The Importance of a Timely Response

When some negative press occurs about you or your organization it is your job to address that complaint right away, and if it is a large story gaining momentum you need to stop it immediately.  The negative news is like a small leak in your boat if you choose to ignore it or take to long to fix it, the leak gets worse.  The leak will get larger and more water (negative press/publicity) will get into your boat (company) and stall your engines and maybe even sink the boat.  Even after stopping the leak you will still have to take the time to clean up the water damage caused by that leak.

Jay Culter was recently injured during the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.  While injuries do happen the Chicago Bears took what many consider to be too long to release a statement regarding his injury. Much of his negative back lash could have been stopped if they told the media that he suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee.

While Taco Bell took an immediate and proactive approach to a lawsuit claiming that Taco Bell doesn't use enough meat in their tacos and instead it is mostly oats and other fillers.  Taco Bell used social media and the tradition press release to address the lawsuit immediately.  The action they took helped to slow the damage and more importantly let the public know the(ir) facts about their meat.

A timely response is the best action to take against any negative publicity or press.  In the current age of instant information from the use of social media a delay of a response will only make the problem worse.

How quick do you expect a response from a company?  Does a later response have the same impact to you as an instant response?  Any other examples you know of and would like to share?

Satire A Dangerous Slope: BP Case Study

This post has less to do with the actual BP Brand and more to do with the individual who created the fake account BPGlobalPR on Twitter.

What has BP done right so far?

In the disaster that is the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is a PR nightmare, BP has managed to do a few things correctly from a PR standpoint.

• Have paid for a google sponsored link that comes out on top for searches of BP Oil Spill with what BP is doing to fix the problem
• Going to their homepage auto redirects to a splash page where they show what BP is doing for a Gulf of Mexico response
• Created a twitter account of BP_America to help people speak out on the oil spill.

BP not managing or monitoring its brand.

While it is great that BP has made its brand and tried to take control of it, because if you don't someone else will. And someone else has done so, a twitter account BPGlobalPR made by someone who was upset with how BP was handing the oil spill situation. I am not the first to notice this account or how "real" BP hasn't or if it has I have yet to see anything about it. Some other bloggers have touched on this subject including Samir Balwan, John Taylor, and Mark Smith, and The Brand Builder himself Olivier Blanchard. I recommend once finished reading this blog that you read their incites on the situation. As for me this blog post is more on the Spoof/Satire point of view and what that individual is doing in response to the oil crisis.

Edit: According to Ad Age BP is aware of this account and the outrage that this person has towards the whole situation is understandable. Also looks like the account will not be taken down but might have to change slightly to make itself more clear that it is not a BP account.

Using Satire...for the good?

The fake and in my opinion hilarious twitter account of BPGlobalPR shows what social media and twitter is capable of. The fake account has over twice as many followers as the real account and many people on twitter do not recognize that it is a satirical account which devalues and damages BP and its brand. But with the over 10,000 twitter followers the individual behind the account is able to use the account and the followers to not only vent and point out how bad BP screwed up the situation but also do some good. What good could come from impersonating an actual brand. selling t-shirts. The fake account links to a site where you can get a "free" BP Cares t-shirt with $25.00 shipping. The good is the owner claims "All proceeds from these satirical shirts will be given to charities involved in cleaning, preserving, and rescuing the gulf and its animals.
We are printing shirts as quickly as possible, please allow 4-6 weeks for shipping." Now it would be great if that is true but by coming off as a fake account/impostor/con man it is hard for some people me included to believe that all proceeds will go to charity. Now they very well may which would be awesome and that individual who used Twitter to address their frustration at BP is doing plenty of good.

Edit: It looks like the proceeds will go to a charity of Healthy Gulf.

How is this a dangerous slope?

Where is the line that should not be crossed? Impersonating a brand and using their trademark and image is illegal. I am waiting to see what BP will do to the individual who made the account, and if other people who are upset with the situation also will create a satire account at BP or another companies expense.

Were you familiar with the fake BP account? What should be done to this account? What should BP and other companies do to make sure that this doesn't happen again or to them?

Marketing Idea: College Video Game Tourney

Large Marketing Budgets for upcoming games, even larger for the highly anticipated titles.
Video game companies invest a large amount of time, money, and effort in upcoming games and new releases. This is so the interest and awareness is there, but isn't the awareness already there. Avid gamers already know the release date to the titles they want, from numerous magazines, tv shows, web shows, websites, posters, store listings, and blog posts. Most of which cost the companies little to nothing for advertisements.

Should the advertising and marketing budgets be cut?
No if anything the budgets should be increased. A larger investment in advertising and marketing will result in more sales. Their is a point when more advertising will not result in more sales. Tradition advertising does work but more can be done to improve sales and awareness. Bungie and Microsoft spent over 250 million on the creation and promotion of Halo 3. This allowed for one of the best first day sales ever, as well as the best selling game in 2007. What should happen is the budgets should be adjusted to allow for new ideas and avenues for advertising.

One idea would be for hosting a video game tournament at college(s) around the country.
Taking 10 million from the budget, or cutting the number of commercials by as little as 10 airings could cover setting up and running a tournament at a large college. College students are one of the main demographics of video game players. Video game tournaments have been around since the days of the arcade machines. Many movies about video games and tournaments have been made including The Wizard showed the popular Nintendo World Champion Tournament. Tournaments are continually becoming more popular with profession circuits, teams, advertisements, fans, in all aspects a sport.

Tournament logistics for a successful event:

• The tournament should be held on a campus with the resources and size to be able to host a large gaming tournament in both space and utilities.
  
• The tournament should be the weekend prior to the release date, this will allow for fair play, the game will be completed, as well as the most "buzz" will be generated.
  
• There will be a tournament entry fee and prizes similar to other cash tournaments.
  
• Each participant will have 1 hour practice time to get accustomed to the controls of the new game and strategize.
• The platforms and games will be provided for the tournament from Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo.
• The number provided will be dependent on the number of entrants and size of campus but between 100 and 200 platforms and copies of the game.
• The televisions will be rented out as well as anything else that is required.
  
• The game chosen will be one with multiplayer, a highly anticipated release, and can have quick yet detailed matches.
• The format will follow standard cash tournament setup with matches, eliminations, and rules.
• Held once a semester, at different campuses.
  

Simplified Logistics
Basically the rules and set up will follow those of other cash tournaments. The systems, games, and anything else that is needed will be rented or provided from the game system's company, who ever the tourney is for. The game will be one that will be released in the upcoming week and has multiplayer.

Halo 3 Tournament: What could have been
As stated earlier Halo 3 had one of the largest budgets for a video game. There was a lot of press for the release of the game and numerous parties. Bungie and Microsoft could have also held a video game tournament with Halo 3 the weekend prior to its release at one of numerous colleges. This tournament would have brought numerous popular video game all stars to the event and press coverage. College students would also attend and compete and the hosting college and city would receive a large amount of press and increased revenues from the travelers and event. For the cost of about 10 national commercials Microsoft could have paid for the tournament, or had the fees cover a majority of the costs. To also help with the costs, which are minimal for the amount of exposure that will be received, many sponsors could help spread the costs. Some sponsors could include beverage or retail companies including Walmart, Best Buy, and GameStop. Additional PR is always a benefit especially when its free and gets covered and picked up all over, which this tournament would have.

Would you like a tournament like this at your college, city? Would you attend a tournament? Would this make you more likely to purchase the game?