Baby lovers
Last week a company launched a print and online ad campaign, taking the piss of mums using their babies as fasion accessories. Within 4 days the campaign was pulled as a result of angry Joe public. The brand posted this letter on their website’s homepage
“Nov 20th
So…it’s been almost 4 days since I apologized here for our Motrin advertising. What an unbelievable 4 days it’s been. Believe me when I say we’ve been taking our own headache medicine here lately!
Btw – if you’re confused by this – we removed our Motrin ad campaign from the marketplace on Sunday because we realized through your feedback that we had missed the mark and insulted many moms. We didn’t mean to…but we did. We’ve been able to get most of the ads out of circulation, but those in magazines will, unfortunately, be out there for a while.
We are listening to you, and we know that’s the best place to start as we move ahead. More to come on that.
In the end, we have been reminded of age-old lessons that are tried and true:
When you make a mistake – own up to it, and say you’re sorry.
Learn from that mistake.
That’s all… for now.
Sincerely,
Kathy Widmer
VP Marketing
McNeil Consumer Healthcare”
You can read about it here http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=132622
The brand (http://www.motrin.com/) have dealt with this in the best possible way and will probably get positive PR out of the stuff up.
There are some key tips that can be gleaned from this case study:
1. Be aware and listen
If Mortin/their agency weren’t aware of the negative uproar they could’ve really annoyed some people
2. Be responsive
Mortin acted and within 4 days had resolved the issue
3. Be transparent
They didn’t try and excuse their actions or thoughts, they clearly stated the truth.
4. Your brand is under the microscope
People seem to have opinions and now within minutes they can express them broadly to the masses. Little slip ups aren’t allowed – be aware of and truely understand your audience, they’ve got more power than your advertising $s now.
5. Your brand is in social media – like it or not
Its your choice if you want to participate, so get in there and have a look around, warts and all, you can’t hide your demons in the closet, its unlocked and people want to set them free.
6. Get good PR advice that isn’t stupid
Like we learnt from NAB earlier this year, bad PR advice will exponentially grow your problem. Lots of PR agencies in Australia don’t know how social media works, if yours doesn’t get them to learn and add it to your campaign objectives or strategy in some way.
Go Mortin! Whoever they are.
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