Domino's Pizza's response to a video on YouTube is getting good marks for crisis management.  A video on YouTube shows an employee "doing gross things to a Domino's sub sandwich he is making."

Two employees were fired and face felony charges of food tampering.  You can read the USA Today artlcle at www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-04-15-kitchen-pr-dominos-pizza_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip.

What I wanted to focus on was key things experts say marketers can do to quickly and effectively respond to similar social-networking attacks.

• First, you have to actively monitor the social media space so that you are even aware of conversations that involve your company or products.  Domino's responded within hours.  

• Domino's first responded on The Consumerist blog and asked for help tracking down the employees involved.  Then, Domino's responded on Twitter where it was a hot topic. 

In summary, the critical factors to success are monitoring and timeliness.

Two other items mentioned in the US Today article shouldn't have to be mentioned:

• Foster a positive culture so that employees and customers aren't the source of negative press.  Duh!

• Set clear guidelines about what is allowed during working hours — and what isn't.  Do you really have to tell employees what NOT to do to food being served to the public?

As a result of the incident, Domino's is looking at banning video cameras in stores.  I think this sends the wrong message.  Customers want assurances that food preparation is safe.  Banning vidoe cameras implies that Domino's doesn't want to know if its happening.  I agree with everything else they've done to manage the crisis but not this.

Definition 6 provides Social Media Marketing Consulting.  We're located in Atlanta, but have clients across the nation.  We'd love to help you optimize your efforts in the social media space.