Why you shouldn’t kill your customers

Pepsi poisoning Charlie would be a public relations disaster! People would be outraged, others would stop buying their products, and Charlie (now dead) wouldn’t be able to buy Pepsi in the future…no matter how much he loved it.

Even with a textbook crisis management response like after the 1982 Tylenol killings, Pepsi would have its hands full. Regardless of taste tests, coupons, or celebrity endorsements, increasing Pepsi’s future sales would take years of hard work. Screaming headlines would ensure significant numbers of customers would switch to Coke.

Unless Pepsi was completely transparent, accepted blame, and focused on preventing future problems, they’d be in for a long-term decline. Heads would roll.

Like Pepsi and Coke, Republicans and Democrats are brands, with voters (customers) vociferous advocates of one or the other.

These brands have logos, messaging, spokespeople, and tag lines. They’re visible regionally and nationally, with strategic alliances overseas. Their approaches mirror any business hustling for a sale.

Now consider the current health crisis. Regularly discouraging vaccinations, masks, and other preventatives against COVID-19 appears to be directly responsible for the unprotected dying eleven times more often than those taking precautions against this disease.

Are Republican leaders killing their own customers?

This morning’s New York Times reports 707,916 officially recognized COVID-related deaths in the US to date. I’m not suggesting everyone dying is a Republican. However, 86% of adult Democrats have received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to just 52% of Republicans.

Please don’t think I’m arguing politics. Some days each side has valid points; other days they’re all a bunch of clowns.

However, using a strict marketing filter, it seems like the Republican party is planting seeds for their own demise. By discouraging vaccines, masks, etc., many of their customers may not exist in the elections of 2022 and beyond.

So far this hasn’t had a significant impact on the party’s market share. Still, I find myself wondering about their long-term prospects.

In addition to having fewer voters, customers dying is also sure to have a negative impact on others. Because even as Fox News remains the most viewed cable news network, its viewership is down 32% from a year ago. At some point that will presumably translate into lower advertising rates and station revenues.

If your business isn’t protecting its people, you risk inviting in COVID. Sick employees won’t feel like marketing, selling, or being creative.

Minimize risk to your own organization and insist your staffers get the shot. Because even if you don’t kill a customer, without it you may kill your business.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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