10 Things Samsung Should Do to Repair Its Brand Image

Samsung’s PR nightmare of exploding products is impacting customers’ faith in the safety and reliability of its technology. Here’s how the company can rebuild trust.

Samsung has already apologized for the Galaxy Note7’s flaw, but moving on and stop saying it’s sorry at this point would be a mistake. Samsung needs to continue to show regret for the manufacturing problem. Whenever its executives are interviewed or customers seek help, Samsung must appear to be sorry. Soon enough, customers will appreciate that and perhaps start returning to Samsung products.

Opinions are mixed on whether Samsung has shared enough information about its woes so far. However, everyone agrees that the company must share much more information in the future. Once the Galaxy Note7 recall is complete, Samsung needs to publish the findings of its investigation, talk about the fallout that occurred after word of the exploding Galaxy Note 7s surfaced and discuss what it’s doing internally to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note7 to market in hopes of beating Apple this holiday season. The company reportedly believed the iPhone 7 would be a “dull” update and wanted to capitalize with a big upgrade to the Galaxy Note7. If true, this move backfired. Instead of rushing to release products based on Apple’s timeline, Samsung should have taken more time to ensure its smartphones were entirely safe and reliable.

Samsung can use reports of its exploding Galaxy Note7, Galaxy S7 and washing machines to its advantage. For the foreseeable future, Samsung should talk about its strides in safety and how it’s both improving product and employee safety and comprehensively testing products before they hit store shelves. Samsung must use all the tools at its disposal to make people think it cares more about product safety than any other company in the wake of this gaffe.

Lawsuits are flying fast and furious over the Galaxy Note7 troubles, and they’re unlikely to end anytime soon. Samsung’s best move, then, is to settle the lawsuits as quickly as possible and express regret. Battling lawsuits in court will look as though Samsung believes it did nothing wrong and doesn’t care about those who were burned by the Note7. Accepting responsibility and paying damages to customers is a show of responsibility and caring.

Samsung has been rightfully criticized for offering just $25 to those replacing or returning their Galaxy Note7. Samsung needs to dedicate much more in cash (or product rebates) to affected customers to show it wants to fix its relationships. Offering just $25 doesn’t say emphatically that Samsung wants to make things better.

Samsung is only in the preliminary stages of its investigation into the Galaxy Note7’s manufacturing problem. And while the company has said it plans to investigate the matter fully, it must follow through on that. In too many cases, companies prematurely end investigations when they think the world isn’t watching, further damaging their brands. Samsung needs to take its investigation to its logical conclusion and release a full report on its findings. That will show at least a willingness to get it right next time.

It’s impossible for any company to say for sure that its products always will be safe, but Samsung needs to get as close to that as possible. The company has a major challenge ahead as it tries to put customers’ minds at ease. If it offers a near-guarantee that its future products will be safe, it might reclaim some of its lost customers who need some reassurance.

One of the best ways to make customers feel more comfortable is to launch safety programs. Samsung can make announcements about modifications to its production and inspection processes, and discuss how it’s spending more money on quality assurance. Better yet, Samsung can appoint independent inspectors for its products, who will verify their quality. The programs might be unorthodox, but they could set a standard that makes Samsung look better over the long term.

Samsung must not move too quickly in trying to fix things with customers. Making rash decisions now can have lasting and potentially disastrous effects on its business. Instead, Samsung should first complete the Galaxy Note7 replacements, continue its apology tour and handle any fallout that might arise from the recent news of its washing machines exploding. Next, it can worry about settling lawsuits and launching its safety programs.