What happens when one of the world’s biggest – and arguably best – brand marketers loses control?

I recently read a fascinating case of a product launch gone wrong. Or rather, more accurately, not gone at all. Here’s the story:

According to P&G, the new Dry Max diapers represent the most substantial product improvement for Pampers — the consumer packaged goods giant’s biggest global brand — in 25 years. Company executives thought Dry Max would be lauded as the iPod (or should I now say iPad?) of baby care due to its improved performance, thinner profile, and reduced environmental impact, among other attributes. Instead, the diapers got slammed by a group of critics who treated it more like the new Coke.

What happened?

Due to the complexities of roll-out logistics, the company put the new Dry Max diapers into the old diaper packaging in some markets over the summer without alerting customers to the change. This was two months before the Dry Max launch, which was slated to be P&G’s biggest marketing campaign EVER. Consumers in the early markets who felt blindsided by the change reacted strongly – complaining the new version felt stiff, papery and cheaper, and caused more leaks and rash – and they spread the negative word online to markets that had yet to receive the diapers. There were hundreds of posts on both pampersvillage.com and on diapers.com, among other places. As a communications exec and a mother-to-be, I have both a professional and a personal understanding of the sway online consumer opinion can have, especially when it comes to kids’ products. Parents trust other mothers and fathers and make buying decisions accordingly.

Some of the Dry Max critics were incredibly active. For example, one dad posted on 75 sites and wrote more than 50 posts on pampersvillage.com alone. Pampers proceeded to remove the reviews on its site as it switched to new ratings system. Predictably this caused a significant outcry, so they reinstated the posts and P&G is now addressing consumers who’ve complained on an individual basis.

A woman who started a “Bring Back the Old Cruisers” fan page on Facebook said, “We could move on and just buy the Target [Up & Up] diaper [which she said is now better]. But the principle is that they’ve slipped this inferior diaper into the existing packaging without notifying the consumer.” Several consumers who hadn’t even tried the diapers joined the Facebook page because they felt P&G was being deceptive by making the change without announcing it.

The communications and marketing lessons here all come down to a simple truth: It’s a new world. Evangelists can morph into detractors overnight if they’re not properly educated and nurtured. If you don’t actively engage in conversation, the consumer can and will take control and you might not be so happy with the outcome. We’ll never know how the marketplace would have responded to the innovation if P&G had actually educated consumers about the changes and their many benefits before slipping the new product into old packaging.

P&G believes the tone of the discussion will change when it turns on marketing support starting this month, and it very well may, but there’s no question that they’re starting with an unnecessary deficit. article

Recently we were asked to include social media best practices in a proposal. To follow is our list. As Peter Shankman and Sarah Evans wrote on their blog post, very few people can call themselves social media experts. To that end and given the dynamic nature of the practice, any suggested changes, contributions are welcomed!

1. Social networking channels, such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, require a degree of authenticity and transparency not always evident in traditional forms of marketing
2. Organizations that create a presence on social media channels must be willing to engage in a two-way dialogue with their target audiences and recognize it’s about human-to-human contact
3. It is critical to determine the role(s) – customer service, informer, reputation management – an organization wants to play before setting up a social media account
4. An organization should only share information via social networks that is easy (and desirable!) for others to share
5. A mix of social media channels can optimize an organization’s ability to participate in social media, as each tends to offer its own unique attribute and/or audience
6. The real-time nature of social media combined with its virtually unregulated content makes it imperative to monitor — and respond where appropriate – on a very frequent basis
7. Organizations should develop and utilize social media guidelines for their employees that outline how individuals characterize their affiliation