only at work. Internet use by consumers in other countries, especially Japan (49 million users), the United Kingdom (29 million), Germany (36 million), Brazil (25 million) and France (31 million), has escalated rapidly. (Ferrell, Thorne, & Ferrell, 2012). The increasing number of Internet users warrant firms’ closer attention to and effective management of paracrises.
In particular, Nestle’s case in 2010 exemplifies the need to respond pro-actively to social media attack initiated by Greenpeace rather than by not acknowledging the challenge or fighting back against the challenge. If not properly and timely addressed, this may result to a web of chaos for Nestle. Greenpeace is a global campaigning organisation that enhances to change attitudes and behaviour of people in order to protect and conserve the environment. (About Greenpeace, n.d.)
The reputational threat instigated by Greenpeace stemmed from Nestle’s weak stakeholder/customer relations which is a factor in selling products/services, one of the seven basic functions of marketing. Though it is true that supplier contracts including one with Sinar Mas Group should have been reviewed at the onset to check if these are aligned to the company’s social responsibility mandate, the paracrisis could have been immediately addressed should management responded to every single complaint in its social media.
Based on my analysis, in general, Nestle’s performance in individual functional areas of business is strong. Financial performance is outstanding as
Bibliography: (2010). Nestle Annual Report. Ferrell, O. C., Thorne, D. M., & Ferrell, L. (2012). Social Responsibility and Business. Singapore: Cengage Learning. IMAP. (2010). Food and Beverage Industry Global Report. About Greenpeace. (n.d.). Retrieved from Greenpeace International: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ Nestle 's Corporate Business Principles. (n.d.). Retrieved from Nestle: http://www.nestle.com/aboutus/businessprinciples