Three things marketers can learn from Kenneth Cole’s Twitter #Fail

Earlier this month, Kenneth Cole sent a Tweet that angered the Internet. Within hours, blog posts about the missive were live on TechCrunch and Mashable and a fake @KennethColePR account had launched to flame the fires.

Kenneth Cole has a history of creating controversial ads. This kind of controversy isn’t new for the brand. However this kind of reaction to the controversy is new. Given the negative reactions to some of Kenneth Cole’s traditional ads, they could have foreseen the negative reaction and prepared accordingly. But they didn’t. They completely underestimated the power of social media and the rise of the real-time web. And this is something other brands and organizations would be wise to take heed of. So let’s take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture.

What did Kenneth Cole do right?

1. Establish a presence on social media platforms. Kenneth Cole had a well-established presence on Facebook and Twitter. KC had integrated social media into the marketing mix in order to connect with consumers and “fish where the fish are.”
2. Use social media to respond to questions and feedback. Before the Twitter #Fail, Kenneth Cole was using social media to respond to compliments, questions and feedback from customers.  They also used their social media outposts to share news, updates, content, and behind-the-scenes peeks.
3. Hijack a hashtag to tap into a popular conversation. Marketers have a history of finding creative ways to tap into events and conversations that are top of mind. Hijacking a hashtag can be the Twitter equivalent of spam (at worst) or ambush marketing (at best). When done correctly, it can be an effective way to share your marketing messages with a wider audience.

What did Kenneth Cole do wrong?

1. Hijack a hashtag to tap into a popular conversation. In this case Kenneth Cole made light of a socio-political situation that people are, literally, fighting for and dying over. As Cole admitted in an apology on Facebook, “…[his] attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.”
2. Engage in social media without having a community strategy and crisis response plan in place. It’s clear from Kenneth Cole’s (lack of) response that there wasn’t a plan in place. Sure, Kenneth Cole deleted the offending Tweet and issued an apology. But by then the damage had already been done and, for the most part, KC retreated from the discussion and left their social media outposts open for detractors. The Facebook page was brand-jacked by angry fans. Protesters chimed in from every corner of the Blogosphere and Twitterverse. So what’s the lesson here? Brands and organizations that engage customers online need to be prepared to handle public relations crises and social media attacks. In 2010 (after the social media attacks against Nestle) Jeremiah Owyang shared some great insights and tips about crisis planning and preparing for social media attacks.
3. Fail to understand the world of now media. More and more people are sharing, consuming, creating, and shaping conversations in real time. Messages spread farther and faster than ever before. Conversations–and controversies–take place online, in real-time and in the public eye. There are three sides to every online story: the creators, the commenters, and everyone else watching. Kenneth Cole failed to understand the power of social media and the rise of the real time web. The misstep landed them in a lot of hot water and on Jeremiah Owyang’s growing list of brands that “got Punk’d by social media.”

What can you learn from Kenneth Cole’s mistake?

1. When you integrate social media into your marketing mix, be sure to develop a community strategy and crisis response plan for your social media outposts.
2. Be aware of the social media landscape and the implications–and ramifications–that social networking can have on your marketing messages and your brand reputation.
3. If you’re launching a product, service or campaign that may be controversial, be prepared to deal with the social media backlash. On second thought, always be prepared to deal with a backlash. If we learned anything from the Motrin Mom story, we learned that brands can’t always predict how their customers will respond. To prepare for that volatility and unpredictability, brands and organizations have to be prepared to deal with the worst-case scenarios.

Update: In the wake of social media missteps from Kenneth Cole, Groupon and the Red Cross, Mack Collier shared a great No-Nonsense Guide to Social Media Crisis Management. Definitely worth a read.