Brands are Promises, Not Apologies

In 2006, Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries made some comments about the company’s target market that have come back to haunt him. Now the company has made a public apology regarding those comments and have committed to their stance against bullying.

That’s the result of an online petition demanding an apology from nearly 70,000 signatures, an open letter from a marketing executive to Jeffries that went viral, and a YouTube video of an angry consumer donating A&F clothing to the homeless.

C-suite executives need to remember you always represent your brand. And now Jeffries’ brand is apologizing for him.

There are many examples of companies that have made public apologies. Most recently, JCPenney apologized to their consumers through a national campaign and immediately brought back coupons, discounts, and St. Johns Bay. Netflix adopted a new pricing model that shocked their users to the point where Reed Hastings publicly apologized in a letter. Consider Apple and Google Maps, Facebook and privacy, or the multiple companies whose Twitter feeds have been hacked – take your pick.

The real question: Did their apologies work?

Businesses need to be radically transparent. When there is a crisis, transparency is even more crucial. The people and companies who are genuine, real, and transparent and do it big and do it well always succeed. If a company has to apologize, follow that strategy. In the instances of JCPenney, Netflix, and Apple, it seems the more heartfelt, transparent, and open the apology the better received. What’s even better is when creativity and compensation are involved. Canned apologies ran through Legal and HR seem to only make situations worse for everyone involved.

The apology will not change who you are. Actions do.  It did not work for Lance Armstrong and I don’t think it will work here. Brands need to be a promise delivered. Not apologies. They are after the fact and usually done after you do something wrong. Abercrombie has an uphill battle to win back the trust of their most valuable asset – their customers.

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Jeffrey Hayzlett is a global business celebrity and speaker, bestselling author, Contributing Editor for Bloomberg Television, and former Fortune 100 c-suite executive. He is the CEO of The Hayzlett Group, an international strategic business consulting company focused on leading change and developing high growth companies. Contact us for more information.