On September 12, 2011, Australia-based Cochlear Limited recalled one of its highest selling hearing implants. Over 24 hours, the company’s social media mentions spiked to almost 150 tweets, forum posts and Facebook updates, many tinged with negative sentiment. With little response from Cochlear, the pattern continued throughout the month with close to 300 specific company mentions across the web, primarily expressing dissatisfaction.
Datacom, one of the largest Australasian-owned professional IT services companies, uses social media in a number of ways during a recall, including tracking customer sentiment and finding customers who own the defective product. That service provides organisations with multi-channel support and resources to deal with the urgency and sensitivity of a recall, while maintaining business – and reputation – as usual.
