He didn't look straight into the camera, however - as pointed out by Steve Garfield.
- l0ckergn0me
8. He knows that the real problem is that they hired idiots and are "reexamining" all hiring practices. THAT is the best way to make sure you get a good brand.
- Robert Scoble
9. He used personal language "it sickens me." Not marketing speak.
- Robert Scoble
Interesting mix of being apologetic and totally pissed at the same time. Overall thumbs up from me.
- Mike Doeff
10. He is working to "regain our trust."
- Robert Scoble
Is there anything else he could have done to answer this crisis?
- Robert Scoble
He didn't offer us a coupon to make us feel better. I didn't feel condescended to.
- Kevin Fox
Good lead, Robert. Glad to see discussion around the response.
- Valeria Maltoni
Now if he could just work on making the pizza not taste so bad.
- Dave Roth
now is the best time to go to Domino's in Conover. clean as a whistle.
- nesman89
I don't mind that he didn't look straight into the camera. That shows he isn't "slick" or "overcoached."
- Robert Scoble
Yes, it would have been better if he had looked into the camera, but given that a teleprompter is an expensive item, and rigging a two-way mirror with a magnified view of a printed script is a hassle... I think the minor shortfall can be forgiven. All seven of Robert's points remain absolutely valid.
- David Muir
Textbook is the best way to go. Swift and done. Now in time, people will forget, crave cheap, fast, and delivered food, and it's over.
- Mike Lewis
Very well handled. I agree with you, Robert, this will make its way into textbooks alongside Tylenol's response to the poisoning crisis three decades ago.
- Stephen Mack
so far this year, that's, what, rats in the peanuts, perchlorate in the babby formula, prescription drugs in the drinking water, snot in the pizza... what was safe to ingest again?
- Karim
Bravo, Dominos. Nicely done. Speak up or be spoken for.
- kevin j higgins
tehKenny: I don't think he was. I bet that he was looking at some notes, though. It didn't come across like he was reading. For someone not experienced with a teleprompter you can not use one and not come across like you're reading.
- Robert Scoble
Their response was appropriate and in a timely manner which is key now.
- Christi
Anyone who has ever used a teleprompter realizes how hard it is to use one and how hard it is to look natural doing it. I bet he had someone off to the side of the camera he was talking to who was holding notes up to remind him what to talk.
- Robert Scoble
I wasn't there, obviously, but watching the CEO look off-camera yet speak as if to a person made me think he was looking at a person to stay "real" and "personable" and not canned or offering a performance.
- Bloom Seed
Carmen: "W" had a LOT of media training and a team of people to tell him how to do it. I doubt this CEO has had much media training.
- Robert Scoble
rewatching it makes it clear that he's reading notes (his focus starts at top, moves down as recording proceeds). Still, though, comes across as a real person. Not everything needs professional actors, producers, makeup, sets...imperfect may be the new perfect, as far as communicating genuineness.
- Bloom Seed
Comes across as very heart-felt, and almost makes me want to order with them (I'm not sure we have them here in this town)! Shouldn't they have added something like "We'll now be installing cams in all our kitchens streaming direct to Ustream, making us the ONLY food delivery you can trust to not mess your food"? :)
- Philipp Lenssen
Philipp: well, that would certainly be cool but would be way beyond something they could deliver on in two days.
- Robert Scoble
I mean, I'm not a big fan of Dominos, but this helps them establish themselves as giving a crap. Good PR move.
- Mike Nayyar
Great video response straight from the company president. As for watching food getting prepared, the Papa John's locations that I've been to are open and you can basically see them making your pie. Not sure if Domino's has stores like that...
- Doug
solid performance-- came across naturally and believable, blend of professionalism and good ole fashion ass-kicking anger. It was smooth but not overly slick; no suit or tie and shot in store surrounding. Content was solid too, assuring customers everything that could be done was being done. One minor tweak: he doesn't appear to be looking directly at the camera.
- mark ivey
I wonder if they thought about making it a response to "that video" on youtube to get the eyeballs needed to make this count..
- Tom Masiero
Ari - it's more than "just pizza" - it's the livelihood of 125k employees. We are focused here on a textbook response, but this is also a clear demonstration of the power of leverage that SM holds: two idiots can do major damage to the brand, the company, and by ultimately to the employees. Hat's off to Mr. Doyle and his advisers.
- Bill Sanders
Rewatched it and yes he is reading it. Regardless, I think it was handled pretty appropriately.
- Jay Neff
good job. small nit: next time they need to move the teleprompter (or cue cards) either over or under the camera.
- MikeAmundsen
Video is good if Good Messenger (which Domino's guy IS) But also put the incident on my radar screen, which hitherto I was unaware of.
- JimmyJet
Wasn't aware of the incident but sure feel bad for the independent operator..
- MiaD
The woman in the Wendy's chili fraud case ended up sentenced to 9 years in prison and her husband (who bought the finger off a co-worker who lost it in an industrial accident) got 12 years. http://www.bluemaumau.org/wendys_...
- Kevin Fox
I wish that he was looking at the camera instead of a telepromter. Just sayin.
- Andrew Baron
Andrew: he's not looking at a teleprompter. I bet someone is holding a notepad with an outline on it for him.
- Robert Scoble
I haven't had Domino's in a long time. But, I'm happy to see that they put up this Video response to the malicious destruction of their Brand and business practices.
