• PR, Customer Service and Social Media Walk Into a Bar ...

  By Laurel Miltner | Posted Jan 17, 2012 | 3 Comment(s) | Filed in: Crisis Communications, Public Relations, Social Media

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  This is a variation of our standard Inbound Industry Report, taking a deep dive into one hot topic from the second week of 2012—the convergence of PR and customer service driven by social media. Stay tuned for an overview of last week's other big news: Google Search Plus Your World.

  

  In the wake of the N-Control customer-service-turned-PR disaster, last week shined light on three more companies that faced PR issues driven by social media mishaps. Quick overviews: 

  • Boners BBQ — Customer writes negative (but honest and well thought-out) review on Yelp. Restaurant reacts with derogatory postings about the woman on its Facebook page. Note: language and photos may be offensive to some. Boners eventually apologizes, but sincerity is questioned. Read the play-by-play commentary, along with some “food for thought,” from Scott Stratten (@unmarketing).
  • Papa Johns — Employee prints a derogatory “nickname” on a customer receipt. (Source) Customer posts picture of the receipt to Twitter. Papa Johns spends a few days apologizing to the Twitterverse, all for the actions of a single employee at one of its 2,600+ locations.
  • FedEx — Customer posts video on YouTube of delivery guy throwing a computer monitor over his fence, rather than ringing a bell to be let in. FedEx VP of US Operations responds within two days with a blog post and his own video, apologizing for the incident. (Source)

  As Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) pointed out, specifically in regard to the first two incidents above: “Neither one of these things are public relations issues. They both are culture, HR, and operations issues. But they both became public relations crisis because their customers now have this thing called social media at their disposal.” 

  And we can only expect to see more of this in the future.

  In fact, a recent report by customer care outsourcing provider Sitel found that:
  

  • Consumers—particularly those in Gen Y and beyond—demand customer service through social media. Fifteen percent of 16-24 year olds prefer the medium for customer service relations, and 7% of this demographic send social media complaints as the first step when facing a problem.
  • In addition, 57% of all consumers surveyed reported that when they have a problem, they first search for a solution online before reaching out directly to the brand for assistance.
  • Note: Data is based on a survey of more than 1,000 consumers in Great Britain, aged 16-64.

  Key Takeaway: Corporate social media savvy goes beyond marketing. Hold a social media forum, training session or workshop with key players in your organization across departments to discuss its impact on the entire business. Here are a few suggestions for your baseline corporate social media needs: 

  • Develop a social media policy with clearly defined rules, expectations and enforcement.
  • Use listening/monitoring tools to catch brand mentions, stay abreast of industry news and trends, and better understand your audience.
  • Define customer service policies and response times.
  • Develop a crisis communications/PR plan for social media.
  • Define ownership of the company voice through social media, including corporate accounts and employee representatives that can speak on the company’s behalf.
  • Don’t be robotic. While policies and procedures are necessary, remember that individual experiences are unique, and in some cases deviation from “the norm” is needed to make an impact or fix a sticky situation.

  For more on this topic:

  • See Janet Cho’s (@janetcho) article on how to manage a social media complaint before it turns into a crisis.
  • Check out this infographic on managing a corporate e-reputation by William J. Ward (@DR4WARD). Note: Though I don’t agree with every tactic mentioned here, it offers a solid overview and framework to launch discussions.

  Remember that it’s not just about the brand or corporate accounts. In The Rise of the Profersonal, Andrew Hanelly (@hanelly) discusses responsibilities of using social media for modern professionals.

  My favorite quote: “When you use social media, you forfeit the right to truly be yourself with no holds barred. Holds are definitely barred ... If you have a job, all of your social media activity is both personal and professional. It’s profersonal. It’s the era we live in.”

  So, let us know what you think about the convergence of PR and customer service. Will it continue? Who should "own" which channels? Where does customer service stop and PR start, and vice versa? I'd love to continue this discussion in the comments below. 

  Laurel Miltner is the assistant vice president at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Laurel on Twitter: @laurelmackenzie.

  Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.

• Moises' Commandments: Lessons from the N-Control PR Disaster

  By Laurel Miltner | Posted Jan 6, 2012 | 2 Comment(s) | Filed in: Brand Marketing, Crisis Communications

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  On Dec. 27, 2011, N-Control, a company that makes video game controller adapters to improve play for handicapped users and hardcore gamers, almost lost everything. 

  A simple customer service email chain spiraled out of control and into a PR nightmare after a company representative responded in a rude and hostile manner, which led to the emails being published on a popular gaming blog, Penny Arcade. In case you missed the Ocean Marketing / N-Control debacle over holiday break, here’s a quick recap: 

  • Customer Dave emails N-Control for an update on a late shipment of Avenger controllers. (Important note: Despite frustration, it’s clear that Dave is very interested in the product, with potential to be a superfan/brand advocate.) 
  • Dave receives a curt, not-at-all-helpful response from N-Control representative, Paul Christoforo (@_oceanmarketing). (Who, as we learn later, is actually an external PR/marketing consultant.)
  • After exchanging a few emails, in which Christoforo is less than helpful and downright rude, Dave gets upset. In his fifth email to Christoforo, 10 days after the first, Dave copies contacts at major gaming blogs to fill them in on the situation and N-Control's poor customer service.
  • Christoforo starts talking a big game and name-dropping. At the mention of his event, PAX, Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade chimes in. Christoforo clearly doesn’t know who he is, which makes his situation worse.
  • After exchanging several heated emails with Christoforo, Kahulik published the full string of emails on Penny Arcade.  

