{"id":888,"date":"2023-03-10T02:12:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T02:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bursucretleri.com\/blog\/?p=888"},"modified":"2023-03-23T08:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T08:55:23","slug":"learning-from-the-mistakes-of-kmart-motrin-and-fedex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bursucretleri.com\/blog\/learning-from-the-mistakes-of-kmart-motrin-and-fedex\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning From The Mistakes Of Kmart, Motrin and FedEx"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three recent, cautionary tales\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kmart<\/strong>\u00a0was slammed\u00a0by the blogosphere and debated intensely due to unartfully paying popular bloggers for placement through IZEA, a company which Michael Arrington, the most influential blogger\u00a0says is:<\/p>\n

The blogging world\u2019s pariah and are fairly routinely trashed for, as I put it, polluting the blogosphere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(See my previous thoughts on\u00a0paid blogging)<\/p>\n

Motrin<\/strong>, a brand essentially invisible to the social web previously,\u00a0sparked massive controversy\u00a0due to an ad which proved highly offensive and demonstrated their marketing department was out of touch with real moms.<\/p>\n

FedEx\u00a0<\/strong>was recently\u00a0put front and center stage\u00a0when an agency person from Ketchum, their PR firm, made a negative remark on Twitter about Memphis (where FedEx is based) on a trip to visit the client.\u00a0 Actually, the drama happened not from the Tweet itself but from\u00a0FedEx\u2019s response.\u00a0 140 characters can do a lot.<\/p>\n

While these are three distinct and separate situations, what they have in common is they all woke the hive mind of social media in a negative way and inspired drama and controversy.<\/p>\n

At first glance, you might think, \u201chey, at least these brands were being talked about,\u201d but the rules are not the same as broadcast media.\u00a0 The old PR adage of \u201cI don\u2019t care what you say, just spell my name right\u201d holds true frequently but not in these types of cases.<\/p>\n

These are dangerous situations for the image of a brand for today and into the future.<\/p>\n

The internet is referential
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In previous times, when a large PR crisis happened \u2013 it would run in newspapers nationally and locally, be put on TV news, joked about by radio personalities, and then discussed around the water cooler and at dinner tables.\u00a0 Depending on the severity of the situation, in a few days it would be out of mind.\u00a0 Within a few weeks certainly no one would remember the situation.\u00a0 It might come back on those VH1 year-in-review countdown specials, but when it was done, it was usually pretty much done.<\/p>\n

Something completely different happens on the web.\u00a0 Instead of a mistake or drama being pushed onto the masses by gatekeepers, now people are free to call out the mistakes themselves.\u00a0 And without gatekeepers, even small things can be made big, as proven by the FedEx example of 140 characters on Twitter sparking\u00a0pages of blog posts\u00a0and even\u00a0news stories.<\/p>\n

The fact that I can quickly link you to all of this and show you the scale of the situation in a few seconds demonstrates my point \u2013 the web is referential, and everyone knows how to quickly source things.\u00a0 Those reading about these situations who publish content to the web will reference them when they mention those brands again because that\u2019s how web publishing works \u2013 we build upon stories over time.\u00a0 We know what has been said because we have been following along.\u00a0 The web is semantic, and these brands have forever tagged themselves to negativity in a landscape that only\u00a0continues to grow\u00a0in influence.<\/p>\n

Even if Motrin does something positive in the future, we will still link the Motrin moms story.\u00a0 The unfortunate Ketchum executive James Andrews will be tagged to his\u00a0now-famous Tweet\u00a0\u2013 that was his introduction to much of the world that didn\u2019t know him.\u00a0 Kmart will forever be tagged in many of our minds as the brand which paid influencers off for some ink through a company that has a negative image across the blogosphere.<\/p>\n

Do you think any of these situations are worth the mentions?\u00a0 I certainly don\u2019t \u2013 these companies have created a chapter about themselves that the web will not forget.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t shop at Kmart before, nor did I use Motrin, however my first impression with them is now negative.\u00a0 The FedEx situation made everyone look bad \u2013 I just don\u2019t see the value in airing the dirty laundry between a brand and a person at their PR agency.\u00a0 It just seems like good\u00a0fodder for Gawker.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t sustainable PR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kmart and FedEx are large enough they generate a certain volume of mentions in the social web without doing anything.\u00a0 Motrin isn\u2019t, so it provides a better example of looking at what their controversy generated.\u00a0 Now that the controversy has died down, we can look at some numbers:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They generated a substantial amount of buzz \u2013 it\u2019s pretty obvious no one was talking about Motrin before their faux pas, but you can see their numbers going back to where they started shortly after.\u00a0 Not any long term value here, and in my mind any positive aspects of buzz being generated are far outweighed by the sheer negativity shown to the brand.\u00a0 Many moms went as far as to vocally write things such as \u201cboycott motrin\u201d \u2013 a phrase that this campaign generated 14K results for in Google.\u00a0 Also keep in mind, moms are influential not just in the blogosphere, they share stories in person with each other frequently.<\/p>\n

Seemingly small situations, made large\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The social web loves having something to talk about, and it is basic human nature to spread negative news.<\/p>\n

Additionally, many brands are making their first forays into the social space, but trying to push old marketing tactics into an environment they were not designed for \u2013 creating\u00a0awkward or negative outcomes.<\/p>\n

These things combined create a perfect storm for negative PR to proliferate.\u00a0 It\u2019s great fodder for the influencers of the web who thrive on this stuff, because they know it will spread.\u00a0 Controversy generates pageviews and attention they can use for themselves.<\/p>\n

Information does not go top down, it is multi-directional and spreads at a dizzying speed across platforms and mediums.\u00a0 We have built a system where news can spread at rates never seen before, completely unedited.\u00a0 People are going to run with things, and there isn\u2019t much stopping it once it has began.\u00a0 So much of what is put into the system about companies is bland news, that anything even slightly off-color stands a good chance of accelerating.<\/p>\n

Conclusion \u2013 don\u2019t chase spikes, pursue linear growth through participation
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

image borrowed and modified from\u00a0skellie\u2019s blog<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spikes in attention \u2013 either the positive or negative variety yield similar results:\u00a0 a quick, top of mind awareness, but without strategy behind them are not purposeful.\u00a0 You can use spikes in attention to your advantage and create tangible value and results, but you have to create an ongoing dialog with the world and build upon what you are doing over time in a sustainable way.<\/p>\n

Not saying positive spikes can\u2019t help you \u2013 they certainly can, but without a goal or next steps built into the process and in place to capitalize on spikes, there is not much value in them.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0 have written before that you can\u00a0ignore the social web at your own peril.\u00a0 And we see more examples everyday, including companies that are highly involved in the social web\u00a0able to hedge negativity before it gets too far.<\/p>\n

Companies participating already have allies built and positive relationships forged with people not by trying to generate unauthentic buzz, but by participating positively in proper ways.\u00a0 If your positive reputation proceeds you, that will in many causes stop negativity from spreading in its tracks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three recent, cautionary tales\u2026 Kmart\u00a0was slammed\u00a0by the blogosphere and debated intensely due to unartfully paying popular bloggers for placement through … <\/p>\n

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