This week we learned: How brands can say sorry, Facebook commits to diversity and happy French Fry Day
Hello and welcome back to another ad news round-up! Looks like all three territorial capitals are going into yet another rainy weekend forecast, but hey, it's still a weekend forecast so we're keeping positive. More rain means more mosquitoes which means we just get to show off how tough we are to our southern pals.
As much as we would all like to think that we operate with nothing but the most flawless and controversy-free executions, we also know that sometimes brands miss their mark. What to do if you find yourself in just such a situation? Don't do anything cutesy or beat around the bush, you need to make a real apology. Don't worry so much about making it slick, just get something up on your social media channels asap. "Social allows for a rawer, less polished communication." Put a camera in front of your CEO so the audience knows the message comes right from the top.
Facebook's learned a thing or two about apologies and have learned to take feedback to heart. Take their recent and very transparent Diversity Report. We all saw the Social Network, right? Remember how that whole very prestigious and award-winning film featured like two women? They know and they're working on it. And in the last five years have added 5x the amount of women with 7x as many women in technical roles. Women now make up 36% of Facebook employees, so we're getting there. Black employees have doubled in the last five years... which means they now make up 4% of all Facebook staff, while Hispanic employees are at 5%. So they've got a ways to go. But Facebook is learning. "It’s not enough to simply show up at colleges and universities. We need to create practical training opportunities for these students to build on their academic experience." Does your workplace reflect the diversity of your community? What steps do you take to remedy that if it's not the case?
As any community manager knows, pick a day in the calendar and you'll find a silly holiday. Today, July 13, happens to be National French Fry Day, a cause near and dear to our snack-loving hearts. In honour of this arbitrary designation, let's take a look at this Ore-Ida ad that celebrates the time-honoured parenting technique of bribery:
It'd work for us too, tbh. How are you marking National French Fry Day? Let us know (& share your fries). You can reach us Twitter @outcropcom or Facebook Outcrop Communications.