STARBUCKS PROVES WHY EVERY COMPANY NEEDS SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING
When it comes to a company that’s as large as Starbucks, new initiatives don’t get released to the public in a spontaneous manner. Instead, any big marketing push has to go through countless layers of approval before it goes out into the world. But while Starbucks and other large companies put a lot of work into their marketing, that doesn’t mean they always get it right. A recent example of Starbucks missing the mark is their “Race Together” campaign. The quick summary of this campaign is that baristas were instructed to write “Race Together” on customers’ cups. The purpose of writing this phrase was to encourage conversations between baristas and customers about race. If this idea sounds a little bit off to you, you’re definitely not alone. While most people realize that the US and the rest of the world still have a long way to go before race is no longer an issue, that doesn’t mean coffee cups are the solution.
While Starbucks likely had multiple meetings where they walked through how they expected this campaign to be received by the public, it appears they didn’t include a discussion about social media management during those meetings.
STARBUCKS AND THEIR MISGUIDED RESPONSE TO A SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH
As soon as media outlets began publishing stories about the new “Race Together” campaign, people took to social media channels like Facebook and Twitter to share their thoughts. While some people supported this effort, the overwhelming response was negative. The reason it’s clear that Starbucks didn’t plan for any sort of negative social media reception is that as negative comments gained momentum, the company didn’t face what was happening. Instead, an executive on Starbucks’ communications team, Corey duBrowa, even blocked people on Twitter before temporarily taking down his account. He later followed up with a blog post which said that he felt he was being personally attacked in a cascade of negativity and that he had gotten overwhelmed.
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL IN 2015
If a communications executive isn’t able to deal with negative social media comments, how is anyone else expected to do so without the proper training? What happened with Starbucks is the perfect example of why social media training is a must for companies in 2015. Regardless of how much or little a company currently utilizes social media, conversations about them are happening there. Since that’s the reality of doing business in 2015, there’s no reason to shy away from platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
PUBLISHED BY:
Michelle Hummel Founder of WebMediaUniversity