After standing behind its Tread+ treadmills last month amid safety warnings from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last month, Peloton recalled the products earlier this week. In a public statement of apology, CEO John Foley admitted the brand made a mistake by initially refuting the CPSC warnings. Peloton, which is researching the issue and planning a software update, offered customers a choice in receiving a full refund or moving services for a room where children and pets do not have access.
The about-face was a rare misstep for a brand that has seen its popularity skyrocket in recent months as customers clamored for home-based fitness products during pandemic lockdowns. Yet Peloton’s plight offers a lesson to other brands when it comes to trying to regain consumer trust following a costly recall.
“When these things happen, it’s a good wakeup call for every company—are we prepared?” says Jim Stengel, former chief marketer at Procter & Gamble. “It’s going to happen in the course of a career to everyone, but we don’t talk enough about it.”
Below, some expert advice on how brands should prepare for and deal with recalls.
Always be ready
As Stengel points out, product recalls happen more regularly than consumers might think. To avoid the backlash of a public fight with the CPSC, brands should always be ready for a recall with a best practices document ahead of time.
“Strong brands plan for these very scenarios and are prepared to take action right away,” says Martin Predd, managing partner at Brand Amplitude, a brand strategy firm. Karen Doyne, president of Doyne Strategies, a crisis communications firm, says that before making a decision on taking a product back, brands should “game things out” to see how the situation might develop publicly with different scenarios. “It helps them make informed decisions about the pros and cons and the costs of action vs. inaction,” she says. “If they ultimately decide to resist, at least they know what they’re in for and how to prepare.”