5 Social Media Disasters

Social media has given consumers a whole new voice.

A recent study by Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology found that 20% of Twitter updates are either requests for product info, or responses to brand messages.

With that, companies better not give consumers anything bad to talk about.

As with the 5 case studies below, the consequences can be severe.

1. Honda Product Manager gets caught AstroTurfing

When Honda decided to publish its upcoming Crosstour photos on Facebook, it should be ready for some serious feedback. Within a short time, its fan page was flooded with negative comments regarding the look of Honda’s new CUV. It was clear that most “fans” were not too thrilled with the new design. But not too long later, we saw some really positive comments about the model. Lo and behold, they came from Honda’s product manager who didn’t disclose his own relationship with the company until the angry crowd called him out.

Lessons learnt

Go on, use social media to promote your products but if you do get a bad feedback, don’t try to manipulate it. Social media users are savvy enough to expose you if they want to. Social media does not condone AstroTurfing. Honesty and authenticity are critical to be successful in this space!

2. Taco Bell gets viral, but not because of the food

What happens when your brand gets its 15 minutes of fame on YouTube, but for the wrong reason? This is exactly what Taco Bell went through. A video of rats running around a Taco Bell’s store in New York was posted on YouTube. Just minutes after, duplicates and new versions started to spread across the web and till this date, these videos have been viewed approximately 2 million times. As a result, customers raised concerns about its cleanliness and Taco bell’s stock price and 7,000 franchisees sales were affected.

Lessons Learnt

Monitoring social media buzz is essential especially for the big brands. When necessary, immediate response should be made and preferably through the same social media channels. In the case of Taco Bell, an apology is required and with proper use of social media, it should be able to regain consumer trust.

3. Asus blogger contest angered blogger community

Computer manufacturer, Asus hosted a sponsored contest where participating bloggers wrote reviews for its products for a chance to win the Asus review kit. The community voted for a blogger named Gavyn Britton, a choice Asus wasn’t so keen on. Hence, they decided to change the rules of the competition and gave away the prize to another blogger. This resulted in an outrage against the Taiwanese computer manufacturer, and the story went mainstream as well.