Marketing Blogs
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by Online Editor | Scotlandon Jul 30 |
NAB spamming: maybe it's time to take dance lessons
This post is the the first in a two-part series looking closely at how corporate brands can begin engaging with consumers through other people's blogs. The second post is going to be published on Wednesday 6 August, so make sure you drop back in to catch that.
- NAB spamming: maybe it's time to take dance lessons
- The rules of engagement for marketers in the blogosphere
The path to social media nirvana is long, winding and fraught with perils, especially if you're the kind of business most people wouldn't bend over backwards to befriend.The NAB (National Australia Bank) found this out the hard way recently. But the problem wasn't that NAB wanted to get all warm and fuzzy on blogs in the first place.
Like all types of social interaction, there is a certain etiquette to getting involved, a complex dance to learn between those interacting. And in the case of interacting on blogs, the NAB example shows that it pays to spend some time mastering the steps before you hit the ballroom and tread on people's toes.
In this post I'll introduce the NAB example and discuss some of the issues raised by the bank's actions. In the follow-up post next Wednesday, I'll expand on some of the ideas around social interaction and offer up some simple steps that brands should consider before they decide to ask their customer for the next dance in the social media ballroom.
What happened?
Crikey were the first to break the story in an article by Dr. Stephen Downes on June 16:
"Last week, the National Australia Bank "spammed" the comments sections of private blogs in an attempt to secure free promotion for the launch of its new SMS banking service. NAB is standing behind this decision."
With a new SMS banking service to promote, the bank's PR agency Cox+Inall (part of the BWM group) advised the corporate to seed a promotional offer relating to the commercial message in the comments area of selected blogs about the AFL. The message read as follows:
"Hi guys, NAB is giving away free tickets to the Collingwood v Carlton game on Saturday afternoon @ the MCG. Hop on down to Fed Square tomorrow… this is all to launch the new NAB SMS Banking! Thank you"
Of course, what followed was a backlash from the bloggers targeted and from the blogosphere as a whole, and the way the story unfolded is a great case study of how not to get involved in social media, and of the importance of playing by the rules of engagement in these spaces.
Related Articles
- Writing the blogging rules of engagement (or stop f@cking up Zac's future!)
- Email attacks feared by marketers
- Launch Pad: launching the NAB campaign
- Which brands missed the mark at the AFL Grand Final?
- Article links
Related Video
Jim Stewart interviews Felicity Glennie-Holmes about the corporate spam
Julian Cole decides to see how NAB like getting spammed
10 Comments
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additional info, around the time of this incident I interviewed the head of the PR agency responsible and he was very responsive around blogosphere interest in this story:
http://prdisasters.com/bank-pr-agency-will-learn-from-spam-pr-criticism/
For me, the episode shouldve ended then.
Yet having looked at the story from several angles and spoken to a few players, I think the spamming by Cox was poor (they accept that), the NAB PR was unwitting while being outed by Jim S (too trusting by Felicity maybe?) and finally, that Julians branch spam stunt adds nothing to the debate but may work as a profile-booster for Colesy as a maverick blog personality.
Gerry
Gerry, thanks for the awesome tag line of ‘A Maverick Blog Personality’, and thanks for the profile boosting post that you gave me on your personal blog.
http://prdisasters.com/blogger-spams-bank-attempts-to-exhume-nab-pr-disaster/
However suggesting that I add nothing is a little dubious, social media is a hard beast to explain to someone who does not come in contact with it very often. Giving an everyday analogy I think is an important contribution in helping more people to understand the problem with what NAB did.
And maybe I meant the vid execution was a little lame-o; you could have written the analogy out briefly - think most people would prob have got it without the filmed skit. Seriously, too, it is an example of blogger 'self promo' even if you didnt expressly intend it to be so.
Cheers Gerry
I guess with the video I was trying something new. I have never tried to communicate an idea through video.
I think from now on I will just stick to the blog writing stuff….Actually I always make spelling mistakes which makes me look like a LAME-O blogger too, so I think I will just stop writing and keep my ideas to myself.
Gerry, I put the challenge to you, create some entertaining and humourous video content for your next post for Marketing Magazine and then I think your comments of being ‘lame-o’ and not being ‘humorous or entertaining’ will hold much more weight.
Julian Cole: No offence, but I would have preferred free tickets to the footy than your business card.
For example, if NAB were to have posted a helpful advice post under their brand name, would that constitute a commercial message? At the end of the day such a post may convince a reader that NAB is a helpful organisation and that they may in future decide to place business their way.
So whilst I think its good to give these guys a little slap on the wrist, i think it should be followed with some constructive feedback as to how they could better engage with the blogosphere.