Nike is successful in repair reputation
When it comes to crisis management the PR team at global brand Nike certainly know their stuff.
There seems to be no crisis too big for them to handle as Nike has faced countless situations which could damage the brand’s reputation permanently. It has been associated with child labour, workers in third world countries being exposed to toxic fumes, and even some of sport’s biggest sex scandals – and yet Nike is stronger than ever.
Nike’s track record shows how robust a solid crisis management plan truly is. On a number of occasions over the years the sports brand has found itself well and truly in the thick of it, and not only handled the situation admirably, but emerged relatively unscathed.
In the 1990s Nike faced bad press about child labour in its factories around the world, while toxic fumes in Vietnam threatened the health of its workers.
These two negative stories prompted Nike to face up to its mistakes and publish six promises - which would create a better working environment for its staff. Weathering the storm, the Nike brand continued to grow in popularity.
Six promises
- “1st Promise: All Nike shoe factories will meet the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) standards in indoor air quality.”
- 2nd Promise: The minimum age for Nike factory workers will be raised to 18 for footwear factories and 16 for apparel factories.
- 3rd Promise: Nike will include non-government organizations in its factory monitoring, with summaries of that monitoring released to the public.
- 4th Promise: Nike will expand its worker education program, making free high school equivalency courses available to all workers in Nike footwear factories.
- 5th Promise: Nike will expand its micro-enterprise loan program to benefit four thousand families in Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Thailand.
- 6th Promise: Funding university research and open forums on responsible business practices, including programs at four universities in the 1998–99 academic year.”
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