Blog: Handling adverse social media – done right
December 1, 2011
Given a nudge today (thanks MJ) to take a look at the PepsiCo Facebook page - a comment had been place by a fan which raised a possible (serious) health risk and made it visible to the 41,000 other fans who like this page. This doesn’t need a detailed write-up, the screen shot is below. It does warrant a couple of key points on the way the PepsiCo responded:
- A clear and direct manner, firm but polite
- Less than 2 hours before a response was visible
- A link to back up the response from PepsiCo
The bit I really love though, is the link. It doesn’t go to a marketing or PR statement elsewhere on the corporate site. It goes to an independent site with a reputable history. An unconnected third party. Someone your watching public are more likely to trust.
Can you think of anything PepsiCo could have done better? I can’t!
December 1, 2011 at 2:28 pm
The message is clear I think.
As long as your company conducts itself in a proper fashion, then adverse social media is not to be feared, infact it’s an opportunity to re-inforce your organisation’s strong reptuation.
December 8, 2011 at 3:02 am
PepsiCo did a terrific job there. Social media is a terrific way for companies to address issues, whether real or imagined (and in this case, it’s clearly the latter). If Pepsi had taken this down, it would have raised eyebrows. Thanks for the great example.
December 13, 2011 at 4:16 am
Great post!