Family PizzaCrisis Management strategy

Crystal Hollis

Family Pizza Crisis Management recipe

Ingredients:1x crisis management team (i.e. legal consultant, food allergy

consultant, public relations)1x Internal investigation1x YouTube Account Teamwork Proactive attitude

1. Diagnosis of crisis2. Choosing the appropriate strategy3. Implementation of strategy 4. Evaluation and monitoring

1. Diagnosis of CrisisAn angry mother created a YouTube video “Pizza Effect,” claiming that Family Pizza is responsible for an allergic reaction in her two children. She has trashed the quality of the pizza products, threatened lawsuits, and urged the public to boycott the chain of restaurants. Over 27,000 YouTube viewers has viewed the video.

2. Choosing the appropriate strategy

I) Gather Crisis Management team. II) Contact the mother.III) Assure the public using a YouTube

video and other social network mediums.

IV) Conduct internal investigation.V) Make it a policy to put a food allergy

disclaimer in every mail ad, newspaper ad, coupon, commercial, social media profile, menu, and large posters by every cash register.

VI) Send press releases to the local paper and television news stations.

VII) Come up with new recipes that accommodates customers with a history of food allergies.

3. Implementation of strategy pt. 1• I) Gather Crisis Management team.

– Seek consultation from the restaurant Lawyer, public relations official, and Nutrition Consultants.

– Discuss crisis management plan of action and allocate jobs and method of evaluating the results of the plan of action.

• II) Contact the mother.– Send an e-mail or phone call apologizing

sincerely and offering to pay medical bills. If possible, apologize in person (the customer most likely in the local area).

3. Implementation of strategy pt. 2

• III) Assure the public– Create a YouTube video personally assuring the public that the food is safe to eat, customer safety is

#1, and that the food is fresh and has no MSG or other additives. Also publically apologize to the angry mother.

– Encourage the public to visit the restaurant website and use the “contact us” button to send questions, concerns, and complaints of food quality or customer service.

– Post the video on Facebook and Twitter, answering as many questions and concerns as possible.

– Title: Re: Pizza Effect– YouTube video script:

• “Hello. This is ____ ____, owner of Family Pizza. I would like to first and foremost apologize to Ms. _____ and her two children for their allergic reaction. I have recently gotten into contact with Ms. ______ and we will work things out together.

• As owner of Family Pizza, I take these matters very seriously. We are a family-friendly environment and your safety and satisfaction is very important to us. We only use fresh ingredients with no MSG or other additives in our products . Please, if you have any complaints or concerns, click on the link on this video or visit our website and contact us. We will listen and work together to serve you well.”

3. Implementation of strategy pt. 3• IV) Conduct an internal investigation

– Find out what triggered the allergic reactions. Find out if the food allergy disclaimer is very clear and obvious to the customers.

• V) Make it a policy to make the food allergy disclaimer more clear and obvious to the public than it is.– Put it in every mail ad, newspaper ad, coupon,

commercial, social media website, and menu.– Post large signs by the cash register.

• VI) Send press releases to the local paper and television news stations.– The video with over 27,000 views would most likely

gain media attention with at least the local DFW area. Send press releases notifying the public that solutions are being formed in response to the mother’s video.

• VII) Create new recipes that accommodates customers with a history of food allergies– i.e. glutten-free pizza

4. Evaluation and Monitoring

• Discuss the results with the Crisis Management team.

• If problems continue to persist (public still angry, mother still going with the lawsuit etc.), refer back to step one. Keep trying and remain a proactive outlook on this public relations crisis.