Also. I believe Totally Wicked would do well to review their social media policy. As companies get larger, it becomes more important that they present themselves in a unified and professional manner across all social platforms. (Forums are very much a part of this)
It can do nothing but damage to the brand if the CEO of any company starts revealing what is (In TW's case) essentially internal corporate machinations between themselves and other parties... At present, it is one person bandying around speculation. Or an opinion. You only reveal corporate machinations once an outcome has been reached.
I believe it would have been far better to just suck up the criticism. As it was not really damaging. (I personally think that TW's new
mod looks really cool. But I've not tried it so will limit my opinion to that). However. Taking a rise to it, very publically is not the way to manage press.
The internet is essentially press - More companies would do well to identify and recognize this. Anything posted in regard to your company. No matter how tenuous. Is effectively press.
I have been a digital advertising professional for getting on for 15 years now and if any company I did business with conducted themselves on open-forums like Totally Wicked have been doing of late, then I would be strongly advising them to take a long hard look at their social media policy, advertising strategy, press and P.R. Because all that money they have spent on these things up to now has literally just been flushed down the crapper. The more viral this goes. The more they'll need to flush that money away...
I would also advise the CEO to delegate the management of this side of the business to experienced professionals that they employ specifically for purpose... I'd also advise that they only use recognized and easy-to-manage channels for the most part (Twitter/Facebook) and have minimal involvement with individual forum threads other than their own. Lastly. I would advise the director of said company to take a step back and stop attempting to micro-manage public opinion of their company. It's impossible to do this. Opinion will be formed about you related to your OUTWARD APPEARANCE. Your company has it's own personality (Brand). This is not the same as the personality of the CEO but it is intertwined with it. If people think the CEO is a ...... They will think the company he represents is crap too. No amount of marketing dollar will fix public opinion once it's set.
Lesson 1 of social media policy. Do not go viral in a negative way. It is very difficult to fix and can be extremely detrimental to the public's perception of your business. Always strategise social media and viral content outcomes. Do not do it on-the-fly.
Lesson 2. Do not defend your reasoning with angry rants at individuals on forums. So, you post a video on YouTube. It goes viral. People don't like it. Don't, whatever the hell you do, reply to these people. Especially if you are the CEO of the company behind the video. Even if you, as CEO don't agree with the things that are being said. Suck it up. Think harder before you just post things on YouTube because you "think they are funny". Perhaps ask your marketing department if it's a good idea first... They will know. It's what you pay them for... You are a multinational corporation, not a bloke in his bedroom. Act like it.
Lesson 3. So. You have gone viral. The response is initially negative. Whoops!!. STOP POSTING. Don't try and deflect opinion away from it. Don't defend it. Just leave it alone. It's now in the wild. There is nothing to be done. The horse has bolted. Initial reaction is often knee-jerk. Let it mature. Let it sit. Bed down. DO NOT. Jump all over it and start calling your customers sheep, a hive, naive... That stokes all the wrong kinda flames and makes it even worse.
Lesson 4. Employ the right people for the job of managing your companies social media policy. Trust these people. Do not micro-manage them. Let them do their job. Strategize. Do not go behind their backs. Identify your brand. Identify where you want your brand to be in 5 years. Do nothing to compromise this brand or where you want it to be in 5 years. No matter what you may think personally. This is not about you as an individual. It is about your COMPANY as an individual.
Anyhoo. Thought I'd share this.
