Confusion Over Marketers' Haiti Relief Donations Goes Viral  

Twitter has shown that it is a great tool for spreading messages quickly and effectively. But it can also spread rumors faster than marketers can stop them.

As companies lined up to offer their support to Haitian relief, Twitter was inundated with tweets from organizations, each offering different donation promises or ways for consumers to get involved. However, the messages that originated from companies were not always the ones that was communicated.

American airlines announced that it would award frequent-flier miles to customers who donated $50 or more to the Red Cross. However, it soon found out from consumers that apparently it was offering free flights for nurses and doctors who wanted to travel to Haiti to help with relief efforts. UPS encountered similar confusion when consumers spread that it was going to be offering free shipping for packages going toward relief effort. Both companies had to make statements clarifying their contribution promises.

What happened to American Airlines and UPS was a world wide, lightening fast game of telephone. So while social media can be a great tool for companies, it has to be used with caution. The rate with which information spreads, true or false, good or bad, means that marketers need to be actively listening to these conversations so that they can quickly set the record straight in such situations.

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