5 Social Media Marketing Lessons for Airlines from the #myNYPD Hashtag Fail

A few years ago, Qantas was one of the first companies to be burnt by social media when what started as a feel-good #QantasLuxury campaign on Twitter, fast devolved into the butt of jokes — and when the jokes start flying on Twitter, all one can do is run for cover.

Last night, the New York Police Department was served a heavy dose of public vitriol when they invited Twitter folks to tweet about “New York’s finest” with the hashtag #myNYPD. Little did they anticipate the public outpouring of hate that followed — users uploaded hundreds of photos of police brutality during Occupy Wall Street. The Guardian reports:

The request for pictures, on the @NYPDNews Twitter page, had said: “Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD,” the message read. “It may be featured on our Facebook.”

It prompted a flood pictures of officers mistreating people and old newspaper headlines about unarmed people being shot dead by police. It also sparked similar hashtag trends – including #myLAPD – and attracted international attention.

Of course, not all posts were negative, but were easily swamped by the negative tweets, that were, at one point of time, being uploaded at the rate of 10,000 per hour by over 70,000 participants.

Lessons from the Disaster

SimpliFlying advises airlines and airports on their marketing strategies for today’s Connected Traveller. Given that the aviation industry is much more exposed to the Tweeting and Facebooking public, here are 5 points marketers must internalise from the #mynypd hashtag fail before launching hashtag marketing campaigns:

  • Prevention is crucial. Once a hashtag goes viral, especially to your disadvantage, there’s little you can do to control it.
  • Always ask — are there likely to be negative or snarky comments about the brand? If there’s been a recent incident that makes this a possibility, choose a different marketing tactic.
  • Build a strong, reliable, friendly and attentive online brand before asking your followers to sing praises about you.
  • If you’re keen on hashtag marketing, have at least 5 different options ready. Test these internally to check which one would be likely to cause the least trouble.
  • Never forget that your online brand is an extension that serves to support your real-world, offline efforts. Be good offline, and people will be good to you online.

And, always remember, as Jonathan Shainin, News Editor at The New Yorker tweeted:

#nypd hashtag fail jonathan shainin

 

 

What do you think? What are your best practices as a marketer when choosing to launch a hashtag? How would you deal with a hashtag gone rogue? Comment below or join the discussion at @simpliflying.

 

 

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