People from small towns aren’t very forgiving. If you betray their trust, your reputation belies you. You can’t just continue on as if nothing has happened – they will hold you to account and you have to own it, apologise and earn their respect back…and this takes time. Word travels like wildfire in the bush, especially bad word.
Reproduced from: Time Toast. “Grapes of Wrath.”
Is managing your online reputation similar to small town living? Well yes, just on a much grander scale. Your reputation is just as delicate and the online community just as ruthless. A bit like small town gossips at the local coffee shop looking for fodder to dissect and disseminate to the wider community, the online community want to know what’s going on and to be a part of the ‘gossip’, and the gossip is easy to find – you don’t even need to leave the house!
82% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, including 93% of people aged 35-54.
(Bright Local. Local Consumer Review Survey. 2020)
How do you stop the Gossip Mongers? Much like managing small-town reputations, businesses need to manage their online reputation and they need to do it quickly, transparently and authentically. Following a set of commandments (no, not those familiar to the community church-goers) for managing your online reputation might just save you from the devil’s hell fire:
Virgillato. 2013. Source: “Week 7 Lecture: Reputation Management in a Digital World.” MMK520 Storytelling Digital Media Week 7. PowerPoint slides.
Just like extinguishing the flames from the local Mrs Mangels, businesses need to tackle the rumour mongers head on. Walk right on up to Mrs Mangel and her posse of whispering snakes and talk (politely) about the issue! Yes, it can be confronting, but if you’re authentic and honest, you will earn back the respect. If you sit idle, you risk the negative sentiment gaining momentum and taking off like wildfire.
Can I flip them? Negative feedback isn’t always a bad thing, it can be an opportunity to grow, to be better. Negativity can provoke positive outcomes. Flipping the table and creating positive fodder from a negative situation can really douse the flames. A great example is Southwest Airlines counteract of the negative narrative with a positive PR dog rescue mission. The exercise serves as ongoing penance for their mishandled removal of a customer from a flight because of a dog allergy.
Have you experienced the wrath of small-town gossip, or online negativity? How did you handle it? Would you do anything different next time? Share your gossip with me and I’ll tell you ‘all about the time that…[classified]’.
Ohhh the pressure of getting the digital storytelling formula ‘right’ in this ever-changing participatory media culture – do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that. Trying to deliver the right balance of key ingredients seems almost impossible. Just meeting expectations of being a woman is overwhelming:
Be a lady they said – girls.girls.girls.magazine won the people’s choice at The Webby Awards for public service and activism.
The task of formulating the ‘right’ storytelling strategy is daunting. It should be timely, funny, appropriate, engaging, relatable, captivating, authentic, real, relevant, connected, powerful, spreadable, ethical, embracing, mysterious, emotional, meaningful, quotable, immersive, accurate, sculpted, compelling, consistent, complimentary, relatable, true to your brand…and then you need to find the ‘right’ channels, platforms and formats. Arghhhhhh!
Is anyone else feeling a little intimidated by this (short) list of items that are essential in digital media storytelling? Well, I have just self-diagnosed my condition and have concluded that I have a serious bout of WHELM…where’s the wine?
Each item is of importance when sculpting your story, but for me the most important ingredient is being true to your brand and your core values. We discovered the negative impact for Black Milk when their narrative seemingly abandoned their brand values in the May the fourth campaign. Compounding this was their inability to embrace narrative reversal by deleting unwanted commentary, blocking followers and downplaying customer sentiment.
One would have to question whether their brand values were considered at all for this campaign that was “seen as offensive and contrary to the non-judgmental values Black Milk said it stood for”. You can find out more about the importance of brand storytelling in this blog post by Sarah Mitchell:Brand Storytelling – Turning casual fans into passionate followers’
All women are real. All Sharkies are beautiful.
When you have built an online community who are powerful brand ambassadors, THEIR values must be at the forefront:
People’s lives don’t revolve around your brand, they revolve around life. (Spreadable Media: Creating value and meaning in a networked culture by Jenkins, Ford and Green)
Social media has opened the door on content creation and communications to consumers, who, when emotionally invested, want to be a part of the bigger picture. They want to participate. In the case of Black Milk, it has built success through an extensive online community, across multiple platforms and considered groups. They have built their brand by allowing their consumers to be the storytellers, brand ambassadors, models, advertisers, and community leaders. And they galvanize their community by engaging with them – responding to every comment.
Black Milk have created a consumer network of online digital marketers who tell the story for their brand.
So, how do you become a great storyteller?
Well, the answer to that question is the cure to my WHELM. For me, you must create compelling and meaningful content for your audience that is timely, accessible AND in line with your brand’s (consumer’s) values. To do this, you need to understand your consumer, their interests and their passions and sculpt your story so that they are immersed and connected. You have to build your community with consistency, authenticity, engagement, and participation and know where they can be reached and when.
And you need to practice, practice, practice!
Do you feel the whelm like I do? Pick up your laptop and let’s soothe the whelm (cue Barry White sounds 😉 ) with some keyboard banter (and a glass of wine 😊). Tell me about your whelm feels in the comments below and I will get back to you.
Oh Deng, I want to hug you one million times over. I am sad for you. I am crying for you. I am all swelled up inside for you and I am grieving for your mother, for her loss. I have shown your story to those closest to me and we have all cried together for you. I am proud of you. I am inspired by you. I want my boys to have your courage, determination, perseverance, and resilience. It only took 90 seconds and I have felt a bucket full of raw emotion. I am an emotional, heart-swollen, blubbering, love mess!
Do you want to see me cry? Was this your plan?
This campaign has captured hearts and minds by connecting emotionally – it’s real, it’s authentic, it’s meaningful and it’s hugely successful:
Deng Adut’s true life story of a child soldier who became a refugee lawyer was told in a 90 second advertising campaign, ‘Unlimited’ for Western Sydney University. The award-winning campaign has been viewed almost 3 million times on YouTube, has over 11 thousand likes on Facebook and has led to numerous media interviews BBC Worldwide, Sky News and Channel 7 news and publications in print media.
While Deng’s story is the champion of Western Sydney University’s ‘Unlimited’ campaign, it’s not the only part. Western Sydney University used transmedia storytelling approach to engage its audience, encourage participation and generate fans.
“Transmedia storytelling is the process of conveying messages, themes or story lines to a mass audience through the artful and well-planned use of multiple media platforms.”
Current students drove the PR that generated media interest prior to the campaign launch. Past students told their stories online and at the university’s open day. High profile influencers, who had a connection (story) with Western Sydney University, were engaged to promote the ‘Unlimited’ campaign through their social media platforms using the hashtag #NewWS. And traditional forms of advertising were used to generate first-to-mind brand awareness: TV, radio, out-of-home displays throughout Western Sydney. (Source: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/case-study-western-sydney-university-rebrand/ ).
While the campaign was hugely successful, it would be interesting to see how successful it might have been without the emotional pull of Deng’s story. The emotional buy in generated an incredible response for Western Sydney University, for Deng and the campaign.
A task of capturing hearts and minds.
So, why might you want to see me cry? It seems the task of capturing hearts and minds is an essential key in the art of successful storytelling.
Now tell me honestly, did Deng’s story move you to a blubbering love mess? I’d love to hear your story of connection. Feel free to post below and we can have a good ole tear-jerker session together.
