When the cries of children struggling to die and the cries of relatives of children who died unfortunately came from Fuyang, a city in the Central Plains, and when the attention of society, government and media focused on the root of the tragedy-milk powder, the life injury and social psychological injury caused by inferior milk powder, the challenge of the balance between corporate integrity, market mechanism and social morality came together, which became the reality we called "milk powder incident".

In order to remember

simply reviewing the past can make the social moral nerve endings of dairy enterprises more acute, and can also stimulate enterprises to constantly seek dynamic equilibrium in the binary paradox of market and morality. The incident itself for inferior milk powder enterprises, waiting for them is the severe punishment of the law, regardless of this; For most milk powder enterprises, event review and reflection drive them to think deeply about the crisis.

Poison caused by inferior milk powder

In July p>2113, Fuyang industrial and commercial departments received complaints about infant malnutrition caused by eating inferior milk powder. Beijing, April 31, 2114, Xinhuanet revealed that in Fuyang City, Anhui Province, 13 babies died and nearly 211 babies suffered from severe malnutrition because of being fed with inferior milk powder with almost no nutrition; 2114-15-11 "China Hi-tech Industry Herald" reported that a big-headed doll was found in Lianshui, Huai 'an, and two babies died due to nutritional deficiency of practical inferior milk powder. The poison of inferior milk powder to the health of infants and even adults is in the progressive tense and has not stopped.

Damage caused by inferior milk powder

The reaction of Fuyang people to milk powder has reached the point of "talking about pink change". People hardly trust any milk powder, and they are afraid of being cheated and have doubts about the milk powder industry; At the same time, according to the data of several Asian countries, malnutrition in childhood will cause a country's GDP loss of 2%-5%. According to the GDP of China in 2113 of 11 trillion yuan, these malnutrition phenomena represented by "big-headed dolls" will make our country's losses reach a terrible 221 billion to 551 billion yuan. Under the influence of inferior milk powder, enterprises in the upstream and downstream industrial chain of the milk powder industry are also affected.

the reaction and performance of famous dairy enterprises at home and abroad to the "milk powder incident"

Sanlu: On October 6, 2114, it was victimized by "fake Sanlu", and immediately verified with Fuyang Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention that the disclosed milk powder was counterfeit. Around April 21, the name of the real Sanlu appeared on the list of inferior milk powder, and Sanlu executives rushed to the local area to clarify the facts. A spokesperson for Sanlu Group presented the reporter with an apology statement jointly issued by Fuyang Industrial and Commercial Bureau, Health Bureau and Consumers Association. After handling the crisis, Chairman Tian Wenhua, on behalf of Sanlu Group, promised that Sanlu would, as always, strictly control the quality, ensure excellent product quality and excellent after-sales service, and continue to provide nutritious, safe and reliable quality products to consumers.

Yili and Heinz: Yili Group and famous enterprises such as Heinz Milk Powder and Shengyuan Dairy donated 5,111 boxes of milk powder to families affected by inferior milk powder in Fuyang, Anhui; Yili milk powder passed the national sampling inspection, and its products won the reputation of "consumer assured dairy products";

Nanshan: On March 27th, it was randomly selected by Fuyang Industrial and Commercial Bureau, and all the results were qualified. Later, the list of unqualified milk powder released by some media was falsely reported, and all the inspection items were certified.

Shengyuan: donated 811,111 yuan to Fuyang, and offered Shengyuan infant formula milk powder to the families of the affected children for free until the baby was 3 years old. It is estimated that the public welfare sponsorship will reach 511,111 yuan;

Qin figurines: In the process of coping with the crisis, they took a high profile, didn't talk about Fuyang, held a press conference in Beijing at the first time, and set off the oath of honest management of Qin figurines milk powder; Qin figurines also set out from the height of business strategy, put social morality first, and prepared to start direct marketing in rural markets to provide good milk powder that farmers can afford;

Reflections on the milk powder incident

The fragile milk powder industry in China has a long way to go. First, in the dairy industry, the milk powder industry is shrinking compared with liquid milk. The data of AC Nielsen retail research in 2113 showed that the whole milk powder industry declined by about 11% in 2113, and only infant milk powder grew slowly at a rate of 3%-4%. The total industrial output value of liquid milk increased by 36.82% in the first half of the same year. Secondly, milk powder has become the category with the strongest international flavor and the strongest competition in China dairy industry. All the competitive brands in the milk powder industry can be summarized into three echelons, namely, international brands, domestic well-known brands and local strong brands. International brands basically occupy the high-end market, and domestic well-known brands compete for the mainstream market, while local strong brands scuffle in the low-end market and some mainstream markets. After more than ten years of competition, many international brands have surpassed domestic brands in sales revenue, and Mead Johnson and Dumex have become strong brands in China milk powder industry. From the perspective of industry concentration, whether it is adult milk powder or infant milk powder, the industry concentration (the top five brands share) is above 51%. Enter a relatively orderly stage of competition. Thirdly, due to the purchasing power in rural areas and the low profit rate of milk powder itself, most brand milk powder almost gives up the rural market, leaving room for the manufacturers of inferior milk powder who are not inflow to manufacture the most demanding infant milk powder in rural areas. A cup of milk can strengthen a nation. Who is willing to provide these rural people with this cup of milk that meets the minimum quality requirements?

