An insight into what creates a social media 'fail' and how it can affect a brand's image.
Storified by egwilliams · Fri, Jun 03 2016 03:34:22
The evolution of new media convergence and audiences has created a need for organisations to be aware of their social media presence and management, in order to prevent detrimental affects to brand image. A social media ‘fail’ occurs when an organisation does not foresee the full impact of a social media post or marketing campaign, nor is the correct response framework in place when consumers disagree. Social media has provided a platform for consumers to instantly complain about a product or service and has proven to be much more effective than ever before (Grégoire, Salle & Tripp, 2015). Due to the nature of a social media ‘fail’ the audience can encourage spreadability (Jenkins, Ford & Green, 2013) through negative word-of-mouth and user generated social media content (Grégoire, Salle & Tripp, 2015).
Gorman, an iconic Australian fashion label with humble beginnings in Melbourne in 1999 positions itself as an organic, sustainable and local brand. This has been the impression of the brand that ‘Gormies’ (an intensely devoted fan community of Gorman, who are socially aware and invest in ethically produced clothing) have proudly held (Jabour, 2016). In April 2016, however, Baptist World Aid Australia released their 2016 Australian Fashion Report in relation to the actions that companies take “to mitigate the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation throughout their supply chains” (Nimbalker, Mawson & Harris, 2016). Gorman was not explicitly identifiable in this list, however the parent company Factory X was cited. The company was graded an F, based on public information because the company did not participate in the study. Evidence of Factory X’s grading can be seen below. From a consumer's perspective, if the brand is unwilling to participate in an ethical audit, corporate transparency becomes an underlying issue (Fisher-Buttinger & Vallaster, 2010).
From the image above and the timing of the Instagram post (one week after the release of the Baptist report) it can be inferred that the marketing campaign that was released as an attempt to save face and professional identity in the viral environment (Grégoire, Salle & Tripp, 2015). The seemingly inauthentic photo caused uproar as seen below, from both Instagram and Twitter.
As a result of the negative consumer reaction on social media, Factory X’s PR manager Kara Brooks released a statement confirming that Gorman did not participate in the study and rather than responding to consumers' direct questions about ethical practices, she told consumers to refer to the online compliance policy (Nguyen, 2016).
This ultimately resulted in an online petition to encourage Gorman to disclose details of factory working conditions. Corporate transparency here would have prevented such disappointment with devoted consumers.
There are a number of key factors that caused this social media fail for Gorman. The most damaging quality of the #whomademyclothes campaign was the lack of authenticity and the manner in which the image was posted. The participatory culture (Delwiche & Henderson , 2012) and affordances of social media have led to an attention economy where consumers crave instantaneous feedback from organisations (Marwick, 2013).
In comparison to the rest of Gorman’s Instagram content the image of Liao does not appear authentic as it does not align with their usual professional aesthetic on Instagram.
Upon analysis the image appears as a cheap cover up campaign in order to avoid any backlash from consumers in response to the Baptist World Aid report. The inauthenticity of the Instagram post is concerning for consumers as it impacts the professional identity of Gorman and thus questions their brand transparency and corporate social responsibility policy in relation to social media (Papacharissi, 2011). As such, an element of authenticity through social media marketing must be used to the company’s advantage as there is no forgiveness online (Hanna,Rohm and Crittenden, 2011).
New media audiences expect organisations to engage with social media which automatically assumes corporate transparency. In fact, the nature of social media increases transparency and immediacy and encourages user participation in communication, through contributing content, commenting or tagging (Bonson & Flores, 2010).
Furthermore, Gorman failed to understand just how involved their consumers are with their brand. The consumer loyalty of ‘Gormies’ is a very intense relationship. This is evident through articles such as "Poorworkers' rights rating tears apart Gorman clothing brand's fans" featured below (Jabour, 2016).
With such a dedicated fan base and the spreadability of social media content,the Instagram post of Liao created a cause of concern regarding, corporate social responsibility and the media policy framework (REF).
Therefore it is evident that Gorman made a number of mistakes in trying to deflect the consequences of the Baptist World Aid report. There are other strategies in which Gorman could have responded, in order to avoid a social media ‘fail.’ After the release of the Baptist World Aid report, a public acknowledgement of the situation on all social media platforms could have been dispersed immediately, to ensure loyal consumers are informed that the brand is undergoing actions to obtain customer and company transparency (Grégoire,Salle & Tripp, 2015).
The creation of a campaign in response to the Baptist World Aid report would focus on Gorman improving corporate transparency, in order to increase the willingness of consumers to engage with the brand (Mergel, 2013). To achieve authenticity Gorman is required to proclaim their core values and ensure consistency between these values and actions (Fisher-Bittinger & Vallaster, 2010) . Through utilising YouTube videos Gorman can reiterate their seven core values which are listed on their website below (Gorman, 2016). Each of these values would provide the topic for the video that the audience will encounter. The series of videos would include interviews from Gorman and Factory X concerning the ethical practices of factory employees as well as interviews from factory workers. The course of this campaign would validate Gorman’s core values and re-establish trust between Gorman and ‘Gormies’(Fisher-Bittinger & Vallaster, 2010). At the end of the video series a report would be released onto the Gorman website regarding factory conditions, promising that there will be an annual update to ensure consumers are informed and brand transparency is the forefront. This would abolish the idea that the Instagram image of Liao is inauthentic and would restore the Gorman’s professional identity on social media. Throughout the campaign Gorman would continue to be active on social media to manage public opinions or further complaints in order to prevent a crisis.
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