Social Business
Jennifer LeggioNine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
Summary
Social media has taken the marketing world by storm. Major agencies and internal divisions are hosting think tank sessions to try and come up with witty ideas to market their products and drive customer loyalty. Some of the ideas they come up with are great. But others, let’s face it, are serious thuds. Let’s take [...]
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Blogger Info
Jennifer Leggio
Biography
Jennifer Leggio
Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) has been a communications professional for more than 15 years, focusing primarily on enterprise technology and security. She is currently the director of strategic communications for a leading network security vendor. Jennifer is also passionate about all things social media, especially enterprise, security, privacy and reputation issues, which is why she writes about these things for ZDNet.
A well-connected communicator, Jennifer has led or supported interactive social networking efforts for security industry conferences including RSA Conference, Black Hat USA and SOURCE Conference, and founded the Security Twits, a community for network security professionals. She also helps run communications for the Security Bloggers Network.
Finally, Jennifer co-hosts the Quick'n'Dirty social media podcast with Aaron Strout, is a founding member of Technically Women, a communal blog project, and manages marketing and public relations for Silicon Valley Tweet-Up, a networking group that raises money for family-oriented charities. Jennifer was profiled in Silicon Valley San Jose Business Journal's "40 Under 40" edition, as a rising star for 2009.
Social media has taken the marketing world by storm. Major agencies and internal divisions are hosting think tank sessions to try and come up with witty ideas to market their products and drive customer loyalty. Some of the ideas they come up with are great. But others, let’s face it, are serious thuds. Let’s take a look at nine of the worst social media marketing campaigns so far in 2009 (in no particular order):
House M.D.
When actor Kal Penn decided to leave the popular network dramedy to take a role with the Obama administration, the show needed to find a clever — and quick — way to get rid of the character of Dr. Lawrence Kutner. The show opted to kill him off via suicide and left fans with a lot of questions. What does this have to do with social media? Rather than running from the backlash of offing such a popular character, Fox embraced it by creating an online altar where fans could go leave memorial messages for Kutner. It was their way of trying to maintain viewer loyalty. However, it backfired, with many fans insisting that the altar and flippant social media attempt was insensitive regarding the topic of suicide. Fox has since pulled the altar from its Web site.
Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues.
Disclosure
Jennifer Leggio
Jennifer is employed full-time with Fortinet, a leading network security appliance vendor. She is also actively involved in the network security community and works with the Security Bloggers Network. She co-manages the annual Security Bloggers Meet-UP at RSA Conference.
Jennifer is also involved with Silicon Valley Tweet-Up, a philanthropic networking event that brings people together to raise money for local family-oriented charities.
The blog posts here are solely her opinion and do not represent her employer or any other organization with which she may be affiliated.
Biography
Jennifer Leggio
Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter) has been a communications professional for more than 15 years, focusing primarily on enterprise technology and security. She is currently the director of strategic communications for a leading network security vendor. Jennifer is also passionate about all things social media, especially enterprise, security, privacy and reputation issues, which is why she writes about these things for ZDNet.
A well-connected communicator, Jennifer has led or supported interactive social networking efforts for security industry conferences including RSA Conference, Black Hat USA and SOURCE Conference, and founded the Security Twits, a community for network security professionals. She also helps run communications for the Security Bloggers Network.
Finally, Jennifer co-hosts the Quick'n'Dirty social media podcast with Aaron Strout, is a founding member of Technically Women, a communal blog project, and manages marketing and public relations for Silicon Valley Tweet-Up, a networking group that raises money for family-oriented charities. Jennifer was profiled in Silicon Valley San Jose Business Journal's "40 Under 40" edition, as a rising star for 2009.
More from “Social Business”
Related Discussions on TechRepublic
Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?Talkback Most Recent of 64 Talkback(s)
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Biggest Fail
Is that anybody with a brain actually takes social media seriously.
aep52805/22/2009 09:50 AM -
Heheheh, I didn't know about any of these
but a fun read nontheless.
Kid Icarus-2109705085808792024521380226749305/22/2009 10:47 AM -
RE: Nine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
i think on top of all these failures, there are numerous
victories, such as cities using twitter for emergency announcements, schools and others included.
twitter should do a better job at giving more tools for such institutions such as but not limited to: text messages at
emergency times, idk know of any more really,
great piece, it was good lunchtime humor
vachi05/22/2009 10:58 AM -
RE: Nine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
OK.. I'm liking the fake Quizno's ad a HECK of a lot more than their real ones. So it's a bit risque for most TV... And the one where the oven wants the guy to "stick it in him..." isn't?
Wolfie2K305/22/2009 01:53 PM -
ALL social sites are FAILURES
populated by failures with no life.
No_Ax_to_Grind05/22/2009 05:02 PM -
That's Why You're Here
No one will talk to you outside this forum.
LOSER.
itanalyst2@...05/23/2009 10:11 AM -
No_Ax_to_Grind05/23/2009 11:11 AM
-
Got Anything More Original Than That Loser?
Racist..womanizer....Euro hater....
I'd rather be hiding in my trunk than looking over my shoulder like you have to now....
Watch your back.itanalyst2@...05/24/2009 08:12 AM -
Don't need one, losers hide in car trunks.
Nice try... BuwahahahahahahaNo_Ax_to_Grind05/25/2009 08:57 AM -
Did I miss something?
Do you two know each other? It seems like an inside joke. If someone is really hiding in his trunk, he has bigger issues than social media. How does any of this make one a racist or Euro hater?
MadWhiteHatter05/29/2009 11:25 AM -
AX is old school and has lots of colleges!
Being cool to you is like ice cream on a hot day ; when you accually get down to the sugar cone. Stalin_Hornsby
Gillman_Zorgam05/25/2009 10:53 AM -
fog_za05/27/2009 02:31 AM -
RE: Nine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
You totally ignore the Facebook fiasco or Twitter changing how replies work in favor of some crappy marketing schemes? Wow...can this is going in my Top 10 Tech Blogging Fails of 2009 list.
midgarddragon@...05/22/2009 06:14 PM -
RE: Nine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
I've only read the first one. Boy, if I were a show-runner for
House, I'd have the character join the administration.
DannyO_0x9805/22/2009 08:27 PM -
RE: Nine worst social media fails of 2009... thus far
Excellent article. I read the article all the way
through because I didn't even know about the
Skittles or Denny's failed Social Media attempts.
The Quiznos ad I actually searched for on youtube.
This was a fun read. Thanks.
DVdaniels05/23/2009 02:19 AM
(nt)Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
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