In "#FAIL: The 50 Greatest Social Media Screw-Ups and How to Avoid Being the Next One" authors Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans introduce you to a new kind of digital pioneer – brands like Coca-Cola, Carnival Cruises, Whole Foods, Vodafone and scores of others – whose social media blunders provide valuable lessons from which to shape future corporate comms policy. http://lc.tl/fail

1. Iconic #FAIL: Carnival Cruise Lines’ Costa Concordia
tragedy sends waves through social media crisis
comms world.

2. Jan 2012
The Costa Concordia, a cruise ship in the Carnival Corp. family, hit the Isola del Giglio. 32 people were declared
dead or missing and a massive cleanup is still ongoing as Italy braces for its worst environmental disasters.
Social Relevance: This is the deadliest, most costly tragedy of its kind in the holiday cruise business, costing
parent company, Carnival Cruise Lines, a $139 million loss in Q1. And, the 90-metre long ship sticks out in the sea
like a tombstone. This image, snapped by a Romeboundairline passenger, was trending on Reddit for weeks after
international press had quit on the story.

3. How did Carnival, a savvy digital marketer, handle the crisis?
Nice start: Carnival follows sound strategy – in a crisis say what you mean, mean what you say!

4. In social media, what’s the appropriate amount of time to remain quiet?
Carnival even decides to go quiet on Twitter out of “respect”, a hiatus it breaks hours later
with “Big #FollowFriday” fun!

5. Then the social web erupts when it learns…
Was anybody at Carnival listening before it made this tin-eared “make-good?”

6. Don’t let a crisis put your reputation on the rocks
The take-away: Don’t ignore social in a crisis. Create a “social media-enabled” Crisis
Management Team that oversees all PR, marketing and emergency response
communications during a time of crisis.

7. Learn from the digital pioneers, brands like Coca-Cola, Carnival Cruises, Whole Foods, and scores
of others. Their social media blunders – in the areas of crap customer service, plain dumb
marketing or simply being caught short in a crisis – provide valuable lessons from which to
shape future corporate comms policy. It all can be found in our new e-book, #FAIL: The 50
Greatest Social Media Screw-Ups and How to Avoid Being the Next One. http://lc.tl/fail.