Cartoonist and Creative Director, Hugh MacLeod has an interesting take on the current Kryptonite scandal which has been circulating via the Blogosphere. In case you missed it, Kryptonite make iconic bike locks. It was recently discovered that they could be very easily opened with any cheap Bic ballpoint.
Over to Hugh’s scenario:
DAY ONE:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: Yes, your bike locks are the best.
DAY TWO:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: Yes, your bike locks are still the best.
DAY THREE:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: Ummm… yeah I’m sure they are, but what’s all this about some recent video on the net that’s supposed to show how you can crack your locks in 10 seconds using a simple Bic ballpoint pen?
DAY FOUR:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: Hey, I just saw that video on a friend’s website. And I’m kinda ticked off because I just paid $60 for one of your new locks 3 weeks ago, and I’m wondering if a Bic pen can crack my lock or not… does the pen crack all Kryptonite locks or just one or two models?
DAY FIVE:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: Hey, I just visited your website and saw no mention of the Bic pens. What the hell are you doing about it? Are you going to fix the locks? Are you going to give me a refund?
DAY SIX:
KRYPTONITE: Our bike locks are the best.
THE MARKET: No, they’re not. You guys are assholes.
Funnily enough, I bought a bike lock yesterday and guess what brand I didn’t buy?
Of course, blogging isn’t necessarily the whole answer. Every company should have a strategy in place for just such a problem and how to minimise the damage to the brand. This might be as extreme as recalling every single Kryptonite lock sold in the last 5 years, if the alternative is to bleed slowly to death from here on in.
But creating an effective dialogue with your customers and press is certainly at the heart of such a strategy and blogging could have been an important part of that. If they’d reacted quickly and honestly, they could have won sympathy and respect.
Instead they’ve chosen to stick their heads up their arses and hope the problem will go away. It won’t. This has never been a wise course to follow, but nowadays it’s nothing short of disastrous.
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