#SORRYNOTSORRY: BROCK RESEARCH SUGGESTS USING ONLINE CRITICISM TO BUILD BRANDS By Cathy Majtenyi
Research from Joachim Scholz, Assistant Professor of Marketing, International Business and Strategy, suggests not all online criticism is bad for companies.
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ocial media has made it easier than ever Nike’s recent advertisement supports the Black Lives for consumers to speak up and voice their Matter movement by claiming ‘For Once, Don’t Do It.’ discontent. How should marketers respond? The video goes on to say in white text on a black screen: Take a social media firestorm. Intuitively, ‘Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America. company officials cringe at the thought of their brand Don’t turn your back on racism. Don’t accept innocent being subject to a barrage of online criticism, and do lives being taken from us. Don’t make any more excuses. whatever they can to avoid such a situation. Don’t think this doesn’t affect you. Don’t sit back and But is online criticism always bad for a company? be silent. Don’t think you can’t be part of the change. Definitely not, says Joachim Scholz, Assistant Professor Let’s all be part of the change.’ of Marketing at the Goodman School of Business and “Nike stayed true to their values despite getting Research Scholar with Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology caught up in a firestorm two years ago,” Scholz said. and Viticulture Institute. “As a result, their current ad comes across as sincere and “There is a certain form of controversy online that authentic, rather than clueless or opportunistic.” companies can actually use to build their brand, to Whether they realize it or not, brands are often stand out, to create brand value for themselves and caught up in complex cultural tensions. In the heat of their customers,” Scholz said. the moment, when the firestorm erupts, these tensions About 60 per cent of social media firestorms are are not always easy to identify, which can make it sparked by what he calls a “morally-infused crisis.” difficult for a company to decide how to respond to These are instances in which a company takes a moral criticism. position and is met with intense criticism online. The Complaints about the quality of a product are firestorm comes from customers, and even the general definitely concerning and need to be rectified public, who disagree with the company’s portrayal of, or immediately with a “public, sincere apology” along with alignment with, a particular social issue. measures such as recalling or relaunching the faulty A high-profile example is Nike’s 2018 advertisement product, Scholz said. ‘Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing For morally infused firestorms, things are more everything. Just Do It’ in support of Colin Kaepernick, complex. Scholz suggests marketers ask themselves a the NFL player who knelt during the American national number of questions to decide whether they should take anthem to protest racism and police brutality in the a stand or alter their course. These include: United States. • What are the values we stand for? Is this who we are The ad sparked a huge debate across the U.S. and as a company? even saw a boycott of Nike products. • Who are our customers? What are their values? “Nike stood by its risky ad because they believed it • What is the general sentiment among the public was the right thing to do,” Scholz said. “They acted on regarding this particular moral issue? Are the voices their own values — even when facing initial backlash.” of support or dissent coming from “fringe” groups or Fast-forward to the Black Lives Matter protests the mainstream? of 2020, and one can see the long-lasting benefits • What are our opponents’ perspectives? companies can reap when they stand for something.
Companies confident in the position they’ve taken on a particular social issue should “fan the flames of the firestorm,” Scholz said. “Fighting back can be the best option, especially when criticism comes from groups that are opposed to the core values of the company and its customers.” He gives the example of a U.K. fitness and nutrition company called Protein World, which ran an ad campaign called “Are you beach body ready?” featuring a thin, scantily clothed woman. Critics charged that Protein World was perpetuating sexist stereotypes through their ads and, by extension, body-shaming people who were not athletic. Instead of apologizing, the company pursued a number of strategies to fight back, Scholz said. One was to employ a tactic known as ‘cultural jujitsu’ where the force of someone’s argument is made to work against them, in the process effectively “re-framing” the opponent’s position. “The company turned the criticism that they were body-shaming people who were not very athletic around and said to its critics, ‘Well, you’re fit-shaming our model if you say she cannot achieve that certain body form as she did through exercising and having a healthy diet,’ ” Scholz said. Scholz urged companies to resist acting in panic when faced with criticism. He gives the example of the Hallmark Channel, which aired, then pulled, then re-aired a commercial showing a same-sex couple kissing. “After flip-flopping back-and-forth between two morally-opposed camps, Hallmark Channel has won neither battle,” he said.
SUMMER 2020
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