Oreo Proves Big Corporate CAN Be Nimble in Social Media

Oreo surprised the world of business with their quick Twitter tweet response to the Superbowl power outage last year. Well done #Oreo. You have my respect for a job well done. Oreo got play without a big game time ad space price tag. 

I have insulted large corporations for years because of their lethargic response to marketplace need, demand and opportunity. In this out of site, out of mind society we live in, most campaigns for large corporations are "so two weeks ago".  

We launched our H1N1 Swine Flew campaign for Chiropractors only one week after the panic was spread across the news media world in 2009. Our small Chiropractic clients had the ability to shift gears in their marketing and put the new campaign in place immediately. Large corporations were unable to respond in a timely manner due to red tape, budgets, approvals, processes... bottom line, large companies failed to capitalize on this gem of an opportunity. Three days after presenting the new campaign to the Chiropractors the postcards were mailed and office posters, brochures, presentation kits, etc. were delivered. 

Here is the postcard we did. Cheap, quick and effective. Our pig model was not even paid. 

   

Some corporations have tried to be quick and nimble on their feet through social media. This has backfired on some, costing them millions in minutes. But just think of the money they saved by hiring a new college graduate to post for them! Bad move. That grad needs help to be the mouthpiece of the company. 

These large companies are either going to have to preset guidelines or spend the money and get someone that can communicate with their clientele in a way they want to be communicated with, when the opportunity is there and without compromising brand integrity. These people would have to have direct access to a decision maker all the time to expedite response times. 

Corporations need to understand you are not going to go viral while keeping everyone happy all the time. There is some risk involved and not everyone is going to like every campaign every time. But, it is well worth the risk as the rewards far outweigh the risks. Whatever system you choose to be nimble in the marketplace, choose one and be prepared to respond to the opportunities that present themselves.