Uh Oh. SpaghettiOs.
How not to sink your brand reputation on Social Media
In yet another case of ‘who let the intern near social media?”, it seems some brands still aren’t getting it.
This weekend’s case of brand suicide is courtesy of SpaghettiOs, who thought it was a great idea to honour Pearl Harbor with a grinning Miley Cyrus-esque spaghetti mascot. Because nothing is more patriotic and remembers the fallen like flag-wielding pasta.
The account clearly wasn’t being monitored because it took more than half a day for them to realise it probably wasn’t appropriate. By that time, half the internet had seen it.
So let’s imagine another such event is looming, and you think it’s an awesome idea to associate your brand with it. If you’re just starting out on your social media journey, or your CEO has just had a brilliant idea to talk about that new product, stop. Step away from your PC. Put down that smartphone. Tell your boss it might not be a good idea to post about ‘the new Peri Peri sauce that’ll blow your brains out’ on JFK’s anniversary.
Simple guidelines to help maintain your brand reputation.
You are invited to the party. If you walk straight in and help yourself to the proverbial beer, stand up in front of the room and declare loudly how amazing you are without listening to anyone, or offend your host’s 90 year old mother, you’ll be asked to leave in no uncertain terms and you can forget about being invited back.
Time and place. Not every opportunity is an opportunity. Not every story is worth telling by your brand. And sometimes it’s better to whisper quietly than grab the mic and declare it to the entire room.
Be yourself. Be authentic. Be genuine. Be humble. Show there are real people behind the account.
Anniversaries are not marketing tools. They are attached to emotion and feeling, especially when it relates to those that have lost a life, and if you can’t express the human nature of your brand to honour the occasion appropriately without using your brand or logo, do nothing.
Social Media is about having a conversation. It’s not just another channel to push your brand at them.
Your content team needs common sense and life experience. If you or they have neither, every bit of content posted should be overseen and approved by someone who does.
Seek advice. If you’re ever unsure whether to recognise an anniversary, ask several others for their opinion on what you’re intending to do. If you’re still unsure if it’s the right thing, don’t do it — there’s always next year, and the negative effect on your brand reputation isn’t worth the 4 retweets or 1 follow you think you might get.
Scheduling is not your lazy option for ‘post & forget’. Posts are only good for scheduling when you can’t be at your desk to upload the content. It shouldn’t be your go-to just so you have something to say, so you can walk away and leave it. If you’re going to schedule posts you better be prepared to monitor reaction as soon as they’re live, or to pull them before they’re published if something of public interest is happening.
Everyone makes mistakes. But own them, be sincere and apologise straight away. There’s nothing worse than seeing blame put on others if it was clearly your fault, or a half-hearted response. Worse still, no response, or responses that haven’t been provided by someone in your comms team that open up another can of SpaghettiOs.
It doesn’t end at ‘delete’. Something can be screencapped in seconds and shared. Your posts can also still appear in someone’s feed after you delete it if their feed has loaded already. Be prepared for backlash, even if you get rid of the offending post straight away.
So what could SpaghettiOs have done better?
First, a simple post would have sufficed, without the ‘we’re happy-people-died’ pasta mascot. Include an image if you will, but one that resonates, such as a silhouette.
SpaghettiOs should have been monitoring the post, and pulled it straight away.
An apology should have been crafted within minutes, that acknowledged their form of ‘respect’ was perhaps inappropriate, rather than just state what their intention had been.
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