  The gaming community was outraged, which led to hateful messages to Christoforo, tons of negative online chatter about N-Control, and even an Amazon-bombing of the Avenger controller that dropped its ratings to one star. (The X-box model is back up to three, although some issues have come to light about early, five-star reviews having been planted.)  

  Enter Moises Chiullan (@moiseschiu), a “public-relations disaster specialist who took it upon himself to get in touch with N-Control’s founder through a mutual friend after he learned about the disaster the same way everyone else did—online.” (Source)

  World Wide Web, Indeed

  I felt like my personal and professional worlds collided, and followed this story all over the Internet—from advertising and marketing news sites, to gaming blogs, to IMGUR memes, even to the blog of another Avenger customer that had similar customer service issues with Christoforo months earlier.

  It was fascinating to see this covered from so many angles, but what I was most impressed with was the swift response from Chiullan. In one week, he helped N-Control regain control of its marketing, rebuild the trust of its customers, and re-establish a positive brand experience. Honestly, he probably saved the business.

  How to Save a Brand in Seven Days 

  Following are some of the activities that Chiullan employed:

  • Quickly released a brief statement from Avenger inventor and N-Control president David Kotkin. "We apologize for our poor representation from Ocean Marketing. We wanted to give Paul a chance. He was rough around the edges, but he had drive and enthusiasm. However, his behavior was unprovoked, unnecessary, and unforgivable. We are no longer represented by Ocean Marketing." (Source)
  • Christoforo had control of many accounts, including Twitter, email and GoDaddy. So, Chuillan shut down AvengerController.com and began work on a new website. [Note: N-Control has since “regained control of all assets through alternative, legal, and fully sanctioned means within N-Control's rights.” (Source)]
  • He launched a new Twitter handle for the Avenger Controller (@AvengerControl) and used it to send regular updates and direct responses to customer queries. He also kept followers updated from his personal account.
  • Chiullan set up a Reddit AMA (ask me anything), encouraged community members to ask questions, and responded to all of them—even when, in true Internet fashion, commenters went off on tangents ranging from Pulp Fiction quotes to multi-lingual puns. He also made regular updates to the main feed, keeping people abreast of major activity when he wasn’t responding as quickly as they may expect. [Why Reddit? It’s one of the most popular social networks for the gamer demographic, heavily dominated by American males in their 20s. (Source)]
  • Avenger distributed a comprehensive press release the following day that officially announced the dismissal of Christoforo and Ocean Marketing, addressed and apologized for his actions, distanced the company from him, and laid out plans to “move forward and take care of Avenger’s customers.” (If you're in PR, I recommend reading the release. Though it's lengthy, it's a great example of what releases can and should be—free of jargon, strategic and honest.) UPDATE: On Jan. 6, Chiullan distributed another release, announcing that N-Control donated $10,000, and pledged up to $50,000 worth of product (after backorders are filled) to Child's Play, a charity started by Krahulik and his Penny Arcade partner, Jerry Holkins.
  • Set up media interviews—both with himself and with Kotkin—to talk candidly about the ordeal, how it was handled, and in some cases (amazingly) the product itself.  

  Most importantly: Chiullan understood the people he was trying to reach, and gave a voice, a face, and a likeable personality to a brand that so desperately needed it. And, he certainly got over the lazy—Chiullan even admitted that he didn’t sleep for his first two days on the account, devoting himself 24-hours-a-day to saving his client’s reputation.

  Takeaway for Corporate Marketers

  If you hire an outside provider, work with an agency you trust. Ensure that you have control of—or at least access to—all digital assets, including those set up on your behalf. And remember: some things are best kept in house.

  For a collection of articles exploring the many angles of this story, see my Scoop.it collection on the topic. 

  Did you follow the Ocean Marketing / N-Control story? How would you have handled the situation? Share your thoughts on the comments below. 

  Laurel Miltner is the assistant vice president at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Laurel on Twitter: @laurelmackenzie.

  Stay updated: Subscribe to the PR 20/20 blog, check us out on Facebook or follow the team on Twitter.

• What's your drug (case study) of choice?

  By Laurel | Posted Dec 29, 2008 | 1 Comment(s) | Filed in: Advertising, Crisis Communications, Internet Marketing, Social Media

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  For anyone that didn’t hear about the “Motrin moms” story, here’s some background:  Last month Motrin made an online video about babywearing for International Babywearing Week.  They thought it would be a great fit for their brand by telling moms that Motrin knows how fashionable babywearing is, and how all the cool, “official” moms do it.  But it hurts.  So, you know… take some Motrin.
  
