EnigmaCorp - Newcastle public relations (PR) and communications

January 2012

The awards for 2011’s biggest PR blunders were released this week by prdisasters.com

See the full list and commentary here.

Interestingly, Gerry McCusker, author of the PR Disasters book and blog said that Twitter was the tool that the public most used to hurl criticism at brands and personalities when they failed in the PR stakes.

I think it’s always good to monitor what’s being said about your organisation on social media even if you’ve decided that it’s not the arena for your brand or organisation.

I’m noticing that public sentiment on Twitter can even influence the course of live television.

Catty comments by a judge and co-host on last year’s Dancing with the Stars prompted a massive attack from Twitter fans, which forced an on-air apology.

Knowing what’s being said about you and responding quickly is the way to stem any further PR damage. 

3 Comments >> Posted by Alana
Pic of Myer's 'Early Bird Get's the Right Size' signage

It’s amazing the furore over a single apostrophe. Even if it was such an obvious clanger.

Myer’s now infamous use of ‘EARLY BIRD GET’S THE RIGHT SIZE’ on promotional signage for the retail chain’s post-Christmas sales seemed to generate some handy “unexpected hype” across social media, with the story being picked up by traditional news outlets and even followed up by Ten’s The Project.

Myer’s ‘response’ was predictably safe and I reckon you’d be hard-pressed to find any lasting damage being done to either the brand or the stores’ sales figures. One could even argue that the exposure served to draw awareness to Myer’s sales event in what is a typically crowded and saturated retail market at this time of year. Is anyone talking about DJ’s stocktake sales? Would any of us be this interested in Myer’s stock-standard campaign if it weren’t for this seemingly innocent punctuation error?

4 Comments >> Posted by Chris Day
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