Goodbye Ugly “404″ Error Pages: Hello Fail Whale!
Have you ever come across a generic text-only “404″ Error page (sometimes even with typos, my favorite!)? They “feel” negative, don’t they? They stop you, and then leave you helpless in the middle of a process. Too bad, right? Wrong. Many companies started to improve this experience after Twitter introduced its “Fail Whale.”

The Fail Whale is an image of a smiling whale that is often accompanied by a text message about the service problem, which was either “over capacity” or “down.” This was a brilliant branded experience because it delivered a light, fun experience at a time customers were expected to feel frustration – and it worked beautifully. Twitter users even embraced it, creating the popular hashtag #FailWhale. No company Error page has since achieved such global notoriety.

The Fail Whale has gone on to become a pop culture icon across the social media world. Why? Because it successfully communicated a problem in a uniquely friendly way during a very negative customer experience. It’s difficult to feel angry at Twitter while looking at their smiling whale. (There’s even a site that shares its history and examples of past Fail Whale images.)

Which Brings Us To Today…
This morning I came across a distinctive Error page that does a great job of communicating the company’s brand. The Best Friend’s Animal Society is a nonprofit organization that promotes pet adoptions and the prevention of shelter pet killings. I clicked a related link from their standalone coalition Web site (No-Kill LA) to their main site  and got this:

Would you feel upset about the missing content after seeing this Error page? I didn’t. It’s visually smart, captures the brand, and apologizes in a friendly way.

Next Steps: Review Your Site’s Error Pages
Error pages used to be the sole domain of developers, but marketers have successfully pulled these pages into a site’s branding and content strategy over the years. And developers now understand why.

With the help of a development team member, identify and review all current default Error pages that have been set up for the site. Then grab your graphic designer and create a visually positive brand experience that is contextual to the issue (when possible) and make the changes. There are a variety of Error pages that address different broken processes.

For a small amount of upfront effort you can more effectively manage a negative customer brand experience. It’s easy to do and just plain smart.

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The obvious answer for any marketer or PR professional is YES. But marketers rarely wield influence on the customer service side. Here’s an example of why they should be included, especially when high profile users are involved.

The Celebrity: Jaime Murray, TV Actress 
Jaime Murray (IMDB) is a popular British actress who has starred in many American TV shows such as Dexter, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Ringer, and Warehouse 13 (among others). She currently stars in the Syfy channel’s new blockbuster sci-fi show, Defiance, which was released globally three weeks ago with a multimillion dollar publicity push.

Ms. Murray’s Pinterest Profile

Ms. Murray is active across a variety of social communities and clearly enjoys sharing and engaging with her fans. She creates a high-energy, fun experience for them and actively responds to many with answers and retweets. A few days ago she tweeted to her 47,000 fans a Pinterest customer notice she received.

The Issue: “Possible” Nudity
Ms. Murray received what appears to be a generic email from Pinterest that informed her that a third-party image she pinned to one of her Pin Boards “may have had nudity on it” and was therefore removed.

Her response? A witty tweet to @Pinterest, accompanied by an image of the email notice she received:

“Really @pinterest? Whats a teenie weenie artistic nipple (or 2) between friends?pinterest.com/Msjaimemurray/ twitpic.com/cm43jj— Jaime Murray (@MsJaimeMurray) April 26, 2013“

A Pin Board Gone Too Wild?
Ms. Murray created a Pin Board called Alien Inspiration that features Pins of fashion images that capture the spirit of her character’s outfits on the TV show Defiance, where she portrays an alien that occasionally dresses in sexy sheer garb. An image in this Pin Board (which is very fashion-forward) was most likely reported by an “offended” Pinterest user, since I doubt Pinterest has enough staff to review all of their users’ Pins and doesn’t target celebrities for intentional misgressions.

According to Pinterest’s Acceptable Use Policy, users agree (among other things) not to post content that “is sexually explicit or contains nudity, partial nudity or pornography.”

A Positive Brand Experience – Always! 
Breaking bad news to customers is never easy.  It’s also unlikely that Ms. Murray Pinned a photo to intentionally break a Pinterest community policy.

Could Pinterest have handled this communication with a celebrity a bit better? Could public disclosure by the celebrity (even if done in a witty manner) potentially been avoided? Yes. Here’s a more tactful approach.

• Is the User a Public Figure? Assess if the Pinterest member account being complained about is a public figure, such as a celebrity, etc. (Tag the account in some way if it is so future issues can be addressed appropriately.) Also review the complaining party’s account to confirm that they are an active member and not in violation of any site-wide policies themselves. Follow any additional links to other social accounts provided on their respective Pinterest profiles, and search the Web for them if not provided. In this case, Ms. Murray offers links to her Certified Twitter account and her Facebook Fan page. Both are indicators of celebrity, high social activity, and many followers/fans.
• Could there be a PR Backlash? Request that a senior PR or marketing team member review the issue to assess the situation and potential PR risks. Should the image be removed or not? Is the complainer correct or over reaching? Who posted the image to what account? Could this situation be blown out of proportion either way by either party – publicly? Do we need to prepare media talking points, etc. now, in case it does escalate? Run scenarios. Be ready either way.
• Should You Personalize the Communication? Absolutely. No form letters, please! Send a personalized communication from a senior customer service staff member that clearly states the company’s concerns, briefly quotes the site’s policy, apologizes for any inconvenience, thanks Ms. Murray for participating in the Pinterest community, maybe compliments her on one of her Pin Boards, and gives her the option to remove the problem image herself or offer to remove it for her convenience. Maybe this warmer style of communication would have left her feeling less likely to tweet about it, and given her a positive brand interaction, despite the unfortunate purpose of the communication.

Summary
Remember to always reflect the spirit of your brand in ALL customer communications – especially the more delicate ones that can go public with a simple tweet or Facebook post.  Tag “VIP” accounts in your CRM, and put an internal process in place to communicate with high profile public figures about potential policy violations to refer to when necessary for communications consistency.

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Using short video is a smart way to emotionally connect product with consumers for an impulse action, whether it’s a purchase or a social share. Personally, I started craving a PB&J sandwich after watching it. Did you?

Know of other great Vine examples? Share links to them in the Comments section below!

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Speed Improves Relevancy & One-To-One Relationships
When I worked on two Congressional races in the 1990′s, we were still doing door-to-door visits, visibilities at busy street corners, candidate greetings at Long Island Railroad train stations in our district, in-person community events, media interviews and direct mail – exclusively. One-to-one communications with consistent speed for timeliness was lacking. For example, when our opponent stated something factually incorrect about our candidate, we had to turn to direct mail for a broad response to set the record straight. By the time it went out, other issues were front and center. And it was expensive.

As a  grassroots advocate for a national arts organization in DC – faxes, phone banks, and direct mail were the primary tools we used to activate our network to quickly generate phone calls and letters to Congress on pending legislation we cared about. Talk about slow!

Participation Stats
Here’s an insightful infographic created by the Pew Internet & American Life research organization that reflects the dramatic changes social media has made in American politics.

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