RIM’s Social Media Reputation Management Nightmare

  

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The BlackBerry Blackout has entered day four. Millions of BlackBerry users worldwide have been left in the dark with prolonged interruptions of their messaging service (bbm) and email capabilities. The problem has spread from Europe to Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East and now to North America, with server problems originating at RIM’s UK data center this past Monday, October 10.

With everyone from high-roller business men to celebrities tweeting their frustrations and making “Dear BlackBerry…” a trending topic, you would’ve expected the Canadian company to be all over those tweets to placate the furious crowd, especially since most of them threatened with switching smartphones. Instead, the RIM Twitter page remained relatively quiet posting only two tweets in three days. RIM’s founder – Mike Lazaridis – has recently apologized to the BlackBerry community by posting a video message on Thursday. “We know we’ve let many of you down. You expect more from us. I expect more from us” he said.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for the smartphone manufacturer; Apple’s iOS5 (available now) and iPhone 4S got unveiled that same week, both with extremely positive reviews from industry experts. These developments, along with dwindling sales of BlackBerry smartphones in the last couple of months have further endangered the future of the once all-mighty RIM.

Awkward silence

If there’s one thing that the inclusion of social media on crisis management has taught us, it’s that honesty and speed are key. You have to have a response – be it good or bad news – and you need to release it pronto. Instead, the BlackBerry makers dug themselves a larger hole by declining to comment on the situation when it first hit newsstands, they tweeted “BlackBerry services have been restored” when in fact users all over the world were still experiencing problems, and their official statement came three days too late.

We posted a blog not too long ago stressing the importance of having a proper reputation management plan; what we wrote then is exactly what companies need to do prior to facing a crisis. Here’s an excerpt of that post:

A reputation management plan; on the other hand, protects you against negative news coverage. It works hand in hand along with your social media policy to protect you from online risks. It protects, defends and – if needed – removes damaging information from the public eye. It starts with proper social media monitoring and constant crawling of the internet for mentions on your brand. You train your organization on how to execute a crisis plan (this includes first responders, spokesperson, public statements, and so on). When a threat is identified, that’s when the importance of having a plan in place really shines bright. Speed is of the essence as a quick response to the attacks (or a public statement, depending on the type of threat) is necessary to minimize a crisis. Be careful not to start blaming everyone around you, if there is something we have learned is that an online social media reputation is all about transparency – if you lie or manipulate, someone will find out and mock you publicly. (read more)

What are your thoughts?

Are you a frustrated BlackBerry user? Did RIM let you down or are you ok with how they handled the situation? Let us know in the comment box below.