1. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of
Social Media
CT Business EXpo
June 6, 2013

3. The Good
• Enables with those with small budgets to reach
millions
• Builds credibility based on trust
• Allows fans to do the marketing for you
– More credibly than you can
• Turbocharges your other marketing
– Website
– PR
– Ads
• Sets up a sticky relationship with your customers

4. The Bad
“Marketers are doing the same thing and expecting to get
different results. Social media is not driving this change, but just
enabling marketers to do bad marketing easier.”*
• Is being used badly – repurposed corporate materials
• Focuses on the wrong metrics
– Not followers
– Reach, leads and sales should be some of the tangible metrics
• Seen as “free”
– Engagement takes time
– Time isn’t free
• Allows anyone to be a major influencer in the community…
*7 Reasons Social Media Is Bad for Marketing”
by Kipp Bodnar, Hubspot

5. The Ugly
“The ugliest thing you can do is think of it as a social
media campaign.” *
• Building it outside the overall branding strategy
• De-mooring it from any marketing objectives
• Eliminating oversight from the keepers of the
brand
• Assuming any 20 year old can do it
• Setting up the tools and not engaging
• Taking down negative reactions
*BJ Flagg, Nurenu Brand Marketing

6. When it’s good…it’s very, very good

7. Open Happiness History….
• January 2009 – Music video debut - American Idol.
• January 2010 - "Open Happiness" vending machine
appeared in the common room of St. John’s University in
New York.
– One status update on Facebook
– One tweet
– 1 million views in the first week
• February 2011 – Happiness Truck travels the globe
• February 2012 – Olympic sponsorship
• February 2012 – Mobile app
• January 2013 –Sharing Happiness app on its Facebook page
– Fans can spread happiness and become part of a larger
community behind a social innovation

8. When it is bad, it is very, very bad --
Amy’s Bistro FB “campaign”
• British chef Gordon Ramsey quits in
exasperation after being unable to reason with
fiery couple
• May 10, 2013 episode
– slow service
– restaurateurs shouting at customers
– Couple have fired more than 100 employees in a
year
• Samy and Amy Bouzaglo launch furious
exchanges on Facebook …..

9. Step away from the computer…

10. And finally this…..

11. ..and when it’s ugly, it’s UGLY

12. History of Ugly…
• Monday, Oct. 29 – Eblast offering 20% off to customers
for the next 36 hours "in case you're bored during the
storm."
• Only for places Sandy was expected to hit hardest
– Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, North
Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Maryland, according to the email.
• "Just Enter SANDYSALE at Checkout," targeting online
shoppers who are staying indoors to seek refuge from
the storm.
• Online reaction to the ad has been overwhelmingly
negative…

14. What Does This Say to Us?
• It’s not a social media campaign – it’s a campaign
– Branding
– Integrated
– Consistent message that goes through them all
– No random acts of marketing Always remember to engage
frequently
• Be frequent
• Deliver on your promises
• Do not fight on social media – if you don’t agree it’s okay
• Don’t take down negative comments unless they are
offensive
• Don’t react to tone – react to factual mistakes
• Change your voice – not press release
• Don’t post it till you know it – Notre Dame

15. …and now a word about Social Media
and Crisis

16. Social Media Can Create
More Problems Than It
Solves

17. What Does This Mean for
Crisis Management?
•Any customer = hundreds
or even thousands of
followers
•Any bad experience could
be retold to the masses
•Allows anyone to be a
major influence in the
community…

18. When the Major Influence Goes
Wrong…
• A phony tweet put out by
hackers into the AP Twitter
account April 2013 claimed
explosions at the White House
• The tweet claimed President
Obama had been injured in the
explosions
• The Dow plunged more than
140 points from around 14,700
to 14,560 in less than two
minutes.

19. Why is it Important in a Crisis?
• Events that used to be able to
ignore until they went away can
become overblown
• It creates a permanent record on
Google
• A trivial customer complaint is
magnified & becomes an
international embarrassment
overnight

20. For Crisis Managers
It’s About Talking & Listening

21. • Awareness – what’s happening now
• Listening
– Noticing
– Responding
– NOT deleting
• Transparency
– Real time updates
– Link to newsroom
– Respond to all inquiries
Role of Social Media in a Crisis

22. The Good……….
• Boston Police after the
bombing
• FedEx after the tossing
• Lilly Pulitzer after the
crashing
• Carnival after the
toasting….

24. How Carnival Cruise Line Fought the
High Seas With Social Media
What They Did Wrong
• SM feeds took 2 days to kick
in
• Each feeds were repetitive
• (@CarnivalCruise and
@CarnivalPR
What They Did Right
• Used all on-line media
• Already had 2 million followers
• 20 FB updates
• Useful info: “We've taken
more than 7,000 calls from
family & friends & have been in
regular contact with our guests'
designated on-shore contacts."
• Supported all press releases
• Used SM to update press on
next releases
• Monitored & responded
• Posted thank yous @ the end

25. The Bad…
• Dominos
• Chrysler “driver tweet”
• Progressive Insurance

26. The Ugly

27. And the “What-Were-You-Thinking?”
Ugly

28. So, Class,
What does this teach us?

29. The 10 Commandments of Social…
1. Thou shalt have the
branding folks look over thy
tweets before posting
2. Thou shalt thinkth before
tweeting
3. Thou shalt not leave the
tweeting to the interns
4. Thou shalt really interact
on social media –
remembering it is a
CONVERSATION
5. Thou shalt not react to
emotion

30. The 10 Commandments of Social
Part II…
6. Thou shalt readith before
tweeting
7. Thou shalt have someone
else readth thy tweet
before posting
8. Thou shalt know when it’s
time to taketh it off-line
9. Thou shalt be wary of
CEOs who catch the social
media bug & superviseth
them carefully
10. Thou shalt learn when it’s
time to let it be!

31. And the bottom line is…
Social Media = Tool for Good or Evil

32. Do You Have Any…

34. Andrea Obston
Andrea Obston Marketing Communications,
LLC
860-243-1447
aobston@aomc.com
www.aomc.com
www.thereputatationmanger.wordpress.com
Twitter: @aobston
facebook/andreaobstonmarketingcommunications
Google+: Andrea Obston