Oct 2011 Is Social Media Subtle, or is it that it is unforgiving?
So here another brand gets into trouble trying to generate content from bloggers. In this case a set of food and mommy bloggers were asked to attend an underground restaurant run by George Duran, the celebrity chef but for the last course, a Marie Callender’s frozen food was served, and the bloggers reactions filmed by hidden cameras.
Not a new technique, but a classic mistake given the bloggers cardinal rule against shilling.
So the question is it subtle? Not really. “Brands need to start behaving like human beings” is the phrase we are hearing more and more. And that is simple enough.
But just as brands should put the customer first and every company knows it has to take care of its people as its most important asset, doing is much harder then saying.
And there is no question that social media is unforgiving, as the NY Times so well point out in their article.