McDonalds has learned that the hard way.
Their Twitter troubles are all over the news now (McDonald’s Social Media Director Explains Twitter Fiasco).
McDonald’s had all the right intentions, but ther execution was not well thought out and hence, the global twittaster they are struggling with and failing to contain!
As the Internet continues to grow as a force to be reckoned with, so will social media have a role to play in how people will spread the word about everything under the Sun! We have already seen how it has played major roles in revolutions and political situations around the world. The evidence for the impact social media has, cannot be denied!
A business or organisation will be smart to study the twitterscape and scope out facebookland before charging in and making a fool of themselves!
Carefully thoughtout, properly planned campaigns can be a blessing. If executed right, it can spread brand awareness and have a positive impact on goodwill, which would then more than likely translate to offline actions by customers.
Careless, poorly planned and rushed campaigns will not only fail at launch time, but the fallout could be devastating and longlasting. The McDonald’s twitter campaign is a perfect example of this.
I highly doubt if the Internet is going to let go of the #McDStories tag. Unless McDonald’s comes up with a new campaign that call on it’s loyal customers to help them bury this fiasco (and offer them incentives in the process), #McDStories will continue to promote a negative image of the fast food giant and is here to stay.
No matter what the numbers are of people who decided to run with this tag and use it to blast McDonald’s with their horror stories, there is still has an impact on public perception!
Even the world’s largest hamburger fast food joint is not immune to the effects of negative publicity, especially when we have seen the same medium change political landscapes not less than a year ago!
Let this be a lesson for all of us.
Thank Sri 🙂