The internet is a double-edged sword.
Just as corporations are free to use social media to create communities around their brand, consumers are free to create communities to bring those brands down. This past week, Canadian oil company Shell learned the hard way.
A new Arctic Ready website has been circulating around the internet since mid-June highlighting Shell’s Arctic efforts. They have a section for kids, links to Facebook and Twitter, and even a crowdsourced ad contest. The problem is, Shell didn’t create it, Greenpeace did.
As news outlets broke conflicting stories of a campaign gone wrong a month ago (thanks to an elaborate hoax video from Greenpeace,) Shell posted a press release asserting that these videos, contests, and sites were completely false.
Then the ad contest started.
Since then, images like the ones you see below have spread throughout the web like a wildfire.
From the fake Arctic Ready site:
Here at Shell, we’re committed to online social media. After all, it’s the fuel that lubricates the engines of internet communication.
Today, we want to take the Arctic Ready message offline, directly to the drivers who benefit from Shell’s performance fuels. That’s why we’re launching a new campaign (deadline this Thursday!), from which the best ads will be printed and posted in strategic locations worldwide. With your help, we at Shell can tell the world how pumped we are about Arctic energy, and take the Arctic Ready message to Arctic-enthused drivers everywhere.
As Reddit-founder Alexis Ohanian once famously said at a TED Talk about the internet today: “You lose control over your message, − and that’s OK.”
But how do you respond to a social media crisis when it’s a full-on attack towards your business?
1. Think, then act
Compile all the facts around the situation and asses what it is you’re going to do or say. Remember that usually when you say “don’t do something” to someone, they usually do it anyways.
2. Identify a point of contact available 24/7 though any medium
Shell remains silent on their Twitter about the recent backlash, and now an alleged fake Twitter account is actually posing as their crisis response team (see fake tweets below). Make yourself available to field questions. Get a Red Bull because you’ll be working around the clock.
WE’RE FLATTERED BY THE ATTENTION BUT PLEASE STOP. We’d hate to get the #Shell legal team involved.
— Social Media Team (@ShellisPrepared) July 18, 2012
3. Be human
The perceived anonymity online can create some really extreme situations, don’t forget that the internet turns over every day, and while a comment only takes a second to type, make sure you (or your community manager) keep your brand’s image in mind before hitting Tweet.
Have you ever had to deal with a social media crisis? How did you respond? What tips would you give to Shell?
Update: It appears the @ShellIsPrepared Twitter handle has now switched its tune, pretending to really be Shell Social Media responding to tweets in further attempts to slam the company. The website in the Twitter bio has changed from ArcticReady.com to Shell.us but judging by these types of messages, it’s still a fake.
We are maintaining a list of all retweeters and will fwd it to our legal team tomorrow. #shell #arcticready
— Social Media Team (@ShellisPrepared) July 18, 2012