In October, Auckland District Court fined the popular meal box delivery service, Hello Fresh, $845,000 over a misleading cold call campaign. While the financial penalty made headlines, an equally significant lesson lies deeper—one surrounding reputation and public trust. Our very own Emily Hill, Account Executive at One Plus One, shared her thoughts on the matter in an NZ Marketing Magazine article.
Emily highlights a trend within Aotearoa’s regulatory environment: regulatory bodies, including the FMA and Commerce Commission, increasingly “follow, and validate, public concern.” Corporations are subject to heightened public scrutiny and held to high moral standards, making legal action no longer sufficient in protecting brand identity and trust.
Why is it, then, that although reputation is arguably a company’s ultimate asset, it is time and again one of the most neglected? The importance of communications and crisis management plans is often recognised after disaster has struck, and the opportunity to stabilise the situation has passed.
Alongside the futility of post-crisis attempts to save face, cutting costs in crisis management remains a false economy. While dealing with reputational issues in-house may be appealing, long-term reputational damage far outweighs short-term savings. Organisations may be too close to the crisis to see it clearly, with the most rational perspective often coming from outside.
Overall, in an environment where public sentiment and regulation increasingly intersect, communications planning is as critical as legal compliance.
Read Emily’s article here: https://nzmarketingmag.co.nz/hellofresh-cold-call-case-and-the-court-of-public-opinion/
