Nestlé and Social Media: can we learn from our mistakes?

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Much has already been said about the Greenpeace protest against Nestlé and its use of palm oil in the production of Kit Kat chocolate . (This article from The Wall Street Journal summarises the sequence of events in English, and Marketing Directo announces an important consequence of the social protest expressed through social media : Nestlé is dispensing with the services of a supplier of palm oil , the product at the centre of the controversy).

NestleThe good thing, in addition to all the coverage of the facts cryptocurrency data and Nestlé's actions on Social Media, is that there were also conclusions about how the Swiss food giant has acted and responded to the different accusations directly with users, fans, friends and society that interacted online with the brand.

The Facebook interaction case is a clear example of what was done, what should not have been done, and how to act in a future reputation crisis . Following the Greenpeace complaints and incited by this organization, thousands of fans, activists and the general public began to leave negative comments on the Nestlé friends page (or fan page ), which has reacted or responded in an at least aggressive manner. Those monitoring Nestlé's Facebook account responded to some comments with a “Please, as if we were censoring everything to allow only positive comments” or “Thank you for the lessons in manners.” “… It's our page, we make the rules, it's always been like this.”

The above was like pouring more fuel on the fire, so there were media outlets that dedicated themselves to analyzing what things to improve, what facts to learn from so as not to repeat them again. I agree with the following:

1) If you encourage people to become fans of your company through social media , keep in mind that this can be a double-edged sword. Embracing the positive aspects of Facebook fans, while anticipating and responding to the negative consequences , should be part of a social media plan .

2) It is necessary to monitor Social Media channels, especially on weekends (this is when the controversy in the Nestlé case exploded)

3) The brand must be prepared 24/7 to respond to a communication or reputation crisis. Rule #1 is to avoid crises .

4) An informed, responsive adult should be in charge of brand responses and communications in crisis situations. (Some responses on Nestlé's Facebook page increase the anger.)

As for how to proceed from now on, American experts believe that it may not be a bad idea to close Nestlé's Facebook page and start anew, since it may be very difficult to reverse the negative comments and the suspicion created by the episodes related to palm oil.

As of today, Nestlé's Facebook page is still open and the latest posts are entirely focused on information about saving, optimizing and reducing impacts, paper and other inputs, as well as more information about the original problem. The comments that can be read from fans are still negative and many, but one can observe another reaction from those responsible for Nestlé's online communication.