When Negative Virality Strikes: Actions to Take
- Nadila Moezbar
- Nov 9, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 11, 2023
Viral marketing campaign can lead to two things; it can pull your company into the limelight OR push your company down the drain of controversy. These two possibilities can be initiated by the customer or the company itself, which brings us to the four groups of social media viral marketing campaign:
Source: Kaplan & Haenlein (2011)
Let’s focus on the homemade issues, a viral marketing campaign initiated by the company that resulted a negative outcome. How customer perceives a marketing campaign is out of the company’s control and therefore may create a disaster for the company’s overall reputation if not handled well.
Here, I’m going to list some actions that company can do when facing homemade issues based on my takeaways from viral marketing fails that have happened:
1. Own up to your mistake
The first and foremost action a company can do after making a mistake is to apologise. A sincere apology shows their awareness and responsibility towards their mistake, insensitivity, or harm they may cause.
In celebrating International Women’s Day, Burger King decided to post a clickbait tweet saying “Women belongs in the kitchen". It is then followed with another post on their actual intention in providing female employees a free scholarship called H.E.R (Help Equalize Restaurants).
People weren’t happy with the tweet, saying how the company is using sexism as a clickbait, regardless on their good intention. Burger King then tweeted an apology admitting their failure in delivering their actual message and deleted the tweet.
2. Just go with it…
Mistakes are usually unexpected and once it happened, there’s no way to cover it. By owning up to the mistake, it shows the company’s responsibility and honesty which people appreciates more rather being defensive about it.
Remember when Tesla unveiled its new Cybertruck in 2019 and the windows shattered during the testing of its supposedly “bulletproof” windows?
Source: The Sun (2019)
As we can see on the video, Elon Musk as the CEO of Tesla, was surprised. But instead of being intense about it he just laughs, admits the product flaw and proceeds with his presentation. Shortly after that, he went on Twitter and explained that it happened due to the previous damage attempt using a sledgehammer.
3. Positivity revival
Companies can retract the negative virality by promoting positive initiative in order to improve their public image. Through genuine remorse and commitment in doing a good corporate social responsibility, they will hopefully be able to regain customer’s trust and respect.
Let me refresh your memory on Starbucks’ 2018 incident. Two black men got arrested and accused for trespassing while waiting inside the café for their acquaintance to arrive . People were outraged about this racial bias behaviour. After announcing their apology, Starbucks decided to conduct an anti-bias training across more than 8,000 stores nationwide. Through this training, Starbucks hope to embark a transformation on its behaviour towards diversity and inclusion.
So what can we conclude from here?
Homemade issues can just be a small bump in the road. People are easy to forgive and forget. It all depends on how the company takes action upon their mistake and utilises their marketing and communication ability to recover.
References:
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2011). Two hearts in three-quarter time: How to waltz the Social Media/viral marketing dance. Business Horizons, 54(3), 253–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.006
Hi Nadila,
I think this is very important and relevant perspective on social media marketing. We always think and hope for the best when venturing into a new campaign but its important to understand that the message may not always be perceived exactly how the company may expect it. As mentioned, Burger King, Tesla and Starbucks were all able to turn it around promptly and move on, how torrlatant do you think the audience of a small business may be in a case of a mistake? As small businesses might not always have the resource
Gaveesh
Fantastic blog post Nadila and extremely relevant for social media content creators. We all need to learn from our mistakes eventually and your list of takeaways is going to be an important thought track for a content provider who has made a mistake!
Hey Nadila!
This blog hits close to home, I really enjoyed reading it and delving into the highs and lows of viral marketing campaigns – a real rollercoaster for any company. It's a reminder of the human side of these massive corporate entities.
The conclusion resonates on a personal level. It's like saying, "Hey, we all mess up, but it's not the end of the world. People are forgiving, and if you genuinely try to make amends, they might just forgive and forget." I genuinely enjoyed reading your blog, as it offered valuable insights into corrective actions that can be turn a potentially disastrous situation in social media marketing into a chance for growth.
However, owning up to the mistake…
Hey Nadila! This was a great read! Your breakdown of dealing with viral hiccups is on point. The notion that people are quick to forgive and forget is a powerful reminder of the resilience of reputation when approached with sincerity and corrective action.
Looking forward to more insights!