How Legal Issues Impact A Company’s Marketing Strategy

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Companies are looking to develop their marketing strategies using their social media platforms. Customer reviews and positive news about a company or product all have a say in how a business is seen. Social media platforms allow clients to leave reviews for the brands they shop. Positive Online reviews now equate to as much as a 270 percent increase in sales or responses to the owner of a Website, according to Northwestern University.

Legal issues can affect stock prices

There are many ways the negativity of a legal dispute can affect the success of a company when a lawsuit begins and becomes public knowledge. Most major companies decide to bury information about ongoing trials deep in their annual financial statements or press releases until the outcome is known. However, the loss of a suit can be entirely ignored by customers and investors who see little impact on the public image of a company depending on the type of legal issue being fought. Zack’s details a 2010 case lost by the Walt Disney Company which was followed by a four percent increase in stock value.

Lawsuits should be considered

Most trials, especially in Florida, happen when an employee has been injured on the job and chooses to hire a personal injury attorney Tampa. Determining when to enter into a legal dispute is part of running a successful business. However, a series of lawsuits issued by the English soccer club, Blackpool F.C. against its fans coincided with a fall in ticket sales from over $3 million in 2013 to less than $500,000 by 2017, according to the BBC. Measuring the impact of legal cases in marketing terms is a right way of deciding whether the case should be pursued or ignored by any successful business owner.

The positive impact of winning

No matter what kind of legal dispute is being fought, a victory will usually result in a positive image and financial returns for a business. Making sure a triumph is discussed in the news will often have a positive impact on the image of the company as the loser of a legal dispute is seen as being negatively impacted by the loss. The August 2012 patent dispute between Apple and Samsung ended in victory for the former and a significant jump in stock price. In comparison, Samsung saw its stock price dive amid the possible problems the loss of the case presented the electronics giant.

Impact on a SWOT analysis

Businesses of all sizes are now using the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) reports to consider how the future of a company will look based on available information. A lawsuit can be seen as either a weakness or a threat based on how severe the impact would be on the future of the business with a weakness often seen as less of a problem compared to risk.

A SWOT analysis is often the primary source for analyzing the potential for success any company has. Chron reports there are two different way of looking at lawsuits when discussing their possible impact on a company. Firstly, the suit as a threat is seen in the way a legal dispute could come from a fast food customer receiving food poisoning when eating at a restaurant. Secondly, a weakness is a potential area of concern leading to a lawsuit which could include improperly trained staff members.