Victorian Taxi Association admits defeat and sacks PR agency responsible for #YourTaxis
The Victorian Taxi Association has admitted its widely panned #YourTaxis campaign was a mistake and fired the PR firm behind it citing an “inappropriate” tweet published on Remembrance Day.
Kicking off this week the #YourTaxi campaign was aimed at giving people a place to talk about their experiences in taxis, however the overwhelming majority of feedback was negative.
VTA CEO David Samuel has admitted the “concept and delivery” of the campaign was not right adding the association has made the decision to “part ways” with the agency responsible, understood to be Ellis Jones, despite initially standing by the campaign as a success.
So wait, the rest of the world thinks the campaign was an epic fail and should never have gotten off the ground, but in the eyes of Vic Taxis it was too effective, so you’re firing the agency?
And then PRing that fact. Wow.
I will be surprised if you get a comment from Ellis Jones. Many of these players in the social media space seem to follow the management consulting firms MO of going to ground when these things happen and not allowing clients to speak publicly. This makes it really hard for prospective clients to get an accurate picture of what value (or risk) they may add.
Launching a campaign requires approval from agency and client. The client would have been presented with a few approaches. They chose this one.
Shooting the messenger.
While I don’t think the campaign was a good idea it must be difficult explaining to the client that in Melbourne most people would rather catch an infectious disease than a cab.
Great service is in itself the best PR and if they actually fixed how they operate and made individual drivers accountable then they wouldn’t need such terrible PR stunts
They would have been better off posting a photo on themselves on reddit with the caption ROAST ME
Yes an epic fail because it tarnished the company’s image, but it’s an epic win for Melbourne commuters. If it wasn’t for this brilliant epic fail, the Victorian Taxi Association wouldn’t have been forced to lift their game and take immediate actions to address the concerns of the public.
So don’t go hating on Ellis Jones, he should be celebrated for actually being the reason change may happen!
I cannot stop laughing
Call this what it really is…a reality check of uber proportions.
this just keeps giving
Social media agencies need to stop the amateur hour.
Far too many completely inexperienced “digital natives” aping this silly concept of a “conversation”.
Social media = a buying space. Forget the rest.. Focus on the ad and your comms, leave the feedback from the public to the focus room.
These Twitter campaigns are a recipe for disaster (see #QantasLuxury), yet they still persist ….
If they really wanted to open the lines of communication with people, then the # should have been something along the lines of #wearelistening – but that’s just a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They would not have embarked on this campaign unless they thought that it would unearth support for the industry. I think it clearly shows how disconnected they are with the general community feeling around the brand. Personally, I haven’t had too many bad experiences in taxis, but I’m not about to come out swinging in their defence. Both VTA and Ellis Jones should have recognised that at best community sentiment about them was ambivalent. And social media is definitely the wrong platform to try to turn ‘meh’ into ‘love’.
Looking forward to the announcement of the resignation or firing of those responsible at the client too.
This is just so pleasing. Media issues management 101, pour gasoline all over it, drop a match and run.
Feel bad for them strategically looks like a big pitch that shrunk to a website and some social media posts, the whole taxi-facts page on web looks like it should have heaps more depth.
As has been said without fixing the obvious customer experience issues you’re just running the race with a sack over your head.
#showingmyage but #remindsme of #montypython #holygrail #skit where the #peopleresponsible for the #movie #credits were #sacked and #replaced with #people who were #sacked and #replaced….. #adnauseum
LOL Billy C. That’s not just confined to Melbourne btw.
If the taxi industry says it “knew of the problems”, why didn’t they positively address the problems, let that garner positive impact over the next six months and then run the campaign?
First they start a campaign which is a denial of the problems with their industry. Then they are in denial that the campaign is a failure. Then they finish off by blaming the people they hired to start the campaign and blaming them for the problem. What they should do is fix the taxi system.
This was the best Uber marketing campaign ever
What numpties at the client and the agency ever thought that people would not tweet negative things? Why on earth does basic common sense get thrown out the window the second the client hears the magic words “Twitter”, “social media” and “viral”?
At the moment the taxi industry is a pig that no amount of digital lipstick can pretty up, and they need to stop looking for a quick fix.
So much negativity must have caught a viral virus from repeating the complaining about taxis.
Ignore, deny, blame. From the drivers to the boardroom, the behavior is the same.
Its just too funny.
Just wondering if this Ellis Jones mob is a PR agency, digital agency or marketing agency. Sounds like they are a jack of all trades and a master of none.
@totallynotwillcolvin Then they should have walked away. The only way any consultant can retain any credibility is if they’re willing to resign if their ideas/plans/content etc is not adopted and executed correctly. They lose a million $ in fees, but they get to keep their reputation, which is worth a lot more.
#wldnmlbn
VTA CEO David Samuel: “We take full responsibility for the campaign…. As a result we have made the decision to part ways with our agency”.
Gold. Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
Careful what you wish for! Wanted feedback… got feedback. Agency delivered.