Bad press keeps going… and going… and going….

I’m the woman who will stand in line 10 minutes for a free sample.  Once, I waited outside in the freezing cold Minnesota Winter, (for four hours no less,) to get my hands on the latest Santa Bear to finish my mother’s collection.  I don’t mind waiting and if the waiting is filled with great conversation in the line, I’m downright happy.   Social Media, brings out something different in me.

Perhaps it’s that I’m conditioned to believe that this magic box in which I type on, is here only to benefit exactly what I want, when I want it.  If a page loads extra slow, I catch myself rolling my eyes.  If something crashes, an occasional computer put-down will be uttered from my lips.  In fact, I no longer wait in line, come to think of it.  Early Christmas shopping?  Who has time for lines, the past 2 years, I’ve just ordered everything… online.  I’ve become a beast for the quick, easy and fruitful.

Perhaps this is why when Energizer did a recent promotion on their facebook page I jumped at the chance of free batteries: http://www.facebook.com/Energizer?ref=ts

If you click on their facebook wall, you’ll see the backlash of what should have been a very, very successful giveaway.  It all all the elements:  Free,  Fans,  The Like Button and a huge flood of WOM Marketing.  Let’s break down exactly what went wrong, and how Energizer might be able to save this one.

Short Term Giveaway

Because the items were free, the giveaway started at 8am, East Coast time, (6am central,) and by the time it reached 8am on the West Coast, the batteries were all gone.  In less than a four-hour span, a plethora of angry comments were posted in discussions and on the wall.  One read:  ”Way to have a contest that’s only good for people on the east coast – here in OR it’s 8am and it’s over??!!!“

To properly allow WOM marketing to take it’s full effect, Energizer might have offered an entirely different giveaway to begin with.  Most didn’t follow contest rules and actually ‘Like’ the giveaway as another wall poster mused, “Said 30,000 free coupons available and had to hit LIKE, so how could they be gone, you only have 261 likes on the coupons link.”  This is a recipe for disaster, isn’t it?  Next time, Energizer may think about having a lottery, or creating a discussion around the free product to giveaway.  If they lead with positive comments, the entire tone will be different.

Long Wait Times

A few people commented that they waited over 30-40 minutes and had to keep refreshing the button to receive their coupon.  Most were waiting and didn’t receive anything.  One poster remarked, “When thousands of people are submitting the same form on the same site, some are going to freeze. There will be other freebies. I try to be thankful for those I get and happy for those who get ones I don’t. ”  Unfortunately, most people on facebook were not so level-headed.  A few more commentors were not so kind in their remarks, “mine was validating for over 30 minutes.. its a damn scam,” read one near the top.

Sometimes, the system can’t handle all the requests, as we’ve seen with the recent debacle of Twitter crashes.  To alleviate a potentially tragic hardware or software snafu, I’ve always wondered why more companies don’t spread out the contest via different social networking platforms.  It not only spreads out comments and reaches more people, but the company isn’t relying solely on one platform to house all the inquiries.

Bait and Switch?

Probably the largest reason for the backlash was the energizer did not keep up with the demands of it’s public.  After they knew the coupon was sold out, they still willingly advertised that the promotion was happening, collected sensitive personal information and gave a $1.00 off coupon, instead.  This is where most of the angry posts came from, including a post of mine that read, “If the giveaway has ended, you should have stated that BEFORE you took our personal information.”  Energizer actually replied to me, saying, “Hi Kate, if we received your information, then you will receive the coupon for the free batteries. If you didn’t make it in time, then you should have received a coupon for $1 off.”  I was one of the lucky few who was responded to.  And one of the unlucky few who sold her personal information for a one, dollar.

This is mainly a lesson to me.  How much is my personal information worth.  Is it really worth, a free battery pack?  I know it’s worth more than a dollar, though lists normally buy emails, names and addresses for pennies.  In all reality, I sold myself out.  Perhaps one commenter said it best, “For a free battery pack i would decide to give you my personal information. For a $1 off coupon I would pass. Please give others the option first and please delete my information that you excracted dishonestly from me. many thanks“

Mistakes Happen.  How do we fix it?

In most respects, Energizer is responding to comments, is actively involved in engaging consumers and as a company, offered another coupon since the main promotion sold out so quickly.  An immediate open letter to fans might be warrantied, apologizing for the short window, Facebook software failures and ultimately a public that conceives that this was no more than a ‘Bait and Switch,” promotion.  The moment that phrase is uttered, I’d have PR ready to go with open communication.  Facebook might also want to think about opening up a forum under discussions on how to make it BETTER for next time.  Let the fans pick the promotion and OWN what happens next.  It’s truly a win/win from an engagement standpoint, and when the public feels part of the solution instead of a victim of the problem, great things happen.

Brands depend on consumer loyalty.  When a customer feels deceived, their view of the brand may be forever tarnished.  I have a saying, “It’s not about winning anyone back, it’s about allowing them to feel open enough to CONVERSE with you about the issue.”  We feel better after we complain.  Why is that? In a recent post, the author of, “The Language of Emotions,” speaks about Conscious Complaining and how letting out our negative energy can actually HELP us.  In all reality, should we be so worked up about a Facebook promotion?  Probably not. I, however, am a firm believer in really looking deep into why we react, and how.  Read more about The Language of Emotions, here.

The main job of PR, and Social Media engagement is to LISTEN. Sounds like Energizer is getting a tough lesson in how much the public demands and how to craft a giveaway differently for future success.  For me?  I’ve learned the benefit of one-dollar.  It’s certainly not worth my personal information and it’s not worth much emotion.  It is however, one, gloriously-cheap business lesson to share, showcase and remind companies of.

Chris and Mary Lower weighed in from Sterling Cross Communications .   Follow them online at @SterlingCrossPR

“This is a traditional campaign utilizing web tools and would have even crashed a website.  Facebook has policies against these promotions because of platform crashes and it cannot handle the infrastructure.  Their wall is open to comments, which are not just from themselves.  They are instantly opening a headache with online reputation issues.  Energizer should have set this up to a micro-site and should have been ready for the bandwidth of potential hits and attempt to honor rain checks or other offers.  Store managers will go the extra distance and extend it, this is standard operating procedure.  There’s a huge difference between listening to the consumers and actually DOING something about what they are saying.  Are we actively taking steps to perform GOOD customer service?  Listening does no good if companies are not acting upon what they’ve learned.  If a community is unhappy, the mindset needs to be changed.”