Crisis

The Challenge: Manage a Crisis and Protect Brand Integrity.

An employee misconduct incident occurred at a massage and facial spa located in the Las Vegas market. Per the franchisor’s crisis protocol, the massage therapist was removed from the schedule while an investigation began. Eventually, he was terminated and charged by local law enforcement.

Additionally, months later, an investigative reporter with a local news station contacted the franchisee for comment on a story she was doing surrounding this case. The client and the Fishman PR team had immediate concerns as this reporter had done a story several years earlier on a different massage brand, and it went national.

The Solution: Information Gathering, Strategy + Execution

The Fishman PR team got on a call with the franchisor and their legal team for information gathering. From there,  a reactive media statement was drafted for the franchisee and for corporate which acknowledged the situation, reinforced the brand’s values, and summarized the action that was taken. Media monitoring alerts were set up for both print/online news outlets and broadcast.

When an investigative reporter reached out for a comment several months later, another strategy call occurred. After consulting with the group, Fishman PR created a media response protocol document for the location and recommended that to provide a statement because 1) the story would run no matter what and 2) knowing it would run, we would have some control over the narrative. The Fishman PR team contacted the reporter to provide them a statement that emphasized the same components as the original statement.

The Outcome: Crisis Controlled – Minimal Damage to Brand’s Reputation

The story ran within the next couple of days and included all of the statements the Fishman PR team had provided. The crisis did not escalate as it was not picked up anywhere else – locally or nationally.