{"id":3742,"date":"2011-12-28T19:26:20","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T19:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=3742"},"modified":"2011-12-28T19:26:20","modified_gmt":"2011-12-28T19:26:20","slug":"lessons-from-the-chapstick-social-media-fiasco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/lessons-from-the-chapstick-social-media-fiasco\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the Chapstick Social Media Fiasco"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"What do \u201cbutts,\u201d \u201cChapStick,\u201d and \u201csocial\u201d have in common?\u00a0 They are all part of a recent huge\u2014and very public \u2013 series of poor choices that have seriously impacted the reputation of a major brand. I actually pulled those three words from the categories assigned to Tim Nudd\u2019s<\/a> recent AdWeek article, ChapStick Gets Itself in A Social Media Death Spiral<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So what happened?\u00a0 Long story short (read the article<\/a> for full details), ChapStick posted an ad that was offensive to some people, and when those people voiced their opinions on ChapStick\u2019s Facebook Fan Page, ChapStick deleted those comments\u2026 and kept deleting them as they were posted.<\/p>\n

As I see it, the top three poor choices ChapStick made were as follows:<\/p>\n

Poor Choice #1:\u00a0 Staying quiet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poor Choice #2:\u00a0 Trying to whitewash their public space<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poor Choice #3:\u00a0 Trying to make the whole situation go away<\/strong><\/p>\n

ChapStick\u2019s controversial ad did not need to start a firestorm of negative feedback and perception; if it had been handled differently, it could have been a powerful opportunity to strengthen and broaden the ChapStick brand reputation:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fix #1:\u00a0 Respond –\u201cout loud\u201d — as soon as the first customer speaks up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to social media, silence is often louder than words.\u00a0 A quick Facebook post from ChapStick in response to the first customer complaint could have opened a conversation, providing a chance for ongoing interaction and the start of a mutually-respectful relationship between brand and customer.\u00a0 Other Facebook fans (or Twitter followers) who read that exchange would also get a chance to build a positive opinion about ChapStick because of their willingness to listen to \u2013 and really HEAR \u2013 the customer feedback.<\/p>\n

I did notice, however, that fans also spoke up on ChapStick\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 They acknowledged the strength of the ChapStick product and judging by the intensity of some of the fan Facebook responses, they actually CARED about ChapStick\u2019s reputation.\u00a0 It got personal. <\/strong><\/p>\n

That is ROR \u2013 a strong Return on Relationship:<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 your customers\/fans\/followers going to bat for you, standing up for you and your reputation, and staying loyal to you even when you make mistakes or show your imperfections.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fix #2:\u00a0 Be Authentic and transparent<\/strong><\/p>\n

What brand would you be more likely to do business with:\u00a0 one that encourages and engages in open, honest (authentic) conversation with customers\/fans\/followers, or one that filters their public persona to portray a squeaky-clean whitewashed image?<\/p>\n

The true display of transparency is having the courage to admit possible imperfections and respond to negative customer feedback \u2013 not to simply remove a realistic piece of the picture then not admit to the action when confronted!\u00a0\u00a0 This response from ChapStick is, in my opinion, just more side-stepping and more reason followers might lose their trust in the brand: \u201cWe apologize that fans have felt like their posts are being deleted and while we never intend to pull anyone\u2019s comments off our wall, we do comply with Facebook guidelines\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If your customers think you messed up (whether YOU think you did or not), take responsibility for the problem AND the solution.<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0That is how credibility is strengthened and relationships are built.\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fix #3:\u00a0 Embrace criticism <\/strong><\/p>\n

Criticism is a great opportunity to show what your brand is really made of.\u00a0 Will you run from it, or take it as a chance to learn more about what your brand\u2019s customers\/fans\/followers REALLY want and need from you?<\/p>\n

ChapStick tried \u2026 eventually\u2026 to leverage this situation as a chance to state their appreciation of customer feedback with this statement: \u201cWe’re aware of the discussion going on across social media, and we’re listening. We love our fans and adore your passionate voice around ChapStick\u00ae.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The problem is that after someone has their \u201cpassionate voice\u201d (comment) deleted, the declaration of love and adoration no longer means much.\u00a0\u00a0 You can say you\u2019re listening, but until you ask your customers\/fans\/followers clarifying questions and share your resulting ACTION plan, words are just words.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen, ask, listen again, ACT \u2026 then do it all over again.<\/strong>\u00a0 THAT is how you turn criticism into the chance for ongoing relationships and a high ROR (Return on Relationship)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Actually, we should all thank ChapStick \u2026.for \u201ctaking one for the team\u201d by showing us why every brand needs to have authenticity, transparency, and huge dose of courage in their social media strategy.<\/p>\n

Ted Rubin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally posted at FromBogotawithLove.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do \u201cbutts,\u201d \u201cChapStick,\u201d and \u201csocial\u201d have in common?\u00a0 They are all part of a recent huge\u2014and very public \u2013 series of poor choices that have seriously impacted the reputation of a major brand. I actually pulled those three words from the categories assigned to Tim Nudd\u2019s recent AdWeek article, ChapStick Gets Itself in A … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[1458,1289,1533,1535,32,1534,480,479,30,1496,3],"class_list":["post-3742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin","tag-tedrubin-2","tag-authenticity-in-marketing","tag-chapstick-ad","tag-how-to-build-brand-reputation","tag-marketing","tag-pfizer","tag-return-on-relationship","tag-ror","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-best-practices","tag-ted-rubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3742"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3744,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3742\/revisions\/3744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}