You are a brand, with values and a personality.  Your brand connects to your mission and purpose. And today your brand doesn’t exist without influence from and consideration of the internet.

There is one thing in particular that has opened your brand up to an unparalleled level of criticism and potential fallout – while simultaneously offering you new and easy access to a far-reaching audience. Social Media.

Early on, it was “Social Networking,” a means of using the internet to connect more openly and fluidly with people you know and/or want to know. Over the last decade, particularly the last 5 years, we’ve seen an astounding evolution. The rise and fall of networks, the proliferation of advertising into the social model, and the never-ending search for the ‘next big thing.’

Through all of this, I believe, brands have been trying to understand how to make the most of this truly unique and unpredictable technology.

How do you protect your brand? Stay true to your values? Provide value to your existing audiences and entice new ones? And what do you do about your competition?

The McWhopper is a lesson in humility

Consider the Burger King launch of a surprise McWhopper campaign – submitting a public, online proposal to McDonald’s asking them to bury their “burger war” for one day in support of charity. Unfortunately, McDonald’s rejected their olive branch with the following on Facebook:

The backlash to McDonald’s response was immediate. Even though Burger King’s request came out of the blue it did seem sincere.

What would you have done?

It’s easy to take for granted the “uneventful moments,” when our audience and competition are friendly, complimentary and placable.  It becomes exceedingly difficult to plan for the unexpected and potentially harmful moments that once published online may never be removed or forgotten.  

The good and the bad of brand exposure in social media

Good

• You have a say in defining your online space
• Fluid and subject to evolution
• Reach new audiences
• A deeper level of interaction never before possible

Bad

• Uncontrollable
• Ever-present public scrutiny
• Snowball effect (one bad experience / comment can quickly spiral out)
• Misinformation and miscommunication

Successful brand management is complex and nuanced. Here are a few simple tips to keep in mind:

1. This is a job for the experienced – your intern may be more technically savvy but consider who understands your organization’s brand the best and is able to build a communications strategy that translates well into social.
2. Be flexible – Remain open to the unexpected and the negative, the social space is not one that is meant to be controlled.
3. Assess the repercussions – When the inevitable backlash hits, assume the “war room” mentality because your response, if any, isn’t just about what you say or how but what the potential repercussions are of either approach.
4. Let your audience be your guide – Your adversaries will bring you down but your advocates will always lift you up, remember that one of the most beautiful things about social is that you’re not alone.