Product Recall

Experience shows that no more than 70% of defective products are recovered from a product recall, and this can be despite the engagement of TV and other media. According to a definitive report in 2000, the average recall recovers just 37% of the products sold. Since this report and in light of a tightening up of recall legislation at an EU level, product recalls have seen a four-fold increase.

Ensuring success in product recall

There is no official code of practice for issuing a recall. However, authorities such as trading standards officers, will look for evidence showing that companies have taken "all reasonable steps". Notably, failure to recover all items does not absolve the distributor’s recall responsibility despite initial recall attempts, since any one of the missing volume can still pose a threat.

Board approval is typical for a product recall campaign and once the need has been established, a warning notice is likely to be required. Typically, this may see the issue of notices in the press where the product itself had originally been advertised; posting notices in shop windows or websites, issuing a press release and notifying relevant trading standards officers. Telephone helplines and free-post addresses may also be introduced.

Often it’s the person most at risk, ie. the consumer, who is most difficult to contact, therefore, to be effective, a product recall plan must support instant implementation. The increasing use of loyalty and member schemes and CRM applications now mean that customers, particularly of higher cost items, are more easily contactable.

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Recall rates vary greatly, depending on:

Cost of the item*

How risky the faulty item is perceived to be

Age and value of the item

Media used to highlight the product recall

Money spent effectively to alert consumers

*Items costing less than 10 tend to achieve recall rates of less than 10%, while the average rate for goods above that threshold was 44% to 51%, rising slightly as the cost of the product increases above 50".
(*Source: bbc.co.uk 20 February 2007)

Key groups to reach include:

Customers

Retail outlets

Online user groups and networks; company and partner websites

Press including trade publications; radio and/or TV

Professional institutions, research organisations

Government or local authority departments (including overseas)

Police and other emergency services

Call us on 020 8002 0000 to discuss your requirements.

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