By Darren Gilbert
This
fact means that it’s even more important that you learn from the mistakes of
others. After all, you don’t want to be embarrassed. No one does.
Exhibit
A: Belkin tries to control everything
In 2009, Belkin, an American manufacturer
of consumer electronics, hit on what they thought would be a good idea. They
wanted people to write reviews for their products. There is no harm in that. Or
so they thought. However, they wanted the reviews written as if the person who
was writing them, owned one. And it didn’t matter if they didn’t have one or
not.
However,
that wasn’t all. It later came out that the reviewers were expected to give the
product the highest rating possible while also searching for any negative ones
and mark them as ‘unhelpful’. Not only is this unethical but it’s also
misleading.
How
to avoid: Be honest
“Be
honest in your online communications and activities. As Belkin learned,
dishonesty will be discovered and does more harm than good,” writes Susan Gunelius, CEO of
Keysplash Creative Inc.
Exhibit
B: British Airways fails the customer service test
In 2013, a disgruntled British Airways
passenger lamented the service of the airline who lost his baggage. This was
done via Twitter. Unfortunately for
British Airways, they forgot to reply to him and so he tweeted again. However,
this time, he paid for a sponsored Tweet.
The result was inevitable: 50 000 people in
BA’s key markets viewed it and within a week, the press was all over it. In
fact, if you search for it on Google,
you will come up with some 11 million results.
How
to avoid: Communicate quickly and effectively
The
easy way to avoid this was to communicate quickly and effectively. Valentine
Smith, account director at Tomorrow People PR explains: “If you're not listening on a key
channel, odds on there's a customer there getting angrier and angrier. Public
Relations today isn't about controlling the newsflow or even about crisis
management PR; it's about engaging with your audience.”
Exhibit
C: Nissan allows its CEO on to Reddit
In an effort to boost their brand, Nissan
decided it was a good idea to allow their CEO Carlos Ghosn onto Reddit for an Ask Me Anything session.
On the surface it doesn’t seem like anything could go wrong. But, of course,
that is the theory. The reality is always different.
What resulted as an overflow of questions,
many of which went unanswered. At the same time, Redditors accused the company
of seeding questions.
How
to avoid: Have a plan before you jump into something
Before you begin anything, you first need
to know why you are doing it.
“Identify your objectives for using the
platform: Is it to promote a new product, service, methodology or a personality
from the company itself?,” writes
Elizabeth Low, a contributor to Marketing
magazine.
Much like the cliché of failing to plan
equals planning to fail, any PR activity needs a map.
What
are your thoughts? Do you know of any other lessons that can be learn from past
PR disasters? Tell us below.