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Bristol Procter & Gamble (P&G) Twitter

Crisis PR: The Facebook campaign set up against Proctor and Gamble's Pampers range

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

May 18, 2010 | 4 min read

McCann Erickson Bristol's head of PR, Joanna Randall, looks at the impact a negative social media campaign could have on the P&G brand.

Starting a social media communications campaign can be a tough task – but most brands would probably be happy with over 9,000 active supporters in just five months? Not if you are P&G in the US, which is now the subject of several facebook groups with membership into the many thousands calling for a ban on its DryMax nappies. This is following allegations from concerned mums and dads that the nappies are causing burns on their bundles of joy.

P&G is faced with a tricky situation here – how do you handle this issue which deals with one of the most emotive subjects possible – harm to babies? Normal rules for handling negative issues through the media do not always apply and are not always appropriate for trying to dilute the havoc a negative topic can wreak through social media networks which very often take on a life force of their own.

Gone are the days when press officers could cobble together a ‘holding’ statement in response to a deluge of media enquiries. Social media communications means we’re now dealing with the general public directly – who have the ability to self publish opinion regardless of whether evidence is present.

The P&G press office will not be a comfortable place to be at the moment. It looks like they started to try and engage with the most vocal mummy bloggers initially by offering them vouchers – this wasn’t well received and can look like a lame corporate ‘pay-off.’

Whether there are grounds for these claims remains to be seen. P&G has quoted its consumer test statistics in the face of parents’ pictures of third degree burns being posted online; if P&G isn’t careful, regardless of the outcome of an official Consumer Product Safety Commission investigation in the US, irreparable damage will have been done to the brand equity. The likely winners? Probably Huggies and ‘natural’ cloth nappy companies.

The US media has latched onto the story and is reporting parents’ concerns alongside critique of P&G’s handling of the situation. If they’re not careful it’ll only be a matter of time before the story is picked up by UK consumers and the equally active mummy blogger network – with DryMax scheduled for launch by P&G in other countries they could be left with a rash of criticism for which there is no magic cream.

Below, Randall states her Dos and Don'ts for the social media rules of engagement:

Don’t...

Don’t ignore – whether any statements made online about your brand are true or not, once posted online they are in the public domain for all to see. Failure to take note at its worst can result in long term brand damage and financial devaluationDon’t dismiss – take online comments seriously but it is worth checking out the source of the information and motivation for publishing opinionDon’t be afraid – the head in the sand approach can prove fatal to a brand’s reputationDon’t be the ‘big corporate’ – patronising, lecturing and official lines are not usually well receivedDon’t be too judgmental – it’s all too easy to come across as arrogant. A little empathy goes a long way

Do...

Do listen to what’s being saidDo see who the main commentators are on your subject (both positive and negative) and aim to connect with them firstDo engage in dialogue and show a proactive interest in your online audience’s viewsDo maintain a consistent presence online - only jumping in when you have an ‘issue’ that needs dealing with will be detrimental to your brandDo talk in a language that people understand – find out who you are talking to and think about the language you should use to get their attention
Bristol Procter & Gamble (P&G) Twitter

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