Don’t make a hash of hashtag PR

Twitter provides a tantalisingly effective channels with new approaches and strategies for PR campaigns. A whole new level of interaction and conversation opens up. But it can also open up Pandora’s Box. Even mighty and respected brands can unleash a world of woes. All that’s left is the hope it will all go away quickly.

#McDStories – not ‘lovin it’

McDonald’s is one of the world’s super-brands. As such they spend a not-too-small fortune on advertising, marketing and PR every year. And have done for a long time. Surely too big and too experienced to PR fail?

The buzzword right now is ‘stories’ and social media platforms are the golden arches, the gateway to marketing nirvana. Get your happy customers to tell their heart-warming and inspirational stories and build your brand for you.

But what if your hashtag gets hijacked? The hashtag attracted ferocious and intensely brand-damaging responses citing everything from diabetes to worm-riddled food.

Everything McDonald’s PR is designed to combat, it armed. And they paid for the privilege (it was a promoted hashtag). They had to pull #McDStories after just 2 hours. But, despite stopping its promotion, it’s still going strong.

#QantasLuxury – when twitter PR boomerangs

Qantas is the oldest continuously operated airline in the world and has never had a jet airliner fatalities (and no fatal accidents at all since 1951). It’s a strong brand.

The Qantas PR team ran an experimental contest on Twitter. Entrants just had to tweet their “Dream luxury in-flight experience” using the hashtag #QantasLuxury. What could go wrong?

Well, strikes had recently grounded flights and stranded thousands of customers. This against a backdrop of a perceived decline in standards (dropping from being voted 2^nd best airline to 8^th by Skytrax over the last decade). There was a monumental backlash.

Peaking at about 25 tweets a second, the hashtag became a torrent of negativity, abuse and jokes at their expense. Picked-up by mainstream media this was a PR disaster on takeoff.

Just sticks and stones? Sure, but just ask Goliath about that

If huge global brands pulling in billions in revenue can fail at hashtag PR, anyone can. A Twitter storm in a teacup will blow over for these brand giants. But it could be disaster for a smaller brand trying to establish itself.

Sure, the bigger the brand, the harder they fall. Less known brands by definition wouldn’t attract such a big backlash. But they are less resilient and even a ‘non-epic’ fail could spell PR disaster.

Running any social media effort is risky. You’re trying to spark a conversation, to get people talking. Trouble is, that conversation is largely out of your control.

The takeaway…

McDonalds face highly polarised and fiercely vocal public opinion. Millions enjoy fastfood and millions see it as a social blight. Asking for unbridled stories was naïve. Qantas simply showed spectacular mistiming.

Here’s my top 5 hashtag PR tips

1. Timing – social media doesn’t operate in isolation. Outside events have impact.
2. Freedom of speech – you can’t dictate the conversation only try to shape it.
3. You can’t cherry pick -  remember social media means you get everyone’s opinion
4. Be specific – open-ended, broadly-termed hashtags invite any response. Think of how you can ‘shape’ the conversation and steer it away from negativity.
5. Be prepared – closely monitor your campaign and plan what you will do if things go sour. Can you nip it in the bud? Deflect it with humour? Admit mistakes but commit to fixing them? Respond honestly and show you’re human?