A large Australian retailer has been running a radio advertising program promoting Family Portraits with the following question;
“Do you want to give Santa a lap dance?”
Before people go running out to apply for Santa jobs, the reference to lap dances has been pulled from the ad. Here is a link to some press coverage of the story.
The innuendo aside, this is actually an interesting case study of some of the skills that organisations need to develop to enhance their resilience.
In particular, “Situational Awareness” – in this case awareness about risks emerging in real time in your environment.
The outcry about the ad started on Twitter, with a single person who was outraged about the objectification inherent in the ad. Melinda Reist (@MelTankardReist on Twitter) has 1,329 followers, so her rage was able to spread quickly.
Fortunately for the retailer, Harvey Norman, they have an official Twitter account and monitor what is being said about them. Within 4 hours the company responded and pulled the ad.
Being aware of, and able to respond to, an emerging risk helped them avoid a bigger reputational hit during the Christmas shopping period.
Kudos for Situational Awareness and Crisis Management.
Not sure about what the folks who thought the ad was a good idea in the first place were thinking of.
Do you monitor what is said about your company on Twitter and other Social Media?
What other arrangements do you have in place to monitor emerging threats?
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