Among established brands of the world, few have experienced a figurative brand loyalty bludgeoning as crippling as Sony Pictures Entertainment has in the wake of the Nov. 24 data hack. While a torrent of celebrity emails and information occupies headlines surrounding the hack, a more significant result could be consumers' collective grip on Sony products. As the international corporation works to bail water from its leaking ship, it must also aim to sail onward.
"This kind of cleanup, just trying to contain this kind of issue costs tens of millions of dollars", Brent Lang, Variety, said in a release. "And that's
to say nothing about the kind of legal costs associated with it, the cost and damage to a brand that you have to try to repair."
For the Japanese electronics behemoth, the attack on its entertainment division has left much broader scars on the company's overall brand image. Customers looking to purchase Sony products this holiday season may be more wary to share personal information with the company, which has experienced cyber security breaches in the past.
For companies that may be experiencing such PR nightmares-whether they are as egregious or detrimental as the ongoing Sony hack-the challenge of making up for lost assets must be met with a further dedication to the customer experience to reaffirm brand loyalty.