Domino's employee puts cheese up his nose before putting it on sandwich.
04-16-2009 DOMINO'S IN FULL CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS MODE It was a stupid prank by two employees at a Domino's Pizza store in Conover, NC, but when it appeared on YouTube it became a full-blown "social media" crisis for the entire pizza chain as the video was viewed more than a million times. The entire incident and follow-up actions by the company are featured in the Wall Street Journal (4/16). LINK TO STORY Domino's seems to be handling the situation well by firing the employees, threatening to press charges, cleaning the store, etc. However, we do believe the video response (above) by the Domino's President Patrick Doyle clearly shows him reading his remarks. "Obviously they took the time to get a professional video camera and decent audio of Mr. Doyle," says Craig Burnett of Craig Burnett Productions (LINK). "Why they wouldn't go the extra step and get a teleprompter for him is beyond me. "Especially in cases where a heartfelt, personal message is being given, it's unforgivable to be reading from printed cue cards off to the side of the camera. He needed to make eye contact with his viewers to drive home his sincerity. Without a prompter, his head and eye position become distracting, and really impact his believability, credibility and trustworthiness." As an alternative to using a teleprompter, Doyle's handlers could have taken the time to let him address the issue in his own in his own words (and edit them as needed). He certainly would have come across as more sincere.
Copyright 2008/2009 Bottom Line Communications. BLC is a Web News Site that analyzes media and marketing issues. Please give credit or link to www.bottomlinecom.com when using any materials. Click on the FEEDBACK tab to send any media tips/comments/thoughts/ to us. We honor off-the-record requests and will correct/clarify any information found not to be 100% accurate.
