Summary of the Campaign
Turning Crisis into Opportunity
On 3 August, 2013, Fonterra issued a warning to customers over concerns that Clostridium
Botulinum-contaminated whey protein concentrate may have entered the supply chain.
This hit China HARD, with consumers frozen by fear that so many brands of milk were part of
Fonterra. We became the most talked about company in China with immense negative press,
negative comments and sentiments from Chinese netizens.
The crisis quickly escalated when competitors begin hard hitting on imported milk and the
credibility of New Zealand suffered. Stock prices fell, New Zealand lost popularity as a tourist
destination and it seemed like they were potentially facing worldwide backlash, especially from
China's vocal social media.
We needed to fix Fonterra's image in China and we needed to do it fast. Instead of putting out a
standard press release, we created an entire credibility-rebuilding campaign -- Our first task was
set out to change perception, rebuild credibility and set uncertainties straight. We needed to own
China's social media and stop it from spiraling out of control.
We developed a full Fonterra campaign within 7 days of the press announcement to divert all
questions to us rather than let people speculate in forums or social media . a simple idea of
tagging all the concerns online, answering them in our own environment and inviting netizens to
visit us for clarity.
The Situation
The market consisted of consumers who were generally skeptical of information on social media
but more importantly, they had nowhere to turn to as official channels were not necessary
answering their needs. We needed to redirect all eyeballs into our environment and take back
control of the social environment. Our Anchor milk, set to launch, was quarantined for safety
check and creeping closer to their sell-by dates. We needed a resolution or we would lose our
ENTIRE stock.
The Goal
Fonterra's crisis had added a number of complexities. Our consumers were afraid and the
national news didn't help as it placed a rather negative image in New Zealand and Fonterra as a
company. We realised we needed to rebuild confidence not by shying away from the public, but
to confront the public. After all, we're the whistle blowers for a number of milk issues and we're
known for our integrity around the world. We needed to bring that attitude and effort to life in
China.
The Strategy
The biggest challenge with Fonterra was there was a lot of chatter online in regards to the
contamination issue -- questions were left unanswered, as there was no clarity to what
happened. We decided to take control of the situation by redirecting all their concerns into the
right channel by launching 'Ask Fonterra, Ask Me'. The campaign was to capture all the
concerns, questions and issues raised in social media, tag them and then lead them to our site
for answers by Fonterra China staff, who are supported by experts. We wanted to take the
central role in consumers concerns and we released all the different concerns with our answers
on various social media and search engines (Weibo, Forums, Baidu). We became the official
touch point for resolving concerns as millions of consumer visited our sites, while we continued
to provide clear, transparent answers to all the different questions raised.
Execution
To tackle the Fonterra crisis, we developed a mini-site (www.askfonterra.com/zh) to be the
central repository for all questions with expert answers provided. We also captured videos of
staff, communicating their faith in Fonterra Company and their support of its integrity. All the
questions were first sourced from social media and our answers were placed as a url link to our
site. We also used Weibo as our communication channel for driving our interest in listening to
our consumer and providing them with real answers that they can truly rely on. We activated our
Baidu Brandzone to have 'Ask Fonterra, Ask Me' as the main focus on certain keywords related
to the issues.
Confidential Information
The result also helped one of our brands, Anchor, which launched successfully only a couple
weeks after having a total sold-out of their products; 47,349,460 Litres (Liquid Milk); 26,653,160
Liters (Premium UHT White Milk) -- equivalent of 5.5% market share.
Results
1) We pointed 140,146,873 impressions onto Fonterra's site upon launch, answering 182 key
questions in regards to WPC/milk quality issues. Most importantly, we rerouted all the concerns
to our site, making our site the central touch point for consumers if they needed to understand
more about these issues, rather than viewing it in speculative forums or unreliable points.
2) We increased positive comments by 1,500%, turning brand perception around by upholding a
positive voice in the market. The result also helped one of our brands, Anchor, which launched
successfully only a couple weeks after having a total sold-out of their products; 47,349,460 Litres
(Liquid Milk); 26,653,160 Liters (Premium UHT White Milk) -- equivalent of 5.5% market share.