We’ve been talking about Motrin’s issues with Mom’s who found their new ad condescending, patronizing and disrespectful. Our armchair quarterback response is that J&J should have engaged moms online about this approach beforehand rather than lobbing it over the fence the way they did. Several of us felt Motrin can get past this if they keep the moms engaged while they now have their attention. The worst thing they could do is to retreat and pretend like it never happened.
This also acts as a word of warning to brands.Brands may think they don’t need a social media strategy but they may be dragged into it kicking and screaming like J&J.Also, the old rules of PR and crisis management may not hold up too well online.Other conclusions or learnings?
McDonalds Corp at American Dietetic Association Show
At the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, McDonalds Corporation had a booth. At the booth was a wheel that attendees could spin. On the wheel were a number of McDonalds menu items. Based on the menu item you landed on, you would guess what the calories were. It is one of those type of tradeshow “games” to get attendees to your booth …
However, what the real point of this post is this: McDonalds is a huge corporation with thousands of restaurants in over 100 countries worldwide. They do millions of dollars in sales every quarter. Their market cap is $64B — that is nine zeros! Worldwide, they have over 390,000 employees. It isn’t a company; it is a global powerhouse. A machine.
Despite its sheer size and worldwide dominance, McDonalds Corporation is concerned with talking directly to food and nutrition professionals. I think it illustrates what is happening with healthy living through food and nutrition. A corporation the size of McDonalds wants to establish a presence with food and nutrition professionals. These professionals work directly with patients to help establish eating and nutritional habits for people. It is admirable.
In my years working in marketing in the health care arena, I’ve heard it is restaurants like McDonalds’s fault the majority of Americans are obese. About two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and almost one-third are obese, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) … we are talking 200,000,000 Americans.
Fast food restaurants like McDonalds are getting into the game. They want to be part of the solution and not be exclusively labeled as part of the problem. McDonalds still has a way to go, but they should be applauded.
I am part of the American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo here in Chicago. I am representing Truvia at the Cargill booth. Truvia is an all-natural sweetner made with from the stevia leaf. It is a zero calorie sweetner. It is much sweeter than Sweet ‘N Low and Equal.
The response has been amazing. What is interesting about the show is the large amount of enthusiasm for Truvia. To me, it is a statement to people wanting to live more healthy lives and not sacrificing taste and what they enjoy eating. Thoughts?
Bolinite Marty Moore will be reporting from this ADA conf this week. Look him up if you are attending to see how digial marketing is being leveraged in this space. http://tinyurl.com/58sde9
