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# Required history for anyone considering online marketing
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/required-history-for-anyone-considering-online-marketing/
- Published: 2009-01-26T21:01:47.000Z
- Updated: 2009-01-26T21:01:47.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: ideas, marketing, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

Jeremiah Owyang' post on **[A Chronology of Brands that Got Punk’d by Social Media ](http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/05/02/a-chonology-of-brands-that-got-punkd-by-social-media/?ref=katecarruthers.com)** should be required reading for all marketers seeking to venture online.

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](http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/exxonmobil%5Fsituation%5Fshows%5Fbrandjacking%5Fis%5Ffor%5Freal/?ref=katecarruthers.com))

**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](http://internetetopinion.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/crisis%5Fmanagement.pdf?ref=katecarruthers.com)).
- 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](http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/iam/index.asp?ref=katecarruthers.com) 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](http://adage.com/abstract.php?article%5Fid=132622&ref=katecarruthers.com) 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](http://www.thisistrue.com/dellhell.html?ref=katecarruthers.com)' to '[Dell Community](http://en.community.dell.com/?ref=katecarruthers.com)' 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.