Tag Archives: twitter

Who’d be a social media manager? @theregos, @soukonwheels and a teeny Twitter meltdown…

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social-media-meltdown-1-638

Disclaimer – There is foul language below (though not from me).

Social media isn’t all it is cracked up to be. True, you do get paid for being online and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube… But, you’re the voice of the organization. As such, you have to be on best behaviour at all times, to ensure that the company is represented in the right fashion. One wrong Tweet and you’re going to get called out for it.

Well, this is a call out for @soukonwheels and @soukonwheels1 (this account is now closed). The person who was handling the account did something which was pretty rude yesterday. And unfortunately for them, they did it to a journalist. Nick Rego isn’t your typical hack either, he’s the ‘dahlink of Twitter’. An open question from Nick about shopping for clothes was followed by the person handling the account jumping in (the brand sells fruit and veg), which Nick didn’t appreciate.

However, the response really wasn’t called for:

How not to win friends and influence people online...

How not to win friends and influence people online…

Kudos to the brand which apologized for the tweet (I do hope they apologized directly to Nick). But really, do you want to be a social media manager? Think carefully, very carefully before you say yes.

And before I forget, there’s a couple more pointers:

1) Once you’ve posted something online, it’s online. If you don’t want it copied, shared or saved, then don’t post it online. And if it offends your mom, then definitely don’t post it online.
2) The community will always do a good job of policing itself, by rallying around and calling out those who offend. This will damage your brand.
3) We all make mistakes. Learn from them, change how your accounts are managed and come back stronger.

A look into how online behaviour is changing in Saudi from The Online Project

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For many of us in communications in the Middle East, it’s hard to remember a time before social media (I still fondly remember receiving floppy disks with press releases, back in 2006). Social media agency agency The Online Project has dipped its toes into the Kingdom’s digital world to look at how social media behaviours are changing.

The agency, which undertook a similar exercise two years ago, went back to revisit some of its findings from 2013. The report, named Reintroducing Social Saudis, is an incredibly insightful look into what Saudis are doing online. Please do download the report and read it in full (it’s 18 pages in length).

Some of the findings include:

    1. Facebook remained the largest social platform in terms of number of users. However, Twitter growth surpassed Facebook by 25% in the past two years.
    2. Saudi preferences towards social entertainment have been changed through emerging platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
    3. Online video has become a key channel for consuming content on all platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram.
    4. Comedy TV shows and sports are the most popular categories of online watched videos.
    5.While YouTube remained the main video sharing website Facebook and Instagram’s video growth has shifted the online video scene towards more exposure. Video content is no longer a YouTube exclusive.
    6. Hashtags usage on Instagram is just as popular on Twitter. Most used hashtags on Instagram shows how the platform is gradually turning into a female community.

The team have also produced simple visuals and a video telling the stories of Mohamed, Ahmed and Sara, your typical Saudi social media users. You can see both below.

Based on The Online Project's research Mohamed is your average Saudi Facebook user

Based on The Online Project’s research Mohamed is your average Saudi Facebook user

Your average Saudi Instagram user is female and enjoys following social issues as well as fashion

Your average Saudi Instagram user is female and enjoys following social issues as well as fashion

Your average Saudi Tweeter is most active at night and engages most with text Tweets

Your average Saudi Tweeter is most active at night and engages most with text Tweets

If you’d like more info about social behaviour in Saudi, start reading the report and do reach out to the good people at The Online Project.

The Ups and Downs of Periscope in the UAE

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It was a case of down Periscope last week in the UAE

It was a case of down Periscope last week in the UAE

No pun intended with the title, but Periscope, the live video streaming app which is owned by Twitter, really has been through the wringer of late. The service, which only launched at the beginning of this year, was picking up steam in the UAE thanks to its purchase by Twitter.

However, the country’s users were left out in the cold after the government’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority put a halt to its usage last week. The allegation made on social media was the Periscope users were sharing content that they shouldn’t have been sharing and which was not in keeping with the UAE’s culture.

But that’s only part of the story. According to the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority there was no ban on the application, but rather a technical problem which was stopping users from accessing the application in the country.

As of Thursday and 48 hours after the initial blockage the app was up and running. However, the episode is another example of how easy it is for applications to be blocked in the region without notice. You’ve been warned.

How Saudi’s consumers took on Saudi Telecom and influenced the Government – مطلب شعب stc الثورة ضد

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The hardest part of the digital world is knowing where the tipping points are – it’s relatively easy to work out when things are going against your brand either in the traditional press or on television. The coverage builds gradually (unless there’s a crisis) and you have time to think and respond.

