Personally, I believe one key challenge and issue is that senior leaders at the very top of organisations are not active users of the tools themselves every day, and so do not really, therefore, understand how "real" people now are using and engaging via the tools.
Therefore, the policy makers and leaders rely on both the tools that have worked well for them in the past (crisis management via PR releases, help lines with recorded messages or call centre operators, media spokespersons for formal on screen interviews on TV etc) - along with careful policies on who interacts and when.
Unfortunately, this is not what consumers do any longer in the real world. They use their everyday tools and networks like Twitter and Facebook to share news, experiences and discuss. And they expect their brand owners to be doing just that too.
The power is amazing, and not engaging and debating with them on their ground could be potentially very commercially damaging.
The recent experiences of Nestle handling of use of their logo on Facebook groups (by fans of the brand), the recall by Johnson & Johnson McNeil of OTC children brands in the USA (a series of them) and the P&G launch of restage and launch of Ultra Dry Diapers have shown how social media works. And how it can take on a life of its own, which cannot just be "controlled" via old PR and crisis management approaches.
Before commenting on these brands specifically, the power of social media in a breaking story was illustrated to me vividly the other week.
My partner arrived home visibly shaken after cycling home from work, saying they had seen a scene of what seemed to have been a blast on London's Oxford Street in Central London. I switched on the news channels (nothing, and as the 2nd live UK Leaders election debate was on, I assumed they were not breaking into it with such news), so looked on the news sites online - and again nothing. So went onto Twitter and searched "Oxford Street Blast". There were hundreds of posts and they kept coming in. People there commenting, updating and discussing. We found out the Tubes had stopped, when they started and the cause (all before it broke on the channels). What was key and interesting was the sharing, commenting and discussion. With some official people taking part to clarify and direct and correct misinformation in real time. They got engaged and guided and corrected misconceptions and rumours. They helped calm and direct the discussions.
Looking at the initial comment and issues that people raised in comments on blogs and the such to the Nestle, P&G and J&J recalls, the thread has been that there was not the kind of engagement and guidance that the consumer wanted : they wanted to have a "real-time" debate and discussion. They wanted this to take place on the tools and place they used. They wanted a "lean forward and engage/ discuss/ respond" and not a one way discussion and flow of information. And they wanted it to happen fast and at the time of day they chose to be online.
Increasingly, as hard and difficult it is going to be for corporations, we will all have to change. The risk is (of course) that they cannot allow everyone from the corporation to get into the debate, as that could create legal or liability issues they want to avoid. So maybe the only way is for all the senior leaders across organisations to get active everyday and active engaging with consumers on the tools. To engage themselves to help mould and craft the discussion. In the "old way", this was the norm and the most senior elader would be on all TV news and front all news conferences.
I know it is not the same, but I have found that some celebrities are using the tools to manage and craft their brand and persona. Sure some post inane self- gratifying promotion, but celebrities like Danni Minogue (pop star, actress and judge now on shows like X-Factor in the UK and Australia's Got Talent) uses Twitter and Facebook to respond to, direct and guide the discussion about her and her projects with her fans and not just rely on traditional media and bias. She has even cleverly used it to help with the negotiations with the producers of the shows it seems too..
Social media has meant people feel they can have direct relationships with the celebrity, the leaders of organisations, authors or other people they want to. The leaders of brands and companies have to join in too I think.
Thoughts? Leave a comment on the blog.
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2 comments:
Gary,
Fully agree with the points that you make here. What I will say, however, is that I don;t think it's entirely that large corporations don't know how to handle the medium. I think some of it has to do with the level of civil discourse that exists in the on-line world. Unlike some of the traditional outlets you cite, social media still is overly burdened with non-sensical remarks that often have nothing to do with the subject and in many cases is downright rude. I see traditional outlets as having a level of decorum that is commensurate with high quality intellectual interactions (with only the occasional spray of tabloid journalism that is generally managed out by reputable institituions). Until social media outlets are able to evolve to a higher order of thinking and interactions, I still see large corporations only wading in with a toe in the water.
Scott
Thanks for posting a comment.
I think that the point that you make is an important one, as you are right that organizations also have to accept that the quality will be variable, and may have more passion and even "bile" than rationale debate should have.
One thing that helps is when the users help do that, so for example on my YouTube videos I often get really sumb and silly (or offensive) comments but as users can flag, rate etc they help moderate and manage the debate.
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