Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Oprah Winfrey, one of the world’s richest women valued at over 2.9 billion dollars, was refused 3 times the opportunity to examine and purchase a 37 thousand dollar Tom Ford handbag. This happened at a posh upscale boutique in Switzerland.

The resulting news and social media backlash for the boutique involved and Switzerland itself (the country’s tourism office also apologized to her) was rapid and explosive, with negative commentary from news organizations, Facebook, Twitter, media publications and the like chiming in. Don’t be surprised by this! Anything that touches on deeply personal values (racism, gender equality, lifestyle, health, etc.) will quickly mushroom into an immense social media unconscious event. It will either become a social media dream or in this particular case…the ultimate social media brand reputation management nightmare.

This wake up call provides a powerful opportunity for businesses regarding their reputation management process. Not every business has a plan in place and for those who don’t know where to start, consider these 3 compelling reputation management tips....

Paula Deen supporters lashed out on Facebook and Twitter against the companies that terminated partnerships with the southern cooking star in light of her racially insensitive remarks.

The Facebook pages of Wal-Mart, Caesars, Home Depot, Smithfield, Sears , Target and The Food Network have been plastered with angry comments in support of Deen. Each of the pages had dozens -- and in some cases hundreds -- of Deen-related comments, overwhelming the companies' social conversation....

...Despite the outpouring of support for Deen, social media marketing consultants note that Facebook (FB) comments typically don't impact brands on their own. Negative reactions on Twitter, on the other hand, can actually do some serious damage.Unlike Facebook comments, tweets and blog posts can show up in search results when consumers Google a company. If the first results that come up when searching for Target are "I'm never shopping at Target again after they dropped Paula Deen," that could have a lasting impact....