Starbucks is dealing with its social media crisis one tweet at a time

In the aftermath of the incident where two black men were accused of trespassing and arrested, Starbucks announced that it would close 8,000 of its US-based stores for race-sensitivity training. Unsurprisingly, some members of the public took to Twitter to comment on this decision. For instance: Less predictably, perhaps, Starbucks engaged with the … Continue reading Starbucks is dealing with its social media crisis one tweet at a time

Three steps to spot brewing social media crises

User generated content (UGC), like tweets, blogs or videos, which criticise brands, can spread widely and quickly. If marketing managers leave these conversations unattended, they can go viral, and threaten the brands; whereas handling the negative UGC will reassure other customers (including potential ones) that the company listens, cares and is in control. So, brands … Continue reading Three steps to spot brewing social media crises

Handling social media crises

When problems happen and customers take to social media to vent their frustration, it may lead to a social media crisis like the one faced by United or Comcast. So, it is important to detect problems quickly, and act effectively. I recently published a paper, co-authored with Finola Kerrigan, Dirk vom Lehn, Cagri Yalkin, Marc Braun … Continue reading Handling social media crises

October 2015 round up

October was busy. Very busy. This included a lot of firefighting, which I tend to find very draining. My #5pm pictures show that I spent a lot of time at my desk. But, unfortunately, only a minority of that time was spent on writing or, for that matter, on anything remotely related to research. Instead, my month … Continue reading October 2015 round up