Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

In the current, welcome trend towards "conversational" marketing on the web, we often struggle to find the right amount of transparency. While many clients worry that embarrassing content will surface when they relinquish a bit of control, it's important to remind ourselves of the problems that can unearth themselves when we try to hide too much. 

In the post-Soviet world, few facades are more carefully constructed than those around "reality" television; and unplanned exposure of the men behind the curtain can seriously damage an otherwise successful franchise.  Such was the case earlier this summer with the exposure of planned, staged, and otherwise "faked" events on the BBC/Discovery series Man vs. Wild. 

Shortly after this controversy surfaced, I was watching an episode of the very similar (and, by all current accounts, more "real") Discovery series Survivorman.  Being a bit of a dog fanatic, I was slightly alarmed when the show’s star, Les Stroud, “released” a team of sled dogs to simulate an actual loss – only to be airlifted out of his location due to poor ice conditions with no further mention of the dogs’ fate.  A quick trip to the show’s message board showed me that I wasn’t alone in my concern.  In fact, the fate of the sled dogs was the most active topic on the board. 

Eventually, someone posted a response they had received from Discovery stating that the release was planned, and that the dogs were safe.  No one from the Discovery channel or the shows production company addressed the issue directly on the forums, or any of the shows various blogs and official sites.  While this might take away a bit of the shows aura of authenticity (though it was clear that the dogs’ release was done as a demonstration), it would have allayed some potentially negative feelings.  In both cases, a little more transparency would have gone a long way.

Christian Dodd