Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Com 358 CPP Part 2
Com 358 CPP Part 2
Crisis Type:
This crisis is an organizational crisis. The stakeholders in this situation are the customers
on Reddit making posts and commenting on how Lululemon employees sell their products in
stores. In this situation they have wronged their customers by their poor sales practices, which
ultimately can tarnish relationships between the key publics and stakeholders.
Victim Cluster:
This crisis would be an example of the victim cluster of malevolence. In this crisis the
employees were being unfair in their practices. The employees using coded language was seen
as evil by customers.
Key Publics:
● Lululemon employees
● Lululemon customers
● r/yoga subreddit users
● r/LuluLemon subreddit users
● Yoga community
● Fitness enthusiasts
Stakeholders:
● Employees
● Sponsors
● Partnerships
● Investors
● Customers
● Rivals (ex. Fabletics, Aerie, Athleta)
● Mall Security
● Magazine companies
● First, the team must know what the crisis is so they know how to respond.
● Then the team must collect crisis data quickly and accurately.
● The team must analyze the information.
● The team will create Crisis Related Knowledge.
● With this information the team will create a guide on decision making as well as they will
create the messages that they will send to various stakeholders.
● Without the Crisis Related Knowledge the team can’t take actions to deescalate the crisis.
● Once the team is all on the same page with the crisis and has the Crisis Related
Knowledge they will work together to figure out the next step.
crisis. This involves the verbal and nonverbal aspects and actions they direct towards their
stakeholders (Coombs, 2022). Their customers help keep the company successful, and
Lululemon will focus on the accommodative-defensive continuum that argues that crisis
response strategies range from accepting responsibility and taking action to claiming there is no
problem and denying responsibility (Coombs, 2022). For this crisis, it is important for
Lululemon to accept responsibility and take action because there is proof from customers about
Lululemon’s behavior, such as the training document and customers in-store experiences.
Accepting responsibility and taking action will show their customers that they are on their side
and are doing what they can to help them in time of crisis.
continuum to accept responsibility and take action, helping them rebuild their reputation.
the public about its past achievements and by expressing ingratiation and victimage. Below is a
chart that represents how Lululemon Athletica will respond to this specific crisis.
times of crisis.
achievements to its
the past.
Ingratiation Lululemon Athletica praises
To address the crisis adequately, Lululemon Athletica will respond quickly, speak
consistently and with transparency. Since Lululemon has not been monitoring their social media
as much as they should, they need to respond to the crisis as quickly as possible. They already
ruined their chance in the spread of the crisis through the media, so responding quickly can help
Lululemon will use their pre drafted messages to send out information to their
stakeholders. They should do this within an hour after finding out about the crisis. This will
allow for them to provide a short, initial response so they can gather more information and craft a
more detailed response. Since speed increases risks, Lululemon needs to ensure accuracy with
the information they initially give out so that there is no error that can be found when more
information is released. While it is important for Lululemon to respond quickly to the crisis, they
crisis response. In this crisis, Lululemon should have at least three different spokespeople to
address the crisis. It is important to keep the whole Lululemon team informed on the crisis so
that they can act as a spokesperson at any given time. An effective spokesperson can include the
CEO and employees. Each spokesperson needs to be consistent with the information they put out
to ensure cohesiveness and effectiveness of the crisis. Consistency will help ensure the public
that Lululemon’s whole team is aware of the crisis and is doing what they can to address it.
Transparency is also important in times of a crisis because it shows that the company is
available to its media, willing to disclose information and honest. Lululemon needs to
acknowledge any requests from the public about the crisis in an honest way so that no lies come
out about the crisis. If this were to happen, it could pose another threat to their reputation in the
future about a past crisis. Ideally, being honest about the crisis will help when it is resolved
because there will be no risks of additional or unknown information being released in the future.
Responding quickly, consistently and with transparency will help Lululemon ensure that
they care about their stakeholders in the time of a crisis. It shows that they are aware of the crisis
and will do what it takes to resolve it. These qualities can help them maintain a good reputation
during the time of a crisis that is negatively affecting their reputation. With this crisis, a quick
Messaging:
Instructing: During these tough times, it is vital that we keep away from the media until a
formal spokesperson has addressed this situation publicly. It is understandable that some people
are panicking at the moment but we must remain calm to further retain the future of Lululemon.
Please refrain from speaking about the situation on any social media platforms and do not answer
questions to anyone except for representatives from Lululemon. Further instructions will be
Adjusting: Lululemon is currently handling the situation with serious accuracy. We will be
offering a 15% discount on all products for customers. We will also be conducting a serious
investigation further upon this situation. While this is happening we will host a press conference
to solidify the reputation and future of Lululemon. Lastly, we are open to consulting anyone who
Reputation Management: We are acting as quickly as possible to maintain the highest order of
reputation for Lululemon. We will be offering a 15% discount on all products as a strict apology
to our customers and clients. Being transparent is also incredibly important, Lululemon
employees and all affiliates will be open to answering questions regarding this situation.
