The Kryptonite Bike Lock Fiasco Case Study

1. What factors led to the social media explosion of the Kryptonite story?

   A user uploaded a video of how to pick a Kryptonite bike lock with a simple Bic pen. The sharing went viral and Kryptonite had to act quickly to maintain good PR and communicate with their customers.

2. Do you agree with Donna Tocci’s claim that the company couldn’t have done much differently? If so, why? If not, what about its response could have been improved?

   I agree with Donna Tocci's claim. She stated that they could have posted more quickly and since then, social media companies have had extremely fast response rates with their social media accounts as PR disasters like this have become very common in the past decade or so. I believe they took the appropriate action in claiming the blame and not targeting the consumer for the bike lock's faulty design. 

3. What can Kryptonite do now to prevent customers from getting inaccurate information about its products?

   I think Kryptonite should have a FAQ page, as well as a 24/7 hotline, online chat, and other outlets for consumers to reach out to before making assumptions from third parties. If the information is there and present, they are able to back up claims or direct consumers to the proper rep.


4. What can other companies learn from this experience in terms of listening to the community and designing their social media strategy and objectives?

   I think companies can learn from this situation by using the same strategy of apologizing and communicating with the public that the customer is always right and they will connect with their team internally to fix this situation. Companies can also learn from this situation by increasing their respond rate within their social media team. By acting quicker to comments and reactions like this, they can nip it in the bud and lessen complaints from users and consumers.