IS A GOOD APOLOGY WORTH MORE THAN A GOOD AD?

Every now and then a brand will come out with a “brilliant” ad that seems to ruffle a few more feathers than they bargained for. Without fail, the brand will release a socially responsible apology statement and position themselves back in good graces with the majority of their consumers.

Most recently, we can look at the Motrin “Mommy” ads and last weeks Pepsi Max’s “One Lonely Calorie” advertisements. It’s plain to see how both sets of ads were sure to strike a nerve with a particular group of consumers, and in today’s super connected world, there is no way to isolate who sees and who doesn’t see your ads.

Without question, we can all applaud these companies use of social media outlets to rapidly respond. Both companies saw the overflow of negative conversations happening on Twitter and YouTube. Both companies also rapidly responded and apologized for the insensitive nature of their ads.

To me, I think that companies are intelligent enough to realize which advertisements cause a commotion, but are relying more on the age-old saying that ‘no press is bad press’.

With the power of social media, and the millions of conversations always occurring, a off-color ad is sure to cause commotion and get people talking about the brand – cue thoughtful apology. The apology creates even more conversation about the brands, conversation, which largely includes “look how well the brand responded”.

I am not encouraging brands to produce offensive material just to garner attention, but I think its important to acknowledge how negative conversations provide great opportunity for brands to position themselves as “in touch with their consumers”