You’ve seen them. The TV spots. The viral videos. The Instagram stories. The company messaging fails that make you shake your head and say, “What were they thinking?” It’s the ‘Tone Deaf’ phenomenon. From that Peloton holiday commercial to celebrities posting vacation get-aways during the early days of the coronavirus quarantines, there has been a lot of face-palm fodder.
Besides being mockable, these media missteps are damaging to any brand, whether corporate or personal. Peloton’s stock immediately went down by over 10%. Those fun-flaunting celebs have had to sheepishly delete their photos, and sometimes even their social media accounts because of the backlash. Now, some of the examples are so egregious, we have every right to judge.
And it’s satisfying to wag a finger now and then, but let’s be careful. There but for the grace of a little self-reflection go many of us. It’s easy to get caught up in cleverness or pride or humor. So, if you don’t want to go astray, here are three questions to consider:
Is it right for the times?
In times of trouble, offer real help and value, not platitudes. Budweiser recently ran an ad that both honored healthcare workers and announced the company would be making charitable donations with the money it would have spent on sports advertising. If it looks like you’re trying to capitalize on a bad situation, people will see through it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_t9niMNkdg
If there’s humor, at whose expense is it?
This falls under “pick on somebody your own size.” If the joke makes fun of someone or something that could be considered weaker or more vulnerable than you, don’t do it. There may be plenty of worthy targets out there, just choose carefully. Poking fun at yourself is usually seen as a positive. But don’t give your competition too much to work with.
How will it make people feel?
Empathy may be the most important emotion in any part of life. It surely comes into play in marketing. People want to feel recognized. If you don’t reflect their own emotional experience in some way, there’s a missed connection. And if your post or ad in any way makes them feel diminished, you’ve got real trouble.
Check yourself
The best way to keep your company messaging right is to get an outside perspective… whether you run it by internal staff not associated with the project, pressure test with customers, or engage an agency for some objectivity.
There’s an adage that goes “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Personally, we’d rather just go straight for the good press.
Wouldn’t you?
