Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb points us to the Jupiter Research study on Badvocates: “When User-generated Content Goes Bad.” One highlight — these same negative users are brand advocates who readily spread the word of good service.
I can’t imagine Mario Amaya’s logo remixes are malicious, but the lawyers will come a’callin. The fact is, everyone has photoshop and a blog now… how could your business embrace this admittedly playful and super viral brand abuse, instead of futilely releasing the hounds?
Ashton Kutcher gave us more than just trucker hats as haute couture when he gave us his opus, “Punk’d.” He jammed the fad phrase into our ear holes, into our vocabulary and into our hearts — “You just got Punk’d!”
Years later, Jeremiah Owyang gives us his list of all-time impactful brand “pranks;” the corporations most famously stunned by the virulence of the negative social media planned and perpetrated by badvocates to reduce their board of executives to Justin Timberlake-ish tears.
Enjoy the list quickly, and then look for my upcoming post on how to monitor your brand so you don’t get punk’d.
Unfortunately, there’s no abrasive, mesh-capped, may-december married, former That 70’s Show cast member to jump out of a van and make it all go away.
It’s up to you.
Michael Arrington, TechCrunch uber-blogger is in “trouble” again. “Cease and desist,” the lawyers say — stop promoting our movie.
Now Marvel will need a suit of armour to withstand the badvocates.
Community Guy Jake McGee is one of those guys that I just don’t want to mess with unless I take away his keyboard first. Maybe big brands should consider hanging posters at their front lines; but instead of “do not serve” in big, bold letters, they should emblazon “keep very, very happy” under the pictures of Jake McGee and other Social Media magnates.
The iPhone has been hacked and cracked, and improved upon by its users. This is the way of the of the future — Open source and communities improving brands. We must learn from
Apple’s missteps: Deny your ultra-passionate consumers the ability to really use your product, and turn advocates into badvocates.
A year ago, the hype began, following months of rumours and hopeful brand advocates dreaming of the Apple iPhone. They didn’t know what it would be, but that didn’t stop them from guessing.
Following the hyper-hyped launch, it took less than two months for the iPhone to be cracked, allowing users to choose any carrier, and one month later it was hacked, allowing coders to build unofficial apps — a shocking proposition in the world of Jobs.
Now, Apple has announced the release of the iPhone software developers kit, opening the iPhone to developers to embrace their ideas and passion. Seizing the opportunity for further product success that is knocking calling… or just giving in to the inevitable.
Let’s have a look at the story so far:
With rumours flying, the fanboys fire up photoshop and start to iDesign. One blog boasts 40+ of these mock ups.
Steve Jobs unveils the “iPhone” at Macworld. Techcrunchies (ers?) and millions of others get pretty excited.
Apple and AT&T announce carrier exclusivity with the GSM provider formerly known as Cingular. AT&T, with a well-known history of angry customers, becomes a target for Apple lovers. These badvocates try to organize and appeal to Jobs to change his decision.
In an interview, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, states that AT&T is “the most complete communications and entertainment provider for the way people live–and that starts with wireless,” and that iPhone exclusivity “reinforces with consumers that AT&T is the place to turn for the latest in wireless devices and services.” Too bad the iPhone can’t phone the future.
The early adopters line up and the press follows. Scoble’s there, natch, with 124 others in line at 3:36 am.
People buy some phones.
The iPhone is widely reported as “vulnerable to Hackers.”
iJustine, lifeblogger, vlogs about her 300-page iPhone service bill. An unfortunate AT&T mistake becomes an internet meme.
George Hotz, a 17-year-old New Jersey hacker breaks the lock that ties Apple’s iPhone to AT&T’s Wireless Network, switching his carrier to T-Mobile. Hotz posts the hack on his blog. It is a complicated process to duplicate, he reports, but Pandora’s iBox is opened. Forbes and CNBC report the event immediately. The same day, Engadget also reports they have hacked the iPhone thanks to a different hacker’s tools.
A week later, Apple stays in the news by lowering the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399. Early adopters aren’t terribly happy. Too soon? Bloggers argue “the cost of being one of the first” against the lack of appreciation from Apple for the long, Red-Bull-fueled twilight-to-sunrise lineups a few short months ago.
