MKTG 304-Case Study Resurrecting Brand Vick On July 1, 2011
Instructions: Use the following framework for your case analysis. Your case analysis assignment is designated above and can be found in your textbook.
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Step 1: Read the case thoroughly with a view to understanding the Public Relations issues illustrated by the case. Make sure you discriminate between information which is relevant and that which is superfluous and/or ambiguous.
Step 2: Define clearly and concisely the basic problems (or issues) in the case. Then identify the main issues. Do not be confused with “symptoms.” Identify the key decisions to be made.
Step 3: Use the information and facts provided in the case to analyze the situation. This would include understanding the situation, an analysis of the environment (if applicable)– for example, are there particular strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis), etc. that should be mentioned?
Step 4: Based on your analysis from step 3 above, identify possible alternative strategy solutions to cope with the problem(s)/Issue(s) you have identified in step 2 above. State any assumptions you make, and feel free to make assumptions in order for the strategies to work. Evaluate the pros and cons of each alternative considered. This should form the main focus of your attention in the case analysis.
Step 5: Recommend a course of action (if appropriate), selecting the alternative proposed in step 3 above. Which would you consider most appropriate to solve the problems you have identified in step 2 above taking into consideration the analysis made in step 3? Include some specifics regarding how the recommendations may be implemented by the marketing team. Note: You should edit your recommendations based on the latest web-information that you can access by going to the company’s website.
Your response should be approximately 500-750 words, and should follow the organizational structure listed above (Steps 1-5). Write well. Write clearly. Clearly structure your final report.
Case Study Resurrecting Brand Vick On July 1, 2011, Michael Vick, starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, signed an endorsement
deal with Nike, the world’s largest sporting-goods company, for a multiyear contract. Star athletes sign
endorsement deals all the time; nothing unusual about that. But Nike’s resigning of Michael Vick, after a four-year absence, was perhaps the most significant story of
integrated marketing redemption in the history of sports. Five years earlier, Michael Vick was a convict, convicted of unspeakable crimes against animals. He was
friendless and bankrupt, and few gave him much chance of ever again playing professional football,
much less being signed for endorsement contracts by image-conscious corporations. How he did it is a testimony to the power of public relations.
top 10 richest athletes in the United States.” Michael Vick was on top of the sports celebrity world—until it all came crashing down. In April, Vick settled a lawsuit by a woman who claimed the player knowingly gave her herpes. In November, after a particularly disappointing game where his receivers dropped a boatload of passes,
Vick was booed by the hometown Atlanta fans (Figure 16-9). As he walked off the field after the 31-13
loss to the New Orleans Saints, Vick held up both hands and flashed two well-publicized fingers at the
fans—a “double-barreled salute,” as one reporter labeled it. Vick issued a statement through the team Sunday night, saying, “First and foremost, I would like to
apologize for my inappropriate actions with fans today. I was frustrated and upset at how the game was
going for my team, and that frustration came out the wrong way. That’s not what I’m about. That’s not
what the Atlanta Falcons are about. I simply lost my cool in the heat of the moment. I apologize and look
forward to putting this incident behind me.” Vick paid a $10,000 team fine and donated another $10,000 to charity.
The issue was defused. But it was a sign of trouble to come. In January 2007, Vick reluctantly surrendered a water bottle to security at Miami International Airport.
The bottle smelled like marijuana and contained a substance in a hidden compartment. The police report
characterized the substance as a residue that is “closely associated with marijuana.” Ten days later, Vick was exonerated, as no marijuana was found in the bottle.
Federal officials reportedly found equipment associated with dogfighting, blood stains on the walls of a
room, and a bloodstained carpet stashed on the property. They reportedly removed more than 60 dogs. In July, Vick and three associates were indicted on charges of conducting illegal dogfighting. The
indictment alleged that Vick and his associates bought the property in 2001, expressly as the main
staging area for housing and training pit bulls involved in dogfighting. They built “a fence to shield the
rear portion of the compound from public view and multiple sheds used at various times to house
training equipment, injured dogs, and organized fights.” Vick himself, according to the indictment, was highly involved in the operation, attended fights, and paid
off bets when his dogs lost. Vick was also cited for being involved with “the execution of dogs that didn’t perform well.” The
indictment reported that Vick and his colleagues “executed approximately eight dogs that did not
perform well in ‘testing’ sessions by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and/or slamming at
least one dog’s body to the ground.” Although Vick was only accused—and not found guilty—of these frightening charges, his sponsors didn’t
hesitate. AirTran dropped him as a spokesperson for its airline. Nike, which at first said it would “stand
by” the standard bearer of its planned new Vick shoe, quickly reversed its stand and canceled the shoe
and out.” By August 2007, Michael Vick had gotten religion—literally. He formally accepted a plea agreement from
the federal government and held a press conference, at which he said he sought God’s help to cure him.
