SPARK ROCKET MARKETING, LLC
ORLANDO, FLORIDA

At Spark Rocket Marketing, we get calls every day from B2B companies saying “we need a social media plan” and “how much advertising should we do on Facebook? social media presence, Facebook may not be germane to that. Unless you are a business-to-consumer company, the chances of converting a Facebook presence to sales via their advertising channels or even a page with thousands of likes and followers is marginal. where is the elder stateswoman of the company — Sheryl Sandberg And it makes no sense for a company as mature as Facebook to not have a crisis management plan. Can it be possible that no one anticipated this fallout? They knew they were selling aggregate data about their users. Add to that the past two years of kerfuffle surrounding foreign entities using the front-end of Facebook to skew its content and kidnap the way its algorithm shared high volumes of hoax-filled-content? Well, they had to know the chances were pretty high that a company would inappropriately use the back-end data they were selling. Include your legal team, but don’t let them run the crisis. You have to make a choice as CEO, CTO or other executive of your company when to accept culpability or provide some measure of remediation before the words “lawsuit” are bandied about by the public. Quite frankly, the best crisis management plans typically leave both the legal teams Don’t non-apologize. Ever. Any apology that says “We are sorry if people felt…” or “We regret that people took our intentions the wrong way…” are non-apologies. Don’t do it. Don’t let a lawyer make you do it. If you are barred from accepting culpability until you know more, then say something to the effect of: “We are genuinely disturbed by this problem and are working to get to the root of what happened, how it happened and how to prevent it happening again.” But no non-apologies! Have a strong single spokesperson as the face of your company and then make sure that every single person with any access to the media is on-message. That means being very clear with your employees how you plan to manage the crisis and have their input and buy-in. practices, that data can be helpful to your users. Don’t deflect blame. Accept that this was a corporate practice and educate the market on why you do it. (We’re looking at you, Facebook). If you end up making a policy change as a result of the crisis, be prepared to say “Yes, we did that. We’re not going to do it any more because we have heard you, our customers, and are making a change to satisfy your needs.” Hire an objective firm to guide you and your spokespeople during this crisis. You’re not objective, you’re passionately protective of your brand, your products, your people. They won’t be too close to the problem. No F*cks Left Fridays are the “in your face” marketing posts where we take a surprising stand, throw “traditional marketing” ideas under the bus and vent about all things stupid in the practice of marketing (probably before we all head out for martinis — come join us!). We decided that if we are going to claim to be audacious in what we do for our clients, we have to be audacious ourselves. Or course, you may not agree with us — so we encourage respectful comments. Chime in! Missions Want stratospheric returns on your high-tech company’s marketing efforts? Call us to discuss your high-tech marketing company’s needs: Spark Rocket Marketing offers marketing communications services to technology companies — especially high-tech companies going from lab to commercial availability. Think sensors, nanotechnology, manufacturing, RFID/wireless, cleantech and more. If it starts in a lab, our superpower is translating complex technologies to understandable marketing messaging and tactics. We improve our clients’ ROI by creating engagement opportunities and building desire for their products and services, while distinguishing those products or services in the marketplace. In a few words, describe your business and marketing needs