Chinese Internet Takes on Mengniu
- Sina Corp.
- A screengrab from Sina Corp.’s Weibo micrblog service showing an illustration of a Snow White-like character apparently poisoned with Mengniu milk. “Mengniu: The stepmother’s new choice,” the caption says.
The phrase is making its way around China’s Internet, as consumers flock to Sina Corp.’s Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging service, to criticize China Mengniu Dairy Co. following recent findings by government inspectors that a batch of its milk contained carcinogens.
Despite apologizing to consumers and stating that it destroyed contaminated products before they got to market, Mengniu is facing a significant public relations crisis. The speed and vehemence of the criticism offers a reminder of the power of Sina Weibo and similar online social-networking services over brands in a country with few approved venues for mass public expression.
Investors have also punished the company. Shares of Mengniu’s stock, listed in Hong Kong, were down nearly 24% to 20.10 Hong Kong dollars (US$2.58) in Wednesday trading. The findings were released over the weekend, but Hong Kong’s market was closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.
A spokesman for the company didn’t respond to phone calls on Wednesday.
The brand has become the hottest trending topic on Weibo, according to the service’s measuring system, with nearly five million posts complaining about the quality of its products.
One Weibo user in Henan province, referring to China’s population, said: “Mengniu, you’ve taken 1.3 billion lives for granted, have treated 1.3 billion people as your lab rats.”
One illustration frequently posted shows a cartoon of fairy tale legend Snow White poisoned with a Mengniu beverage in hand. A caption below stated, “Mengniu, the stepmother’s new choice.”
Mengniu has overcome public crises in the past, rebuilding trust with consumers in the wake of a 2008 milk scandal in which its brand was one of 22 whose baby formula was found to have contained melamine and caused the deaths of six infants and illnesses in 300,000 others.
But this time is different thanks to the evolution of social media, which makes it far easier for consumers to voice their opinions of a company and quicker to influence others’ opinions of the brands.
Social media sites like Weibo have increased the urgency for companies to respond quickly to consumer complaints, said Debby Cheung, group managing director at Ogilvy Public Relations in China. “The golden rule of crisis management is to react and respond as quickly as possible,” Ms. Cheung said.
Mengniu has weighed in on the social-media scene. The company has its own Weibo account and has been circulating apologies to consumers, noting that it is consistently “learning from lessons.”
In addition to broad complaints, many on the Web are launching a boycott against the Inner Mongolia-based company. More than 50,000 Weibo users have sent around a message stating that they vow not to buy Mengniu products, newspapers containing the company’s advertising, or watch television shows that are supported by Mengniu. “Don’t tell people they are brain damaged, just tell them they grew up drinking Mengniu,” the message says.
COPIADO : online.wsj.com
–Laurie Burkitt. Follower her on Twitter @lburkitt.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário