Comments on: Nestle Answers: How Nestle uses social media

By: Kirstin@SquintMom

Kirstin@SquintMom — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:29:08 +0000

Fascinating post! Also wanted to introduce myself; I’m a relatively new blogger and also a relatively new reader of your blog. I’ve enjoyed the few of your posts I’ve read thus far tremendously!

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:37:50 +0000

Hi Tania,

Please go ahead. Provide a link back here when you do and let me know when the post is up. Thank you for helping to spread the word!

Annie

By: Tania

Tania — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:19:15 +0000

Hi there, can I translate this post to use on my blog?

By: Nestle online charm offensive = lipstick on a pig | PhD in Parenting

Nestle online charm offensive = lipstick on a pig | PhD in Parenting — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:51:47 +0000

[...] is one of the key points I was trying to make in my post on Nestle’s use of social media. Open participation in social media does not work well for companies with systemic unethical [...]

By: phdinparenting

phdinparenting — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:28:43 +0000

I’m feeling a bit silly now. I just went in to work on a new post and realized I had an earlier draft of this post where I had been saving some URLs of posts, tweets and articles to use when I wrote this post. I completely forgot about them, but am adding them here for those that want to read more. Many apologies to those who provided feedback that I didn’t include in the post because of my absentmindedness and exhaustion.

http://www.rachelsramblings.com/2009/10/clean-your-house-before-you-invite.html
http://twitter.com/that_danielle/statuses/5837308745
http://twitter.com/sswayze/statuses/5864249269
http://twitter.com/sswayze/statuses/5864369535
http://richiezemlak.blogspot.com/2009/09/nestle-social-media-nestea-plunge-in.html
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/18/twitter-europe-blog-tech-ebiz-cx_mb_0119twitter.html

Please go read them!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:30:40 +0000

The one issue with apologizing is that knowledge of their mistakes is not widely known. Therefore, they would be creating bad press for themselves. That isn’t likely.

They would only apologize if their leadership acknowledged that it was the “right thing to do” and Nestle was committed to a new way of doing business. It would hurt corporate profits (temporarily–the innovation required to do business ethically would result in eventual profits–that’s my theory).

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:25:59 +0000

Saw this and thought of you. Social media can be a challenge for corporations like Nestle. But as one commenter said: “Absence from the social sphere is not a good defense against people attacking your brand online. That would be like thinking people won’t talk about your brand because your not there, its insane.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/anti-social-media/article1379594/

By: Carol @ Lactivist Leanings

Carol @ Lactivist Leanings — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:05:58 +0000

I wanted to thank you for this whole series Annie. You have done an excellent job of laying the issues out and not just accepting what Nestle chooses to say. By pushing back you are helping to propel the conversation forward for a lot of people (even if the conversation with Nestle is less than what we’d hope for). You rock!

By: Follow-up questions for Nestle | PhD in Parenting

Follow-up questions for Nestle | PhD in Parenting — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:55:48 +0000

[...] 17. Moving forward, what steps do you plan to take to use social media and engagement with bloggers to get input into corporate policies and practices? Or are you looking to social media simply as a cost effective marketing tool? ANSWER HERE [...]

By: coffeewithjulie

coffeewithjulie — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:55:09 +0000

What jumped out for me from this post is the notion of apology. When a powerful entity has done unspeakable wrongs against a whole group of people, the only way forward, it seems to me, is an apology.

When I was living in Australia, the government made a formal apology to the country’s Aboriginal peoples. It was a big step forward because in the past, no government wanted to be the one admitting accountability for past governments’ doings. Countless Aboriginal Australians cited the apology as a critical moment in history. A critical moment where past wrongs could be accepted as fact and put in the past, and where both parties could make progress for the future.

Until there is an apology by Nestle (and maybe there has been, but I don’t know enough about this issue) for its actions re highly unethical promotion of formula in developing countries, it just doesn’t seem possible to be able to move forward. For instance, I am a formula consumer and when I look at the choices on the grocery shelf, Nestle and President’s Choice are the only brands that do not have baby imagery on their containers. So, Nestle is doing better … but how can I reconcile a lack of image on a can against what has happened in developing countries?

You just can’t. Without an apology there is no way forward. I’m with Christine of Boston Mamas though, in that I am still hopeful.