Angry Nerds!

Didit Editorial

11 years ago

How NOT to deal with fans in revolt

May 7, 2014: I’m a nerd, as well as a social media professional, so I’m accustomed to carping, sniping, whining, and flaming. But I was truly shocked — as well as sickened — when I read an article titled Black Milk Clothing Illustrates How Not To Use Social Media over on Buzzfeed.com.

To summarize this messy kerfuffle, representatives from Black Milk Clothing posted an image which depicted female fans of the brand in an unfavorable, unabashedly sexist way. This exercise in adolescent humor, posted by a brand ostensibly concerned with the evils of body shaming (“Commandment #5: You Shall Not Make Critical Comments on Other Women’s Bodies”), was met instantly with instant, unambiguous, and overwhelming pushback on the social channels.

Black Milk’s response to this s-storm of opposition wasn’t just inadequate; it was pathetic. Its social media team met questions not with answers, but with deletions, condescension, and brute force banning of those who didn’t like the image. Soon, Black Milk’s online brand advocates fled for the exits, taking with them thousands of person hours of earned media.

A similar instance occurred when Ferrero — the maker of Nutella — issued a Cease and Desist order that demanded that fans stop promoting a fan-led World Nutella Day. Fortunately, there was a happier ending when Sara Rosso, the American blogger who led the World Nutella Day effort, reached an accord with the brand that kept the legal eagles in their cages.

It’s amazing when brands like Black Milk and Nutella make short sighted decisions like these. We can’t know what happened internally at these organizations, but the odds are that these gaffes were made due to a fearful desire to maintain control. In the case of Black Milk, it treated its own fan base with a mixture of entitlement and contempt, violating its own branding maxims. Nutella reacted in a much more traditionally corporate manner, fearing loss of control of their brand.

For better or worse, in the age of social commerce fans now have a stake in brands. A big one. And while dealing with passionate fan communities can be scary, winning the loyalty of passionate advocates can gain a brand thousands of person hours of earned media.

Here are some guidelines for correcting any missteps you might make on social media –

Apologize immediately. Even if it appears that the aggrieved fans or customers are objectively in the wrong , saying “we’re sorry” can do much to retain advocate loyalty. “We’re sorry that you’re upset; we’re investigating this matter” can buy time to find out what is actually happening so that you can form a plan with management. Humility and grace wins far more fans than being defensive; handling things this way engenders an air of professionalism.
Let the fires burn out. Allow for a cool down period of between 24 to 48 hours. Suspend the normal social media posting schedule and remain silent on your public channels. Do not delete comments, because doing this will be interpreted by your fans as an attempt to censor. Use this time to privately reach out to aggrieved parties and find out what the issue is – often, this may be over a misunderstanding. If there are actual trolls involved (or worse – those engaged in social media blackmail), ban the troublemakers from the community. There are some venues where this can’t be done (Twitter, Reddit), so the presentation of empathy, respect and politeness will provide the best shield against the firestorm of a social media crisis.
Offer a real solution. In the case of customer service or product failure, curing the issue and making meaningful gestures (such as offering a free replacement product) can help to avoid things escalating. The social media team should work in conjunction with the PR and executive teams of a firm to make reasonable measures. This is different from giving into blackmail – the firm line should always be whether or not your company and brand are harmed.
Make peace jointly. In the case of Nutella, Ferrero wisely gained the advocacy of Sarah Rosso, and allowed her to continue expressing her love of Nutella. Joint statements of intent can act to strengthen the brand.
Listen, Listen, Listen. This is where both brands initially failed. One had grown too arrogant; the other too fearful — both failed to recognize that their brands were built upon the exchange of value between themselves and their customers.