(Chi-an Chang)

Companies are afraid of negative media, but in this day and age when information is fluid, there is no stopping the truth. So how should companies deal with negative word of mouth arising from social media?

"Let it happen and deal with it," said Rick Klau, vice president of business development at FeedBurner, during the Social Media Marketing Symposium. Klau contrasted consumer experiences with two computer companies, Lenovo and Dell, when faced with customer problems. Lenovo's vice president called Klau immediately after reading critical comments on Klau's blog and managed to turn possible negative word of mouth into positive word of praise. Dell, on the other hand, chose not to respond to various problems. They lost customers because they have been slow to acknowledge their failures, he said.

One of them was Jaime Garland, associate strategy director-Disney Parks for Starcom.

"I feel like I've given Dell many situations to fix the problem," she said

During the round table discussion, attendees agreed that while it's preferable to avoid mistakes, it's even worse to hide your head in the sand when mistakes do happen.
What customers want is a solution, and companies need to provide that.

The relationship between customers and companies has not changed; it's the
tools that have changed. Tools like blogs, MySpace, and YouTube provide companies more ways to communicate with their consumers in an engaging way. While the power of social media can be scary when it comes to negative information, it can be positive if marketers:

1. Acknowledge the problem
2. Respond promptly
3. Empower people within the company to deal with the problem in an informed manner, so that the problem doesn't have to travel up the company hierarchy to be solved.

Klau's kudos for Lenovo, which he shared on his blog, have since made their way into an article appearing in Fortune magazine.

"That was one phone call that a year later is still reaping benefits," said Klau.


Note: The Social Media Marketing Symposium May 9 was co-hosted by the Media Management Center and Kellogg School of Management. Chi-an Chang is a student at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. For more insights into social media issues and possibilities, go here for 19 excellent white papers and a bibliography about various facets of social media and here for Limor Peer's thoughful commentary on social media and the news media.


What do you think? Please share your thoughts, experiences and reactions by clicking on the comment button below or by e-mailing Media Management Center at v-vahlberg@northwestern.edu.