When Social Media Promotions Go Awry

One of the hardest lessons that marketers and retailers can learn in social media is when a promotion goes awry. You launch with the best of intentions–certain that a coupon or a discount will get you a whole bunch of fans–but somewhere along the line, something goes wrong. And it doesn’t take long for your new fans to become not-so-friendly.

Walgreens last week offered a free 5×7 photobook to anyone who becomes a Facebook fan by Oct. 2. As of today, Walgreens has over 200,000 fans. But when it told its new fans in an update on its Facebook wall that the free photobook actually will come with a $1.99 shipping and handling fee, the fans were not amused. They didn’t hesitate to voice their complaints on Walgreens’ Facebook page.

Sara Lee Deli, meanwhile, has been offering its new Facebook fans a $3-off coupon. But scores of them have had problems receiving the e-mail coupon, or printing it, and again, they have not been shy about expressing their frustration on Sara Lee’s Facebook page.

A similar thing happened to Starbucks a few months ago, when the company promoted its new line of pastries with a coupon offer on Facebook and other social outlets. Some stores ran out of pastries, and some consumers didn’t realize they needed to bring the coupon with them. They vented their frustrations on Facebook, Twitter and Starbucks’ own social media site.

The lesson to be learned here is that marketers and retailers must make sure a social media promotion is completely synced, both online and offline. It doesn’t take much for things to go awry. And if things do start going south, it is critical to respond positively–and quickly–and turn the negative energy back into goodwill.

Tropicana’s Fans Sound a Sour Note

I noticed the weird new packaging for Tropicana orange juice right away and hated it. But I never said anything about it to anyone. I still bought the juice.

But other Tropicana consumers took their displeasure one step further — they took their viewpoints online, to Twitter and other outlets. And thanks to their efforts (and perhaps some additional focus group testing by Tropicana) the brand has decided to go back to the old packaging. As the New York Times reports, Tropicana executives just didn’t see it coming with the traditional kinds of research they do.

“What we didn’t get was the passion this very loyal small group of consumers have. That wasn’t something that came out in the research,” said Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana North America, in the Times article.

We’ve seen this before; UK fans got Cadbury to reintroduce a brand called Wispa by lobbying on Facebook.

“If consumers are speaking, you have to listen,” Tropicana’s Campbell told the Times. And more and more, you simply have to listen online.

Tampax Takes Risks in Social Networking

When someone asks me the secret to success in social media marketing, I often say that the product has to be something that consumers feel passionate about, and more importantly, that they are willing (and excited) to share their passion. I then go on to say, “tampons, for instance, are not something most people feel passionate about.”

So what to make of Procter & Gamble’s willingness to put the Tampax brand out there in the social media space? Tampax has been a willing sponsor of teen girls’ social networking (last year it sponsored a cheerleading-video competition on a site called Takkle.com).

Now, it is sponsoring Stardoll, a virtual world of sorts where girls can dress up cartoon doll avatars and then interact with each other. At Stardoll, Tampax sponsors the MonthlyGiftClub, where members can get gifts based on group milestones. According to Brandweek, some of the gifts might include white virtual clothing for their avatars — a play off of Tampax’s campaign featuring women wearing white clothing.

Here’s where I start to go “ewww” and wonder why girls would join this club. But I checked it out and it’s surprisingly active. The member list runs nearly 3,000 pages (and there are a couple dozen names per page). The guest book runs over 1,000 pages, and the discussion forum is quite active (if you call a lot of “lol” and “thx” posts active). No one’s talking about Tampax or tampons per se, but then again no one’s actively dissing the brand (that I found). Which says something.

Maybe I need to find a new product category to mention when I talk about brands that don’t make sense in a social environment. Anyone have any ideas for me?