Priceless! MasterCard's social PR nightmare
- Summary:
- An attempt to get journalists to guarantee using hashtags for its clients has seemingly rebounded on MasterCard's PR firm. Priceless!
Tonight in the UK is the annual Brit Awards - a sort of cut-price version of the Grammys for readers across the Pond. It’s a major event on the UK music calendar. It comes with guaranteed media attention and usually some form of notoriety.
This can stem from inept presenters, politicians making fools of themselves by trying to borrow street cred by presenting awards to people they’ve never listened to or just pop stars who are super-charged on food, booze or similar stimulants...ahem.
It’s also a major sponsorship opportunity with big brands falling over themselves to get their logos up there in full view.
One sponsor this year is MasterCard - whose advertising campaigns end with the word ‘priceless’ at the end of a long list of items.
It comes as no surprise then that as part of its Brits investment there's a social marketing campaign based around #PricelessSurprise.
So far, so social savvy.
But the real surprise came when it emerged that MasterCard’s PR firm, House PR, sent an email to journalists wanting to attend the Brits which apparently asks for guarantees about their coverage of the event and the promotion of the campaign hashtag.
To be even more helpful, the PRs have thoughtfully drafted some Twitter messages that they think it would be great if the assembled hacks sent out while quaffing their champagne.
The ‘suggestions’ came to light when Tim Walker, a journalist on the Daily Telegraph’s Mandrake column, went public with the email :
Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. As you know we’ve been in touch re. accreditation for the BRIT’s but just wanted to check in with you directly to confirm that you are happy with the below.
Firstly as part of our Priceless Surprise we are putting on cars to take guests directly to the awards – we will be booking your car to take both yourself and Katy from the office at 4:30pm. Are you happy with these details?
In addition – in return for this ticket we would like to ask that you agree to the following…
Social media support from both publication and personal Twitter feed
Pre event – e.g. Really excited to be heading down to @BRITAwards tonight with @MasterCardUK #PricelessSurprises
Event night – live tweeting from the event including @MasterCardUK handle and #PricelessSurprises and to retweet @MasterCardUK tweets throughout the night where appropriate
Post event – tweet directing followers to @MasterCardUK BRITs YouTube videos
Pre-event coverage of MasterCard’s Priceless Surprise video edits with either Laura Mvula, Kylie Minogue and/or Pharrell Williams – to include full credit for MasterCardUK and #PriclessSurprises
All features to be pushed on publications social feeds – to include @MasterCardUK and #PricelessSurprises
MasterCard inclusion in post event write-up (print and online) including #PriclessSurprises hashtag and somethingforthefans.co.uk URL
Post event write up presence on publication homepage (where possible)
Inclusion of MasterCard branded event night images in post event piece
Post event - coverage support for MasterCard music activity in 2014 (Beyonce & JT)
The publication of the email has caused a massive stir across the media in the UK with Twitter suddenly filled with a combination of righteous indignation and humorous spoofs such as:
So a disaster, yes?
Well, maybe. Maybe not.
The hashtag’s certainly getting a lot of use - even if not as might be hoped.
And whatever else is true, everyone now knows that MasterCard is sponsoring the Brits!
Verdict
Cock up or carefully calculated campaign?
As ever, I lean towards inept over intent when it comes to these situations, but the whole thing’s going to be pored over for days.
In a statement this afternoon, Ginny Paton, MD at House PR, defended her agency’s actions:
“The role of the PR agency is to pursue all coverage opportunities on behalf of its clients. This includes providing accurate brand references from the outset, for use across all platforms.
“It is a two-way conversation between the journalist and the PR in order to reach a mutually beneficial outcome."
There might be another two-way conversation to be had soon, between MasterCard and its agency if the credit card firm's mid-afternoon response to the growing crisis is anything to go by:
"We have become aware of this situation and have been clear with our agency and attending media. Attendance at the Brits is not, nor has it ever been, a condition of coverage or endorsement. To imply such is highly inappropriate."
The Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) issued its own statement saying:
“Our Professional Charter states that all members have a positive duty to observe the highest standards in the practice of public relations. We also state that a member should not engage in any practice nor be seen to conduct themselves in any manner detrimental to the reputation of the Association or the reputation and interests of the public relations profession. Furthermore, a member has responsibility at all times to deal fairly and honestly with the media.”
Attempting to influence journalists Twitter activities - contentious.
Attempting to defend those actions - difficult to swallow.
Learning how double-edged swords work in the social environment - priceless!
PS: this is totally unconnected with today's events, but should any media management types out there be interested in a new job, there's one going at MasterCard: