JUNE 25, 2009

Zicam’s Use Of Social Media In Crisis

We’ve written a lot recently about crisis communications and social media, including setting out six key steps for how companies can use social media in a crisis setting. One of those key steps is to establish - and use - social media channels before a crisis hits. This has many benefits - an audience has already been established; dialogue with key influencers is ideally already underway; and, most important, precious minutes aren’t spent worrying about setting up accounts and establishing handles once the crisis hits.

On June 16, the FDA issued a warning that more than 130 people had reported losing their sense of smell after using Zicam cold remedy products (gel and gel swabs). Matrixx Initiatives, the manufacturer of those products, has withdrawn them from the market.

According to PR Week (registration required), Matrixx has been using pre-existing social media channels to communicate with consumers about the FDA’s report. Specifically, Matrixx has been communicating about “the importance of consumer safety, what steps consumers should take, the research behind the product, the company’s compliance with the FDA, and the fact that Matrixx is willing to share its data with the FDA.”

In addition to a video from Zicam CEO Bill Hemelt on its home page, Matrixx is using Facebook and Twitter to address the situation and reassure customers. Those channels were already in use before the crisis hit, and provided an excellent way for Matrixx to get its message out - quickly. Twitter in particular has provided an extremely effective way to respond individually to Twitter users who have expressed concerns about the product. While this kind of response is time-consuming, it can go a long way toward neutralizing criticism and allaying fears.