Category Archives: Crisis Management

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3 Social Marketing Lessons You Can Learn From ‘Road House’

by: Jamey Brown

There’s nothing wrong with tossing some bacon, roundhouse kicks and mullets into your day. To break up my day I will, from time to time, watch clips from the Swayze classic, ‘Road House.’ In watching these clips I could not help but think “what if Patrick Swayze was a marketer? What if he had access to social media?” My dwellings on this below…

1. Be Nice 

You are going to encounter A LOT of personalities you don’t like. Big ideas will float around that are terrible. And you will butt heads with people who work close to you. When these times arise, be nice. When there are too many cooks in the kitchen, be nice. When a campaign gets a green light that you don’t like, be nice. Now, I’m not saying have no opinion and bottle everything up. But handle things that are out of your control with the attitude of being nice.

2. When Someone Calls You A Name, Be Nice

As Community Managers we all know there’s going to be people out there who bash your brand – some brands more regularly than others. It happens. Deal with it with transparency. When tackling negative feedback from people, it is essential in my opinion to be nice. Having been a disgruntled customer before (who hasn’t?), I have been completely won over by kindness and brand’s willingness to help. When brands become human and are nice to their fans and bust their ass to help them, it typically results in winning that person back. If that person is not completely sold they will at least have something good to say about your customer service. Remember, wins don’t have to come from just a sale.

3. When The Time Of Being Nice Is Over, Stand Up For Yourself (Or Your Brand)

This is a VERY rare circumstance in social media. I repeat: this is a VERY rare circumstance in social media. When a brand has been nice, accommodating and given all 120% of themselves to helping a disgruntled person and that person continues to come back with bash after bash after bash about the same situation then it is time to stop being nice. THIS DOES NOT MEAN BE OUTRIGHT RUDE! But it does mean that brands, on occasion, need to stand up for themselves and their content. Defend your castle! A brand can simply say something like “Sorry, [insert name]. We have given you every possible resource at our disposal. If you continue to use graphic language or rant on our comment threads you will be reported and banned.” Don’t be afraid. Stand up for your kindness and willingness to be good at customer service. Because that’s exactly what you’re doing.

When have you had to stand up for your brand? Or continue to be nice?  

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Oh Tw*t! A Look At Social Crisis Management

by: Jamey Brown 

We’ve all had that moment. You know, the one where you realize something just went horribly wrong and your stomach sinks to your feet. Just the other morning I was having a so-so morning. I got terrible sleep, I gulped a giant container of sour milk and then I came downstairs to find my car with two boots on it. It was an “oh sh*t” kind of morning. We are presented with these situations everyday – there is no such thing as a perfect day. Even on good days we have some small things we must fix. But what happens when an “omg” moment happens? What happens after we curse and our stomach sinks?

Below are two recent tweets that were sent out on the Kitchen Aid and StubHub Twitter handles. Please take a good look at these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kitchen Aid tweet was published on the night of the Presidential debate and the StubHub tweet was published the next day. After seeing these back to back social crises, it is a must that everyone, especially those in the social media industry, review how these situations were handled with by the brands and received by the public.

Kitchen Aid – What Was Done Right

Cynthia Soledad, senior director of KitchenAid brand and marketing shared services for Whirlpool Corp., took complete control and was fully transparent. She immediately took to the Twitter airwaves and apologized thoroughly to followers for what was said. Not only did she apologize to followers, but she directly apologized to President Obama and his family and then thanked followers for hearing her out. I agree 100% with these moves because it shows me that the brand is not a brand anymore, but completely human. Cynthia Soledad came clean with what was said and acknowledged it fully – she did not try to sweep it under the rug and hope people would forget about it in a few days. It was owned. She even asked people to DM her if they had questions about the situation. How many brands have ever done that? More visual details can be seen in this article written by Tim Stenovec.

Kitchen Aid – What Was Done Wrong 

Followers wanted to see more. I know I did. When a situation like this happens, a brand can be tarnished forever. It is no light subject. Above I applaud Cynthia for how she handled the situation, but I wanted to see more of HER. Perhaps a short, well produced video segment? Something visual of her and her response to us and the president. I know this is a nitpicky request, but I guarantee it would have helped. When people are dealt with face to face in situations like this it means the world to them. Some don’t care either way, but I know that I would be fully engaged if something like this was released. And hey, there’s still time!

Kitchen Aid – What I Would Do Down the Line

Everyone has different opinions about this and I would love to hear them, but I would definitely make light of this hiccup. Witty comedy can solve a lot of problems. It would be a good way to not only wrap up this situation, but to call some potentially positive attention towards the brand and show that they know they messed up. How? Release some kind of viral video calling yourself out about this tweet and everything that happened around it. If done correctly, it could be harnessed as a positive for the brand. Check out the Dollar Shave Club promo – that is the tone I’d like to see. Just something to think about.

Kitchen Aid – Twitter Feedback

 

 

 

 

 

StubHub – What Was Done Right

This situation was more of a mere screwup than anything else. Although details are still coming out, it has been stated that this was probably someone who posted to the wrong account. That being said, it was an epic fail on behalf of the brand. What makes this crisis different is that it deals with vulgar language as opposed to insulting content. We all know the rule: don’t EVER delete comments or tweets unless absolutely necessary. Always deal with situations head on and with full brand transparency. There is one exception though, when the content is obscenely vulgar and offensive. I am glad StubHub decided to take this down because it cannot be living on their stream. But where I think they scored is their acknowledgment to followers about deleting it. Again, the brand became human and acknowledged their mistake. They deleted it and came out and said they deleted it and then apologized. Think what would have happened if they would have taken it down and not said anything.

StubHub – What Was Done Wrong 

I want more! Ok, you took it down and it is gone. Good job. Now I would like some more explanations, comments, etc. about what happened. I don’t think it should be drug out, but some more insight would help. Why? Because that’s what we want. If followers (remember, followers are actually people) know what is going on internally with a situation like this, it makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

StubHub – What I Would Do Down the Line  

Since this crisis dealt with vulgar language that negatively referenced the brand, I would not take the witty comedy route. It might not sit well with people. I would simply take a lesson from Cynthia Roledad and open myself up (yes you Social Media Manager) to the audience for questioning. Let them tweet you, DM you, etc. so you can explain everything and hopefully diffuse the situation.

StubHub – Twitter Feedback  

 

 

 

 

 

Alright, Class. What Have We Learned? 

A. The obvious – always approach a social crisis with full transparency and openness. Be willing to discuss, not deter.

B. Evaluate the situation for what it is. Gauge how big or small your recovery plan must be.

C. Make sure your future solutions plan lines up with the situation. Example: the witty comedy approach is fun, but not always appropriate.

D. Be ready to be crucified. Social media allows people to also be fully transparent with their opinions and you better believe they will let you know if you messed up.