A Lesson in Crisis Management — Bioré’s mistake on social media
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to my blog!
Today, I’m going to share a brand that experienced a social media crisis last year. The issue we’re discussing today is that inappropriate content on social media can cause misunderstandings and outrage.
Bioré collaborated with a TikTok blogger named Max-Brown by sponsoring one of his video posts. In this video, Max-Brown talked about his recent mental health issues, specifically mentioning witnessing a shooting at Michigan State University. He also showed Bioré pore strips, suggesting that using them felt like clearing out the messy thoughts in his head.
The video sparked outrage and heated discussions among viewers, who believed that Bioré should not sponsor a video of a shooting survivor under such circumstances, leveraging the public’s focus on the shooting for promotion. Additionally, since the video’s theme was about self-healing for mental health, with Max-Brown discussing the significant psychological stress he faced due to the shooting, viewers felt that the content suggested Bioré’s products could alleviate psychological stress, leading to misunderstandings.
Faced with public skepticism, Bioré publicly apologized on social media platforms.
A lesson marketers can learn from Bioré’s incident is the speed of crisis management; they issued a public apology the day after the controversy erupted. The content of the apology seemed sincere, as they earnestly admitted their mistake. However, the shortcoming was that merely issuing a public apology was not enough to completely quell the public’s anger. The public wanted to see if the brand had any remedial measures. A better concrete measure could have been charitable donations to the victims and families affected by the school shooting. Especially in such life-involved events, Bioré did not directly apologize to the survivors and victims, showing the utmost disrespect in their advertisement to the individuals involved in the shooting. Therefore, if their apology had directly addressed the victims and survivors, it would have felt more sincere than just saying, “we promise to do it in a better way.” People want to see actual measures and actions, not just words.
Hence, Bioré’s crisis management did not effectively restore the brand’s image, as many people on social media still post that they will never buy Bioré products again, associating the brand with this distasteful advertisement.
As a marketer, I believe such crises are entirely avoidable. The main problem with Bioré’s advertisement was the inappropriate content and timing. Firstly, brands must adhere to honest sales and conscientious promotions. Since Bioré’s products do not have mental soothing effects, they should not use ambiguous statements to mislead people. Therefore, when collaborating with KOLs, brands should regulate the content more strictly and review it before it is posted on accounts. Secondly, although we talk about doing Holiday marketing and leveraging hot topics, some topics are minefields that should not be touched. Brands should establish internal standards in advance, avoiding involvement in events related to pain, religion, politics, and so on.
In conclusion, navigating the intricate landscape of social media marketing demands not only creativity but also a deep sense of responsibility and sensitivity. The Bioré incident serves as a stark reminder that in our quest for engagement and relevance, we must never lose sight of the real human experiences and emotions at the heart of our campaigns. Let’s learn, grow, and strive for marketing that respects and uplifts.
