Out of the Box

Good Press vs. Bad Press

By Menachem Lubinsky on March 08 2011

When it comes to getting the word out about a product or service, proper press placement has always been imperative. However, the real question is whether it is just a good thing or an absolute necessity?
Recently, several large and small fashion industry businesses have taken previously taboo steps to drum up press, even negative publicity. Indeed, one business took this to an extreme, focusing solely on negative press as a medium to increase web site presence on search engines and hence bump-up Internet based sales. Yes, this is part of the all-important SEO (Search Engine Optimization).The question is, to what extent should a business take on a rouge campaign with inherently mixed results? The answer may surprise you.
As featured in major media outlets back in December, decormyeyes.com, a Brooklyn-based eyeglass merchant, deliberately offended dozens of customers over the span of three years to increase his placement on search engines. Indeed, the more customers he offended the more negative reviews about his business were written, which in turn led to a higher placement in Google’s search results algorithm. Antithetical at first glance, this businessman was actually making money from bad customer service. This strategy was working so well that Google took notice and promptly changed its algorithm to distinguish between negative and positive reviews. It didn’t help that the proprietor was arrested on an assault and stalking charges against one of his former customers.
More recently, in an effort to generate a buzz about its new spring line of apparel, Kenneth Cole drew on the current situation in Egypt posting on Twitter that,
“Millions are in uproar in Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available.” The Tweet drew criticism from around the greater social media world and was promptly taken down and replaced with an apology. However, it is safe to assume that viewership of the Kenneth Cole Twitter account and website spiked immediately following the incident and its subsequent press coverage. So, while one incident made light of American-supported Egyptian protesters and another involved criminal behavior, both businesses made use of contrarian thinking to gain social prominence.

Compare this to the old school of public relations and you may find that perhaps the change is not all that dramatic. A professor once told a marketing class I was in that “it does not matter what they write about you so long as they spell your name correctly.” Sounds familiar? Sure, that same professor would counsel against “negative publicity,” but then again he used to speak in terms of managing the negative publicity.

Social media is a great opportunity to extend the old “word of mouth” to a whole new level. It can instantly extend to many mouths and then some. For people who have something to sell and really do have a good product or service, it is simply a great medium, and much less expensive than classical media. A client who has only recently begun to use social media said: “I feel like I finally found a professional and effective way to shout!” Do you hear him?

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.