  The video went viral, but not at all in the way Motrin had hoped.
  
  The backlash was intense.  Baby wearing isn’t hip, said moms, we do it because it keeps our children close, it is comforting to them and we love our children.  And Motrin, have you ever tried carrying a baby in your arms all day long?  That hurts.  Baby wearing is actually comfortable by comparison.
  
  Baby wearing videos were made, photos posted online, and mom bloggers and Twitter moms told Motrin what they thought of their campaign.  (It sucked.)  Oh, and did I mention that this all happened in about 2 days?

  What went wrong?
  

  So where did Motrin go wrong?  They didn’t think about their buyer persona.  They thought they knew the moms they were reaching, but they were sorely mistaken.  Had they done a bit more research on babywearing and talked to some mommy bloggers about it, maybe they could have done something to tie into baby wearing week that was actually effective, instead of alienating a huge potential market.
  
  As a fairly recent graduate, when I hear about Motrin I can’t help but think about the Tylenol case study we learned about in several PR classes.  (In case you aren’t aware of this one:  in 1982 several people in Chicago died from taking poisoned Tylenol from bottles that had been tampered with.  Tylenol lost tons of money by pulling its product off shelves and reaching out to consumers to apologize and make it right as best they could.  Tamper-proof bottles were a result of the case.  It’s a huge case study taught in PR classes when learning about crisis communication.)
  
  I can’t help but wonder – will Motrin be the new Tylenol?  Will the case studies learned by the next generation of PR graduates be about Dell, Comcast and Motrin instead of Waco and Tylenol?  (Any current students reading?  What case studies are you learning about in PR, marketing and communications classes?)

  Public relations is evolving
  

  In my opinion… they should be.  There’s been a lot of talk recently about PR being a dying industry.  PR isn’t dying.  But it is evolving.  Businesses will always want to find and reach their buyers.  The media (in some form or another) will always exist and need things to write about.  
  
  But think about it:  PR used to be about spin and control.  And I’ve got news for you: spin and control are impossible in a Web 2.0 world.  You can get your message out there, but if it doesn’t hit the mark, you better be ready to communicate.  Openly and honestly.  You need to get to know your buyers.
  
  Just ask Motrin.
  
  (For the record, Motrin’s VP of marketing did apologize on the company Website, and removed the offensive video.  But of course, the story, the video, and all of the responses from angry mothers, are still quite easy to find.)

   

  

   

  Laurel Miltner is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm.  Follow her on Twitter - @laurelmackenzie.

• A Whopper of a Social Media Blunder at Burger King

  By Paul | Posted May 20, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Crisis Communications, Social Media

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  Welcome to crisis communications 2.0.
  
  For those corporations and professionals who have not figured it out yet, everything you do online, whether under a real or fake name, is traceable.
  
  As we continually reinforce to our clients, social media can be a powerful communications and branding tool, but your participation must be authentic.
  
  Those who don’t adhere to this basic principle will eventually get "flame broiled."
  
  Burger King is the latest example of a corporation failing to grasp the power of social media. A May 18 Miami Herald article, Burger King's virtual missteps `a cautionary tale', tells the story two employees fired for ''unauthorized activity'' on public websites that didn't “reflect the company's views.''
  
  Plus, according to the Miami Herald, a Burger King Vice President posted comments under his daughter's screen name attacking the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a farmworker advocacy group. The comments accused the coalition's leaders of pilfering pay increases they had negotiated for migrant workers and “reaping millions in cash from unknowing or duped supporters.''
  
  According to a May 13 Associated Press story, “Burger King is in a public relations feud with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers over how to improve wages and working conditions for Florida's tomato pickers.”
  
  So what can we learn from Burger King? Every business must take social media into account when building its crisis communications and management strategy, starting with the Big 3:

  1. How can social media create crisis situations?
  2. How can social media be used to manage crisis situations?
  3. What actions should we take to understand & integrate social media?

  
  Then, drill down to the primary social media channels, and consider their potential impact on your organization. For example:

  Blogs & Crisis Communications

  • How can your business utilize corporate blogging - both internal (private) and external (public) - as a crisis communications tool?
  • What damage can be done to your brand if you are not proactive about monitoring and contributing to blogs?
  • How can influential bloggers impact perceptions about your business?

  Social Networking & Crisis Communications

  • What new crisis scenarios may arise as a result of employees, customers and businesses participating in social networks?
  • What are employees doing, saying on social networking sites? Is it even your business?
  • How can social networks be used to manage crisis situations?

  Online Forums & Crisis Communications

  • What forums should you monitor? Participate in?
  • What’s being said about your business in forums now?
  • When your organization chooses to participate, who has the authority to be the “voice?”

  
  Relevant Links:
  
  Associated Press: Burger King fires 2 after blog controversy
  Miami Herald: Burger King's virtual missteps `a cautionary tale'
  PR Junkie/Ragan.com: Is Burger King the new Wal-Mart? Let's count the ways

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