Another rudely-worded email has gone viral, in this case taking down a one-man PR shop and leaving his client, a maker of modified game controllers for hardcore gamers and disabled people, trying to mop up the resulting mess.
The public relations crisis began when a customer "Dave" e-mailed Ocean Marketing, the PR firm that represents N-Control, asking about the delayed delivery of an order. The responses quickly became rude—and petty and snarky as well. At which point, Dave began CCing others in the tech community to the exchanges. Eventually they found their way onto the popular webcomic Penny Arcade, when the PR rep exchanged words with the site's creator Mike Krahulik.
Go here to read the complete exchange.
New PR, New Problems
As the incident became public, the PR representative was dismissed. N-Control's new marketing manager, Eli Schwartz, told Kokaku.com that he has been struggling with damage control and a flood of negative ratings for the Avenger on Amazon since taking over.
"At this point I'm just trying to point out that, what was said was someone who we hired, what he said should not reflect on the product itself," he told the publication. "So far the Amazon rating on the Avenger has gone from 4 and 1/2 to 1 star in around 8 hours. None of the reviews are true, they all just appeared today out of pure hate trolling."
Social Media Savvy
N-Control's experience no doubt horrified the countless businesses that rely on PR people to represent their interests–especially as off-the-cuff, on-your-feet social media responses are integral to today’s PR job.
This has been the expectation for at least two years, when PR managers first began identifying such skills as important for prospective hires, according to a survey by iPressroom. Social networking, blogging and tweeting are the top-three most important social media communications skills for job candidates to have, according to the PR and marketing decision makers surveyed.
A Guide to Hiring Outside Help
Worried firms, though, should consider that a little due diligence in the hiring process is bound to prevent such an episode happening to them. Go here for a list of thorough and creative questions to ask a prospective ad agency or social media representative.
