Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Quiet Washing Machine and Noise Making Celeb

What would you do if one of your gadgets or a house-hold appliance breaks down or starts malfunctioning? Call up the service center, local mechanic, check with a friend, right. 

If you are a celeb, it’s even easier for you, assuming you have people to take care of your chores. These days, many a times, celebs even post a message on facebook, twitter to check for the service centre or ask people about their experience about the brand, fair enough.

Well, what triggered this whole post is this tweet by a Celeb with more than 180k followers.
I agree, that this happens if you are miffed with a brand or not getting good service but what this innocuous looking tweet lead to flurry of tweets tagged with this brand, here's one more:
Celebs are aware, that on twitter or may be facebook also, people start discussing whatever the celebs are discussing. This is simply to get their attention, a reply or an RT. This allows people their 2 seconds of fame where they can reach hundred thousands of people which otherwise is impossible in their life time.

Then came this tweet by some follower which the celeb retweeted :
Siemens wouldn’t have imagined in their wildest dreams that malfunctioning of one washing machine, in India, would lead to a stage that people start discussing not only competitor brands but German history and even their alleged connections with the Nazis.

Retweeting these gullible tweets, knowing that you’ve got a reach, without verifying sanctity, is adding fuel to the fire.

This is where a Celeb also a Twitter Giant (or as @amreekandesi calls them Pied Pipers of Social Media)  need to be careful – yes, a little price for their popularity. 

Did you ever notice a Bollywood celeb ever publicly tweeting against a big director or an actor, even if their work was miserable or film flopped – then why nor think twice before talking ill about a Brand.

Most of us, having worked or working with corporate know what it takes to create a brand. A brand may be inhuman but there are people behind it who create the it. And being a Brand endorsing community, Celebs themselves know that creating brands is a serious affair. It takes ages to create a good one and it’s even difficult to maintain one, and, sometimes all it takes is a tweet / post or a comment to malign it.

My point is, we all experience some disservice, under-performance, but should allow a chance and time to the organisation to rectify / explain before shooting off.

So be careful, and , if you are a Pied Piper on Twitter or facebook, be extra careful. One irresponsible ill tweet may dent a brand or have an impact on careers of people involved with the brand.

Disclaimer : Not for a moment I am against the celeb, infact she’s the only Bollywood personality I follow. I also don’t claim that I have never spoken ill about any brand on twitter - but thankfully I don't have any kind of reach. Also, I have no association, direct or indirect with Siemens. Don't outrage-think about the message in the post.