Many others responded too and the results of his three word poems are here. There is not enough poetry in the modern world so it is great to see a good writer turning his hand to verse.

But the one he wrote for my words is:

There are magic places hidden deeper
Within the forest glens than you should go,
Cloaked by vines, and brush, and clinging creeper
Where nothing craving sunlight’s kiss can grow.
You’ll see the temptress in her shadow gown,
Wink and dance to steal your tender heart.
Her face is fair, her dark hair, soft as down,
Her dance a black seduction from the start.
Do not be fooled, avoid her lovely gaze,
The lithe and mesmerizing way she moves,
She promises the world, but means to raze,
Your soul, and trample you beneath her hooves
The wolf and bear and cougar lick her feet
The rabbit, possum, mole, and you? Her treat.

– David Niall Wilson

Some of the issues in these marketing disasters include:

• lack of openness & authenticity
• just not getting the community & what made sense to them
• not getting that there is often a community out there
• that the consumers were able to talk back about the campaign
• the message did not resonate positively with the community
• the message annoyed the crap out of the community & galvanised them into some kind of action
• the message or brand got subverted and used to further another cause (e.g. brandjacking)

What has changed & what do we need to do?

The answers are pretty simple.

• Authenticity and transparency are key – be open, tell the truth.
• It is getting harder to keep secrets with mobile devices and camera everywhere – own up to bad stuff, follow good crisis management principles (NB: opens pdf Principles of Crisis Management in a Viral Age).
• Bad behaviour and bad products get outed very quickly these days – develop rules of engagement for staff so they know what is acceptable behaviour, if bad stuff happens own up. I am a Civil Servant shows how rules of engagement can be done.
• Consumers can now share their displeasure and mobilize fellow consumers quite easily – if consumers voice  their anger engage with them, listen to their concerns, and don’t be defensive.
• If you annoy people it can go around the world in minutes via channels like Twitter (refer Motrin Moms for great example of this) – so monitor reputation online as a matter of course so you are aware of what’s going on.

The success stories – like Dell moving from ‘Dell Hell‘ to ‘Dell Community‘ are the result of hard and consistent work, dedicated resources and a willingness to embrace openness and authenticity.

It is really worthwhile to learn from the experience of others before dipping a toe into the somewhat murky waters of social media.