Days later, Erica Sadun of TUAW releases the first, free GUI iPhone unlock software. For computer newbies, GUI means easy. Engadget blasts the news to iPhone owners. Did anyone at AT&T see this coming? Or, as Buzz Canuck asks, who is the Web 2.0/Social Media/New marketing SME on your staff? (Hint: Set up a meeting with them.)
Apple’s bread and butter, the creative early adopters are annoyed at the company. What do creative early adopters do? They think different and they head to the internets. They post great viral badvocate video, using Apple’s own words.
Apple joins the 21st century by announcing the release of the SDK in February… Great, say hackers. Yay. Huzzah.
The ultimate lesson? Give your brand advocates and customers what they want. Or, if you choose otherwise, at least try to predict what they will do with what you give them.
Ryan Turner at Web Social Architecture posts a great blog entry about how to be perceived as trustworthy online:
“Getting it right is tricky. Everyone’s after the most elusive of brand qualities: Authenticity. Everyone wants to create relationships with their customers, to be trusted. And the difficulty of accomplishing that can be measured by the rise of the host of online marketing consultants and technology startups with turnkey solutions for all your trust needs.”
Read more of A Simple Formula for Online Trust
Maytag, for example, is hustling to start making up ground with its consumers. With a few recalls and some questionable service experiences, many long-time brand advocates have turned into detractors. And once on their soapbox, many more haters flock quickly to raise the flag of brand dissent. You can see a great illustration here, as blogger Linderella invests a little time and energy to take a couple of chips at ‘Ol Lonely.
Savvy marketers are accepting the fact that this is the new reality. Consumers want to like your product. They don’t want to have bad experiences with your product.
So, what should you do if your brand starts to get trashed by your customers? Embrace the tools that the badvocate is using. These blogs, social networks and online communities are flourishing because of their ease-of-use. What’s stopping you from joining the conversation?
(– thanks to Brenda Higuchi of Carlson Marketing Canada for the link)
It all started appropriately, with Kryptonite. Kryptonite is the brand — the go-to brand for security-conscious bikers. The story goes, with a simple swipe of the wrist, and a small shard of radioactive mineral, a single human being could strike a crippling blow to the all-powerful Superman. And with a simple online video, an Internet badvocate struck a crippling blow to a powerful brand. Now companies large and small scramble to find a strategy to combat this negative force.
But perhaps this isn’t the correct metaphor. Because in September 2004, when Chris Brennan posted his video to BikeForums.net detailing, in seconds, exactly how to pick a Kryptonite bike lock with nothing more than a Bic pen, he wanted to find answers — not necessarily to tear a multi-million dollar hole in the lock manufacturer’s back pocket. Regardless of Brennan’s intentions, the damage was done. And that quick cut to the brand’s core may not have been deep, but it became infectious quickly, spreading across the Internet virally and with great haste, as if hunting the brand, using the brand’s own fans and advocates as hosts and amplifiers.
As if teaching the inaugural lesson of Social Media Marketing 101, the deadly viral spread by word of mouth, blogs and the infant tools of Web 2.0 until it broke through to the mainstream media… And then everyone new about it.
This timeline demonstrates the tsunami through the young blogosphere (I’d love to cite this… anyone?):
What did the brand do about this threat? Not much. Online that is. Although the PR company flew into action, pulling together the outline of a plan for a lock exchange program within days, the viral continued. In the second lesson of social media marketing 101 - “How not to handle a Badvocate,” they looked at the videotaped demonstration of the uselessness of their core product, read the countless non-malicious comments posted by individual consumers confirming the video, and waited to respond through the “regular” channels.
What should they have done? They should have realized that using the regular channels wouldn’t stem the virus that was spreading so quickly through the new online channels.
Kryptonite reports that the impact hasn’t been very deep, but to this day, a Google Search for ‘Kryptonite Lock’ returns “hacked by a Bic pen” as the fourth and fifth returns, inviting researching consumers to learn exactly how the Kryptonite lock won’t work for them. The estimated cost of the Lock Exchange Program? $10 Million. And as the power and impact of the prosumer grows, one can’t ignore a “simple video post” or someone who is “just a blogger.”
This is the power of the Badvocate. Brands beware.