As an agency it’s our job to come up with great new innovative ways to engage with consumers/customers.  We always try our hardest to look at every campaign from every angle to ensure that there are no potential pitfalls, issues or indeed negative connotations that could be associated with our plans.

But stuff goes wrong sometimes.  All good intentions get slightly battered and someone has to pick up the pieces.

The latest ‘social media bashing’ award goes to Waitrose. (I know this links to a Daily Mail article … don’t judge me! – here’s another link to Marketing Magazine’s article as well)

I really feel for the PR agency, as on paper, the campaign sounds great.  In practice, especially in Twitterverse, you’re always open to those that will jump on a #hashtag and have their merry way with it.

Hats off to Waitrose though for their gracious handling of what could, and probably is perceived by some, as a PR disaster…

I’ve read through some of the tweets and to be honest more than most were actually humourous rather than scathingly attacking the brand.

What do you think?