JPMorgan Chase & Co intended to use Twitter today for thought leadership purposes.
Using the hashtag #AskJPM, interested parties were invited to send questions in advance of the session set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in New York.
$JPM VC Jimmy Lee is taking over @JPMorgan on 11/14 at 1pm ET. Tweet Qs using #AskJPM & learn more about him here: http://t.co/eTDT8pJeq8
— J.P. Morgan (@jpmorgan) November 13, 2013
The bank was going to make one of its star bankers available for a live Q&A, but when negative Tweets starting rolling in like waves, the marketing team at the bank shut the event down.
Tomorrow's Q&A is cancelled. Bad Idea. Back to the drawing board.
— J.P. Morgan (@jpmorgan) November 14, 2013
This episode nicely illustrates the difference between what the people who work for the bank or its agencies think and feel about the brand, compared to what people on the street think and feel.
Given that a flare up like this is a rich educational experience for the brand, I would advise The House of Morgan to keep their scheduled Twitter chat and to carry on. It’s the difficult path for sure, but choosing to not engage sends the wrong message, making a bad situation worse.
In the face of a Tweet storm, you can run and hide or you can show some resolve, patience and balance.
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I’m glad someone else agrees with me on what J.P. Morgan should do here. Too many people were too quick to yell ‘fail’, but that’s not going to make the negative sentiment go away, it just delays it for another day. Instead, they should acknowledge that there are people who feel negatively about the brand, and do their best to start to address those issues. The only way to quiet the trolls is to take them head on and have an honest discussion about the issues.
David, when Twitter started selling sponsored hashtags a couple of years ago, I thought it was an incredibly innovative form of advertising that required bravery on the part of advertisers precisely because of things like this. “OK world, what do you think about us, post it where everyone else can see it easily,” is the opposite of a brand-controlled experience. It’s brand convened, but can a brand convene without controlling? They’re going to have to, because the world has changed. To avoid this would be like being in sales and insisting that you still be the gatekeeper between prospective buyers and information about your product – search and social are here so it’s a new world and you’re going to have to work in it. Good coverage of this. Hope you’re well and let’s hang out soon btw please.
“Can a brand convene without controlling?” That is an excellent question for marketers today. Thanks for posing it here and suggesting we hang out soon. (Let’s do it!) For all the growth we are seeing in MarCom circles, there are still ninety nine broadcasters in social channels for every one brand willing to engage in real time multi-directional conversations. Ten years ago we were excited about the promise of conversational media, but it’s been a promise largely unrealized. Brands appear to be more interested in the lowered costs of production and distribution, removal of media middle men and the potential in data mining (versus the ability to hear from customers and involve them in the marketing of the company’s products and services). The good news is that it is easier for smart marketers to be heard this way. All a brand has to do is be more human.