Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 4:20PM 
In the United States, Thanksgiving is this Thursday, November 25. It's a holiday that is rife with overindulgence, football, and family (and all the unhealthy dynamics that family represents).
Friday, April 2, 2010 at 4:00PM Watching Nestle deal with their social media woes is once again a reminder of how caustic social media can be. A couple weeks ago, Greenpeace put a video on YouTube drawing attention to Nestle’s use of palm oil from companies that clearcut rain forests to plant palm tree farms, thus destroying the habitat of orangutans. Clearly upset by this video, Nestle had the video banned from YouTube. This move was the equivalent of knocking over a wasp’s nest while naked and then being surprised when you end up covered in stingers.
Greenpeace re-posted the video on their site and encouraged people to upload the clip en-mass to YouTube so they would have no hope of taking down all copies of it. From there, it spread to Reddit, Digg and Facebook where it really exploded. Facebook is where the drama really began. Greenpeace encouraged users to change their public photo to anti-Nestle slogans and parodies of their brand logos. When the logos began appearing on the Nestle Facebook fan page, Nestle posted the following statement on their page, “To repeat: we welcome your comments, but please don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic – they will be deleted.” When fans complained, the Nestle rep followed with, “Oh please...it’s not like we’re censoring everything to allow only positive comments.” That didn’t go over too well.
Reactions to Nestle’s comments naturally ran the gamut, from dignified pleas to furious outbursts. Eventually, Nestle apologized for their behavior and stated they would make efforts to eliminate palm oil from vendors that are clear cutting rain forest by 2015.
This is another example of a large corporation going into the social media forum without having a clear plan of action for when an issue arrises. When you’re a corporation that has a long history of being on the wrong side of social and environmental issues, it is important to plan for controversy and have a plan that can be implemented when a stone is turned over. There are many ways this controversy could have been avoided. Here are five things that would have created a better outcome:
Don’t make it personal - If Nestle would have stayed above the fray and avoided singling people out, the conversation wouldn’t have become so heated. Instead, releasing a statement to address complaints would have diffused the situation without attacking anyone directly.
Open conversation - Facebook has a discussion section that provides the perfect forum for Nestle to address the problem and allow people to have their say without it spilling out into other areas and polluting their entire fan page. If they had engaged fans openly, they could have contained the outpour.
Microsite - A microsite is a great way to promote a company’s initiatives and deal with controversy. Through a microsite, Nestle could show that they care about the environment and what they are doing to change their practices.
Give something back - Doing the above and then making a large contribution to a non-profit that protects the environment, or starting a fund raiser for an appropriate cause, would add weight to their claim of being concerned about the environment and show that it isn’t all empty promises .
Ignoring the video - Greenpeace has a reputation of extremism (McDonald’s UnHappy Meals, attacking whaling boats, attacks on the fur industry). If Nestle had just ignored the initial video, the video would have made a small splash, but would have been largely ignored as people are becoming desensitized to Greenpeace videos. This isn’t the best solution, or one we would recommend, but if Nestle hadn’t gone out of its way to censor the video and bury the truth I wouldn’t be writing this post.
Social media can be a loving hand one moment and a sledgehammer the next. Any company going into social media should have a plan for when a marketing effort blows up in their face, or when something they would rather have remained hidden bubbles up to the surface. Nestle appears to have many skeletons in their closet and I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see them in the news because of questionable business practices. Hopefully, they’ve learned from this experience and the next time controversy arrises, they react more appropriately and work with their fans to find a solution.
Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He loves to talk about social media.
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:27AM
The Super Bowl is the time of year when many companies show the world their creative "A-game" and set the tone of their marketing efforts for the rest of year. 2010 showed a surprisingly solid batch of commercials during this year's Super Bowl. We wanted to take a moment to show you the best, the average and the worst ads from the 2010 Super Bowl.
The Best
Home Away Griswalds
The classic 80’s movie National Lampoon's Vacation gets an updating thanks to Homeaway.com. I don’t know what they do, but I want to go to the site to see the rest of the movie.
Coca Cola - Hard Times / Simpsons
Coke and The Simpsons, it’s the best match since The Simpsons and Butterfinger.
Volkswagen - PunchDub
Volkswagen plays with the slug bug game and gives a great punch line.
Dr Pepper Cherry - Dr Love / Little Kiss
Kiss and little people. What could be better? Nothing, that's what.
Bud Light - Asteroid
Bud Light’s theme for the Super Bowl this year appears to be avoiding disasters through Bud Light. The world’s worst astronomers discover Bud Light makes it all better.
Google - Parisian Love
This ad does a great job of showing how Google is used in life. Surprisingly effective.
McDonald's - Play You For it
McDonalds revisits familiar territory with a new version of the classic Michael Jordan/Larry Bird commercial from the 90’s.
Snickers - The Game
Abe Vigoda and Betty White in the same commercial! Score one for Snickers.
Godaddy - Movies / Danica Patrick
GoDaddy.com doesn’t shy away from the sexist commercials but for once, they don’t just focus on women with large breasts.
Vizio - Beyonce / HDTV
I don’t know what it will do but I want it.
The Last Airbender
It’s hard to believe that M. Night Shyamalan has a movie that anyone wants to see, but this trailer makes it look very promising.
The Average
Bud Light - Plane Crash
LOST has returned and Bud Light cashes in on the phenomena.
Boost Mobile - Shuffle
Now here is something I never thought I would see. Mobile Boost dusted off the Bears Super Bowl Shuffle (one of the most embarrassing sports events ever) and made it fun.
Cars.com - Timothy Richman
Fans of Wes Anderson should enjoy this little slice of life ad.