“Dogfighting is a terrible thing. I reject it,” he said at the press conference (Figure 16-10). Vick vowed to “redeem” himself and willingly serve his time in jail. His prison sentence was 23 months in
Leavenworth, Kansas (where he played for the prison football team), with release in the summer of
2009. Meanwhile, in 2008, Vick filed for personal reorganization bankruptcy protection, listing assets of $16
million and liabilities of $20 million. In 2009, Vick sued his former financial advisor for $2 million,
claiming she used his money for her personal and business expenses. Its multimillion dollar contract with
Vick. Other sponsors quickly followed suit.
On the field, Vick regained his old magic and was named the National Football League’s Comeback Player
of the Year in 2010. By 2011, Nike, which four years earlier had labeled Vick’s crimes “inhumane and abhorrent” and cut him
from its roster, had had a change of heart. “Michael has acknowledged his past mistakes. We do not condone those actions, but we support the
positive changes he has made to better himself off the field,” the company said in a statement,
announcing Vick’s re-signing. Vick’s Nike contract contained a commitment to work with camps and
youth programs, Nike said. Vick’s agent said his client was “ecstatic” that he was back in the Nike fold—the first time a company had
brought back a celebrity it had previously dropped. Michael Vick had come full circle. deviated from the ship’s computer-programmed route to treat people on the nearby island to a “near
shore salute,” in which the ship got close (as it turned out, too “close”) to the island. Captain Schettino was also accused by some of spending most of the night just prior to the crash in the
ship’s bar, wrapped around the arm of a young, attractive blonde woman—one of the ship’s dancers, as
it turned out—laughing, drinking, and in high spirits. One witness, quoted in the Italian media, claimed
he had seen the Captain drain “at least a whole decanter of wine.” Even worse, when the ship hit the
rock, the captain reportedly abandoned ship even before most of the passengers.
In the weeks that followed, media attacks on Carnival and its subsidiary continued. Costa Concordia
offered to pay 11,000 euros ($14,500) in compensation to each of the more than 3,000 passengers and
also—in clearly the most tone deaf public relations move in maritime history—offered “discounts” of
30% off on future cruises.
Not surprisingly, Schettino, dubbed “Captain Coward” in the press, was arrested on preliminary charges
of multiple manslaughter in connection with causing a shipwreck, failing to assist 300 passengers, and
failing to be the last to leave the wreck. He was subsequently also charged with failing to describe to
maritime authorities the scope of the disaster and with abandoning incapacitated passengers. As a consequence of the bumbling captain’s notoriety, the “Schettino captain’s costume” was the biggest
seller at that season’s Milan carnival (Figure 17-8).
The Silence of the CEO Perhaps most surprising was the absence in any sort of damage control of Carnival CEO Micky Arison. Arison, who also owned the star-studded Miami Heat basketball team and was a regular courtside
spectator, stayed strangely distant from the crisis enveloping his company, in spite of the fact that the
company’s bookings and stock sank and it was royally pilloried on social media. Nonetheless, Carnival
and Arison stayed relatively aloof. Carnival’s first response on Facebook came shortly after the crash.
“Our thoughts are with the guests and crew of the Costa Concordia. We are keeping them in our hearts
in the wake of this very sad event.” Then, six days after the accident, the company’s Facebook update read: “Out of respect for all those affected by the recent events surrounding our sister line, Costa cruises, we
are going to take a bit of a break from posting on our social channels.” Arison, himself, corroborated that same sentiment, when he tweeted: “I won’t be as active on Twitter for
next while. Helping our @costacruises team manage this crisis is my priority right now. Thnx – @Mickey
Arison” Facebook and Twitter followers weren’t impressed with the company’s minimalist response. Typical was
this post: —Sorry, Carnival, you don’t have a heart. Only bags of money. And stop calling Costa a “sister”
line – it is a SUBSIDIARY of CARNIVAL. Carnival owns all of its TEN LINES! Even if Micky Arison stays away
from the scene of his latest crime the world is watching and everyone will know who is behind this
tragedy. The company is at fault. I wish Arison would stop trying to hide in order to avoid losing money
on his other CARNIVAL owned cruise ships.
n the weeks that followed, media attacks on Carnival and its subsidiary continued. Costa Concordia
offered to pay 11,000 euros ($14,500) in compensation to each of the more than 3,000 passengers and
also—in clearly the most tone deaf public relations move in maritime history—offered “discounts” of
30% off on future cruises.
Meanwhile, three weeks after the crash, Carnival Cruise Lines returned to its regular social media
commentary. And a few weeks after that, CEO Arison was back entertaining at Miami Heat games
And six months after his company suffered one of history’s most tragic sea crashes, Arison’s Heat won
the NBA championship.
Seitel, F. P. (05/2013). The Practice of Public Relations, 12th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online].
Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781269986991/
