Lessons in Digital Crisis Communications from the California Pizza Kitchen Incident
By Thomas Mustac for PRNews
Having a campaign go viral on social media is every brand’s dream. Having a complaint go viral, on the other hand, is every brand’s nightmare.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) recently experienced a social media nightmare when employees mishandled delivery order placed at one of its restaurants. The customer involved shared her frustration in a TikTok video that collected more than 4.5 million views. But thanks to exemplary crisis communication, CPK transformed the nightmare into a media win.
Make Time for Social Listening
The CPK crisis story starts with a customer named Riley ordering macaroni and cheese but receiving only cheese. The video triggered thousands of comments, most of which either sympathized with Riley or offered quips about where her missing macaroni might be.
A few of the comments, however, were directed at California Pizza Kitchen, tagging them and asking for justice. “UM HELLO???? Get this girl FREE MAC N CHEESE!!!,” one read.
CPK, leveraging the power of social listening, jumped in and addressed the issue.
“We are going to make this right — don’t worry!” they replied.
Social listening maximizes the impact of a brand’s social media presence. Brands that practice it go beyond simply tracking likes and shares by taking the time to understand what is being said and carefully listening to followers so they can ensure a relevant response.
Several tools exist to help with social listening. They monitor mentions across various social networks, making them all visible in real time on a central dashboard. Features include automated sorting to identify comment sentiment and analytics that allow brands to see how their activity compares to their competitors.
Social listening is paramount for brands that want to be able to pivot poor performance into a media win.
To read exactly what California Pizza Kitchen did to snatch victory from the jaw of defeat, click here.