Friday, September 12, 2014

Can You Survive 'Death by Twitter'

We've seen many brands go down with Twitter errors.  Very few have given good examples of how to bounce back after a Twitter fail!

Well this week MAY be an example of bouncing back!  And what it takes is honesty, humility and a whole lot of apologies!!

So this story is a mishmash of a whole bunch of what's been happening on social media this week.  
It started with a leaked video of NFL star Ray Rice's vicious attack on his then-fiancee Janay Palmer.  Honestly, I haven't even watched the video because it makes my heart sick.  Rice was subsequently ousted from the NFL, with controversy surrounding the relationships and motives of Rice and Palmer.
This prompted a heavy trending hashtag of #WhyIStayed, initiated to launch a discussion about the complexities of domestic violence within relationships.
Well, cue a hasty social media manager at DiGiorno Pizza who saw this trending hashtag and used it before actually looking into its meaning.   Yeah, @DiGiornoPizza tweeted "#WhyIStayed You had a Pizza".  And in the serious and heartfelt conversation of people who survived abuse, this socially tone-deaf tweet fell on critical ears.  
Per usual with these kind of flubs, the Twittersphere reacted both immediately and venomously.  But not as usual was the brand's reply.
Yes, DiGiorno noticed, apologized and immediately deleted the tweet.
But then, the brand sent out personalized tweets to each and every Twitter handle that mentioned its offense.  Yes, personalized.  Guys, that takes TIME.  I mean a lot of time.  But it came across as very authentic and responsible.  Much more so than an automated response and apology.  
Check out some of the personalized tweet apologies below.  What do you think?  Is this a good way to make up for the insensitive tweet?

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