At South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), a panel of judges has just chosen the winners (or should that be losers?) of The Suxorz - "the Worst of the Worst in Social Media Marketing for 2007".
As some of the companies nominated are clients and I do not know whether we were involved in any of the campaigns (I know we weren't in the UK), I'll point you to Scott Monty's round up of the contenders.
I find a few things interesting about this.
Judging Criteria
This included:
- Advertisers acting like asses
- Out and out lying to customers
- Corrupting authentic voices
The Conclusion
Steve Hall (adrants.com): "It's not hard to tell the truth; if you don't, it's just a matter of time before the public finds out."
Carrot or Stick
I'm still on the fence over whether it's better to applaud good behaviour or berate bad. In my experience, the latter is far easier to do (and indeed is what some of the panel have built their own reputations on). My concern is that it stops brands who want to do the right thing from even trying, just in case someone decides to turn on them. It serves to reinforce the corporate perception that I encounter all the time; that social media is just one big lynch mob.
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