The digital world has completely changed the rules however. There doesn’t need to be a trigger anymore. And so was the case at the end of Ramadan in Saudi, where unhappy customers of Saudi Telecom Company vented their frustration at the slow connection speeds as well as the cost of the service.

Using the hashtag مطلب شعب stc الثورة ضد, which essentially translates as ‘the people demand a revolution against STC’, Twitter users shared thousands of Tweets on their thoughts and demands. Many of the visuals were created by consumers who effectively used home-designed visuals to tell their story.

https://twitter.com/mgoodhagri/status/621854572705742848

https://twitter.com/AbduLLA_Matabi/status/622332077703213056

https://twitter.com/ajffetni1/status/623103370803351552

The hashtag, which included over 100 thousand tweets and was one of the top five trends worldwide on the 17th and 18th of July, also resulted in a direct action, a call to boycott STC and turn off phones for several hours on a pre-agreed day, with expected losses of 10 million Riyals.

https://twitter.com/M900_/status/622729754924335104

While STC didn’t respond during the campaign, Saudi’s Minister of Telecommunications Dr Al Suwayyel had previously tweeted that he’d follow up on the issue of poor services in the Kingdom’s telecommunications sector. With the hashtag and the campaign gaining global attention, it’s clear that Saudi consumers will continue pushing for reforms.

Saudi's Minister for Telecommunication, Dr AlSuwaiel, has previously tweeted about the need to improve services in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi’s Minister for Telecommunication, Dr AlSuwaiel, has previously tweeted about the need to improve services in Saudi Arabia.

The question is, will this consumer activism spread to other areas of the economy or other parts of the Gulf? Despite the poorly received Etisalat Challenge campaign and the backlash against Qtel in 2010, there’s been no consumer demand to reduce prices in other Gulf markets. Will other groups follow in the wake of Saudi consumers and demand better service through mediums such as Twitter?

One other question for you. Is there a harder job than that of a social media manager for a telco in the Gulf. You tell me.

Has Social Media Overtaken the News Cycle? The Story of the Kuwait Mosque Bombing

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Last Friday was one of bloodshed and horror in Kuwait. The country, which has not been affected by regional sectarian issues in the same manner as its neighbours Iraq and Saudi Arabia, experienced something truly terrible. During Friday prayers, when men gather to pray together in the mosque, a suicide bomber entered one such mosque with the intent to kill as many of those inside as possible. To date, twenty seven people inside the Imam Sadiq Mosque, a place of worship for Shia Muslims. Two hundred people were injured.

Apart from the horror of this atrocity, which Islamic State claimed responsibility for, what is telling is the speed and amount of information which spread via social media, particularly WhatsApp, in the Gulf.

I was receiving messages about the bombing two hours before the news had made it onto websites such as Al Jazeera English. Not only was the information written down, but people were sharing both images and video thanks to the proliferation of smartphones as well as the availability of high-speed mobile data services.

Below is just a selection of the images that I received on that day.

What’s fascinating is not just the speed of information, but also the accuracy of that information. When Al Jazeera Arabic made a mistake with the name and picture of the suspected bomber an image was shared on social media of the correct suspect.

In addition, the amount of information was remarkable. While global networks provided a couple of minutes of coverage about the bombing, the images and video shared via Whatsapp built up a comprehensive picture of the incident, including video footage of the scene as well as interviews with witnesses and survivors. Unlike the news networks, many of whom don’t have correspondents in Kuwait, this was amazing, in-depth reportage of the Imam Sadiq bombing. Just two of the videos I received are below.

What was missing from all of this was context. On the same day there were terrorist incidents in both Tunisia and France, one of which was claimed by ISIS. Due to the local interest in Kuwait on my Whatsapp channels, no news on these two events was shared. This was a different story on the news networks where the three stories came together into one coherent piece on ISIS and its aim to spread terror across the Middle East and Europe.

Is the Imam Sadiq mosque bombing an example of citizen journalism working at its best in the Gulf? If so, how can media outlets catch up to ensure they have access to this information at the same time as its distribution through both private messaging networks such as WhatsApp as well as open platforms such as Instagram and Twitter? Twitter is looking to bring in a head of media partnerships for the MENA region, to work with publishers. It’ll be interesting to see how this and other efforts to get news outlets to work through social media impacts their ability to tell the story accurately in real time.

On a final note, my thoughts are with those who experienced this terrible incident. May all of those who were injured make a speedy recovery, and those who died always be remembered.

Will Etihad’s use of Twitter for Premium customer communications take off?

