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Yum! Brands Must Work Harder to Restore the Brand
In February, dozens of plump, healthy-looking rats were caught on tape by news crews at a Greenwich Village, NY KFC-Taco Bell scurrying about after hours on tables, floors, and counters. For Yum! Brands, this incident can potentially damage the brand if not addressed now.
While late-night comics spoofed the rat-infested restaurant nightly in comedy bits and news programs repeatedly replayed the video of the rodents invading consumers’ friendly eatery, Americans recoiled at the images.
While Yum! Brands posted a video apology on its Web site, calling it an “isolated incident,” I don’t think that the company has done enough to quell the images of the scurrying creatures from customers’ heads. That’s because Emil Brolick, president of Yum! Brands, hasn’t worked diligently enough to rebuild and restore trust.
Brolick should be going the extra mile for customers right now. He should be on a sweeping television tour offering apologies and assurances that all the restaurants will undergo rigorous inspections. In addition, the company should be offering coupons or discounts to bring people back into the establishments.
The fact is that everyone makes mistakes. Even though Yum! Brands said in a press release that rodent problems are unacceptable, the message isn’t loud enough. The company must justify its response and make restitutions where possible.
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