Consumers have always had alot of power. The problem was they didn't always know how to flex their muscle.
Of course, that was before the advent of social media and websites like Facebook and Twitter. Now the paradigm has shifted.
ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Consumers have always had alot of power. The problem was they didn't always know how to flex their muscle.
Of course, that was before the advent of social media and websites like Facebook and Twitter. Now the paradigm has shifted.
Today, the keyboard is where the action is.
Consumers have learned to both praise and weaponize those hashtags that companies and candidates like to use.
It is instant feedback that even mega-companies cannot ignore.
"A Fortune 500 company or a local grocer can leverage that social media platform and communicate with consumers," said Thomas Harpointner, CEO of AIS Media. "Of course, they all want good things; they all want positive things. Sometimes there's a negative backlash. It also gives them the opportunity to respond."
And that's exactly what many of them are doing.
From Netflix, which apologized for raising prices, to the banks that cancelled plans to raise fees. More recently, officials with Susan G. Komen did an about face after their decision to withdraw funds to Planned Parenthood.
And now the President has compromised his plan on contraception coverage and religious groups.
"What truly shapes a politician or a brand or any company isn't avoiding negativity," added Harpointner. "It's how they respond to it."
By the way, you can always join the conversation on my Facebook page. Just click here.