Culpa Mia
Mina Spartin
I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord, our God.
Confteor Deo omnipotnti et vobis, fratres, quia peccvi nimis congitatine, verbo, pere et omission: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor betam Maram semper Vrginem, omnes Angelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, orre pro me ad Dminum Deum nostrum.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
The liturgy is very much akin to literature, borrowing heavily as it does on the Scriptures, that divine literary genre. As any translator of great literature should know, it is important to preserve any literary devices used by the author in the original. That emphasis on our personal culpability was there in the three-fold repetition of the original liturgical text. It has been missing from our current translation. The English major in me is happy to see it restored. And the faithful Catholic in me will surely benefit from being reminded as I pray the liturgy just who is at fault for my sins.
LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. Learn more in our Cookie Policy.
In this age of social media and 24-hour news cycles, businesses can no longer get away with bad behavior they way they once could. We don't have to look far to see that some of the powerhouses in the industry have been impacted by scandal.
What's been fascinating to me as a brand strategist and a former advertising executive is how these companies have responded in their messaging and advertising. Seems that scandal-rocked companies are embracing transparency and flat-out admitting to their mistakes in ads that are costing them millions of dollars. Indeed, transparency is one of the most important traits for millennials when it comes to brand loyalty.
But does this tactic ring true? Does it work? It's the corporate version of the celebrity rehab story. Celebrity engages in bad behavior. Trashes hotel room. Harasses co-workers. Next thing you know, they are on the cover of People Magazine, with a headline like, "Coming Clean About My Battle with Addiction." They are lay it all bare with endless apologies. And, in most cases, the public willingly accepts this and moves on.
Why this works: The company admits it lost its way and commits to getting back to their mission. Most people simply want a company to acknowledge where things went wrong rather than continuing to excuse and dodge bad behavior. Facebook tries to portray that the company got too massive for its leaders to really control every aspect of what was going on. It makes it appear as though this was a huge wake-up call and that Facebook was now paying attention and would not let this happen on their watch again. And it reminds viewers of the reasons they loved connecting on Facebook in the first place.
Why this doesn't work: We've been to this rodeo with Facebook before. Like Lindsay Lohan's umpteenth rehab stint, it's met with doubt. We've heard Facebook's pledges of "We're sorry" and "we'll fix it." Users are getting a little weary to the company's stance of being the victim of these issues rather than the creator of them, whether intentionally or not. But what is really changing? Time will tell if algorithms and policies make good on this brand promise. I can tell you that just recently, I found that marking only ONE of my recent posts t"Public" (I've set the default to Friends Only) re-set this as the default for ALL my posts from that point on. Not cool.
Why this works: Clearly, the company has committed to leadership transformation or Kalanick would not be out and Khosrowshahi would not be in. Featuring him in the ads serves the company much better than it did United featuring Jeff Smisek. Khosrowshahi just has a likable, more trustworthy presence and offers lends an air of calm, savvy and intelligence that was missing before. Replacing company leadership from the top down often signals that the intent is for real.
Why this doesn't: These ads, unlike Facebook, choose not to rehash old sins. Instead they focuses on the company's next chapter. One could argue this is to their advantage but unless you've been under a rock, we all know the company engaged in some serious cultural and ethical issues. They may have been better served by not Pollyanna-ing (yes, that's a verb, made up by me) the message, but offering a dose of realistic self-awareness by acknowledging, at least briefly, what we are all thinking when we think of Uber. In the ad, Khosrowshahi states that one of the company's core values is to "always do the right thing." Is this new? If not, then it didn't mean much to the company before so why should we believe them now? It would have been a good time to acknowledge that they fell short of that goal.
Wells Fargo: Whoa, Wells Fargo messed up big time, even in the landscape of usual banking scandals. Starting in 2013 and leading into 2016, it was discovered that the bank was guilty of opening up millions of unauthorized banking and credit card accounts without customers knowing about them. That same year, an SEC probe dug deeper, the CEO resigned, the California Attorney General brought charges related to possible identity fraud and, unrelated to the fake accounts, the year ended with the bank being dinged for failing to comply with certain provisions of Dodd-Frank, the post-2008 law meant to better regulate big banks and protect consumers. In 2017, the bank is besieged by multiple investigations and lawsuits, including one related to retaliating against workers for blowing the whistle on the fake accounts scandal. Issues ranged from wrongly fining mortgage customers to ripping off small businesses. 2018 saw the City of Sacramento accused the bank of illegal lending in minority and low-income communities and a $1 billion fine levied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the the banks's car insurance and mortgage abuses. Wells Fargo has launched a huge ad campaign to regain customer trust. The main messages focus on the bank's roots in America's history, but then vaguely sum up the scandals by stating that they lost their way. Most of the ads focus on its complete recommitment to its values and customers and how they will "fix what went wrong and make things right." The voiceover states, "We're holding ourselves accountable to find and fix issues proactively, because earning back your trust is our greatest priority," the narrator says. The tagline for all the ads states, "Established 1852. Re-established 2018."
Why this works: The company is extremely savvy in referencing it's rich, beloved history in America's story. It reminds people of how long the company has been around and how much trust it had built up before scandals broke. Personally, I think the tagline is very clever and displays a real understanding for the need to transform. In addition, the ads have some teeth because they specifically spell out policy changes such as putting an end to product sales goals for branch bankers.
Why this doesn't: Many have noted there is no clear message about a leadership or culture change to address the root causes of the bank's issues. In addition, some critics have said that not having an actual human leader or even the current CEO in the spots lacks genuine commitment. Still other critics claim that the ad campaign, which also included a large Wall Street Journal spread, simply seems disingenuous and without clear next steps, as if a slick campaign alone is enough to build trust. While the product sales goals are the only concrete item mentioned, there is no other mention to what changes the bank will make.
The apology makeover I'm still waiting for? United. After several customer incidents that came to a head with their debacle of dragging a passenger off a plane (and injuring him)to make room for an employee, United gave us a great case study for how not to handle PR crisis communications. They stuck to the line of "following policy" and even tried to blame the victims in a these situations. And no one is really sure how their culture or policies have changed in the wake of these incidents.
When it comes to truly bouncing back from mistakes, a company must prove it's transformation through honest acknowledgment, leadership and cultural shake-ups and specific policy changes. This is why, in my own brand work with clients, we have to go deeper and understand that brand is not just about the external messages but the internal leadership, culture and policies. Brand must be lived from the inside out if it is to be real and to be believed.
One wonders if this transparency trend will continue or if it is indeed just another marketing trend. What do you think about a company's attempts to rebuild its brand reputation? Do you feel these companies have genuinely learned something and will change or do you think the "mea culpa" stances are these merely marketing ploys?
Maria Ross is a brand strategist, speaker and author who believes cash flow and creativity are not mutually exclusive. She is the founder of Red Slice, a brand consultancy in Northern California that advises solopreneurs, startups and fast-growth SMB's on how to craft an irresistible brand strategy and story. Maria has appeared in numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, ABC News, NPR and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of several books, including Branding Basics for Small Business and Rebooting My Brain and is currently working on her latest project, Empathy at Work. Connect with Maria on Twitter @redslice and sign up for your free brand-boosting guide right here.
d3342ee215