Strong social media crisis communications prevents a major boycott
Harvey Norman nearly had a very unhappy Christmas. The retail chain, one of Australia’s largest, recently ran an ad campaign that had consumers up in arms, but thanks to an alert social media team and responsive execs, the problem was resolved in a matter of hours. SmartCompany AU’s Patrick Stafford has the story:
The entire Harvey Norman exchange is documented on activist Melinda Reist’s blog. Reist says she was sent a Facebook alert about the Harvey Norman advertisement, which reportedly promoted the ability to have in-store photos with Santa but used the line “Do you want to give Santa a lap dance?”
Immediately, Reist sent out some tweets about the incident calling for a boycott. Soon after, several other Twitter users joined in the chorus until the official Harvey Norman Twitter account stepped into the fray.
Soon after, Harvey Norman social media head Gary Wheelhouse sent Reist an email, stating that he would “absolutely make sure this goes to the right people”. Forty-five minutes later, the company confirmed the radio ad had been pulled – about four hours after Reist sent her first tweet.
Did Harvey Norman have to suck up the money spent on the radio ad? Yes. But what if the outrage sprouting on Facebook and Twitter had blossomed into a true national boycott, and during the holiday selling season no less? Clearly that would have cost far more than was lost. Simple, smart crisis management from the Harvey Norman team.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/