An Australian retailer was not immune to the viral effect social media can pursue for a cause today.
On Friday morning I read a blog post by ex Magazine editor and prominent writer Mia Freedman (you can read it here). Mia had been contacted by a reader who had seen a baby t-shirt popular retail Cotton On with the slogan “They Shake Me”. Outraged by the controversial product, Mia encouraged readers to email the company to show their disdain.
Another Twitter user contacted the Cotton On media representative and was told the representative was “out of the office and would not be responding”.
Mia publicly swore off the brand in her blog post encouraged her Twitter followers (over 8,000) to do the same.
The response to Mia’s blog post was so big it generated a new tag on Twitter #cottononaresick, over 23 pages of comments on her blog (many reporting the emails they have submitted to Cotton On) and has now infiltrated many online forums including the popular News Ltd owned Essential Baby.
The Australian reported Cotton On’s apology and promise to withdraw the shirts late this afternoon.
Cotton On has a Twitter account that has been used to promote giveaways. But the account today remained silent.
As a brand, it is important to recognise how quickly the situation can turn from a blog post into a media scram.
By telling consumers the brand “would not be respond” (which Mia relayed to her followers) the issue grew with several Twitter users linking the hashtag to a shaken baby case.
It is vital for your company to have a policy in place to address issues quickly and succinctly without dismissing customer concerns is vital. Social media lets you choose whether or not you want to “play”, but choosing to ignore situations such as today’s incident is a risky move.
A head in the sand strategy never works, let alone on such a sick campaign as this. Great post. Fi xx