Last but not least: "Shitstorm" on Facebook
The power of the masses on social media can prove to be a dangerous adversary for companies. When users turn against a company, something very valuable is often at stake—its image.
The most recent example of this is the mountain sports brand Mammut. On Monday, environmentally conscious members on Facebook descended on the company like a swarm of wasps. They unleashed a so-called shitstorm - a protest campaign with hundreds of negative comments. The reason was the new CO2 law. Because Mammut joined the campaign against the new law by the umbrella organization Economiesuisse, users of the social platform put pressure on the company. The company has now given in. On Tuesday, Mammut was forced to remove itself from Economiesuisse's list of supporters.
"We apologize to all critics who felt offended by this step," wrote Mammut on its Facebook page, also thanking them for having learned "another important lesson in dealing with social media". The stakes were high for Mammut with the social platform. After all, the company has around 60,000 followers on Facebook. Users on the Internet would react quickly and say "I'm not buying this product any more", says Philippe Surber, head of department at Internet service provider Unic and an expert in social media, to the news agency SDA. However, the shock wave on social platforms can be much greater. According to Marcel Bernet, PR consultant and lecturer in social media at the MAZ media training center in Lucerne, the fever curve is more volatile and people react more impulsively and quickly. A story can disappear again as quickly as it has risen.
However, if a "shitstorm" is triggered and the company reacts quickly and authentically, it can even polish up its image. Whether this will be the case with Mammut remains to be seen. Experts at least agree that the mountain sports brand's reaction to the accusations was exemplary.
