The Latest Brand Crisis
Yet another luxury player has made a PR misstep. This time the slip-up happened in the rarified world of luxury fine jewelry by none other than Cartier.
Earlier this year, Cartier showcased on their website a project it invested funds in through its corporate social responsibility program that promoted the culture of the Yanomami tribe and protected the Amazon rainforest where they live. There were just two problems: The project never materialized, and the brand never asked the Yanomami for permission to use their image.
The Yanomami is an indigenous community severely impacted by illegal gold mining and its environmental damage. Although Cartier predominately uses recycled gold, the tribe opposes the manufacturing of all gold jewelry. The Yanomami went so far as to publicly issue a statement against the jewelry house, even though they are supported by the Cartier Foundation (which is a separate entity).
Although the brand did rectify the situation by removing the image of the tribe and mention of the project from its website, it wasn’t before several major media outlets reported the story. Though this may seem to be a small misstep, as luxury goods market analyst Luca Solca pointed out in a New York Times interview, “media mishaps have an impact for two to three quarters and then normalize.” For a brand as big as Cartier, a potential downturn of six to nine months would be a drawback, but not disastrous; for a smaller brand, this kind of situation could be devastating.
Brands can end up in a PR scandal for any number of reasons: It could be for misrepresentation, cultural appropriation, misuse of images...the list is long and varied. The way to ensure your company doesn’t end up in a PR misstep is to have internal processes in place to vet your messaging, ensure credit is given where credit is due, and that any action needed to be taken (like a donation, a project start up, etc.) has already happened. By being proactive and limiting the points at where potential problems can arise, you can save your brand from making a public relations gaffe that impacts your business long term.
