Ok, on the heals of my recent discussions on the topic of good models vs bad models with influencers, a friend shared with me a story brewing regarding Target’s efforts on their "Rounder’s" program – an attempted "stealth influencer" program.
Have a read of "Bloggers seeing red over Target’s little secret"
Here’s my favorite nugget from the story:
The hubbub began in early October after Siman received a Rounders newsletter as Target was launching a new Facebook page. Like many companies now setting up sites on Facebook and MySpace, Target hoped to get people talking about new products, get feedback and continue to find ways to promote its hip image.
"Your Mission: Try not to let on in the Facebook group that you are a Rounder," the newsletter read.
"We love your enthusiasm for the Rounders, and I know it can be hard not to want to sing it from the mountaintops [and in the shower, and on the bus]. However, we want to get other members of the Facebook group excited about Target, too! And we don’t want the Rounders program to steal the show from the real star here: Target and Target’s rockin’ Facebook group. So keep it like a secret!"
The vendor running the Rounder’s program quickly took the fall for Target and to everyone’s credit the response and apology seems swift. Good job there, I’ll assume sincere. One piece of advice: shouldn’t have deleted the posts!
Need we all be reminded of the logic behind stealth anything in social media. I think the best thing to keep secret is the one thing you most want people to know – that way you can be assured of the word getting out!
Sean
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