A bizarre “shoe malfunction” caused Zion Williamson, a star basketball player at Duke University, to leave last night’s game injured. In the first minute of the game, the shoe “exploded” and Williamson’s foot pushed right through it. He went down clutching his knee, left the court, and did not return for the rest of the game.
Before we go further, I wish Mr. Williamson a speedy recovery with no future issues due to this injury.
Williamson is considered one of the best basketball players today and is expected to be the number one draft pick in the NBA. The game, Duke against UNC (University of North Carolina), was the most highly anticipated college basketball games of the year. The shoe, the PG 2.5 PE, was manufactured by Nike. The event is trending across social media platforms. Many are blasting Nike, while some claim that the shoe was tampered with. Regardless, Nike is in the spotlight and everyone is waiting to see how the company will respond. So, the big question is whether Nike will fall apart at the seams or be able to stitch this problem back together.
I have no doubt that Nike will “Just Do It” and that the “it” is the right thing. This isn’t about admitting fault or casting blame. This is about showing the world that they are, as they always have been, a world-class company that manufactures and sells world-class merchandise.
This is a classic crisis management situation. Consider what happened last year with another major brand, Starbucks, when they were faced with a crisis. Two African-American customers were falsely arrested in one of their Philadelphia, PA stores. It was a mistake, but it was too late; the incident hit news outlets worldwide. The way Howard Schulz, CEO of Starbucks, handled the situation was a textbook lesson on how to properly handle a bad situation. Damage control wasn’t about hiding behind legal statements or trying to push it out of the spotlight. Instead, Schultz publicly acknowledged and apologized for the incident, then immediately flew to Philly to manage the situation firsthand. He didn’t cast blame but instead took ownership. His sense of urgency in handling the situation showed the world how important it was.
The Nike incident has nothing to do with race. What happened appears to be a product malfunction. We don’t yet know if the product was defective or if someone tampered with the shoe. While unfortunate and frustrating, this type of problem has happened before and will happen again. Like Starbucks, Nike responded with urgency and concern and chose to take action rather than point fingers.
“We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery,” Nike said in a public statement: “The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”
The acknowledgment of the problem is the first step in managing the crisis. Nike has to let the world know how they are handling the situation; the world demands to know what happened and what the solution is to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Nike did not cast blame on others. They know the importance of an explanation, so they are actively working to provide one.
It is often said that the best and the worst come out in a crisis. This is true of companies as well. Reactions like the ones seen from Nike and Starbucks are what distinguish great leaders – and great companies. Whether they realize it or not, they are following these steps:
- They acknowledge the problem – quickly.
- They apologize for the problem. This is about showing some empathy for the situation. “We’re sorry this happened” is acceptable.
- They discuss the solution – their plan to resolve the crisis.
- They own the situation. No deflection or spin on the story.
- They act with urgency. They work quickly to show the public that the problem is a priority.
That’s what Starbucks did last year. That’s what Nike, less than 12 hours after the incident, is in the process of doing. They aren’t sitting idle, hoping this will blow over. They know the magnitude of the problem and what’s at stake, which is more than contracts with athletes. It’s their brand reputation, which they know is everything.
The exploding shoe incident is a lesson in progress. Watch and learn. You and your company may never have a crisis of this magnitude, and I hope you never do. But by watching how world-class brands handle their problems, we can all learn a valuable lesson not only about brand integrity but also customer service.
