One of the best ways to learn about marketing and communication is by watching and listening to others. Last month, Domino’s used video and great attention to their content to  communicate to their audiences. While this example happened to occur during a crisis, it provides lessons that marketers can use every day, including:

1. using video to communicate a message,
2. choosing words that help us seem approachable, real and authentic, and
3. remembering that content is king and timing is everything.

You may have heard about the very unfortunate crisis Domino’s faced when two employees posted a disgusting and offensive video while preparing pizzas (pizza ingredients up noses, etc – really nice stuff!). This struck at the core of Domino’s promise to their customers – that the pizza they sell is fresh, safe and prepared by clean people in clean kitchens. If you don’t have this basic trust, you don’t sell pizzas.

It would be one thing to read about this in the paper or on a blog, But, the fact that it was posted online as a video made this immediately global and very, very real and shocking. The video viralized instantaneously, and as a New York Times article pointed out, a few days after the posting, “the video had been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.” And with the masses on social media, it was accelerated even more quickly with discussions about Domino’s throughout Twitter linking back to the video.

This is not necessarily a new phenomenon – we see examples of the power of viralization every day. Think Susan Boyle But this is a very serious matter, and responding by video is a big risk AND opportunity. What is said, who says it, and most importantly of all, how it is said, has the potential to stabilize OR do even more damage to the Domino’s brand. Watch the video, and then I’ll share my opinion about how well I thought it was executed.

I personally thought the delivery was spot-on. The spokesperson, Patrick Doyle, is President of Domino’s USA, and has the high-ranking title needed to demonstrate the seriousness of the matter. He is also, by title, clearly the one responsible for the region in which the crisis took place. He apologizes within the first 15 seconds of the video, and goes on to succinctly and, in my opinion, sincerely, communicate important points including the quick and decisive action taken to dismiss and arrest the employees. Mr. Doyle also did an outstanding job of making Domino’s feel very local and personal with comments such as “this was an isolated incident in Conover, North Carolina”, “the independent owner of that store is reeling from the damage this has caused”, and mentioning that Domino’s employs “125,000 men and women [who] work for local business owners.” In addition, his use of every-day language, such as “sanitized from top to bottom” “delivering high quality food to our customers day in and day out”, and “thank you for hanging in there with us” also made him feel authentic and approachable.

For the most part, Domino’s is getting kudos for their response, as detailed in this USA Today article. The one area where they are being criticized is in the timing of the apology video, which came 2 days after the employee video surfaced – the equivalent of weeks in online crisis time. Timing is everything, especially in a time of crisis, as US Airways discovered in their lack of response following the crash of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January. In Domino’s defense, they did respond within hours on a blog where the video was first mentioned, and then on Twitter. The video then followed two days later. In the end, while the sooner they would have put out the video, the more authentic and effective it would have been in addressing the public’s trust in Domino’s, overall they responded in a very timely manner and have been applauded for their overall handling of the crisis.

This is a great example that we can all learn from. Do you have others? Please share them here. Do you disagree or have additional thoughts? Please add your comments.