No one ever wants to find themselves in the position of having their brand badmouthed to the public, but it still happens frequently. Once your brand has been badmouthed, what do you do next?

First you need to acknowledge the problem and show what you are doing to fix it. This must be done immediately. Being slow to react will make the public lose more trust in your brand. Second, be honest and transparent. This means sharing everything you know about the problem. You want to be the one sharing this information with the public, not a third party.

Recently, HP announced that they are going to discontinue their struggling TouchPad tablet and WebOS smartphone business and that they have plans to spin off their PC business. An onslaught of press coverage followed these announcements. The result has been a huge loss of consumer trust which can be seen in HP's plummeting stock price.

So, how has HP reacted? They have been open about the fact that they find themselves unable to compete in the technology market and that they are undergoing a period of significant transformation. Their Chief Executive, Leo Apotheker, referred to it as a "needed transformation." He has spent time selling this idea to shareholders in an attempt to regain shareholder trust.

Reacting to a situation like this is an ongoing process. HP must continue to be transparent about future plans to rebuild their business in order to start regaining consumer trust. It will be interesting to see how they continue to handle this situation.

Has your brand ever found itself in an unflattering situation? Share with us your experience.

Cheers,
The Ruby Porter Team