CorpComms Magazine

When confectionery group Cadbury Schweppes recently recalled 21 different types of Easter eggs, it was merely the latest in a long line of consumer companies that have been forced to publicly admit one of their products might be faulty.

But for Cadbury Schweppes, which has a 31 percent share of the UK confectionery market, it was particularly embarrassing, coming just six months after it was forced to pull 1 mn chocolate bars from shelves after traces of salmonella were found in a number of products.

Sales of chocolate plummeted in the following weeks, and the recall eventually cost Cadbury Schweppes £30 mn - 50 percent more than expected. The company also faces criminal charges under environmental health laws for allegedly producing food unfit for consumption.

Cadbury's latest recall is unlikely to have such a dramatic impact. The Easter eggs were made on a production line that sometimes makes products containing nuts, and the problem occurred because they did not carry appropriate nut allergy labelling on the packaging. This latest saga brings back memories of two years ago when 360,000 Advent calendars were recalled by Cadbury Schweppes because ingredients that could trigger allergic reactions were not named on the labelling.

But other companies have also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons recently. Last year furniture store Ikea recalled certain types of children's cot bases that didn't meet European safety standards, and two types of glass vases after some people reported injuries that necessitated hospital treatment. Last month John Lewis recalled a white wall shelf because the fixings did not meet internal safety standards, while baby food maker Cow & Gate had to recall a promotional umbrella after it emerged that parts could become detached and might present a choking hazard to small children.

Calling out around the world

For each high-profile recall, there are hundreds of smaller ones. The Food Standards Agency's web site lists dozens of recent recalls, ranging from Asda's Good For You sweet chilli chicken to Suma green vegetarian pesto. Elsewhere, the Sony laptop battery recall, which saw nearly 10 mn battery packs recalled after videos of computers spontaneously catching fire were posted on the internet, is reported to have cost the company more than £200 mn. And US carmaker Chrysler recently said it was to recall more than 500,000 vehicles - its second recall in two weeks.

Last year, there were no fewer than 179 product recalls on safety grounds in the UK, 8 percent up on 2005 and four times the level at the start of the decade. Clearly, communicating the recall of thousands of products is a major challenge for public relations professionals - witness the recent Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's recall of hummus products due to a risk of salmonella.

'A lot of what we do in these cases is internal processes and we would not necessarily want to share that,' says an M&S spokesperson. 'We do not want our internal processes talked about in the public realm.' Sainsbury's similarly declined to comment.

'It's just about the worst-case scenario,' explains Sharon Francis, managing director of media training company Media First. 'With lots of crises, you're able to bridge the situation and stress the positives, but with product recalls it is really an issue of containment and trying to close the issue down. Even though you know you are going to get some bad publicity, this is about showing you are a company that cares for its customers, as well as illustrating that you are dealing with the issue straightaway.'

Healthy concerns

In these days of health and safety paranoia, increasingly litigious consumers and widespread concern over public health issues, as well as food allergies and religious and cultural sensitivities, that can be a lot more complicated than it sounds. Product recalls also often span several company departments - health and safety, nutrition, research and development, manufacturing and distribution can all get involved - and it's a subject that fills many manuals.

'You have to have a whole system by which processes can be escalated,' says Chris Wermann, corporate communications director at breakfast cereal giant Kellogg's. 'It might start in category A, where a customer contacts the company to tell us there is a bumblebee in a packet of cornflakes. You have to identify as quickly as possible whether it is an isolated incident or something more widespread. At the other end of the scale is the sort of full-blown incident where we would have to involve the Food Standards Agency.

'A lot of the communications in situations like these is about getting the facts as quickly as you can. There's no point speculating because until you have all the facts, you can't really do anything. As soon as you are aware of the issue you have to deal with, you know exactly what the risks are and who the people are who need to make the decisions. Then you can act.'

Bar-coding technology and the systems and processes used in most modern manufacturing and despatching operations enables this to take place quickly, says Wermann. 'It's really important that the right message is got out and delivered by someone credible,' he adds. 'It has to be someone who is used to talking to the press and is preparing to keep on restating the facts rather than allowing the issue to be sensationalised.

