Sadly we witness far too many instances across the globe where crisis management teams are not integrated with the marketing teams managing social media output, resulting in unsympathetic and irrelevant social media promotional posts.
In the light of the recent tragedy in Boston last month, there were even brands on Twitter and Facebook using the feed to tag and promote their products, like Foodie website Epicurious who used its Twitter connecting the bombings to recipes, including one that read, “Boston, our hearts are with you. Here’s a bowl of breakfast energy we could all use to start the day.”
Surely this isn’t the way to build a global marketing strategy?
While some companies cashed in, others took the time to hold automated messages and offer simple condolences – But, should companies be doing more during these times?
Can we really expect businesses to ‘hold out’ any promotional messages when a tragedy strikes when our social media managers never consider affording the same consideration when their nations are similarly afflicted?
Or maybe we are wrong and simply being too ‘sensitive’ to natural occurrences and product placement that must continue to ensure market opportunities and profit increases as a result of the additional exposure these events create….
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