Milk powder enterprises need more initiative instead of helpless response.

First, the "milk powder incident" in Fuyang began in the first half of 2113, and it was since 2114 that milk powder enterprises took action against the incident.

Second, consumers personally submit "problem milk powder" for inspection, and no milk powder enterprise voluntarily submits its own milk powder for inspection;

Third, there is no doubt that the behavior of inferior milk powder not only harms children's health and endangers their life safety, but also implicates the "milk" family, causing a crisis in the milk powder industry, and the challenges and pressures borne by the whole industry are unprecedented;

fourth, these enterprises are the best in the dairy industry in terms of product quality, market share and brand awareness, so they can represent the whole industry to some extent. Therefore, from the attention and response measures and capabilities of the above enterprises, on the one hand, many milk powder enterprises lack the ability to penetrate the crisis, respond slowly, deal with the crisis passively, and have low crisis public relations ability. On the other hand, there are many enterprises in the dairy industry with the ambition of dominating the country. To lead an industry, we should also have the courage to actively assume social morality and the sense of responsibility to guide the direction of the industry, which is what many milk powder enterprises lack.

fifthly, milk powder enterprises must stand on the height of value judgment, respect and care for life, conduct crisis public relations as the micro-operation subject of market economy, and show superb marketing management ability and marketing innovation concept. Enterprises living in the new economic era are also living in the three-dimensional competitive environment of brand management ability, reputation establishment and maintenance, and corporate image maintenance. The ability to seek new changes and cope with crises has been raised to the height of survival.

Keywords: crisis, public relations and crisis public relations

If SARS was a crisis in our country and even the whole world in 2113, the milk powder incident in 2114 was a crisis involving the credibility of the whole industry and even the whole market. Crisis: a major event with uncertainty that will cause potential negative effects. This event and its consequences may cause huge losses to organizations, products, services, assets and reputation, and endanger the survival of organizations or people.

Marketing management theory has advanced from 4P to 4C and broke through to 5R, which fundamentally embodies the ultimate concern of humanism. At present, the highest level of marketing development temporarily rests on social marketing. When enterprises seek their own interests, they must fully convey to the public the concept of actively serving the society, do a good job in public relations and establish a good public image. Here, enterprises should instinctively use the most favorable way to operate the environment, evaluate the attitudes of relevant people, influence, change and cultivate the positive attention of the whole public, and achieve smooth and effective results.

A metaphor about "crisis" is very apt and thought-provoking: crisis is like a scarf. If you don't wear it properly, it will make people look cumbersome and may even suffocate. Wearing the scarf properly can achieve the effect of heating or elegant embellishment. The wearing method of scarf, that is, the attitude, manner, ability and effect adopted in crisis management, shows the understanding level of enterprises in coping with crisis and the degree of grasping the relationship between public and private. Crisis public relations reflects the organic combination of enterprise's understanding of crisis and the grasp of public relations, just like a woman dancing lightly on the tip of a knife should master the scientific (technical) and artistic nature of action at the same time. The milk powder incident focused on the ability of crisis public relations of milk powder enterprises for the first time.

An overview and analysis of china dairy's crisis public relations and marketing ability

Murphy's law that "anything that may go wrong will go wrong" has been proved by practice. Then, referring to this logic, there have been small mistakes, and if they are not effectively controlled, they will definitely make a big mistake. The "milk powder incident" verified this reasoning in the present continuous tense: from the perspective of milk powder enterprises, effective measures were not taken to avoid and resolve the crisis at the beginning of the problem, which led to the frustration of the whole milk powder industry today. Think of pain in pain, what is the pain!

The author adopts the methodology of "what should be-what should be" in the inventory and analysis of china dairy's crisis public relations ability, so that the problems can be clearly displayed, and it is hoped that it will be beneficial and useful for the dairy industry to cope with the crisis.

First, collect information through a keen intelligence system, predict the crisis, and establish a crisis early warning mechanism.