'You need a steady hand on the tiller but it doesn't have to be a corporate spokesperson. It may be better to have someone from the nutrition department or someone else with authority who can relate to the specific audience the message is aimed at. If it is something to with babies, for example, you may want to have a qualified nutritionist to reassure anxious mums.

'If it is a men's product, you may prefer someone from the supply chain who can say, for example, that there are only 500 of these products out there and you have already recalled 495 of them. Men often want instant statistical information.'

Wermann also says it's important to work with specific interest groups. The only issue that has come up during his three years at Kellogg's - a potential nut allergy problem - was resolved without having to go through a product recall because the company discussed it with the Anaphylaxis Campaign, which helps people with potentially life-threatening allergic reactions to peanuts and other foods.

Handling exposure

Another case Wermann heard about at a competitor involved a rabbi being called in to help resolve an issue where a product had been wrongly labelled as kosher. 'There are things you can do to be relevant to your target audience,' he says, 'and it may help to contain the situation rather than having to do a mass recall. If you do have to do a recall, it's probably a three-stage process: get the facts, give the message, and when a situation is resolved, tell people that it has been resolved. Then you can explain what the problem was and why it's not going to happen again. You have to wrap up the story.'

'The communications job in a product recall situation is all about getting out the message that you are doing something,' adds Francis. 'You are not keeping your head below the parapet; you are dealing with the media because you care about the situation and are doing your best to resolve it.

'It would be fabulous to be able to say, We will sort it out and then talk to the media, but that does not work in these days of 24-hour news. You have to get out there and explain that you're doing something. Then you won't be on the back foot; you will be out there solving the problem.'

Unfortunately, communications practice doesn't always follow theory in product recall situations. Alastair Eperon, ex-director of corporate affairs at Boots and current managing director of reputation management consultancy Eperon Consulting, says there are several reasons for this.

'Top management members tend to worry about the implications for the share price and try to force the agenda,' he says. 'They really need someone who can stand up to them from a communications point of view and tell them that looking after the customers is the most important thing because they are the most important stakeholders in the long term.'

At other companies, Eperon says the opposite happens. 'There is a temptation at some companies to try to provide reassurance, which is not entirely advised,' he notes. 'Some companies have a desire to stroke their customers and tell them everything will be alright, but it's very important not to feel obliged to be reassuring in a certain way. Companies don't always know best and sometimes they have to be prepared to admit that. The really key issue is that when product recalls happen, customers can be confused and they want companies to be straightforward, honest and frank with them.

'Very often it is difficult for companies to give customers the information they need because there are legal implications and issues of responsibility. There is frequently litigation in the background and most times scientific or other work is being done. There's a dilemma in balancing the need to give the consumer what he requires to act against the needs of the company.'

Clarity is everything

Eperon advises companies undertaking product recalls to take out newspaper adverts setting out the issue in clear, everyday language, rather than simply relying on the media to interpret the story in the way the company wants. 'It's terribly important that a company gets the message across exactly as it wants it,' he says. 'This is not always handled very well. There is sometimes a lot of apparent prevarication and a lot of questions that don't get answered without the company explaining why.'

Tim Luckett, managing director of issues and crisis at public relations agency Hill & Knowlton, adds that it's important to be clear about what can't be communicated and why, when sorting out product recalls. 'It is quite inappropriate when dealing with consumers to talk about what caused the problem because there is usually an ongoing investigation,' he says. 'What customers need to know is what the product is, which area it was sold in and through which retailers, and the timescale during which the product was bought and sold.

'Customers are confused and you need to tell them what to do. Should they stop using the product? Throw it away? Take it back to the shop or send it back to the manufacturer with proof of purchase?'

Luckett advises printing photographs of the products being recalled in newspaper adverts and also making full use of television, radio and internet sites. Freephone telephone numbers can be set up for customer enquiries. Some companies have such good customer databases they can e-mail their customers direct.

He also feels it's a good idea for companies to apologise for inconveniencing consumers. 'An apology for any inconvenience caused should not affect anyone's liability,' he says. 'It's all about the way it's phrased.'

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet