The initial gut reaction to any bad press or negative publicity, if possible, would be to delete it all. In the world of social media, that can be a tempting option. However, as Dave Kerpen states in his book Likeable Social Media, on deleting comments, "It's like collecting someone's comment card, reading it in front of them, and then ripping it up in his or her face," (Kerpen, 2011, Ch. 6). Luckily for the consumer, Social Media puts pressure on companies to stay honest in the public eye.
Staying Transparent: Volkswagen
Named one of the top 30 most transparent companies in the world by Yahoo! Finance, Volkswagen has a slew of social media accounts for seemingly any country or region in which they operate. This is part of their effort to make sure to stay connected to the consumer and remain in their good graces. Volkswagen even has a transparent factory, or "Die Glaeserne Manufaktur" (I hope you know German), that looks more like a glass Guggenheim museum than a car factory. Although this does not serve as transparency in social media, Forbes' Paul Klein argues that it keeps VW safer from social media activism.
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| VW's Glaeserne Manufaktur |
When companies are honest, it provides them with a competitive edge, and a certain level of trust with the consumer. When consumers trust a company, it will serve the company well. Before social media, good news was spread simply by word of mouth. Now, with social media, good news (and bad) can be spread like wildfire. When scrolling through VW's Twitter feed, you come across customers like Judi, who was hashtaggingly overwhelmed by the quality of VW's customer service:
On a personal level, my own 2007 Volkswagen GTI recently needed its third taillight replaced. However, the brilliance of German engineering overlooked that part, and it required the entire spoiler to be removed in order to replace the light fixture - a potentially costly endeavor. However, when I called my local VW dealer in Kingston, NY, the woman informed me that there was an extended warranty on the third taillight for that very reason, and I was able to get it replaced at no cost. Although they could have easily charged me for the parts and labor (I'm sure the dealer bills VW for it anyway), they put in the extra legwork to see if there was a better option for the consumer. Admitting faulty engineering and owning up to it: Transparency.
Staying Shady: Koch Industries
Lack of transparency can put a company in very ugly situation, like Koch Industries often finds itself in lately. Sure, they donate a lot of money to good causes, but after reading Tim Dickinson's Rolling Stone exposé about the "toxic" empire the Koch brothers have built, it's hard to think those donations are anything more than tax write-offs and ego-boosts. As evidenced in Dickinson's RS article, the Koch's have tried to be anything but transparent. They attempt to cheat environmental regulation, buy government, and sweep any information about it under the rug (Dickinson, 2014).
Aside from tweeting (gloating?) about its social do-goodery, the Koch Industries Twitter feed doesn't seem to offer much interaction with consumers at all. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if you were to search Twitter for "Koch brothers transparency" you get a whole lot of this:
If Koch Industries wants to start looking transparent to consumers, they have to stop trying to look transparent, and start being transparent. When I scroll through the tweets of Koch Industries, all I can think is, "Thou doth protest too much." They should interact more with those who mention them in tweets and other social media, rather than just post about their positive news all the time. Koch Industries comes off as a company that disobeys Kerpen's "Do-not-delete rule" (Kerpen, 2011, Ch. 6).
For those who know what all of the different brands Koch Industries controls (Angel Soft, Brawny, Dixie, Georgia-Pacific, and many many more), it would be hard for Koch Industries to regain their trust. However, that does not mean it is not worth trying. They could start by taking some notes from the Volkswagen twitter feed.
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References
Dickinson, T.
(2014, September 24). Inside the Koch Brothers' toxic empire | Rolling Stone.
Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-20140924
Kerpen, D.
(2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an
irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social
networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteVolkswagen is a great example of a transparent company! I like the idea that the company's German factory is transparent as a symbol of its corporate culture and ideology. It is very accurate to say that this in and of itself does not serve as social media transparency, but rather makes Volkswagen less of a social media target. I think that a lot of the time brands that when brands struggle on social media, it is not necessarily the social media manager's fault. If the company is so inherently distrusted by consumers, not even a friendly and honest social media presence can make up for that.
Looking into the Koch Industries example a bit more, I definitely agree that this is not a transparent company. I had to do a bit of digging just to figure out what brands Koch Insutries owns, as I was not particularly familiar with the corporation. This itself shows a lack of transparency. I compare this example to P&G, whose family of brands is advertised with a sense of pride. When I think of P&G I think of its brands like Bounty, Tide, etc. that it associates itself with. The fact that Koch Industries' website and social media handles make little mention of the brands they own seems shady and seems to purposefully distance the corporation with its family of brands. Perhaps Koch is well aware of its negative reputation and is trying to protect the image of its family of brands by distancing itself. Either way, it does not demonstrate transparency. Great post!
Brenna
Hi Brenna,
DeleteThanks for your reply. I agree that when they struggle online its not necessarily the social media manager's fault, but rather its a reflection of the culture the company promotes from within and the culture it has as viewed by the consumer. A good social media manager is a good thing to have, but they can only do so much damage control.
Thats a great comparison between P&G and Koch. P&G is definitely more transparent - I remember seeing commercials during the olympics that showed the whole P&G family of brands.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I think its great that you could include a personal example to go along with the numerous other consumer examples of VW's transparency. With car companies I feel they're more than happy to be your best friend leading up to your purchase and during the initial warranty period but after that you tend to be ignored and left to deal with your problems with your wallet and your local repair shop. It's nice to see that VW has a little different approach...
You also make a great point when you say, "When companies are honest, it provides them with a competitive edge, and a certain level of trust with the consumer. When consumers trust a company, it will serve the company well." Kerpen also states that, "if you have nothing to hide only positive outcomes will result from increased transparency." (Kerpen, 2011) It seems so simple and such a no-brainer, right? But, there are plenty of companies and businesses that have yet to figure it out.
I've got to agree with Brenna about Kock Industries. The fact that you are not easily aware of what brands they control/own is an example on its own of their lack of transparency. They are a faceless corporate giant in some regards, although the Koch Brothers get plenty of media attention for their political involvement.
Sources:
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hey Russ,
DeleteThat's a great point that car dealers often times lose interest in providing good service once they already have your business. It was a pleasant surprise when the woman checked all of the recalls and extended warranties to see if there was a way they could help me out. Thanks for the reply!
Hi, Jeff. Great examples of how important transparency can be to an organization. I especially liked that you looked at Koch Industries as an organization that touts it’s own transparency, but is easily identified as a farce. Dave Kerpen (2011) makes it very clear that “Honesty and transparency build a direct relationship between you and the customer, and any deviation from these values can erode brand trust forever” (p. 109). It seems that whether Koch Industries is deleting posts or whether they are so worried about promoting their own self-serving agenda that they are doing a lousy job of engaging consumers – either way, they missed the point of social media. It’s a two-way conversation. If you don’t think you can face up to how consumers view you and your products, don’t get in the game (Kerpen, 2011, p. 109). It’s really that simple. Social media interaction with businesses pretty much tosses out that old saying that mothers everywhere have been telling their children for decades. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” – does not apply to how we engage with businesses today via social media. So businesses have to be prepared for what may lie ahead when setting up their social media accounts.
ReplyDeleteKerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hi Mandy,
DeleteThanks for the post. You hit the nail on the head - social media absolutely is a two-way conversation, as also Kerpen mentions. Nobody is perfect, and that becomes obvious with social media, which allows consumers to voice their criticisms and complaints. So when a company has nothing but positive news posted, and no interactions with any disgruntled consumers, it seems very suspicious, and definitely too good to be true.