The Right Social Media Message

Pepsi suffered a blow last week via social media when digital engagement increased by 366% in one day. The majority of related posts were complaints about the 2.5 minute promotion that featured Kendall Jenner. The issue at hand was centered around the premise of the promotion; that Pepsi unites social justice endeavors. However, the ad was severely criticized for trivializing protests that otherwise bring attention and address serious issues. The ad seemed to exploit the passion of protesters to focus attention on Pepsi, and away from the problems raised by the protesters. A breakdown of negative responses to the ad totaled 84%. Most mentions in social media included the phrase “tone deaf” and “Kendall Jenner”.

A common trend in social media, is to ride the coat-tails of popular topics that are often expressed as hashtags. But exploiting a serious issue to sell a product, is often a recipe for disaster. Your promotion may in fact go viral, but not in the way you hoped. Everyone with a business wants their brand to get as much exposure as possible, but care and attention must be given to promote your service or product in a responsible manner.

At Enlarge Media Group, we’ve been representing our clients on Social Media for nearly a decade. We’re experienced enough to know which platforms work, and which do not so that we can focus on those that fetch best results. Laymen often attribute failure to the venue, but in most instances, the problem is with the message, not the medium, and as we’ve learned from Pepsi, the atmosphere is equally as important. For this reason we obsess over the message that we deliver in the name of our clients, and their brands.