Respond to Your Competitor's Reputation

In the social media age, it's easier than ever to capitalize on your competitors' missteps with creative online advertising.

In the article "Don't Just Manage Your Reputation, Respond to Your Competitor's" search marketing consultant Jennifer Laycock describes a scandal that became a missed opportunity for competitors:

For example, last fall Delta found itself in a mess of hot water with breastfeeding moms when one of their flight attendants kicked a nursing mother off of a plane for refusing to cover up with one of the airline blankets. The mother went up the chain of command to seek resolution and was told by Delta that flight attendants had final say over what happened in the airplane cabins. Word began to spread online and more than 800 mothers and babies gathered at major airports around the country two days before Thanksgiving to protest the treatment of this mom.

While Delta sat around waiting for the negative publicity to pass, I sat here wondering why none of the other airlines were taking advantage of the situation. If I'd been consulting for, say JetBlue or American Airlines, I would have been blitzing popular mom sites with an ad campaign. Can you imagine the potential impact on Christmas travel if one of these airlines had put together ads that said something to the effect of "We would never dream of asking our passengers to eat with blankets on their heads" or an ad with an image of someone sitting in an airplane bathroom with a tray of food on their lap and the word "RIDICULOUS!" across the top of the ad?

Related Reading:

Future of Online PR and Reputation Management
Online Reputation Management Beyond 2007
(Reputation and Social Activity image by martinroell)