Lululemon will also host a conference and provide special invitations to individuals to answer as
many questions as possible. Lastly we will be distributing social media posts where we address
any worries that our clients are having. By following this order of steps, we hope to maintain a
Press Release:
Contact: Danielle Denning, PR Director December 8, 2022
Phone: (630) 788 2565
Email: dcdenn1@ilstu.edu
Lululemon Athletica Addresses Recent Reddit Scandal
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Lululemon Athletica and its team are aware of the subreddit
posts that have affected their reputation. The company is currently gathering more information
about the crisis to respond effectively. For now, the CEO of Lululemon has explained a few of
Lululemon’s response strategies to ensure customer and employee satisfaction during times of
crisis.
Lululemon will offer a 15% discount on all products to customers throughout the rest of
December. This will lighten up customers’ moods and show that the company truly cares for
them. Lululemon employees have also stated that they would answer questions about the crisis if
customers asked. The company wants to remain open and loyal about the situation.
Athletica takes full responsibility for the mistreatment of our customers and employees as seen in
the reddit posts. We apologize for any inconveniences that we may have caused you. We will act
accordingly and change our company’s values. This is unacceptable and we promise to make
McDonald also explained that Lululemon’s media team will monitor its social media
accounts better to respond quicker to customer concerns and answer any questions.
More information about the crisis will be released soon. For questions and concerns,
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responsibility for this crisis. We are targeting women, customers and the general public towards
this crisis. First, we are going to respond quickly and in a timely manner to the public through
social media posts. These responses need to be both in nonverbal and verbal aspects through the
press conference. This will be written in a serious manner to the public, social media followers
and customers at Lululemon. Through these posts, it is important to accept responsibility since
there is clear proof that Lululemon needs to improve their employees' behavior. From this, our
social media team will need to take action and show proof to the public of new changes,
expectations and media strategies. These will overall improve our reputation and showcase our
future in friendly customer service. Specifically, it will be vital to post on reddit and apologize to
the users, customers and others who have been affected by this crisis. It is essential to mention
the compensation that will be given to all customers during this tough period of time. This is
where the paracrisis started and unfortunately turned into something much larger than that. With
that being said, it is important to apologize on reddit and other social media platforms to show
Media List:
There are many individuals that should be invited to a press conference about the
Lululemon crisis. This press conference is vital in order to maintain and rebuild Lululemon’s
reputation based on these assertions. Specifically, we would like to have Alison Loehnis, the
Director of Social Media, explain the future plans at Lululemon in monitoring their social media
platforms. She will emphasize on customer support and responding to individuals in a timely and
efficient manner. We believe it is also vital to have Emily White, the Head of Business
Operations of Instagram, to speak on behalf of Lululemon’s Instagram page and rumors of inner
beauty. White has been involved in the People, Culture and Compensation Committee and has
had many leadership roles with Lululemon. Lastly, we would have Calvin McDonald, the Chief
Executive Officer, apologize to the public and explain the future steps and goals at Lululemon.
We will also have several media outlets who will be involved in the press conference.
Specifically, we would like to include CNBC, a television outlet, that will broadcast this press
conference. In addition, we believe that CNN is necessary to cover this conference at a national
level. Since Teen Vogue is a major outlet, we believe that CNN is vital in order for a larger
public to see our apologies. Through this television outlet, we are hoping that they include
McDonald’s apology to the public and enhancements for the future. In addition, we want The
Washington Post, a newspaper outlet, to gain coverage on the press conference. The Washington
Post should include statements from the board members about Lululemon. These are several
We do not believe that third parties should attend the press conference, however, they
should be mentioned through this crisis. The United Nations Foundation is a third party of
Lululemon that addresses physical, mental and mindfulness activities to boost individuals
morale. This crisis may have been stressful for individuals and it is important to show that they
have support. A major part of the crisis is with yoga and inner beauty, with that being said, it is
important for these board of directors to talk about their involvement with Kinoyoga and other
1. What is the very first action that Target takes in regards to this crisis? D
2. In Targets code of ethics it states, “Target Corporation is committed to complying
with all applicable laws and conducting business ethically. We uphold our values,
and deliver on our purpose by doing what’s right for Target, our team and guests.”
Target goes against these ethics when they decided to participate in child labor.
Was target's goal not to get caught for financial gain while keeping their positive
reputation? S
3. Target has a reputation for being stylish at a low cost, good to the community, and
treating their employees well. Using child labor in Mexico goes against the idea
of Target treating their employees well. How will Target work to fix their
4. Target has a higher reputation due to treating employees well but now that target
was caught not holding true to their values how will target work to fix this and do
what is right? RB
(semi-antagonistic question) N