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Etihad's Premium Twitter account is an exclusive account just for Etihad's Gold customers. Is Twitter the right channel for reaching out to premium customers however?

Etihad’s Premium Twitter account is an exclusive account just for Etihad’s Gold customers. Is Twitter the right channel for reaching out to premium customers however?

Excuse the pun in the title, but Etihad caught my eye this week with the news that it has set up a new Twitter account to communicate exclusively with Etihad Guest Gold members. The account, named @EtihadPremium, was launched at the beginning of May and Etihad Guest Gold members, Etihad customers who have flown 50,000 tier miles or 40 tier segments in one 12 month period, received emails on the new service. Below is the text of the email that Etihad sent out to its Etihad Guest Gold members over a month ago (courtesy of www.flyertalk.com).

We’ve launched a Twitter Channel to better serve you! We value your loyalty and have created a new channel that delivers a range of benefits with you, our guest, in mind.

Etihad Guest Gold members can now follow us on http://www.twitter.com/EtihadPremium and enjoy the following exclusive benefits:

Five minute response times
Dedicated service
Retro mileage claims
Exclusive deals

To sign up, please:

Email us at socialmedia@etihad.ae with: a photocopy of your Etihad Guest Card, Date of Birth, Post Code, Twitter Handle.
Please allow 24 hours for review and verification.
Post-verification, our team will follow you on Twitter and send a confirmation email.
Follow us back at http://www.twitter.com/EtihadPremium

The choice of Twitter has sparked some debate online. Hussein Dajani, a UAE-based social media commentator, listed on his LinkedIn profile some of the reasons why he thought Etihad’s use of Twitter didn’t make sense.

1- Etihad already has many existing Twitter accounts (Etihad Airways, Etihad Deals, Etihad Help, etc). Do people (Premium or not) really need one more account to follow?
2- Most of the “Premium” users are high profile people, how many of those are actually on Twitter or would use Twitter when having an inquiry or a complaint?
3- Will Etihad block a person if he / she no longer remains as a Premium customer?
4- How is Etihad being transparent and “fair” to all its customers when treating them differently?
5- Can’t Etihad identify who are its Premium customers from non Premium customers and get their Twitter handles?

Etihad’s social media lead Asif Khan shared his opinion as well. According to Asif, the reasons why Etihad went with Twitter for this concept were the customers themselves.

Etihad has public Twitter accounts and pretty tight SLAs for them – all users (Premium and non-Premium). This is an additional Twitter account for Premium members because there was massive demand – we have done proper research and tried to fulfill appetite – not just another channel launch. You’d be surprised to know how many Premium inquiries we receive. It’s just having a unique key number of managing first class and business class guests on a contact centre – different is its a Twitter account.

Just to clarify, this is an additional channel for communication with our high-valued guests – not the ONLY channel. There are other traditional channels that are being used – dedicated contact centre number, email address, etc. etc. Not sure if I entirely agree with your one-many concept because end of the day we’re not broadcasting information on this channel (one-many) because the intent is to have meaningful personalised conversation with each premium customer with contextual information available to us.

With premium customers, personalization is key. They want a one-to-one conversation, and they want the best possible support. Talking to a Facebook executive recently, she told me that Whatsapp was the sleeping giant of the Middle East’s digital sector. Back in March, Whatsapp was named the region’s most popular means of online communication by a survey commissioned by the Dubai Government.

But let’s go further. Whatsapp is one-to-one communication, through which one can share images, video, and recorded audio messages (we can’t use Whatsapp Call in the UAE as it’s blocked on a national level). Whatsapp can also share the user’s location or a contact, and its secure. Unlike a Twitter handle, I can’t communicate with another Whatsapp user unless I know their mobile number – and, let’s face it, how many premium customers will be flying around the world without a mobile?

The other concern I have is about Twitter and its security. What will Etihad do if the Twitter account is hacked? How can it safeguard the information of these premium customers?

The response to Etihad’s initiative has been mixed on travel websites such as OneMileAtATime and FlyerTalk, with some premium passengers praising the move, others saying they don’t have a Twitter account, and some going so far as to say that Etihad needs to improve its overall customer service levels available through its existing social media accounts.

I’d be fascinated to see how this works for Etihad. The initiative is bold, but with the choice of communications being Twitter will it work as Etihad hopes?

Hashtag hijacking and the need for authenticity – the #EtisalatChallenge

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Let’s face it, social media is entertaining. As communicators, we really do need to think through the consequences of using digital. But sometimes, the best of intentions just aren’t enough. Companies who don’t think through the reasoning behind their campaigns will face a backlash online, including derision, contempt, and abuse.

