Do Fails Like #YourTaxis Hurt Twitter More Than Brands?
Carat social media manager, Alexander Southwick (pictured below), ponders the impact on the medium, as well as the brands behind some of this year’s biggest social media fails.
This month we had one of the more notable social media fails of 2015, the Victorian Taxi Association’s #YourTaxis campaign. Setup to allow the people of Melbourne to share their (ideally positive) Taxi stories on Twitter, the tag quickly spiraled out of control, with many users sharing their Taxi horror stories instead.
Ultimately the campaign was deemed a failure, with the social agency responsible reportedly being taken off the account after an awkward and inappropriate follow up Tweet on Remembrance Day. Even so, I’m left wondering – were The Victorian Taxis Association and / or their social agency the real losers last week? Or was it Twitter?
PR disasters like the #YourTaxis fail aren’t all that uncommon on the platform, with brands like Qantas and McDonalds also recently facing the ire of users.
As marketers, there’s always a certain degree of risk associated with opening up your brand to the kind of two way customer conversation that social platforms like Twitter facilitate. You have to wonder just how far incidents such as the #YourTaxis fail go toward proving the old adage, ‘once bitten, twice shy’, from a client perspective.
Even if it’s not your client directly caught up in the mess, the halo effect of such a public humiliation is widely felt. The end result is that brands and clients retreat to the relatively security of more traditional platforms; ones where consumer’s voices and concerns aren’t necessarily so easily aired.
Surely this problem can’t just be limited to Twitter though; users on Facebook are just as capable of sharing complaints. Facebook, however, just doesn’t feel nearly as public.
Why?
Firstly, the format of Facebook encourages more direct communication – you write on a brand’s page, for example – rather than the general broadcast format of Twitter. This ‘broadcast’ element is facilitated largely by the enormous uptake of hashtags. Facebook also allows brands to exert more control over what is said about them through functionality such as ‘approved posts’, which gives a greater sense of security.
As an agency, it’s also a more difficult argument to make to remove Facebook from the channel mix with their reach sitting at around the 14m mark in Australia, versus Twitter’s 3m.
The fact is, Twitter still has a little of the ‘Wild West’ about it for brands. With this is mind, when it comes to selecting one platform over the other, the client and agencies tend to lean towards Facebook, as the perceived ‘safer’ option.
Despite these issues, I would still assert that Twitter has its place in any business. I think the role that it plays as a marketing platform, however, may change.
Perhaps it will evolve into the new customer service channel for brands, as opposed to a marketing one, allowing brands to transition negative feedback away from Facebook to a separate environment. It may also be that Twitter has to change the way that advertising functions on the platform, as ad products should be designed for advertisers and not for users to abuse, something that promoted trends and hashtags are currently susceptible to.
I’ve heard people say that these problems could’ve been avoided through better tag selection or proper risk mitigation strategies, however I think that this kind of thinking also limits the opportunities for brands on Twitter.
It’s worth noting that almost any tag or ad can be misconstrued in such a way that it causes brand headaches. Take Susan Boyle’s album launch in 2012 for example. I refuse to believe that the hashtag #susanalbumparty made it through PR, Creative, Media and the Twitter teams without someone at least raising an eyebrow.
In 2015, where everything is abbreviated, turned to emoji, or #tagged, brands and individuals need to be conscious of what they’re creating. When brands get it wrong with these tags or ideas, the platform ends up suffering as much as they do, making it harder for all of us in the long run to get exciting and engaging social campaigns off the ground and onto the plan.
Latest News
An Educated Guess: Three Ways Hypothesis-Based Marketing Can Work For You
Look, it's top tips to mastering hypothesis-based marketing that mercifully doesn't require revisiting Year 12 maths.
Melinda Geertz Steps Down As Leo Burnett CEO, Emma Montgomery To Take Reins
After three decades, Melinda Geertz has stepped down as Leo Burnett CEO.
Saatchi & Saatchi’s Donation Dollar Continues To Make Waves At Cannes Lions Live While More Aussie Agencies Secure Success
Cannes Lions has announced the winners in the second Awards Show of the week during Cannes Lions Live, which runs until June 25th. On day two, winners were celebrated in the Social & Influencer Lions, Media Lions, PR Lions, Direct Lions, Creative Strategy Lions and Creative Data Lions – all within the Reach Track, in […]
Cresta’s Awards See Upturn As Ad Spend Starts To Return
Cresta Awards has announced that despite having a few more weeks before entries close, this year’s Cresta Awards has surpassed its entries for the whole 2019 Season. Cresta sees this as evidence, not just of evolution in its own awards but of a wider measure of industry confidence and resilience in many markets. The awards […]
Ashley Madison Shifts From Shock To Female Empowerment
Ashley Madison, the online dating site for married people famous for its shock advertising, is toning down the message, instead creating content aimed at empowering women with the message it’s fine to have an affair. Recently, B&T interviewed GroupM’s chief technology and transformation officer, Ryan Menezes. When asked what was the best brand he’d never […]
72andSunny APAC CEO Chris Kay Named Saatchi & Saatchi UK CEO
Saatchi & Saatchi UK has announced Chris Kay as its new CEO of the agency as Sam Hawkey leaves. Kay joins from 72andSunny where, for the past three and a half years, he was CEO for Asia Pacific and a global partner. Prior to moving to Australia to set up the APAC region’s Sydney and […]
Facebook Announces Plans For World’s Largest Shoppable Social Media Platform
Gerry Harvey meanwhile has sworn to build his own social network in retaliation to Facebook stepping on his turf.
