http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2011/12/07/literal-copycat-video/
You may recall a few months ago the story broke of Stevie Koerner of “I Make Shiny Things” who became annoyed at Urban Outfitters for “ripping off my design”. She had discovered that her trademark necklaces were being mimicked by an Urban Outfitter supplier. And now we hear a couple of days ago the same type of situation has occurred between Tatty Devine and Claire’s Accessories… Both Urban Outfitter and Claire’s are massive multi-million £pound businesses who 10 years ago would have faced something that could almost have been swept under the carpet. Or at the very least paid a minimal out of court settlement because someone had a good lawyer and a couple of friendly journalists who had written a couple of lines on the story. Now-a-days of course it’s a very different story.
In Urban Outfitters case there was some denial at first until the whole story was revealed – it’s a big company, the channels of communication are not always easy. Then with Claire’s who faced with this barrage of abuse on their social platforms shut down any communication. There was no plan in place to deal with this type of crisis… The shut down creates more animosity with pages and pages created to fuel the fall-out; rather than follow a social media crisis plan protocol that funnels the activity, faces it head on and keeps communication channels open to pacify until a statement has been prepared and released. The whole situation can be turned into a massive positive PR story. There is an obvious route to take to appease the masses and come out of it smelling like roses – it can be done. But will they do it?
The Twitter masses it seems are backing the underdog, championing David over Goliath however the online Newspapers have a clearer split with quite a few saying that Tatty Devine deserved to be ripped off because they were too expensive with few original designs (OUCH!) Daily Mail
Do you buy your handbag on 5th Avenue or Canal Street? Whose side are you on? Is it as clear as that…?