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I actually tried that 'apology bingo' sheet on a brand's social media meltdown last week
You know, the one that lists all the cliche lines like 'we hear you' and 'we're learning'. I used it on that big juice company that messed up their loyalty program (the one that basically took points away overnight). Their apology video hit 7 out of 10 squares in under 3 minutes, which was kind of wild to see in real time. It made the whole thing feel super fake, even though they said they were sorry. Has anyone else tried using a framework like that to pick apart a brand's apology, and did it change how you saw the situation?
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faith68414d ago
Yeah, the point about "the action they take next" is what really matters. I read a piece that called these "checklist apologies" where the company just works off a PR script. It said to watch for the timeline they give. Like, if they say "we're working on a fix" but give no date, that's a bad sign. The juice brand said they'd "make it right soon," which is super vague. A real apology would have said "we will restore the points by Friday" or something clear. The checklist just shows they know the words, not that they mean them.
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dylanmurray14d ago
That's a good way to spot the script, but the real test is what they do after the video. A checklist shows they used the right words, but it doesn't prove they'll fix the loyalty program. The action they take next is what makes an apology real or just another square on the board.
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