Having a presence on Facebook is all the rage – companies, charities, churches, schools are all getting on board. But it can really come back to bite you.
Nestle is an example of a company probably wishing they never created a Facebook page. Why?
Greenpeace created a campaign claiming that:
“Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink company, is making some of your favourite chocolate bars using palm oil from destroyed Indonesian rainforests. As a result, threatened species like orang-utans are being pushed into extinction and huge quantities of greenhouse gas are being released, accelerating climate change.”
This campaign was accompanied by a viral video (which, according to Greenpeace, Nestle got pulled off YouTube):
Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.
Greenpeace has been relentless – creating a campaign website, writing blog posts, writing open letters to Nestle’s PR department and developing a form for people to email the Nestle CEO, and encouraging people to speak out on Nestle’s Facebook page. Even Greenpeace seems surprised at the success of the campaign.
The Facebook page is filled with comments from upset consumers, urging them to act. I read through several pages on their wall and couldn’t see any official response to these comments (Greenpeace has shared some of Nestle’s response on their blog). Looking at the Nestle website, you wouldn’t have any idea that there is a major campaign currently running against them.
This highlights four important points for those of us wanting to utilise social media:
- anyone can create a Facebook Page, but the ease of creating a page isn’t proportional to the challenge of maintaining it.
- a Facebook Page is two-way communication – it’s not like a website or media release where you control the message.
- anyone can use your Facebook Page to speak out against you. It’s naive to think that you will only receive positive engagement.
- you need to have a strategy for how you will react when people say negative things about you.
This campaign has been a big win for Greenpeace (and the power of social media), and a nightmare for Nestle.
We’ve all been warned!
