Fighting Fire with Fire
Byhttp://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=143598
I found this article on Advertising Age and thought it was pretty neat. Actimel, a pro-biotic yogurt sold in Argentina was faced with a dilemma: a viral email claimed that Actimel was “addictive, destroyed the stomachs natural flora and couldharm children’s health.” We all know how negative word of mouth can be extremely detrimental to a company and its reputation. What Actimel did to fight back was pretty innovative. As opposed to just denying the e-mail through PR objectives, Actimel fought back. As a matter of fact, initially they responded to bloggers and even ran a TV spot claiming you could “trust” Actimel (anyone reminded of the CEO of Domino’s YouTube apology?) but they decided to take a more innovative approach. They created a website called Creador de Rumores where visitors can create their own rumors (about themselves) claiming they have won a trip to the World Cup in South Africa etc. and submit a picture of themselves along with the fake rumor. It sort of reminds me of a play on “sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me.” By creating a website that ridicules the impact of rumors and pokes fun at them while engaging consumers in a form of entertainment, Actimel positioned itself as a confident, trustworthy company. Good job Actimel!
2 Comments
May 4th, 2010 at 12:57 am
This is an interesting twist! It also reminds of the website we have looked at in class called rob me now. On rob me now, the site pokes fun of the social media website foursquare, saying that it is easy to rob someone when they are posting their locations on the web. I know that talkers have seen this, but has foursquare responded to it’s privacy issues? Obviously the products are unrelated, however, Actimel is actively addressing its problems. It is great that Actimel has not simply addressed the negative would of mouth, but has taken action create a unique website that will differentiate them from competitors and doubters.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Thats what I thought Lauren! It was very clever, witty and further established a stronger personality, or brand identity, for Actimel. The site enables them to come across as confident and even having a sense of humor! I wonder if, in the end, this whole event had a positive impact on sales of Actimel, or perhaps just a more positive brand image. Since Actimel does not have a huge market share, this event certainly got it more buzz!