Clems Melbourne Snares Charlotte Stevens To Head Myer Business
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne has announced Charlotte Stevens as group business director, leading the Myer account. Stevens is returning home to Australia following a decade in London, most of which was spent at Portas Agency. During her time in London, Stevens led Sainsbury’s fashion, homeware and beauty portfolios and worked across a range of retail accounts […]
Microsoft Reaches $US2 Trillion Value As Apple Eyes $US3 Trillion
Do you ever regret not studying computer science at uni? Probably not... but perhaps you should.
Facebook’s VR Ad Play Hits A Snag
VR still hasn't truly taken off yet and we blame that awful Ready Player One film.
Reports: Google Draws The Ire Of EU (Again)
B&T's editor takes great pleasure in an opportunity to use 'ire' in a headline, despite having no idea what it means.
PubMatic Secures Data Partnership With HYP Technology
Think of data partnership news as being similar to celebrity hook-ups, just without weird combined names like Bennifer.
Publishers Cash In On EOFY Sales
Where are these same sales when you have to buy gifts for loved ones during Xmas, we ask?
Flybuys & The Trade Desk Help Connect Online & Offline Sales With New Partnership
Connecting online and offline data can now be as easy as serving a Woolies roast chook for dinner with this new deal.
Household Targeting’s Role In The Cookieless Future
In this piece, Tim Sleath, VP of Product Management at VDX.tv, discusses household targeting’s role alongside other identity solutions and how advertisers can create an effective household strategy for their campaigns. As the advertising industry plans for the removal of third-party cookie support and moves toward adopting more privacy-centric solutions, marketers will need to identify […]
Cartelux Extends Agreement With MINI
This should come as good news for all 'Small Car Only' car spots in shopping centres.
“Bots Are Programmed To Sell, Not Care!” AI & Algorithms Roasted In Creepy Robot Ad For US Travel Brand
If The Terminator taught us anything, it's not to start a fight with the robots.
Highsnobiety Partners With Citizens Of Culture To Help Lead Its Media Partnerships In Australia
Culture-leading publisher Highsnobiety continues to evolve its local operations with the appointment of Citizens of Culture as its strategic partner across media operations within Australia. Highsnobiety is a premium global brand dedicated to cultural pioneers, with work spanning across digital platforms, print media, documentaries, cutting edge events, a shopping platform and a full service creative […]
Investigation Reveals That Amazon Destroys Thousands Of Dollars Of Unsold Stock, Including Laptops, TVs And Face Masks
This investigation may seem hard-hitting, but just wait till we tell you what Bakers Delight does with its finger buns.
Mega Sports Blunder Wrap! Testicles, Streakers, IKEA’s Ronaldo Stunt & What’s Under A Scotsman’s Kilt
B&T's condensed a week of sports disasters into this handy read. Stranger still, it's sans any NRL players whatsoever.
HEADS UP: Entries For B&T’s Best Of The Best Awards Close This Week!
B&T’s Best Of The Best Awards close this Friday! So don't prove yourself the fool of the fools by missing out.
Fiftyfive5 Expands Local And Global Talent With 45 New Hires
Insight-led consulting business Fiftyfive5 reports continued growth with 45 new hires between June 2020 and June 2021 across all geographies and levels, bringing the agency headcount to 147.
Ben Roberts-Smith’s Defamation Trial Put On Hold While He Awaited COVID-19 Results
Yes, the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case sent to run for weeks amid reports Ben's already run out of ties.
Samsung CMO Josh Grace Among Several To Exit Tech Giant’s Corporate Marketing Team
Samsung CMO Josh Grace announces departure. Can now reveal he was secretly watching Apple TV the entire time.
Everything You Need To Know About The New DDO Laws & How They Will Affect Your Marketing Campaigns
Here's all you need to know about the new DDO laws. That's design & distribution obligations, not Doris Day's obituary.
Shopper Media Expands ISPT Partnership To 20 More Shopping Centres Nationwide
Shopper Media, Australia’s fastest-growing retail out-of-home media company, today announced its expanded partnership with ISPT that will see it install 230 screens across a portfolio of 20 shopping centres nationwide.
Red Bull Launches An Office Games Tournament In Australia To Give Wings To Workers
Red Bull gives you wings. Although too much of it can also give you caffeine toxicity, anxiety and heart palpitations.
Witchery Partners With GlamCorner To Boost Subscription Shopping
Australian fashion brand Witchery has partnered with B Corp GlamCorner as part of GlamCorner’s subscription box offering as the demand for everyday essentials soars. This partnership marks another milestone for the Australian fashion industry towards becoming more circular and introducing more paths to reduce textile waste. Customers nationally will be able to rent more of […]
MASH Appoints Damien Miller As First General Manager, Wins Work With Experience Co And Minor Hotel Group
Following significant new business growth, MASH has appointed former VICE head of client services Damien Miller as its first general manager. It has also announced two new major client wins.
“We Can Learn From One Another”: How Supporting Refugees Makes Australia’s Business Culture Better
To celebrate World Refugee Day today, B&T's bringing you this. Still, don't expect the same on World Gouda Day.