There are many examples globally of hashtag hijacking; possibly the best is McDonalds and its #McStories campaign. Fortunately for us in the Middle East, we now have our own example of how not to launch a hashtag on Twitter. A couple of days back the Abu Dhabi-based telecommunications operator launched an advertising campaign called the #EtisalatChallenge. The idea is simple enough – Etisalat challenges consumers to find offers and prices that are better than their own and they’ll match or beat that offer. You will literally see the below advert everywhere across the UAE at the moment.

Are you ready for the #EtisalatChallenge?

Are you ready for the #EtisalatChallenge?

Now, there’s a couple of issues here. The first is pretty basic; the UAE’s telco market is a duopoly. Both operators are government-owned and there’s not much in the way of competition when compared to other. The second is Etisalat’s reputation. The company isn’t the most consumer-friendly in terms of its support. Shortly after Etisalat launched its hashtag #EtisalatChallenge (complete with a huge marketing campaign), the hashtag itself was taken over by customers complaining about high costs and poor service.

Despite the obvious backfiring of the campaign (and, as you can see from the tweets below, the campaign has been taken over by negative sentiment), Etisalat has persevered with the #EtisalatChallenge.

https://twitter.com/mkdubai/status/595950565483380736

https://twitter.com/ThatGuyNoman/status/595958586204905473

What’s even stranger is the number of bots, of Twitter accounts which are automated which have are now tweeting the same message about the campaign.

https://twitter.com/ThatGuyNoman/status/596655103928438784

The other element of the campaign which is intriguing is the number of celebrities that Etisalat has brought in. There is one of Scotland’s finest, Gerald Butler, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, and Filipina actress and singer Lea Salonga. Etisalat has also paid a number of the UAE’s leading social media influencers. While the use of social media influencers to support marketing campaigns is becoming standard practice, the #EtisalatChallenge in unusual in that many of the influencers have previously worked for the UAE’s rival operator Du. Have a look below.

Emirati social media celebrity Mthayel Al Ali was a Du supporter

Emirati social media celebrity Mthayel Al Ali was a Du supporter

But now Emirati social media celebrity Mthayel Al Ali is also an Etisalat fan

But now Emirati social media celebrity Mthayel Al Ali is also an Etisalat fan

Egyptian footballer and model Sherif Fayed was part of Du's marketing before his switch to Etisalat

Egyptian footballer and model Sherif Fayed was part of Du’s marketing before his switch to Etisalat

Egyptian footballer and model Sherif Fayed is also a fan of green as he shifts to #EtisalatChallenge

Egyptian footballer and model Sherif Fayed is also a fan of green as he shifts to #EtisalatChallenge

Before her support for the #EtisalatChallenge UAE media personality Diala Ali was a Du supporter.

Before her support for the #EtisalatChallenge UAE media personality Diala Ali was a Du supporter.

From blue to green - UAE media personality Diala Ali shows her support for the #Etisalat Challenge

From blue to green – UAE media personality Diala Ali shows her support for the #Etisalat Challenge

While one can easily fault Etisalat for getting out the cash and spending a fortune on social media endorsements, these online influencers are more to blame in my eyes. They’re doing their own brands more harm than good by changing from one corporate brand to the other so quickly. Their authenticity is at stake, and for someone who runs a social media agency Mthayel Al Ali should understand that authenticity matters to fans, and fans are the reason these people are paid to endorse brands. There’s little long-term thinking from influencers who have worked with Du previously and whom are now working with Etisalat.

Going beyond the pains of creating corporate hashtags (which, in this case clearly don’t work), what was Etisalat thinking? And what is it still thinking, seeing as the campaign is failing so badly? Come on, share with me your #EtisalatChallenge!

Did Skydive Dubai do enough communications following the tragic death of skydiver Majed Al Shuaiby?

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There are days I love my job as a communicator. And then there are days when my heart breaks. One of those days was last week, with the tragic news of a death at Skydive Dubai. Majed Al Shuaiby was an experienced skydiver – he had over 700 dives under his belt according to the local media. On April the 30th Majed took to the skies. Unfortunately, his parachute did not open and he died on impact.

This news, as sad as it is, is also newsworthy. We have a young man, who is only 35 years old, who perished whilst undertaking a sport which is often thought of as high risk. The accident made the news, with coverage nationally and regionally (Majed was a Saudi national). Unsurprisingly, the news first appeared on social media, on the evening of the 30th, the day of the accident.

In a tribute Majed’s name trended on Twitter in Saudi with the hashtag #ماجد_الشعيبي.

