3 WAYS OUT OF THE BAD BUZZ!
BAD BUZZ. The terror of all community managers in the digital age... What are the main principles to bear in mind during this type of emergency? How do other companies do it? This article is here to help. What is a bad buzz?
It's a word-of-mouth phenomenon that can have a serious impact on your brand image, especially on social networks.
Ok your plane is crashing, you have 3 exit doors.
EXIT A: BE RESPONSIBLE
Never be in denial and restore the truth, react!
If a rumour spreads about your brand, there must be some truth in it and some that has been invented by malicious people. Don't remain silent - that would mean you agree with everything that is said about you in the public eye. Take your time, but always give a clear answer that is as close to the truth as possible.
Also, don't delete the content in question, as this will probably have the opposite effect. The aim is not to make bad comments disappear but rather to regulate them as best you can and calm the situation down.
LOOK! Here's how Whole Food responded to the criticism with a quick apology, a good pun and improved packaging. It was a blow to the brand when a Twitter user posted a photo of their peeled oranges arranged in plastic containers... The scene of the crime here.
EXIT B: BE HUMAN
You need to find an answer that everyone can relate to, so that they feel listened to even when they're wrong. These days, with the personalized marketing Customers want to feel that they can have an impact on your company. It's a one-to-one relationship.
LOOK! This is how Next Media Animation, an animation studio based in Taiwan that creates satirical videos, responded to their former employee Marina Shifrin, who had made a video of herself to announce her resignation. The video shows her dancing while listing all her criticisms of her company.
Next Media Company used a more humane form of communication instead of taking her to court.
Here's the parody video (unfortunately Marina's original version is no longer available).
THE ANSWER FOR MARINA
EXIT C: SORRY
It's not too late to apologise. The public need to hear that you (sincerely) regret the situation and they want to know what you're going to do next to improve the situation. "A fault confessed is half forgiven
LOOK! Here's how La Redoute dealt with the naked man affair: bad choice on the part of the brand to leave a naked man in the background of a photo of a group of laughing children! But watch how effective this two-stage crisis management is: first apologising, then this funny advert (sorry doesn't mean boring).
Their Twitter account, where everyone is dressed.
YOUR LIFEJACKET :
After the crisis, it's time to take a step back and analyse why it happened. That way, you'll be an expert next time.
One of the secrets of crisis communication is to be prepared for every eventuality.
Make plans to deal with every possible situation: if something goes wrong with the quality of your product, if there's an employee strike, if your muse doesn't give a good image of your brand, etc. This is how big companies cope: for every potential event that could destabilise the company there's a crisis communication plan.
So you always need to be aware of what's going on about your brand. As Thierry Portal, an e-reputation specialist at Nitidis, puts it: "Reputational crises occur when weak signals are ignored".