Chapstick's Social Media Death Spiral

So far on our blog we've mostly spent time discussing integrated marketing success stories and praised social media creativity. Well this post is going to be a story of a company blunder.

Here's the condensed version of how a relatively quiet brand fell into a social media death spiral by incorrectly using social media.

Chapstick created a Facebook page featuring ads and other information as well as a place for customers to place feedback. Their most recent post on their Facebook page was an ad with a picture of a woman's behind while she's reaching over a couch looking for her Chapstick.

The ad upset some people and they tried to post their opinions on Facebook. Chapstick deleted the posts of the unhappy viewers, which only upset them more. This led to more and more negative comments and Chapstick trying to delete them all. It got to the point where Chapstick couldn't keep up, and the comments were pretty harsh. The consensus of the posts were not complaints about the picture, but posters opinions on how Chapstick was going against their tagline for their Facebook page "Be Heard". Instead of removing the picture and moving on, Chapstick just adds fuel to the fire with their next move. They do remove the picture, but with a back-handed apology to their Facebook followers.

"We see that not everyone likes our new ad, and please know that we certainly didn't mean to offend anyone!" the post says. "Our fans and their voices are at the heart of our new advertising campaign, but we know we don't always get it right. We've removed the image and will share a newer ad with our fans soon!" The second part of the ad is what was the final self inflicted wound for themselves. "We apologize that fans have felt like their posts are being deleted and while we never intend to pull anyone's comments off our wall, we do comply with Facebook guidelines and remove posts that use foul language, have repetitive messaging, those that are considered spam-like (multiple posts from a person within a short period of time) and are menacing to fans and employees."

This half-hearted apology from Chapstick really did nothing because they blamed the writers of the posts for the reason they needed to be deleted. Chapstick said that the foul-language used was the reason for the removal of the posts. Chapstick completely ignores the fact that is was their fault with deleting the posts and angering the customers in the first place.

What Chapstick has done here is made their bed, and are now seeing that they will have to lay in it, and its not very comfy or warm. They have completely failed to use one of the most effective marketing tools in Facebook. They had a campaign for fans to "be heard" and they silenced them. What did they do? They deleted fans post thinking the criticism would go away only to see it came harder and faster than they could keep up with. Showing exactly how not to handle a situation that arises with upset fans.

Chapstick whould have simply removed the ad as soon as they saw that it upset some people. If they weren't comfortable with that they should have listened to people's comments taken them into consideration and simply explained why they released this ad campaign, and that they were working towards making a different less risque advertisement.

This is a sad story considering the fact that Chapstick is not a big player in the advertising field, and they just totally blew a huge opportunity they had. Chapstick's inexperience may have shown through with this incident, and I look for them to make a comeback here to try and save some face within the social media field..

Starbucks Uses QR Codes for Consumer Interaction

Starbucks is utilizing a QR program that allows consumers to learn more about various coffee products.

Photo: Inkhead http://bit.ly/gZhv7Z

QR codes are newer to the marketing world and haven't quite taking off as some other marketing endeavors have. Unfortunately these codes have an unappealing look to them, which causes them to be more of an eyesore rather than a benefit.

This is why the QR codes needs to be used sparingly but when done right, it can be very effective.

With the new program, Starbucks uses QR codes in their ads and stores to promote information in an interactive type manner. Because the consumer has to physically scan the QR code with their device, the motivation to actually read and take in the information about the coffee they are learning about is there.

Learning about the coffee consists of multiple interactive information pieces such as where the coffee came from, a video of production, what makes the coffee unique etc.

Taking advantage of QR codes early on in its incubation period of the marketing world is smart for Starbucks. Luckily this isn't the only attempt at using QR codes Starbucks has made. Last May the company released a "scavenger hunt" program in partnership with Lady Gaga.

Among these two programs, Starbucks even allows you to pay for you drinks with a mobile app. Allowing consumers to pay with their phone is just another way to simply and make the purchasing process easier and potentially more enjoyable.

The McRib is back....again

As I’m sure many of you have heard, the McRib is back! And you may ask, "Didn’t they do this last year, and the year before that?" Yup.

The McRib has been with McDonald’s since 1981, but has only been offered in these special promotions each year since 2006. This Adweek article begs McDonald’s, “Just make it a regular menu item already.” In fact, the article even displays “McRib is back” television advertisements all the way back to 1991.

So why does McDonald’s do this and what can we learn? According to a TIME article, "the 'limited time only' strategy plays off of the widespread human characteristic to hate missing out on something—regardless of whether or not you actually want that something.” This offer of a limited time by McDonald’s is just something to attract more customers to the store, and it ends up increasing sales.

This is just like stores offering a “buy one get one free,” “kids under 12 eat free”, or even offering coupons. The fact is, “limited time” only works, and people love heading to McDonald’s to buy the McRib. Heck, the McRib has its own Facebook fan page!