Lessons in Brand Management from Beyond Meat’s PR Crisis

Over the weekend, Beyond Meat, a maker of plant-based meat substitutes whose stock has been struggling, found itself in a negative spotlight again — this time after its COO Doug Ramsey allegedly bit a man’s nose.

The headlines practically wrote themselves. Certainly, there was no shortage of puns (some better than others).

As of Tuesday evening, the company had 4,471 hits on TV, radio, online & print (NOT including social media mentions).

Once it begins, a PR crisis moves FAST. And the news coverage is relentless.

Think of it as wildfire. There are many moving parts, decisions must be made quickly as a team, and you’ve only got one shot to get it right. Delay isn’t your friend.

This blog will look at the timeline, key considerations we see with clients, and the rationale for the brevity of Beyond Meat’s statement — even though it came out later than it should have.

Saturday, Sept 17: Ramsey was arrested
Sunday, Sept 18: Ramsey was released
Monday, Sept 19: News stories were rolling in

By the time CNBC’s news story ran at 6:39P Eastern on Monday, Beyond Meat still remained silent on the issue.

What happens when you fail to respond to a reporter’s inquiry? You get some version of: “XYZ Company didn’t (immediately) respond to requests for comment,” “The company didn’t respond to requests for comment on XYZ issue,” or “The company couldn’t be reached for comment.” None of which is desirable.

Why is it essential to be ready fast with at least an initial reassuring statement? So it looks like you’re in control of the situation. Otherwise, it seems the situation is in control of you. That’s a recipe for a PR disaster.

Why didn’t the plant-based food company have a statement on Monday? Why did it take until Tuesday at 4:32P Eastern before any word emerged? Most likely, executives and departments were wrestling over what to do and what to say.

Let’s pull back the curtain and peek at how such situations usually unfold.

As fate often has it, when an executive lands in trouble, it’s frequently on a Friday night or over the weekend. Information begins to trickle into the company over the weekend, but there’s not a fulsome picture until Monday morning.

Then there’s an internal dance between Legal, HR, Communications, and Marketing over a series of questions. Sometimes an external firm, Strategic & Crisis PR, like ours, is brought in to steer the ship with Legal and HR:

Will the person be kept on staff, placed on leave, or dismissed?
If put on temporary leave, who will step in during the interim? For how long?
Do we have a long-term replacement internally? How long will that take?
If not, can we conduct the external search quietly? How long will that take?
Are we allowed legally to discuss personnel matters publicly?
If so, how much (or how little) do we want to say?
If not, what else can we say?
How widely is this matter already known? How widely might it become publicized?

The plant-based food company’s response.

When Beyond Meat finally issued its statement on Tuesday afternoon, it was extremely brief and straight to the point:

“Doug Ramsey, Beyond Meat’s Chief Operating Officer, has been suspended effective immediately. Operations activities will be overseen on an interim basis by Jonathan Nelson, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations.”

Why so brief? That’s all that needed to be said.

The company didn’t even mention the underlying issue. If it had — and had said Ramsey’s alleged actions didn’t align with company values — that would have simply provided more fodder for the media to pick apart.

Whenever a key executive leaves (or is removed), it’s ideal to announce their permanent replacement simultaneously.

Next best is an interim. If neither is available, hopefully, you can at least announce a search is underway for a replacement.

You want to avoid giving the sense that the company is adrift. That would create uncertainty.

And in the case of Beyond Meat, the last thing they need or want right now is a crisis of confidence.

Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.