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Goldman released its quarterly results yesterday, a stunning 3,5 billion in profits! Meanwhile, the firm is also being sued by the US Securities and Exchange commission (SEC). So what’s that got to do with online reputation management ?
Well, since the SEC filing on April 16th, Goldman appears to have gone into damage control mode. It looks to be one of the most controversial financial fraud cases in recent times. The charge is that the banking giant mislead investors by not informing clients about some risky hedge fund investments that ended up causing substantial losses…
So how does this affect Goldman’s reputation overall and does it make sense for them to engage in active online reputation management ?
No, in this case it doesn’t. Although an SEC filing would spell major problems for almost any businesses BUT Goldman, (trading partners become caustic about transacting with SEC fraud ’subjects’), it is unlikely to become an issue for them. Sure, the ongoing case and speculations is going to put a dent in how the firm is being perceived publicly, but does that really make a difference at the business end of things?
Goldmans clients are afterall bankers whose perception of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ barely extend beyond profit and losses. With $3,5 billion in profits for last quarter, Goldman is good and the online reputation management team has little to worry about.
Still, if you’re not Goldman and are looking for a cost effective tool, read some of our online reputation management articles and sign up for the FREE Imooty trial.
No. There’s no TGIF for your Social Media Monitoring team. It’s ON DUTY, 24/7, 365. That all the time, all of the time folks. This is one of the lessons learned from last months cyber activism attack on Nestlé’s Facebook page.
To summarize; Greenpeace took issue with Nestlé’s use of palm-oil as a key ingredient in many of its products, among others, the well known Kit Kat chocolate bar (Have A Break, Have A Kit Kat). The need for cheep palm oil drives deforestation and destroys carbon rich landscapes. Specifically, burning of rain-forests and peatlands to clear land for palm oil production releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere while disrupting wildlife habitats.
Enter the Greenpeace viral video campaign: A 60 second video clip is posted to YouTube showed an office worker having a Kit Kat break. Opening the chocolate wrapper, he finds an orang-utan finger inside. Message; give the orang-utan a break, stop Nestlé buying palm oil from companies that destroy the rainforests.
Nestlé’s response? Notifying YouTube that the visual identity of their brand had been infringed by Greenpeace. Effect: The video is taken down and supporters of Greenpeace feel censored. Next, they upload the video to other social media sharing sites. What’s more, rather than being discussed on blogs, activists now move the debate on Nestlé’s reponse to their own Facebook page. But wait, its Friday! There are places to go, things to do, people to meet… for Nestlé’s social media monitoring team.
Meanwhile angry comments flooded the Nestlé Facebook page. Response to criticism was slow, and when it came, it was reactive, focusing on defining rules for the discussion participants, rather than addressing the issues raised. The forum participants only got more agitated and soon enough, the discussion moved beyond the Greenpeace activists community, attracting mainstream and environmentally conscious Facebook users.
Lesson; When negative reactions surface, your social media monitoring team has to catch it. A wait and see attitude will only leave you to respond with reactions and that’s no way to show initiative. Early on in this controversy Nestlé did for example announce that it was ending its relationship with the palm oil supplier in question. However stuck with an seemingly inexperienced (and unprofessional) social media team, Nestlé got caught in a reactive response pattern, letting this announcement drift by without barely making a dent in the discussion boards.
Conclusion; If you encourage people to interact with your company through social media, you have to be there and be prepared to respond when the s#*t hits the fan… Social media is a two way street, so you can’t choose just to include the positive and sensor the negative. AND; There’s no TGIF for a social media team with a job to do. Social media monitoring tools were created for a reason, do not ignore them just because there’s a weekend coming up…
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