This week Nestle, one of the U.K’s leading confectionary manufacturers has come under intense criticism from hot-tempered tweeters and furious Facebookers. Environmental protection activists Greenpeace alleged that Nestle purchased palm oil from Sinar Mas, an Indonesian company accused of illegal deforestation of rainforests. Greenpeace have posted a video titled ‘Give the Orang-Utan a Break’on their homepage.
The rumours outraged members of the public, who have responded by posting critical comments on Nestles Twitter and official Facebook site. On Thursday of last week, Nestle was on of the top ten tweeted about topics, with thousands of people statuses containing a link to the Greenpeace video and the message ‘Stop Nestle buying palm oil from companies that destroy the rainforests.’ On Friday and article in prweek.com commented that the situation was quickly becoming a ‘major social media fail’. Nestle's Facebook page has been bombarded with comments that describe their ethics as 'disgraceful' while others call for mass boycotts of Nestle products.
This latest viral campaign has had an adverse effect on Nestles share prices which dropped over the weekend. What can Nestle do to fight back and regain confidence in the market? Digital media experts suggest they should address the key issues of this criticism and post a video on YouTube in response to the Greenpeace video.
It will be very interesting to see if this negative publicity damages Nestles Easter egg sales in the run-up to what is arguably, the confectionary industry’s most profitable season...
The rumours outraged members of the public, who have responded by posting critical comments on Nestles Twitter and official Facebook site. On Thursday of last week, Nestle was on of the top ten tweeted about topics, with thousands of people statuses containing a link to the Greenpeace video and the message ‘Stop Nestle buying palm oil from companies that destroy the rainforests.’ On Friday and article in prweek.com commented that the situation was quickly becoming a ‘major social media fail’. Nestle's Facebook page has been bombarded with comments that describe their ethics as 'disgraceful' while others call for mass boycotts of Nestle products.
This latest viral campaign has had an adverse effect on Nestles share prices which dropped over the weekend. What can Nestle do to fight back and regain confidence in the market? Digital media experts suggest they should address the key issues of this criticism and post a video on YouTube in response to the Greenpeace video.
It will be very interesting to see if this negative publicity damages Nestles Easter egg sales in the run-up to what is arguably, the confectionary industry’s most profitable season...
I was going to blog about this story as well. Good on you for picking it up!
ReplyDeleteNestle's situation is indeed a major social media fail. Instead of addressing and engaging with its audience about its alleged unethical behaviour, Nestle has just sit back and let the wildfire spiral out of control.
Big mistake on their part. There isn't anything that has been officially released or stated on their website addressing this issue and the longer they wait, the more damaging this accusation is to their brand and reputation.
What exactly is Nestle's comms department waiting for?
In the Nestle's official site the first stament / press release available is dated 16th of April. I cannot image that in the meantime there were no other announcements related to this issue, in order the company to provide sufficient explanations, correct misunderstandings and repulse potential rumors. As we all know, a crisis must be faced the moment it is generated.
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