B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • WPP
  • AI
  • Anthony Albanese
  • NRL
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Thinkerbell
  • News Corp
  • Channel 10
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • State of Origin
  • Cairns Hatchlings
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Just Jeans hoax highlights need for full-time social media teams
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Uncategorised > Just Jeans hoax highlights need for full-time social media teams
Uncategorised

Just Jeans hoax highlights need for full-time social media teams

Staff Writers
Published on: 9th January 2013 at 12:03 PM
Staff Writers
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

Social media experts are urging brands to employ dedicated social media marketers to carefully manage their online presences, after a hacker wreaked havoc on Just Jeans’ official Facebook page for over 12 hours.

News of the hoax broke yesterday, with Just Jeans apologising for a swathe of offensive, un-authorised posts by a hacker posing as Just Jeans head office.

The fraudulent account, which used Just Jeans’ logo, responded to a number of fans’ enquiries and comments, telling one customer a Just Jeans shop assistant had filed a complaint against her “for being rude and abusive”.

Another customer was told her comments about a sale were “so last year”, before being offered fake in-store vouchers.

Just Jeans, which has 18,600 fans, deleted the comments from the hoax account on Tuesday morning and told its community it was "investigating the posts as a matter of priority".

Chris Bridgland, accounts director at digital agency We Are Social today told B&T the case exemplified the need for brands to take their social media presences more seriously – that is, invest in dedicated social media marketing teams.

“If, as a brand, you’re not aware of anything happening over a 12 hour period then that shows there is a hole in your community management structure.

 “Social media audiences are increasing. Facebook now has a large spread of older audiences, as well as generation X and Y, and it’s no longer just a place to go and check up on things. You go on there all the time to talk to friends, to talk to brands, to get discounts to enter competitions; all these elements are so important these days.

“If you are not controlling the conversation and reacting to online conversations then you are really missing out on an opportunity to develop your brand online. Brands need to have full-time social media teams. There needs to be a level of consistent management,” he said.

A security advisor for internet company AVG, Michael McKinnon, yesterday told the Sydney Morning Herald that businesses who cannot monitor their social media on a daily basis should look at "locking down" their page by disabling the comment ability.

But Laurel Papworth, freelance social networks strategist, said dismantling public comments is not a viable option.

"If brands are using a social media site to put up promotional posts only (broadcast) and not interested in comments back (engagement), they get what they deserve. Companies need to understand that all channels are now open communication lines and at the very least monitor them. 

"When people 'Like' a company's Facebook page, they are subscribing to see news status updates. However, only about 17% of friends/companies status updates make it into your newsfeed on Facebook. How does Facebook determine which of the 17% of photos, status updates, videos, etc will you see? By the number of comments, likes and shares a company's status update gets from your friends. By turning off comments, no status updates will make it into customers newsfeeds."

Bridgland agreed, urging brands to recognise the intrinsic value of user engagement.

“User generated content is what social media thrives on. Brand posts go out there and do their job, but it’s really the engagement and commenting and interaction with your consumer which drives home purchase intent and increased awareness of the brand.

“If a brand wants to remove any kind of commenting section they could be setting themselves up for a failure because essentially they are just restricting what they are on social media for.”

Facebook currently has no safeguards to prevent imposters from masquerading as brands, making it easy for pranksters to disrupt official online conversations.

Pages of big global brands including Nike and Adidas face hackers on a regular basis, according to Bridgland, but the difference is that these brands monitor their online presences diligently and constantly.

“Nike and Adidas have really robust, well-formed management systems in place to make sure hoaxes never escalate to any level where they affect the consumer. It’s all about making sure the brand has a really well thought out content management situation.”

But it’s not just their own profiles which brands should be scrutinising. Good marketers will be listening to conversations about their brands across all social channels.

“As a brand you need to make sure you are constantly monitoring your brand on all social platforms – not just your own channels. You should be across all the conversations whether that be on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, making sure it’s not detrimental,” said Bridgland. 

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

TV Ratings (12/6/2025): 1.4 Million People Viewed The Western Bulldogs Kicking Its Way Into The Top Eight
13/06/2025
WARC Downgrades Global Ad Spend Forecast Amid “Trade Tensions” & Uncertain Tech Market
13/06/2025
Marketers Call For Measurement ‘Parity’ In Video, But One Buyer Warns ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’
13/06/2025
Meta Cracks Down On Nudify Apps & Sues Hong Kong Developer Behind CrushAI
13/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?