Digital marketing, as much as it is fun and requires a lot of creativity, can be disastrous if teams running campaigns and social media pages make a blunder or two. Previously, we have seen social media admins, especially those managing high-profile accounts such as those of mobile phone companies, send the wrong message to people – but the message is not in the content being conveyed but the devices used to send messages. See, a platform such as Twitter is markedly popular for brands, and with some Twitter clients, users can see what device is being used to send a Twitter message (the official Twitter app for Android and iOS has since activated the feature too).
Of course, good marketing involves actually using your wares, which is why, as some of you have noted, companies are rebuked for using competing services/products. This has been the case for the better part of 2018 when some phone Android phone companies were caught using iPhones to send tweets. In fact, some social media influencers have also been doing the same thing: take a couple of pictures, or laud an Android device using an iPhone. Most of these mishaps have been brought to the book by YouTube personality MKHD, who, thanks to his massive following, makes it a big deal. His latest reveal saw Chinese phone manufacturer send a Happy New Year message from – you guessed it, an iPhone (the tweet has since been deleted).
It is obvious that such blunders are accompanied by some bad press that Huawei does not need now. As such, the company’s punishment to the folks who did so is in form of a demotion and salary deduction. It has been reported that the two workers who were involved in handling the company’s social media presence will see a $730 (near KES 75,000) salary cut from their monthly compensation and a single-level demotion. Although they get to keep to their jobs, that deduction is substantial, which should make them more cautious next time.
