As I tweeted on Friday morning [4 Feb. 2011] >>
… this news story is important for all the people professionally occupied with communications. And I am sure you heard about it.
The unethical tweet sent from the Kenneth Cole Twitter account provoked lots of reactions among the PR community all around the world.
What are the lessons we can learn from this bitter PR move:
- Only a single tweet is powerful enough to arouse negative associations connected with your brand.
- Ethics are important aspect in the PR work and should be respected and observed.
- Do not underestimate your social media presence and actions.
- Work on your corporate social media strategy and consider some ethical guidelines. Do not allow only interns to be involved in it.
When scandals burst out it’s essential to hear experts’ analysis and thoughts on the subject.
Hence, I’ve gathered some of the best articles on the topic written by famous and trusted names in the industry. I recommend you to take a look at them because they sum up the best reasons why this case is the perfect lesson on ‘how-not-to’ in PR and social media.
- ‘Public relations is meant to build awareness that drives sales. It is not meant to build awareness for the sake of people saying your name’, explains Gini Dietrich in her thoughtful article ‘Kenneth Cole Demonstrates How Not To Use Twitter‘.
- Danny Brown questioned the sense behind the decision to take advantage of tragic or upsetting situations.
- Olivier Blanchard thanked Kenneth Cole for showing every brand on the planet exactly what not to do on Twitter.
- Last but not least, Kyle Lacy shared his opinion on does negative PR really hurt brands.
It would be interesting to hear also your opinion as well.
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Twitter: M_Fiori
// Feb 6, 2011 at 3:56 pm
I only caught this news and its fallout this morning, it’s remarkable and so naive…
Wow, can’t believe that. KC is a huge, respected brand. Hope they will overcome that successfully fast enough.
We all agree it’s an unethical tweet. But is it worth all the attention?
1) I follow just over a thousand people on twitter and the chances of seeing 1 tweet fly by are extremely small. I did come across this one in about 5 blog posts so far though. Seems a pretty rewarding tweet in terms of coverage actually.
2) They apologized, quiet quick actually (and then the apology was taken apart for not being sincere enough off course – amongst others by MrMediaTraining :)). Time to bury the issue?
Twitter: pgeorgieva
// Feb 6, 2011 at 4:45 pm
I see what you mean, Jasper, and absolutely agree about the coverage. But this issue makes me think: Do big brands misunderstand the impact of social media?
Twitter: maidoesimple
// Feb 7, 2011 at 5:14 pm
I have to say, I am very surprised about how people reacted to this.
Was it a smart move? No, for sure, but I see people literally hating the guts out of this guy for that tweet.
I am not quite sure about *why* that Tweet was sent in first place, it’s not like one couldn’t imagine the general reaction, but this very same reaction it’s something that fascinates me far more than the Tweet itself.
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Twitter: pgeorgieva
// Feb 7, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Looks like the publics are changed because of social media and now they are requiring the corporate world to be more responsible.
Unwanted cockpit photos tarnish Cathay Pacific’s reputation | Asian Correspondent // Oct 27, 2011 at 5:58 am
[...] public relations disaster to well-known brands such as Domino’s Pizza, Langham Hotels, Kenneth Cole and yes, fellow airline corporation [...]
Howdy! This blog post could not be written any better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He continually kept talking about this. I am going to send this post to him.
Pretty sure he’s going to have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
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