Many of those who were online and who knew of the accident started to reach out to Skydive Dubai. The initial reaction was, to put it mildly, disappointing.

https://twitter.com/ammorsy/status/593784283237457921

What Skydive Dubai did, a day after the accident, was put up a post on its Facebook Desert Campus page and push users there. There’s no separate post on Skydive Dubai’s main Facebook page and no posts on Twitter.

The holding statement above has been used for media attribution as well, as can be seen from The National’s story.

Was the statement from Skydive Dubai enough or could they have done more?

Was the statement from Skydive Dubai enough or could they have done more?

While the investigation is still under way to determine what happened, could Skydive Dubai have done more to publicly address the incident and offer their condolences to the family, whilst also addressing concerns around the safety of skydiving?

No one wants to go through a crisis, especially when people are injured or there’s a fatality. However, we as communicators are on the front line to advise our employers and communicate in a way that is respectful, that comforts, and that shows we are also human. As we say, perception is reality and Skydive Dubai’s initial response, to block users, would seem entirely at odds with what communicators should do in a crisis. Going beyond that, is a holding statement enough? We need to present both the facts and show our emotion. We should never simply ignore bad news, and block conversations. Could Skydive Dubai have done more? Do let me know your thoughts.

On a final note, I’d like to convey my condolences to Majed’s family. Allah yurhamu and may god bless his soul.

How to destroy a brand through poor communications – the Nakheel example

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Nakheel_flags

I’ll admit it. Every now and then I do get pangs of schadenfreude when I see brands being pulled up online by the media and the public. However, seeing a brand destroy itself is a different proposition.

I’ve been watching Nakheel for some time, and I’ve written about the company and its bad media habits before. The Dubai government-owned real-estate developer is responsible for some of the Emirate’s most iconic projects, including the Palm Jumeirah and The World. However, its customer service is, unfortunately, just as infamous as its successes are famous.

Last week, Sarah Townsend of Arabian Business wrote a scathing piece on Nakheel. Entitled ‘Nakheel PR: The toughest job in Dubai?’, she took a sledgehammer to Nakheel’s reputation The article is well worth a read, especially for those of us whom have spent long enough in the region to forget what quality journalism looks like.

If it were just one person taking aim at Nakheel, the issue would be manageable. However, due to our digital world reputation-bashing is a team sport. The article has gathered seventeen comments, all negative and some from disgruntled Nakheel owners. My favorite is the below.

A comment from a not-very-happy Nakheel property resident on the Palm

A comment from a not-very-happy Nakheel property resident on the Palm

On top of this, Nakheel is facing additional issues regarding its stalled Palm Jebel Ali project. However, it’s not the media which is causing trouble for Nakheel, but rather angry investors who have yet to see their properties take shape after years of delay. To quote from The National.

Hundreds of investors on Dubai’s Palm Jebel Ali have called on developer Nakheel to restart the project.

An estimated 400 to 450 people, most of whom made down payments during Dubai’s boom years between 2004 and 2008, find themselves in financial limbo.

All the units under the Palm Jebel Ali project, including its signature and garden villas and water homes, are “under cancellation”, according to Dubai’s Land Department.

In November, 74 homeowners wrote to Mohammed Al Shaibani, the head of the Ruler’s Court and Dubai Investment Authority, to look into the matter.

“The lack of certainty as to when our homes will be built has caused, and is causing, tremendous financial and emotional suffering for us and our families, and many of us continue to endure ongoing mortgage and rental costs while we are waiting,” the letter says. “Many of us have invested our life savings into the Palm Jebel Ali.”

Over a 100 Palm Jebel Ali owners have set up a group on Twitter with the handle @PJAOwners to lobby the government on their issue (bizarrely Nakheel doesn’t have an account on Twitter and there are several Facebook accounts, none of which seem to be legitimate).

For an organization which claims to be one of the largest and most successful property developers in the world, the media issues that Nakheel has gotten itself into are unforgivable (blacklisting the media doesn’t help). Having said that, many of the company’s issues are rather to do with how they operate. Public relations can never be used as a figleaf for unpopular or damaging actions. As Mark Twain said, “The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.”

At the end of her article Townsend stated that Nakheel are looking for a PR exec to join their ranks. I could be even bolder and suggest that they look at how they do business and rebuild their reputation first. Anything else would be putting the cart before the horse and will continue to destroy what is left of Nakheel’s brand. I’m betting things will get worse for Nakheel in terms of its brand image and reputation. But I won’t take any pleasure from watching this sorry story of a brand being destroyed from within.