It is truly March Madness, and it is an exciting to be in Louisville since the Cardinals are heading to the Final Four for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Everyone is very excited here at the university as well as in Kentucky since both UK and UofL will be playing each other for the spot to be in the Championship game. Go Cards!! 🙂
Louisville is home to many brands ranging from fast food to corporate brands. However, one of the major brands that is located here in Louisville, KY is of course is UPS. However, they were in the midst of being part of the heated discussion going on about one of their advertising campaigns that they created for the NCAA Tournament. The commercial featured footage of the winning long shot from the 1992 University of Kentucky versus Duke University Championship game. Listed below is the commercial that UPS created with this footage:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGpdGOn58o8[/youtube]
So, what happened after this commercial was released on television? Well, UK fans were not too pleased and immediately went to the UPS blog with negative comments that forced the shipping giant to address these comments as well as take down the advertisement. Even with some of their responses to these negative comments, UPS still faced the uproar emerging from this particular issue in the social media sphere. As Mark Schaefer mentioned on his blog, it is a dynamic and interesting case study to look at from a public relations and social media perspective.
UPS was celebrating this momentous occasion focusing on the NCAA Basketball Tournament – a a true American pastime event that many sports enthusiasts, fans, commentators, students, and universities follow on an regular basis. It is like the SuperBowl or World Series to some individuals – we know it as March Madness – and it is a time where emotions fly high and everyone rises the roller coaster for several weeks. UPS responded with several comments such as:
“I know our new ads will anger some UK fans, but if you truly look at that game with an objective eye, it’s hard to think of a better example of what determined people working together toward a common goal can accomplish—and that’s what UPS is all about.”
This case study raises an interesting issue for communicators on social media. While it is key to make sure that we have the opportunity for our audiences to be able to create content and voice their opinions and thoughts – we have to also take into consideration that there are some activities and places (such as a blog) where community guidelines should be established and monitored in case of situations that come up like this one for UPS. One thing to keep in mind too with some of these comments is the fact that some may disclose their name and identity, but others do not. This does influence whether or not people will post on discussion posts or blogs – and this is not just from corporate sites, but other platforms as well.
In addition, I think that this activity by fans of UK should take note and think about what would other teams have done if they were featured in a similar light and campaign by UPS. What would UCLA or USC do if they were represented in a commercial like this? The thing is – this footage happened twenty years ago and it is part of the university history. Yes, it was a win for Duke and a loss from UK – that is what happens in sports – there is just one winner of the game or competition. We have to keep this in mind. I believe UPS was not prepared for handling these negative comments and bombardment of emotion from these fans coming to their blog – and as a result – it is a topic of discussion among PR professionals.
This will be an interesting case to discuss in PR and social media classes as an example of how emotion and perception can influence how specific audience members will communicate and react to online and in a powerful force. One thing is certain – my guess is that a similar scenario will be included as part of the educational training exercises for organizations to be more prepared for situations like this in the future. In PR, we always have to be adaptive to new technologies and how people use them to voice their opinions.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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