This week, we saw a stark contrast in how a brand’s social marketing event can take off, in good ways and bad.
The awesome social media managers at TESCO Mobile and a “fan” had some fun together on Twitter. It soon escalated into an all-out digital party with Yorkshire Tea and Jaffa Cakes and Cadbury UK. Did they invite more guests? BuzzFeed captured it all here. (The result? Free publicity!)
J. P. Morgan and its Twitter activity was not as successful. An attempt to connect with its consumers by marketing a Q&A session with #askjpm failed when bloggers and unsatisfied customers took control of the hashtag. American Banker has the story here. #badidea, indeed. (The result? A public relations problem!)
What can we learn from this? One brand can face more risk than another when interacting socially because of their perception in the marketplace, as well as their ability to control the intended message. Social marketing – both the message and how you use it – must be part of a complete PR/marketing/communication strategy.