Teleflora - Valentines day/ Don Rickles talking tulips
Don Rickles makes everything better.
Denny's - Chicken Warning
Good day to be an American (unless you have cholesterol issues). Bad day to be a chicken.
Doritos - Underdog
Doritors returns with their fan created commercials. Speak boy, speak.
Focus on Family - Pam & Tim Tebow
Anti-abortion group Focus on Family does a surprisingly good ad that isn’t political. It even has a little humor in it.
Shutter Island
Great trailer that reminds us that Scorsese can do horror just as well as gangster films.
Honda Accord Crosstour - Squirrel
I have no idea what this has to do with Honda but it sure is pretty.
EA - Dante's Inferno - Go To hell
Don’t know how the gameplay is, but it looks amazing.
The Worst
Coca Cola - Sleepwalker
A sleepwalker risks his life to get a Coke. It felt neither creative nor inventive. Coke has done so many great ads over the year, this one just felt lazy and uninspired.
Michelob Ultra - Lance
Lance Armstrong hawking beer just feels wrong.
Bud Light - Bridge Out
Bud Light gives us a swing and a miss. There appears to be a small town of highly functioning alcoholics that would risk their lives by forming a human bridge to get beer. Why?
Bridgestone - "Your Tires or Your Life"
What starts as a nice homage to Mad Max style films ends in a bit of misogyny. Fail.
Dockers - Wear the pants
Free pants not withstanding, watching a bunch of pudgy men walk around in their underwear is not good for anyone.
ETrade - Baby Girlfriend
The Etrade babies have over-stayed their welcome. Time to put them down for a nap.
Bud Light - Light House
I was waiting for that moment when the house crashed down around them because they drank out a retaining wall.
Monster.com - Fiddling Beaver
I’m not really sure what they where thinking when they created this idea because a beaver that can play the fiddle certainly doesn't need help getting a job. It's pretty amazing all on its own.
Hyundai - Paint
Calling a Hyundai a beautiful work of art is really stretching the meaning of ”art”.
Dodge Charger - Man's Last Stand
I’m not sure if they are saying men are a bunch of slobs or women are shrews. Regardless, the Dodge Charger is here to straighten it all out.
CBS Late Show - Dave
I don’t know how CBS did it, but having Dave, Oprah and Jay together watching the Super Bowl was comically awkward. For three people that are in front of millions on a daily basis, they couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable in front of the camera.
There you have it. The good, the average and the worst of the 2010 Super Bowl ads. What were your favorites and which did you think were the most ill conceived?
Monday, February 2, 2009 at 3:01PM This year’s Super Bowl didn’t disappoint. It was an intense showdown between the Cardinals and the Steelers. The other half of the viewing experience is that multimillion dollar ads that companies create. These are the best and worst of this year’s Super Bowl Ads. What are your favorites? What should have been on added?
Cutest – E-Trade – Baby Broken Wings
Well It Starts Good… Sobe – Lizard Swan Lake
Most Unexpected – Cash4Gold.com – McHammer & Ed McMahon
Funniest – Doritos – Crystal Ball/Snow Globe
Weirdest – Cheetos - Spoiled Girl
Best Product Re-Positioning – Pepsi Max – I’m Good
Sentimental Favorite – Gatorade - Talking Heads/Tiger
Evil Aliens Are Taking Over – Hulu.com – Alec Baldwin
Worst – GoDaddy.com – Enhanced Hearing
MVP – Bridgestone – Potatoheads & Hot Item
Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 2:51PM You’ve created your Twitter account, made your Facebook and MySpace profile, uploaded your pictures to Flickr and stumble your way through StumbleUpon, shared your bookmarks on Del.i.cious, so now what? The internet is abuzz with hype about social media and web 2.0 apps. If you were to believe the conversations online, if you’re not online in at least five different places, then you don’t exist.
Sure the motrin moms were able to get Johnson & Johnson to take down an ad but we’re talking about a few hundred people raising a stink. Hardly mainstream and if social media pundits didn’t raise awareness of it, it’s doubtful, Johnson & Johnson would have even known about furor.
Social media is still in the honeymoon phase. Large corporations are finally pulling their heads out of their shells and taking a look at corporate blogging, social networking pages and online viral marketing. The companies that get on board now are the ones that will benefit most. In the past, it’s been about controlling the message. In the next four years, the way corporations interact with people will change because the message delivery system and feedback methods will change. Any new advertising campaign should have some element of social media to support it.
Social media advertising isn’t work like online advertising. It’s not banner ads or pop ups or commercials that play in little boxes. It’s about creating dynamic participation on both the company and the consumers part. Kraft Foods has done an excellent job with this. They already had a Facebook recipe application, which hardly anyone was using (152 monthly active users). Instead of just being another app that clutters up your Facebook account, Kraft is giving six meals to families in need for every person that adds the application. In a few weeks they have added more than 37,000 users, which equals 1.7 million meals.
Kraft doesn’t show their products or advertise mac & cheese with this app. It’s about creating good will for a mega corporation and making people feel good about their brand. The positive aspects should generate more sales down the road for them and make people hold the company in a better light.
This is just one example of a large corporation reaching out to consumers in a way that makes their users want to support them. More brands have failed at social marketing than succeeded because they failed to realized that you have to give consumers a reason to care. Advertising is advertising no matter what the medium. If you don't engage the audience, they won't bother looking at you twice. It doesn't matter if you're doing a YouTube viral video or Facebook app, becoming part of the conversation and engaging people, instead of waiting for them to come to you, will pay off.
What other companies are using social media to successfully reach their market?
Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He love to talk about social media and won't shut up about Twitter.
