E-Marketing – it's a perspective

In response to the March 12th Japan 8.9 magnitude Earthquake, Microsoft announced that it would donate $1 for every retweet to one of Bing’s twitter posts. The original post said, “How can you #SupportJapan — http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every retweet, bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K.” Yes, Microsoft limited it to only $100k, and users of social media quickly responded negatively and backlashed against this capaign by expressing their dislike of the use of a tragedy as a marketing campaign.

A few hours later, Microsoft responded with a public apology and a promise to donate $100k stating “We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provide an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated $100K.” Read more.

By quickly issuing a public apology and not pretending that no wrong was done, Microsoft showed that it listens to its followers, and was therefore able to mitigate the damage that it itself has caused.

Companies that have poor reputation management, and low levels of social monitoring often do not realise how the public perceives them and their products. In today’s age, where marketing is strongly about pulling customers rather than pushing products towards them, a company that is negatively regarded often fails. Microsoft’s apology clearly displays that the power is actually with its customers.

Update: Microsoft Pledges $2 Million In Japan Quake Aid: “Company will donate $250,000 in cash and $1.75 million in free software and services that can be used to reestablish communications.”

For more information on social monitoring, click here.

For more information on reputation management, click here.