The saying that each one publicity is nice publicity isn’t at all times true, and but there’s a complete slew of pros on the market in search of to make it their trigger.
In spite of everything, visibility is a high-stakes recreation. You may play and you may completely lose. And when your CEO is caught in a large scandal of the extramarital selection and turns into arguably probably the most viral second of the 12 months to this point, what do you do? What are your choices, when is the best time to behave, and what are the inherent dangers?
Everybody’s seen the Coldplay kiss cam video by now—seen the proliferation of memes, the offcolor feedback, even that picture with LinkedIn’s signature “open to work branding” slapped on prime. Poignant sure, and in addition pointed.
And by now, most have additionally seen the video response the place Astronomer’s “short-term spokesperson” Gwyneth Paltrow coolly states, “I’ve been employed on a really short-term foundation to talk on behalf of the 300-plus workers at Astronomer,” earlier than playfully referencing a current surge within the firm’s notoriety.
A superb transfer. Critically, the marketer in me applauds the marketer in whoever pulled that off—as a result of that authentic kiss cam clip clocked a complete lot of views, sparked commentary throughout platforms, and turned Astronomer—a B2B information automation firm—into an unlikely title on everybody’s For You Web page. In lower than 24 hours, the corporate went from being identified solely in sure circles to being probably the most talked about enterprise on the planet.
What do you do with that? How do you flip the script from being the laughing inventory to laughing alongside. As a result of the best way I see it, the actual story isn’t the memes. It’s the corporate’s strategically executed response.
As a model, you solely have a number of choices at a time like this. You may both keep silent, let the eye die out, await the subsequent viral second to devour the information cycle, and transfer on. Or you possibly can capitalize on the eye and shift issues towards your individual narrative.
Now let’s get actual: None of this was deliberate. The discourse round Astronomer got here quick, loud, and private. Most manufacturers in that place would’ve chosen silence. And even worse, a proper assertion that will additional cement the corporate because the butt of the joke. Astronomer (or whomever they signed on to handle this disaster) learn the room and flipped it.
They didn’t deny what was already on the market. They didn’t attempt to management the story. They leaned in with an appropriately gentle tone and redirected the eye again to the model, an essential distinction at a time the place different social accounts, together with massive firms, had been making memes about people whose actual lives had been affected.
Astronomer took the people out of the narrative, and consequently, took again management. What we noticed wasn’t a stunt. It was a wise, self-aware response to an unplanned spike in visibility. In truth, it was the very best model search curiosity Astronomer has ever seen.
They used that second to reclaim possession over how their firm was being talked about. By casting Paltrow, the ex-wife of the Coldplay frontman, as their “short-term spokesperson,” they nodded to the cultural context and web chatter whereas shifting the highlight again to themselves. Not the drama. Not the individuals. The enterprise. It deserves mentioning that Paltrow has a thoughts for enterprise too.
That distinction issues, and once more, she was absolutely the good selection.
We’ve seen too many manufacturers bounce at viral moments with out studying the room, inserting themselves into conversations they don’t belong in, solely to get hit with “silence, model” replies. The very best transfer isn’t at all times participation. In truth, typically one of the best strategy is to not have interaction with this second in any respect. However leaping on a viral second that’s trending versus leaping a viral second centered round you might be two utterly various things.
Astronomer’s state of affairs was the latter. They had been already on the middle of the storm, all eyes on the model. As an alternative of doubling down on defensiveness or disappearing, they modified the vitality.
They acknowledged the meme, redirected the narrative, and reclaimed their second in tradition—all whereas dealing with it with a tone that was entertaining, product-centric, and most significantly, not private.
Whereas the stunt was executed by Most Effort, a store identified for giant swings and even greater celeb connections, a response like Astronomer’s solely works when advertising and marketing and firm management has the construction transfer shortly, act with judgment, and lead the response. It’s what it appears to be like like when an organization has the spine to belief that crew and the readability to know the distinction between a joke and a reputational danger.
As a result of when the web reveals up—whether or not by scandal, stunt, or stroke of luck—your response is the marketing campaign.
