A brand crisis is a negative event or situation that threatens the reputation, trust, and loyalty of one's customers and stakeholders. It can damage one's brand image, sales, and market share, and expose one to legal, regulatory, and ethical risks. How does one prepare for and handle a brand crisis effectively?

Do you remember when Kentucky Fried Chicken had things head south for the brand name KFC in Kenya? KFC said it was unable to offer fries as it could not import its preferred pre-sliced potatoes from Egypt. Instead, customers were being offered alternatives such as a portion of the national staple ugali, or maize meal - not really what people go to KFC for.

The first KFC franchise opened in the United States in 1952. The first overseas franchise was established in the United Kingdom in May 1965. A large number of Caribbean and developed Western markets entered by the early 1970s.

This was followed by expansion throughout the Middle East and developed Asian markets from the mid-1970s and into the 1980s. Expansions were made into most of Europe and South America in the early 1990s.

In 2024, there are at least 29,000 KFC outlets in 147 countries and territories in the world where 10,000 of those stores are in China alone. China was entered in 1987. The most recent area of expansion is Africa, where the company is targeting the continent's growing middle class. KFC opened in Kenya in 2011 and has 36 outlets across the country.

KFC faced severe frying online when they announced that they had a shortage of potatoes. An X (tweet) by the franchise mentioning that it had run out of chips elicited sharp reactions from Kenyans, with some terming it as insensitive to potato farmers who struggle to find a market for their produce.

The problem, apparently, was that potential local suppliers had not gone through KFC's quality assurance process that makes sure "our food is safe for consumption by our customers", the company's East Africa chief executive Jacques Theunissen told the Press. This statement fuelled the bashing of the brand online with some Kenyans asking KFC to import customers.

This has forced KFC and the government of Kenya to develop a roadmap to guide in setting up a manufacturing plant that can supply the restaurant with frozen processed chips.

There are many more companies who have been in such a situation, literally and figuratively, and the effect such controversies had on their businesses deserves a study. Joining us to analyse this issue is Mr Alex Owiti,a communications expert who thinks that the crisis was managed correctly.

“The online crisis has now become more than a reality. The shift from traditional to online crisis for brands cannot be over-emphasised. Customers now express their dissatisfaction online as quickly as they can. If not well-managed, the issue can spread like forest fires,” says Mr Owiti.

Mr Owiti points out a key lesson from KFC's brand crisis online: “A rude response can erode your brand value. KFC should have just told its customers that it was experiencing a shortage that it was going to sort out. A brand should ensure that its message during a crisis is positive and palatable to the already disgruntled customers.”

Responding fast to a crisis online is essential. However, saying something of substance is crucial. The communication, marketing, and executive department should craft what does not upset. After the storm blew over, KFC won back its customers.

In his recent book, The Ministry of Common Sense, Martin Lindstrom recounts many examples of people failing to eat their own dog food. In one instance, he worked with the executives of a major credit-card company to understand why customer care was so bad. Their customers were clearly angry, vocally so, but senior executives were blissfully unaware of why this might be the case.

Mr Lindstrom secretly arranged for the senior executives to have their own cards blocked for 24 hours, and took them all out for a meal. When one of the bosses tried to pay for anything, he was subjected to the same problems the average customer would encounter. Payment declined. Calls not going through. All customer representatives busy. Multiple re-routings. No resolution. Mounting embarrassment.

When it was finally revealed that the situation was a set-up, enlightenment dawned. The book concludes: “The only way he could possibly understand the pain his own customers went through was by experiencing that pain himself. Ten years of field reports, pages of endless statistics, and focus groups had had no effect on him. Finally, he was able to empathise with the people who used his product and service."

Mr Sunny Bindra, a leadership and communications advisor, has his two cents on the subject matter. “Over the years, I have made many CEOs eat their own “dog food”: sit at their own switchboards to answer calls, serve their own staff, let me call their contact centres in their presence to check how well the average customer is being served, spend time on the factory floor, and even cold nights with their security guards.”

That means that whatever you make, sell, or offer as a producer, buy it, use it, and experience it as a customer. Eat your own dog food. Take your own medicine.Taste your soup. Warren Buffet once said, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."