The case of Capri-sun

The fruit juice company Capri-sun came under fire in the recently months for the Worm scandal, the story was first shown as a boy from the USA discovered a worm in his Capri-sun pouch. This story was not proved true but still was passed around sites such as Facebook and Twitter with many spins on the story and many different pictures of similar cases with no proof.

With this the reputation and quality of Capri-Sun was seriously questioned and therefore it had people too afraid to drink it due to thinking it was contaminated. This means that due to digital media such as social media and images being passed round, the reputation of the company that has taken years to build is instantly crumbled. After this came out rumours that Capri-Sun stated that in all cases it was due to mould , specifically bread mould not worms getting in through the straw entrance.
In an article for Wired a micro-biologist examined the contents of the juice to find that there was 5 different types of fungi in some cases.


To see Capri-Suns opinion I wrote a message to their main website asking their view on the bad press received on social media and if it had affected them but also to see their spin on it. The reply received was "Thank you for your email regarding the rumours that are circulating around social networking sites, claiming that Capri Sun pouches contain ‘worms’. The Facebook posts that we have been made aware of originated in California.  We can confirm that Capri Sun in California is manufactured by ‘Kraft foods’. Coca-Cola Enterprises manufactures the Capri Sun brand in Great Britain. The manufacturing practices and procedures at all of our factories are robust and of an industry leading standard and we assure you that product quality is very important to us at Coca-Cola Enterprises ". This is an example of how we live in a more global world a slight hitch in company reputation is broadcast globally.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/1/capri-sun-funghi

 

Why does Reputation matter as a selling point?

As mentioned before with todays more intelligent consumer companies now have moved from the sales Era of the 1920s-1950s where the company was just focused on the one sale then moved on. nowadays in the relationship/consumer to consumer Era there is a real focus on building a relationship with the consumer to make them brand loyal often for a long time. For this reputation is a key to keep the relationship and the consumer to keep purchasing. With the collapse of the economy banks have been trying to re-establish there trusted and establish a relationship with students and young adults as it is rare that people change banks. This means by having a good reputation to this age group by offering deals such as student accounts and generally more interest on that age group. This means that there is now a customer for life for decades. As banks have a reputation for providing deals for a younger age group they can tell each other through word of mouth and then proceed to go for that specific bank.

Another company that reputations sells is product is Apple. When buying apple products it is rare that people will question if the product if of good quality or if it is the most technologically advanced. Furthermore they have brand loyalty often people have an iphone and MacBook and continue to update as new more advance versions are made. Yoon et al (1993) tell us " a company's reputation reflects the history of its past actions ... and affects the buyer's expectations with respect to the quality of its offerings".  This means that since apple have constantly provided good quality offerings customers know quality is assured. This can be applied online as people in todays world look around the internet before purchase or ask on Facebook to see if the company they are buying from is good and if they are usually on time etc. Some of us when we look at Facebook see people complaining about a certain company and it turns us away from it. Digital media has changed this as before you would say it to one or two people now hundred's of friends can see it at once. It means that companies need to consider their reputation if they want their customers writing good reviews or returning.

Guffery, H. J., Kikewski, V., Yoon, E., 1993. The effects of information and company reputation on intentions to buy a business service. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts


  

 

Auburn University

 

 

 

  

Introduction

This blog has been created as part of a digital media module in Robert Gordon University. This involves creating a blog that will discuss how many elements of the world have been influenced by digital media for better or for worse. As a Public Relations student I have decided to discuss how a companies reputation is influenced by digital media looking at both specific companies and parts that cover many companies. I chose the topic of company reputation and digital media as firstly it is relevant to public relations but also because  we live in a fast growing world in terms of technology and with social media turning into an everyday feature, a slight fault by a company can be broadcast globally and ruin the reputation of a company. on the other hand of this I will look at companies that use it successfully to improve sales and identity.

 I will look a number of examples on both ends of the scale from viral pictures spread around the world wide web to companies that has outstanding customer services and digital services have been passed from person to person. With todays more intelligent consumer; customer loyalty is a principle that is difficult to gain and very easily lost. It will look at how to create a reputation, who uses digital media well/poorly and why it is important.