Here's Where Social Media Really Hurts!

So Lane Hartwell just posted this on Twitter (sorry if it offends anyone!)

Um.ok.wtf. @ gap in SF. Just found a dried, bloody tampon in the pocket of some pants i was trying. Barf.

And that lead Sarah Lacy to reply:

@lanehartwell: wow. wow. wow. wow. wow. never going to the gap again.

Which is the post that I read and I just had to go find out what it was all about. I figured it had to be something pretty strong for Sarah to say she would never go back to the Gap again and, well, it was pretty strong!

And while I think advertisers will certainly screw up social media (see Experience Manifesto: Why Advertising Will Destroy Social Media for my take on that issue), I think that brands do need to take very seriously what happens when someone has an experience like this and then starts broadcasting it to the world. And in this case, it looks like Lane actually sent this out from her cell phone, so it was really an on-the-spot message.

And that's the good & bad of what's possible today. It's the immediacy of the communication. So, when I'm having a very positive experience somewhere, whether it's with a brand or not, I can tell everyone right away. It's exciting and real time. But, when I have a bad experience, it's all raw & emotional. I'm not filtering it through my thought process like I do when I'm writing an article. I just say it, like Lane did.

Now, crappy stuff like this happens to companies all the time. I was a park employee at Disney World and I can share horror stories with you! And, the brand is not always directly to blame. I mean, clearly, someone else created the situation that Lane encountered at the Gap. It wasn't a corporate-made nightmare. But, the question is, how quickly is Gap prepared to respond to this story before it really gains traction. Will they reach out to Lane and somehow make her feel better? Are they monitoring the twitter/blog conversations so that they will even know this happened? Mistakes will always happen. Today, how you respond to them is the important issue.

So, I'll let you know if I hear any more about this story.

Link: Twitter / lane hartwell: Um.ok.wtf. @ gap in SF. Jus....

Comments

[Christina Warren]

The Gap has been notorious for gross fitting rooms for years (how they are set-up on a chain level makes it much easier for people to engage in sexual activities than say, Abercrombie, which has its fitting rooms in the center of the store and surrounded by a waiting lounge of sorts), so while I think the basic argument/idea brought up by this post is relevant/interesting -- I don't think it will actually have any effect on the brand or the company as a whole -- nor do I expect it to grab much traction. I only say this, because really, who hasn't heard a couple having sex at the Gap?

As for someone commenting on Twitter that they will never visit a store again because of a story, well, if that's truly for real, that's pretty serious -- but again, that could just be hyperbole in the moment. The same way someone would say the same thing if a person told them that story in person -- even though in truth they might still head to the Gap if they need to get some chinos on sale or something. Personally, I haven't bought any actual clothing for myself at the Gap in at least 10 years (and I'm 25), save a little boys dress shirt that I got for a Halloween costume 5 years ago -- their stuff is just too large for my body, but unless it was a Gap that was near my house, I don't think that hearing Lane's story, no matter how disgusting (and truly, that is heinous) would have any effect whatsoever on whether or not I would shop at the Gap in the future. If it happened to me, sure, that's an easy way for a chain to almost certainly lose my business for life, but these type of incidents are really only effective in altering consumer opinions on a localized level. That's my take anyway.

Still - gross! The company at the very least should give Lane a $25 gift certificate (even if their clothing did fit me, I'm not a fan -- but they do tend to have cute messenger bags) and a full apology for not having the employees do a better job checking the clothes before putting them back on the rack. As gross as it was to find them in the fitting room, imagine actually BUYING something like that and discovering it upon taking it home? Or even worse, giving it as a gift? *shudder*