From my standpoint as the brand or social media manager, I made the move to keep in line with the aesthetic that Balenciaga has been known for (Clean/Slick lines) and adopt that in the format. In direct response to the crisis, I would see to the partnership of the brand with stars who have faced abuse and been exploited at a young age, and those who have been taken advantage of by those who were supposed to protect them.
Kim Kardashian would act as the starting point given her history with the brand and her love for her children. Using Kim would put us where the action is in a sense. Having her act as a spokesperson/response to the crisis makes sense given it started online and every time one motioned the brand they mentioned the star and her relationship with the brand (Coombs & Holladay, 2012)..
Using Brooke Shields who has recently put out a documentary that showcase on the exploitation she underwent at a young age, and Karen Mulder, who was among the first supermodels in 90s who went underground after years of sexual abuse, act as two strong ties to the fashion world who would move to give legitimacy to Balenciaga’s new movement to protect children. This stays in the realm of fashion as Brooke and Karen have a extensive history in the fashion world, and Karen will offer her knowledge of behind the scenes of fashion brands and how she and others were treated.
To further create a sense of raising awareness, I would move to see the creation of a once off podcast (that could be continued in future for different topic) that would act as a table talk in which stars could come together and share their stories and offer advice and comfort to others who are going through the same things. Of course, the main focus would be on the safety/mistreatment of children and women. Including other names of stars who have been exploited or abused in the industry such as Megan Thee Stallion, Jeanette McCurdy, Leighton Meester, and Cassie would act as a way to draw in viewers and give many of the women an opportunity to talk of their situations for the first time. This multi-spokesperson model would bring together women of different backgrounds and cultures to share their shared struggle, but from different cultural lenses (Littlefield, et. al., 2021, p.113). The Culture Centered approach would also find itself littered throughout given the approach’s focus on the subjective, and focusing on the importance finding and studying the context in which we all communicate.
This would also allow the brand to be head smart, moving to have different perspectives on the panel as to avoid excluding anyone and causing another scandal, hence the phrase “be redundant and sprawl” (Coombs & Holladay, 2012).
All content would come from the joint efforts of Balenciaga, The National Children’s Alliance, and the Department of Violence Against Women.
References
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, J. S. (2012). The paracrisis: The challenges created by publicly managing crisis prevention. Public Relations Review, 38(3), 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.04.004
Issawi, D., & Cohen, D. (2023, June 5). What to Know About the Balenciaga Ad Scandal. The Cut; The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/article/what-to-know-about-the-balenciaga-ad-scandal.html