The Nestle Crisis Keeps Going

There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for candy maker Nestle. I just checked their Facebook page and the negative comments are still being posted on a regular basis. I also checked out their Twitter accounts. While there are plenty of comments to and at Nestle on Twitter, they aren’t tweeting much.

I found information on their website that announces that Nestle commits to using sustainable palm oil by 2015. It’s interesting that you can get this news via mp3 on their site as well as read it. I can’t find a date on the news however, so am not sure when they announced this or whether it was in reaction to the current crisis.

Fast Company has a good piece on this issue and Jeremiah Owyang has an excellent post on Crises Planning: Prepare Your Company For Social Media Attacks.

This crisis is a perfect example of what can happen if an organization doesn’t fully understand the culture of social media. Anyone can create a Facebook page, a Twitter account or help you build a kick ass newsroom online, but it’s how you connect with people that matters, including the people that criticize you.

I don’t know the whole story about what Nestle is or isn’t doing in the rainforest and what they plan to do to make things better immediately. What Greenpeace wants me to believe is one thing…they have their own agenda. Being in PR, I realize that right now I am only getting one side of the story, but Nestle doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to tell me their side. That makes me wonder why – and what they aren’t telling me. The very tools that they embraced in order to build brand connection are now biting them because they aren’t being used effectively.

  • Share on:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*