How to not apologize in your apology
As a avid yogi, I fully understand the frustration of spending 100 dollars and ending up with a see-through yoga pant. Lululemon, stood for high quality and performance, utterly disappointed their cult-like followers in their social communication crisis in 2013. Chip Wilson, founder of the company, then appeared on Bloomberg to defuse the bomb, yet only made the matter worse. His second attempt on Youtube finally caused a full scale PR crisis in both traditional and social media. Weeks later, he stepped down as Chairman.
Since March 2013, the company received many complaints from the customers that the Luon fabric used in pants were too sheer, and even the seams were tearing. It came to a shock to everyone since Lululemon pant were marketed as high quality and hence the hefty price. When the problem grew bigger and bigger, Wilson took the matter on his hand and appeared on Bloomberg. In the interview, however, his apology was far from satisfying. He claimed that the pants were not for everyone because “some women’s bodies just actually don’t work”. Regardless of his actual message, the quote immediately became the sound bite in local news and jokes of late night comedians. Oh boy, now we really have a crisis.
At this point, we can argue that this is the exact reason a company should favor social media rather than traditional one. Local news and newspapers would take your words out of context and distort your message. It is important to have complete control on your words, format and platform. This was exactly what Wilson did.
In this video, Wilson started by sharing his concerns about ongoing attacks, and how it affected the employee. This was not bad. You should always look out for your employee. But in the entire video, he never once directly apologized to the customers who were the greater victim/stakeholders in this situation. Besides the choice of audience, the message lacked accountability. In his words, “I am sorry that you are not happy with the thing that I said. Please, stop being angry now.” For the second apology, the customer wanted more than a crafted apology that did not apologize. Above all, if you cannot own up to your mistake, how can you be committed to fixing it.
By the end of the year, the company took a great hit in share price — from the highest point $81 to the lowest $47. The last stakeholder, investor, also acted out and caused a collapsed of stock price.
So, how can Lululemon handle the its social response differently?
- Different spokesperson — In light the severity of the crisis, it is advisable to have Chairman or CEO as the face of the company. However, Wilson was clearly not an ideal choice because of his comments. Christine Day, the past CEO, may be a better choice if she has experience with press.
- Owe up your mistake — come on, the pants were sheer as hell. I did my research for this post and wish I can unsee some of the pictures. If you make a mistake, take full responsibility. Apologize and offer meaningful solution.
- Empathy — This is key to apology. Most people including social media users expect authentic response from the company. If you do not mean it, don’t say it. Insincere message is meaningless and only provokes a stronger outrage.
