A classic social media blunder: Wearing your baby

June 29th, 2009 by Kevin Flynn

OK, so this story is a little dated but it still teaches some pretty compelling lessons. Last fall, Motrin decided it would launch a social media campaign for International Baby Wearing Week by producing a viral video for YouTube. Motrin suggested that carrying babies was like a fashion accessory. A fashion accessory that could cause aches and pains—with Motrin to the rescue. Check out the video:

Apparently, moms were neither pleased nor impressed. Furthermore, this campaign was launched late on a Friday afternoon and left unmonitored over the weekend by the company. And the backlash that weekend was measured in millions of negative impressions within the social media world. And the Motrin debacle earned the top spot on the social media Darwin awards.

The Lessons Learned:
Test your campaign with a small audience—also known as the “disaster check.”
If you’re going to use social media, know that reaction times are measured in minutes and be ready to respond 24/7. Your target audience has the the power, so make sure you’re always listening.

Motrin is a fine brand, and if someone hadn’t been asleep at the wheel that weekend, the brand could have taken a gentle tap versus a big old black eye.

— Kevin Flynn

This entry was posted by Kevin Flynn on Monday, June 29th, 2009 and is filed under Advertising, Blogging, Creative, Online Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Video, Viral Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.