- rob friedman
good job. that was a classy way to 'avoid the noid.'
- grant fox
Hey Robert, can I use some of your reasons in a blog post in writing up about the Domino's issue?
- Kenneth
"Everyone else is doing it right." Yeah, right. [What are the odds of that?]
- Craig Brownell
I kept hoping he'd actually look into the camera.
- James Miao
I agree with James. I was hoping that he would look at the camera like he's talking to his customers. I get that he needs to make sure he says exactly what needs to to said, but the way he kept looking away from the camera made it seem a little "stiff".
- Kenneth
like when dirk diggler looked into the camera during his documentary. that was powerful stuff.
- grant fox
Kenneth: that's a mistake someone who isn't media trained makes. I actually don't mind that because it makes it less slick.
- Robert Scoble
My guess is that they're multiple cameras and he's looking at the expensive one
- Bwana ☠
Robert: Really? If corporate heads are on camera, they should NOT look at the camera especially if they're not being interviewed? It looks natural not to look at the camera? You're definitely right...I'm not media trained. :) Looks like he was reading off of a script and didn't notice a camera at him.
- Kenneth
Who was he talking to? The sound guy holding the microphone to the right of the camera?
- Diego Barros
Kenneth: the only time you should look at the camera is when you want to speak directly to the viewer. You are right that he should have been speaking directly into the camera. Knowing where to look is part of media training. A good PR team could have helped (IE, one that had worked a lot with video before) but I can't really blame him. I still have trouble figuring this out. When I was on the BBC it was very difficult to look into the camera (it was aplate on the wall).
- Robert Scoble
i just have to say, that by him not looking in the camera, or really doing any of this before it seems adds to his character that he's a regular guy, not some PR trained monkey doing a dance for us.
- rob friedman
I dunno, I think it's more important that the response seem unrehearsed. I'll bet he did it in one take.
- Ken Morley
Well done Robert: not a surprise to see this crew recognizes excellence when they see it. Dominos did virtually everything right on this aspect of its response. having seen a few crises, this example is among the best. blogged it here: http://www.mediadeluge.com/post...
- Christian Anderson
Just to let folks know: the teleprompters I am familiar with allow the newscaster or talking head to look directly at the camera AND read the script. The result is like a HUD (heads-up display) for those familiar with video games or jet fighters.
- David Muir
Right David, but there are all kinds of "teleprompters" some low tech and some higher tech. the point is he was reading. It was okay, he did a great job in one take. It would have been better if he hadnt read it and looked directly at the camera, but because everything else was so well done, the reading gets a pass
- Christian Anderson
Not a fan of their pies, but kudos to Dominoes for the forthright reply and apology for the miscreants who brought this upon them. Hope they rebound well from this.
- JA Castillo
Definitely a canned response but still heartfelt and sincere. Plus we learned its a federal felony to stuff cheese up your nose on camera. Imagine what happens at McDonalds on a daily basis - now that's frightening.
- Chris Sparno
Very lucky that they had a CEO that even was willing to talk for YouTube in the moment; let's not now criticize him for his media training, or none will ever have the guts to do it again.
- Francine Hardaway
Rich: This is deadly serious for him. He's right to take it seriously and I'm sure he genuinely does.
- Michael Krigsman
So the real question is, who feels comfortable enough to order Domino's this weekend?
- Chris Bartow
I do Chris, even more-so now than before. This weekend will be the cleanest in the franchise's history :)
- Bwana ☠
@Karim: "snot in the pizza... what was safe to ingest again?" Years ago, I ordered a pizza (not from Domino's) and was surprised to see a piece of broken glass in it — and this particular glass shard had part of the pizza company logo on it! When I phoned them about it, they replaced the pizza in record time; of course, they asked for the broken glass back, too, so I couldn't keep the evidence.
- Victor Panlilio
Victor *shudder* i think i would have just given up eating pizza after that :-D
- Karim
The comments on You Tube are negative I don't agree with them, what is your opinion abut them? (They say Doyle is not sincere)
- Maurizio Goetz
Rule #0 - Youtube comments have the value of a single molecule of feces
- Bwana ☠
His response was right on and pretty smart for doing it via a video. It's sad but we are at the mercy of people that prepare our food. :-( I kind of feel bad for the kids because what they did shows a complete lack of intelligence. It would be nice if they took responsible and apologized in some sort of public forum.
- John McCullough
@John McCullough "we are at the mercy of people that prepare our food" and people who pilot the planes we fly in, treat our municipal drinking water, etc. I daresay we only appreciate them when things go horribly wrong.
- Victor Panlilio
@Chris White "The founder of Domino's supports Right to LIfe and Operation Rescue, which IMO, is worse than putting farts on sandwiches" Really? Watch the video at http://www.abortionno.org/ and see if you can stomach the idea that we dispose of unwanted human beings so cavalierly.
- Victor Panlilio
Victor, your comment as well as John's above you, reminds me of that line in Fight Club: "We do your laundry, cook your food and serve you dinner. We guard you while you sleep. We drive your ambulances..."
- Aaron Kurtz
@Aaron - almost everything we take for granted in "civilized society" depends on the everyday goodwill (and conscientiousness) of anonymous others. I've always thought that we need to become more mindful of the benefits we daily receive from these enablers of our well-being. Count your blessings, etc.
- Victor Panlilio