Buzzword Bingo by Christopher Saunders (bio )

Deconstructing PR techspeak

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Is she, or isn't she?

By Christopher Saunders on August 5, 2008 4:43 PM

Janet, I mean.

I'm talking about the online persona widely thought to be, perhaps be, have been, or have never been a representative or employee of Exxon Mobil.

Last week, those following events in the Twittersphere (is "-sphere" the only suffix we can think of for these little environments?) were following what appeared to be another story of the Web 2.0 coming out of a blue chip, Old Business dinosaur. In this case, Exxon Mobil, which was taking to Twitter in the form of "Janet at ExxonMobil," from Irving, Texas.

"This is something very new for us and we're trying to make for a pleasant experience," Janet wrote in response to a fellow Twitter user's welcome.

It sounded like a great story: Big, scary energy company lightens up, engages customers, critics and the world at the same time using a breakout Web 2.0 technology.

Er -- not so fast. Janet's not actually with Exxon. Or at least, isn't an official representative of the company. In fact, Exxon Mobil's own PR people weren't aware of her until the Houston Chronicle (or other bloggers -- it's unclear) contacted them to ask about her.

As Forrester's Jeremiah Owyang put it:

Exxon has been "brand jacked" ... they were caught off guard because they were not monitoring and responding to their own online brand. [Owyang also has a list of other businesses that have been similarly "brandjacked" here]

What might seem to be the oddest bit of the tale is that even though Janet has been officially disavowed by the corporate communications folks, she certainly seems to be saying the sorts of things that Exxon ought to be saying -- if it was Twittering.

"Did you Know? We supported local NGOs in Angola and Indonesia to develop their capacity to effectively partner with multinational companies"

"I belive [sic] we are the first major energy company here, ExxonMobile [sic] is trying to lead the way in Corporate Citizenship. "

"we used revenues as reinvestment into R&D. In 2007 we invested $21bil in refining capacity to reduce the future cost of petroleum."

While Exxon's apparent adoption of Twitter for corporate communications purposes was heralded by bloggers, Twitter users and online media, the apparent dangers inherent in its "brandjacking" have become the bigger story.

Instead of using the Janet example to further illustrate how Corporate America needs to understand -- if not co-opt -- social media and online advocates, it seems pretty clear how this story will play out, with mainstream observers once more asking the same questions:

How could Exxon Mobil have avoided this? Why isn't Exxon Mobil doing something about it? (They're not sure yet about what to do, according to the Chronicle.) Are other companies "at risk"? What's with those people on the Internet, anyway???

Not everyone is so reactionary when it comes to social media, of course. I'd be remiss in not mentioning comcastcares, the cable giant's Twitter presence manned by its likeable, seemingly indefatigable (but almost certainly ably-assisted) rep Frank Eliason. So far, Comcast is getting some good reviews for its work.

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