My favourite example demonstrates the power of online communities. The Motrin Moms example confirms that there has been a social shift due to social media. With this shift, organizations no longer shape opinions and interests. Instead people go online to connect around things they like, want, believe in or dislike.
According to Ad Age “mommy bloggers” are one of the most sought after communities in the blogosphere. So when a company like Motrin put out a national ad that refers to babies as accessories mommy bloggers took their opinions online. Eventually, the controversial ad was pulled and Motrin replaced their homepage with a message addressing the ad.
However, had Motrin known to monitor what “mommy bloggers” were saying about the ad they could have had an immediate indication that there was a problem. They could have also actively engaged with key bloggers like Jessica Gottlieb before the issue escalated into a bigger story that was soon picked up by traditional outlets.
What are some of your favourite crisis communication case studies?
Dominique,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I believe the information trend has shifted from advertising to blogs, it is a double edged sword. I will admit that my main source of information comes from customers previous experiences before purchasing a product, however, one must be careful as to how much weight they put into blogs.
As for crisis management, I do not have much on the subject, although being in marketing myself I realize the power in blogs. I have seen first hand that companies now employ full time bloggers, not only to promote their brand, but also, corporations have these people for damage control on anonymous blogs.
A lot of thought is now being put into this major source of information. Although it is unrealistic to believe that companies can repair a name that has displeased almost all, they can censor very few complaints if only few arise. Also they have the power to start up their own blogs under false names to try and confuse or coerce customers.
I agree with the mommy blogger points, and being a tech person myself, I on a regular basis vist http://ubuntuforums.org/. All things being considered, blogs are putting the power into consumers hands. The question is how much power?