Opportunity Costs: Crisis Control in Social Media

You hear a lot about marketing crisis' these days. After all, that's the nature of the news cycle. People love to see corporations mess up and show their fallibility. Real-time communication methods now make the discovery of damaging information not only easy but extremely viral. Knowing this simple fact: Why aren't more companies involved with monitoring, listening and being pro-active with information via social channels?

What seems like a no-brainer still hasn't quite resonated with most corporations. Damage control is easiest when you can shape the message from the beginning. You don't want to have someone setting up the entire narrative for you.

Being pro-active should be your primary option. Not your secondary one.

Lesson #1: Domino's

You can't control what people are saying. You can control how quickly you respond to it.

What if Domino's had a social presence when the YouTube video hit? Would it have blown up and spread like it did when they weren't listening? Unlikely. It's much easier to dump water on a campfire then it is to put out a forest fire. It was a day before anyone beyond a VP got back to issue a statement. Then when the official statement was released

Domino's could have stepped in, addressed the situation, and taken their lumps in the social space. Thus the ensuing maelstrom and wide reporting of the video via the media would have been unlikely.

Lesson #2: Starbuck's Coffee

Your community should come to your aid and help defend you. (If you do right by them.)

Established engagement and community building are extremely helpful in a crisis. Without the social media, web presence, and size advantage. The "Stop Starbucks" pro-union campaign could have picked up faster. Starbuck's was able to effectively crush any and all interest in their movement via their community.

Goodwill DOES count for something. It's better to be an accessible corporation with a personality then a soulless entity.

Lesson #3: Motrin

Reassess and examine your message before deploying your campaign.

What went wrong? Were you properly prepared? Did you launch a strategy that you knew might be conceived as controversial? Simply, examining and understanding how your message will play with your audience is essential. The Motrin Moms was considered a great commercial by about 80% of the women polled. However, a vocal 20% (with microphones) turned the tide of public opinion against Motrin.

Had Motrin tread more carefully and involved some bloggers in their decision making process? This whole situation probably could have been avoided.

The points I'm driving at? Social allows you to speak to your customers, clients and competitors in real time. Without that functionality? Social is just another medium, with that impetus behind it? Social becomes a new way of thinking and constructing business models/functionality.

You need to be faster. Social can help you get there.

tagged as damage control, dominos marketing, marketing crisis, motrin moms, news cycle, pr disaster, social media fail, starbucks marketing, viral social media