Page 461 - Foundations of Marketing

O B J E C T I V E S
Integrated Marketing 1. Describe the nature of

Communications integrated marketing
communications.
2. Examine the process of
communication.
3. Understand the role and
objectives of promotion.
4. Explore the elements of the
promotion mix.
5. Examine the selection of
promotion mix elements.
6. Understand word-of-mouth
communication and how it
© iStockphoto.com /AWSeebaran 7. Understand product place-
affects promotion.

ment promotions.
8. Examine criticisms and
defenses of promotion.

M A R K E T I N G I N S I G H T S

Taco Bell Provides Transparent Communication in a Crisis

Does a crisis have to weaken your business? Not to discuss the situation. To keep a crisis from over-
if you are Taco Bell. When a lawsuit accused Taco powering a company, a business must have a crisis
Bell’s taco filling of containing less beef than management team in place and a spokesperson to
required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture immediately respond to stakeholders, including the
(USDA), the company used a carefully integrated media, customers, employees, suppliers, regulators,
response plan to keep sales from plummeting. and allies. Taco Bell responded to the media and
It started when consumers filed a lawsuit against consumers during the next few days via statements,
Taco Bell stating that its taco filling had less than 35 YouTube videos, and national ads with the headline
percent beef, even though the USDA requires taco “Thank you for suing us—here’s the truth about our
meat filling to have at least 40 percent beef. USA seasoned beef.” Taco Bell maintained that its taco
Today and MSNBC quickly published articles ques- filling contained 88 percent seasoned beef.
tioning the quality of Taco Bell’s taco filling. Lawsuits Thanks to its effective crisis management, sales at
and the resulting bad publicity can seriously jeopar- Taco Bell stores did not decline. Eventually, the law-
dize a company’s revenue, regardless of whether the suit against Taco Bell was dropped, but the company
accusations against the company are true. was not quite ready to let its accusers off so easily.
The same day that news of the lawsuit broke, Instead, Taco Bell released additional advertise-
1
Taco Bell’s management team met several times ments reading “Would it kill you to say you’re sorry?”

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