Top 10 Excuses for losing iPhone 4G
A little bit on the lighter side, tech-grumpy old man Letterman reminded folks that there is more than Apple hype in the world 
Posts Tagged ‘letterman’
What brands can learn from Letterman
I was just about to write a post on brands and using social media for transparency when the David Letterman confession happened. What a perfect example.
Okay, so it must have been a really embarrasing day for David Letterman to admit he had sex with women who worked on his show on national television. But man, chapeau to him and his PR folks for doing just that. To come clean with the whole nation (a nation which is no quite as lax with the sex thing as, say France) and by doing so, catching the extortionist who wanted 2 Million Dollars.
Surely, a decade or two ago, this would have been the end of a career. But honesty goes a long way today, and I immediately thought: What if more brands actually communicated this way? Some brands still think admitting mistakes kills them. But what if they stopped being worried and neurotic about being honest about mistakes they made as corporate citizens or as manufacturers? What if they took failure as an opportunity to shape how they talk about their mistake instead of pretending it never happened and letting people talk about it without acknowledging people’s problems? Letterman couldn’t be sure if he wasn’t gonna be extorted again, so he did the right thing: he shaped the message instead of being a victim. Brand today should do the same. Some have, using social media to listen and respond and being transparent about what they need to improve. Others still pretend it never happened and then have to lamely apologize.
Fact is: today, people will find out about your mistakes and talk about it. They will shape the message, unless you are transparent about it. And you know what? If you’re honest, just like Letterman, you will even get applause, and you won’t become a neurotic brand no one can trust.
For those of you who haven’t seen the Letterman confession:
Thanks to Simone Hausch for the link.
