eric rochow

Both Walmart and Target have recently gotten stung in the social media world by trying to hide their affiliation with people/groups promoting their brands.

The Ignite Social Media blog has several posts about this, so rather than re-invent the wheel, read their posts on their site. They summed it up with this paragraph:

…it blows my mind how 1) a company like Target can claim that something clearly branded to their advocates is “not endorsed” by their company (in my world if you farm something out you are ultimately responsible for it) and 2) how whoever was responsible didn’t think that “it’s our little secret” sounds outright sketchy and unethical and 3) how large companies like Target and Wal-Mart haven’t hired a dedicated social media agency.

Corporations: Transparency has to be front and center to any web campaign, else you will get caught, OK? And if you don’t know what you are doing, hire someone who does.