When the history of the 2010 general election comes to be written, Gordon’s gaffe in Rochdale may not figure as prominently as the final outcome.
But everyone in the business world should take note: make a twit of yourself with a few badly-chosen words, and these days Twitter will look after everything else that’s needed to damage your brand.
BBC Northern Ireland presenter Wendy Austin told listeners that news of Mr Brown’s “careless whisper” was doing the rounds in Holland just 30 minutes after it happened. If you’re trying to protect a brand reputation, that’s a scary thought.
Within 24 hours, there were several hundred video clips on YouTube, including a mash-up that set the offending words to a rap music track. And the ridicule has continued ever since.
These days, information travels at the speed of light. Worse still, it doesn’t have to be true to make an impact.
Whatever your brand happens to be, all it takes is one disgruntled customer to start an avalanche that can bury it.
Keeping tabs on all the chatter can be difficult, but at gem we have some unique online tools that can do the job for you. The bottom line is, if you don’t control the message, someone else will.
If you need proof of that, look no further than one of the most infamous examples of brand damage in recent years.
Two employees of a Domino’s Pizza restaurant in the US filmed themselves doing unspeakable things to the food. But that was merely the match that started the fire. The social media added the fuel to turn it into an inferno. The damage wasn’t resolved until the company responded using the same channels – Twitter and YouTube – to talk to its customers in an authentic and sincere way.
Talking to us at gem is a lot easier.