What companies can learn from the Facebook war between Greenpeace and Nestlé
Through the «Give Rainforests a Break» campaign, Greenpeace’s digital activists put pressure on Nestlé. Nestlé was caught off guard by the campaign and reacted inappropriately. What can companies learn from this case?
In mid-March 2010, Greenpeace infiltrated the KitKat Facebook fan site with around 730,000 fans to get the "Give rainforests a break" campaign rolling. The campaign aims to get the corporation to stop using palm oil, which is obtained by clearing rainforest that serves as a habitat for endangered orangutans, in the production of KitKat. The outrage of the community was great. It was not only expressed on the KitKat and Nestlé fan pages, but also on other fan pages, Twitter and blogs. As a result, Nestlé got carried away with reactions that strengthened the community's commitment even further. Every company must be aware that it cannot fully control its presence on social networks. It must therefore be prepared for a possible escalation.
Be prepared
Every company has weak points and must therefore reckon with coordinated, organized attacks from critics on social networks. The power lies with the communities. Facebook fan pages can be infiltrated by critics for their own purposes. It is therefore advisable to work with PR experts to prepare action plans for any escalation.
Social media monitoring
Social media monitoring identifies, monitors and analyzes posts about a product or company on social networks (user-generated content, UGC). For most companies, the free social media monitoring tools are sufficient*. The paid tools take over the transparent processing of positive and negative posts as well as the identification of opinion leaders according to geographical and demographic criteria. It almost looks like Nestlé didn't do any social media monitoring and thus wasn't prepared for the escalation.
React consciously
If negative sentiment escalates, the company can counteract this process without repeating the mistakes Nestlé has made:
- Censorship of comments and images on Nestlé and KitKat fan pages was a provocation to the community, fueling further reactions and thus accelerating the spread of the campaign
- Shutting down the Greenpeace spot on YouTube for copyright infringement was a call for the community to keep sharing the spot
- Nestlé's announcement that it will not process palm oil obtained by cutting down rainforests by 2015 has given the community the impression that consumer concerns are not being taken seriously enough
- Nestlé only reacted 3-4 days after the launch of the Greenpeace campaign with a PR message to the Facebook community, giving free rein to speculation
- Nestlé has failed to take a timely stand on the campaign with a broad public and put the facts on the table. This has allowed the Greenpeace campaign to reach the media unfiltered
A company that uses social networks as a marketing tool must be aware that it is entering an environment that is controlled by the community. Image cultivation and control require special attention.
Imre Sinka, dotpulse Webagentur AG
> Links to the social monitoring tools as well as to the Greenpeace campaign.
Be prepared
Every company has weak points and must therefore reckon with coordinated, organized attacks from critics on social networks. The power lies with the communities. Facebook fan pages can be infiltrated by critics for their own purposes. It is therefore advisable to work with PR experts to prepare action plans for any escalation.
Social media monitoring
Social media monitoring identifies, monitors and analyzes posts about a product or company on social networks (user-generated content, UGC). For most companies, the free social media monitoring tools are sufficient*. The paid tools take over the transparent processing of positive and negative posts as well as the identification of opinion leaders according to geographical and demographic criteria. It almost looks like Nestlé didn't do any social media monitoring and thus wasn't prepared for the escalation.
React consciously
If negative sentiment escalates, the company can counteract this process without repeating the mistakes Nestlé has made:
- Censorship of comments and images on Nestlé and KitKat fan pages was a provocation to the community, fueling further reactions and thus accelerating the spread of the campaign
- Shutting down the Greenpeace spot on YouTube for copyright infringement was a call for the community to keep sharing the spot
- Nestlé's announcement that it will not process palm oil obtained by cutting down rainforests by 2015 has given the community the impression that consumer concerns are not being taken seriously enough
- Nestlé only reacted 3-4 days after the launch of the Greenpeace campaign with a PR message to the Facebook community, giving free rein to speculation
- Nestlé has failed to take a timely stand on the campaign with a broad public and put the facts on the table. This has allowed the Greenpeace campaign to reach the media unfiltered
A company that uses social networks as a marketing tool must be aware that it is entering an environment that is controlled by the community. Image cultivation and control require special attention.
Imre Sinka, dotpulse Webagentur AG
> Links to the social monitoring tools as well as to the Greenpeace campaign.
