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Guard Your Brand Against Malicious Tampering.
By Lindsay Nix - The Acheson Group, LLC
Sunday, 3rd April 2016
 

Malicious tampering; we know the term, but do any of us really think it could happen to our business? It happens more than you might think and for as many different crazy reasons as there are people on the planet.

We have seen a rise in this type of crisis situation over the past few months, and every time this occurs, we are puzzled by the thought process of the culprit.

Two recent cases in which TAG was involved are:

  1. The first was pills thrown into a dry ready-to-eat product â€" different pills on different days. This didn’t come with a note, rather because the product made it to retail, it was discovered through consumer complaints. We managed to identify what the pills were; but the whole story has never emerged, perhaps it will always be a mystery. Nothing further happened, but alarm bells sounded that we all need to be aware of the potential of a disgruntled employee seeking revenge for something … loss of hours, loss of pay, a victim of bullying, etc. It could be anything, but we need to be ready.
  2. The second incident was the finding of a green vial in product from a foreign supplier, with a note that said the contents of the ‘lot’ had been contaminated with cyanide and more would follow. How can we protect ourselves from that?

Both of these are threatening, both dangerous and enough, in some circumstances, to warrant a recall of product; although, in each of these particular cases, that was averted. In addition to potential consumer danger, such malicious tampering can put your brand at risk.

Fortunately, neither of these incidents made the mainstream newsfeed, but they easily could have. The media loves drama; loves the unusual, the unforeseen event, the story of intrigue â€" all of which malicious tampering usually involves.

Every company needs to be aware of the potential threat that this poses and incorporate a strategy into your crisis response plan to be ready to handle the unexpected. Because let’s face it, no recall or crisis ever comes at a convenient time.

So how can we be ready for this? How can we safeguard against it? The truth is, we have to always be aware, vigilant, ready to react, prepared with a robust recall plan, with assigned roles and responsibilities in place.… What more can we do to protect ourselves? It’s almost like protection from ourselves; from someone within the company: our workforce, our colleagues; from our suppliers; from our distribution chain. Knowing that someone could involve your company in this undercover cloak of mystique and intrigue is what is so alarming. So you need to be ready, have a good plan in case it happens. The odds are that it won’t … but we never know.

So, knowing all that, I’ll tell you that at TAG, we are ready to assist in any emergency, any strange scenario, any unusual event that could damage a company’s reputation. Guard your reputation, it’s what is most valuable to your brand. Let us help you develop a reputation that is hard to tarnish … it’s what we do.

Lindsay Nix is the Sales and Marketing Director at The Acheson Group.  Lindsay has over 30 years of Sales and Marketing experience to draw on.  Having worked in the fast paced and cutting edge world of Media sales as well as retail, wholesale and distribution sales; the Insurance and Mortgage Industry.  From selling Safety products on the London Docks in England, to translating high level sales meetings in Paris, she is at comfortable in any sales environment with cold calling being her specialty either in person or on the phone.  Combining all these vibrant experiences with her signature personal approach to Client needs; she has honed a natural skill to a successful Career in sales and marketing.

Lindsay graduated from Eastbourne College of Further Education, in England with a bachelors in Business Administration.

Using her extensive background in high level sales and marketing, Lindsay will be leading and creating a dynamic approach to increasing the Company visibility and highlighting the many diverse talents, services and programs that The Acheson Group has to offer.

The Acheson Group, LLC (TAG), led by Dr. David Acheson, is a strategic consulting firm for food and beverage companies and those providing technical support to the food industry. With a focus on strategic risk management, TAG provides the latest food safety consulting insights in a global environment in providing Operational Risk management, Reputational risk management, and Regulatory Risk servicesâ€"all with the goal of achieving brand protection. TAG works with all supply chain segments, from farm to manufacturers, retail and food services providers â€" domestic and foreign â€" all focused on providing first rate services in a cost- conscious environment.

www.achesongroup.com

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