Burson-Marsteller

Blackberry Mom #2 – Crisis preparedness and Maclaren pushchairs

by Katarina Wallin Bureau on 12th November 2009 • The Cast Blog

Having recently attended a gathering of crisis communications professionals in London hosted by our EMEA Crisis practice and being (like most parents of young children I know) the owner of a Maclaren pushchair, I have been following the recent product recall of 1 million Maclaren pushchairs with both personal and professional interest.

The issue at stake is 12 cases of children’s fingertips that have been chopped off in the pushchair’s hinges over the past decade. Although Maclaren has announced that it is recalling the product, it isn’t ACTUALLY recalling the product – it is issuing repair kits for the up to 1 million pushchairs affected.

Personally I would be willing to testify to the remarkable durability of the product as mine still holds together in spite of having endured significant duress at the hands of two boys over the past years who have sat in it separately and together, used it as a lawnmower, racing car and garbage collector, not to mention the bikes, carrier bags and other heavy objects permanently weighing down the handle bars. In car terms it is definitely more of a Volvo than a McLaren.

Reassuringly John Gapper in the FT today concludes the same thing: “Maclaren does not have a bad story to tell – its safety standards are higher than cheaper rivals. But it has done a poor job of telling it.” Perhaps they belong to the half of European firms who do not have a crisis plan in place – in spite of the significant financial and reputational benefits of crisis preparedness, as shown by the crisis preparedness study carried out by our Crisis practice and PSB. The survey was presented at the gathering I just attended (see earlier post by Anders Bylund), at which former Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff was the keynote speaker. He outlined 5 rules of thumb for companies in dealing with crisis – several of which coincide with the lessons that John Gapper has drawn from the Maclaren debacle. Both of them identify preparedness as the number one criteria for handling a crisis well.

Now anyone with kids knows that preparedness – for a wide range of outcomes – is key, whether getting ready to go to the park or safety proofing a house with toddlers. And I don’t believe any pram in the world can be made so safe that a really entrepreneurial 2-year old cannot somehow hurt himself on it (or why not a sibling). But like another one of Secretary Chertoff’s golden rules – and John Gapper’s lessons from Maclaren – make clear, empathy and building public confidence is key, whether it is with distraught parents or US citizens in the aftermath of 9/11.

Without a plan in place for how to communicate when a crisis strikes, this confidence is really difficult to generate.

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