Posted by Tom Gable
In March, we covered an emerging PR position: the ghost tweeter, a modern day Hollywood publicist or corporate communications guru who would assume his or her client’s voice through blogging, tweeting, posting to YouTube and other online activities. The abilities of social media to reach target audiences directly and change perceptions in even arcane situations were widely reported.
More than building buzz, people were driven to action. In June, we reported on Murphy-Goode Winery, Sonoma County, offering $10,000 a month to a person to generate buzz for the winery and its products through social media for six months. The winery got the idea from Queensland, Australia, which invited people to submit videos for “The Best Job in the World” — spending six months as caretaker of a palm-fringed island in the Great Barrier Reef area, surrounded by azure sea, and using online media to promote tourism. The result: more than 34,000 applications for the roughly $120,000 job.
The concept seemed clear: getting creative in the use of social media and video for something as mundane as advertising for new hires could have significant impact. But fundamental values still needed to prevail. To have long-term value to a reputation and brand, creativity must be founded on the principles of authentic PR and tie back strategically to an organization’s core values and standards. If not, the shortcomings will become evident in warp speed to the friends and followers you’ve secured in the social media. The backlash will blossom like algae in a steamy summer pond, with stink everywhere, as experienced by Murphy-Goode and its parent, the Jackson Family Enterprises (Kendall-Jackson is their best known brand).
The San Francisco Chronicle and DailyFinance, among others, reported on the wine promotion gone sour. It noted that the chance to live “the Goode life” generated widespread print and broadcast coverage, resulting in some 2,000 applications and 900 videos posted online. Applicants used viral marketing to generate votes. Great, right?
Unfortunately, the promotion was launched without clearly noting an important detail: votes didn’t count. The omission came to light when the winery unveiled its top 50 finalists in late June and the most popular vote-getter was among the missing. The rejected applicant, Martin Sargent, told his Twitter followers and the backlash began. The news made Digg.com. Kevin Rose, Digg founder, sent news to his 900,000 followers.
The result: a winery spokeswoman admitted they had screwed up while noting that the promotion was never intended to be a popularity contest. The winery had its own selection criteria, which it outlined only after the tweetsunami wiped out their image.
As for the “Goode Job,” Murphy-Goode might be advised to expand its criteria to include “seasoned crisis PR counselor.” When the final selection is announced on July 21, the winner and the winery will face the immediate and daunting challenge of rebuilding a brand image and reputation. Can they regain authenticity? Or will it be like throwing oak chips into stainless steel tanks of bulk white wine and trying to sell the result as high-end Chardonnay?
Tags: branding, Crisis PR, issues management, media, news, reputation, social media