In the information society, only by continuously obtaining accurate, timely and fresh information nourishment can enterprises ensure the foundation of their own survival and development. To maintain sensitivity, we must ensure three trinity modes: stimulus-response-feedback, input-conversion-output, induction-judgment-refining. The tension between milk powder and fresh milk is becoming increasingly prominent, and milk powder is slightly retreating. Under the guarantee of the above three modes, milk powder enterprises should keep a clear head, recognize the external macro environment, industry micro environment and competitive situation, find abnormal points and predict the crisis. For the predicted crisis, the risk level should be evaluated and reported to the relevant departments for great attention, so that the relevant departments are ready to go. Not long ago, the relevant government departments adopted an effective plan mechanism for the crisis of Neijiang water cut-off caused by illegal sewage discharge in Chuanhua, predicted that there would be a shortage of clean water sources, mobilized foreign water sources in advance, and eased the pressure on citizens to use water. In the milk powder incident, almost no milk powder enterprise actively collected information when it happened, and there was no plan mechanism arrangement, which was regrettable.

second, establish a crisis management system to control and avoid the crisis.

excellent enterprises survive the crisis, and ordinary enterprises die in the crisis. Only great enterprises can develop themselves in the crisis. In the "milk powder incident", various enterprises have made active attempts in crisis management, but there are many problems.

organizational mechanism guarantee. The crisis is not terrible, and the appropriate organization can ensure the use of appropriate strategies to save the day. After the milk powder incident, the passivity and lack of skill in crisis management reflect that some enterprises lack organizational guarantee in dealing with the crisis. Many just hastily set up temporary institutions, without clear reporting system and decision-making mechanism, resulting in chaotic and busy institutions, low efficiency and no results. This crisis management organization should be based on the public relations department, play a comprehensive role of contacting the media, government functional departments and the public, and avoid simplifying the functions of the organization.

establish a spokesperson system. Communication believes that if there is no your voice, there is only someone else's voice. Spokesman SPEAK LOUDLY IN ONE VOICE (speaking loudly with the same voice) not only realized his own voice, but also spoke loudly with the same caliber to spread his own strategy to deal with the crisis; After careful observation, it is not difficult to find that some enterprises come forward from the top to "speak", "clarify" and "put out the fire" everywhere when dealing with the crisis. This way reflects the respect of enterprises for the public, but it is naive from the perspective of communication. On the one hand, the establishment of the press spokesman system ensures that enterprises have the same caliber to the public, and also allows senior management to have more time for exception management and think more strategically.

institutionalized rapid response mechanism. In the crisis, market risk, time influence and the negative reaction of the audience to the crisis measures are the factors of the institutionalization of audit. In crisis management, enterprises should consider all aspects and comprehensively evaluate its effect. Sanlu milk powder quickly clarified that "Sanlu" in the "blacklist" was counterfeit, while ignoring market risks and public factors. The ultimate heavy loss was: Sanlu milk powder encountered terminal boycott in some places, and the direct economic loss was tens of millions of yuan! Really can be described as killing one thousand, and losing eight hundred! In fact, Sanlu is still slow, and its milk powder has been counterfeited at the beginning of the year. If it was vigorously promoted in the media at that time, the loss might be much smaller. Yili and Heinz in the same trade responded quickly, instead of "being alone and cleaning their own doors", they actively carried out public relations activities such as giving milk powder to the victims and gained social recognition. The rapid response mechanism is very necessary, first of all, to show a positive and responsible attitude, instead of "into thin air", "ostrich policy" and "being aloof and ignoring". In this way, enterprises can win the support of humanitarian compassion, resolve resentment and finally win the hearts of the people. Rapid response can also win opportunities and gain valuable time resources. Contac's handling of the "292-day PPA crisis" precisely embodies this important principle.

third, actively promote the integrated marketing communication project.

it's never too late to mend. When the "milk powder incident" was in full swing, many enterprises began to use the integrated marketing communication method to track and report their attitudes, measures and implementation process. High-altitude media, ground media, traditional media and modern networks have become favorable windows for communication.

The more crisis it is, the more clear-headed it is. Therefore, the communication process should be planned, the problems should be analyzed and solved, and the time, place, mode, whom to talk to and the frequency of communication should be determined according to its development trend. As a modern media, the network has played an important role in this "milk powder incident" because of its speed and spread, and played a key role in communication.

fourthly, after the crisis pains have eased and ended, enterprises should repair the public-private relationship and marketing management to create conditions for new development.

according to the 4R principle of dealing with public relations, enterprises should put apology in the first place when dealing with crises, and put forward REFORM measures to fulfill their commitments in practice. The damage caused by the crisis always needs a certain amount of compensation (RESTITUTION) to make up, and enterprises have the obligation to restore everything (RECOVERY). Enterprises need the support of the public to survive, and it is necessary to maintain a sustained and harmonious relationship after the crisis has weakened. At this time, enterprises should carry out large-scale public relations activities, such as giving back to the society and paying attention to the public welfare activities of the socially disadvantaged groups, so that the public can really benefit. We might as well learn from Rockefeller Group's practice of repairing public relations, be open and honest with workers and carry out various charitable activities.

marketing is an eternal topic for enterprises. After the crisis,