• by dave.b , Max Kalehoff , May 11, 2006

Greetings, OnlineSpin readers. You may know me from the MediaPost SearchInsider, but today marks my debut on OnlineSpin. [Editor's Note: Former Thursday Spinner Shelly Palmer has a new MediaPost gig. Look for him on Video Insider, debuting today--but, as of next week, running on Tuesdays.] With a passion for marketing, research, technology and social media, I hope to dish up some new angles for debate. Acknowledging I have strong opinions and definitely don't have all the answers, I look forward to both your praise and condemnation. Just keep it clean, please! And remember, my opinions are just that: opinions.

To kick things off, I'd like to address the self-inflicted blow of Warren Kremer Paino Advertising. I've been more captivated by this drama than my wife has been glued to gossip about Tom Cruise's increasingly strange behavior.

In case you haven't followed the story, this New York-based agency buckled amidst a blogger-turned-media frenzy and last Friday dismissed a lawsuit against super-megaphone blogger Lance Dutson for copyright infringement, defamation and trade libel. Dutson, an interactive marketer and Maine citizen, frequently and passionately criticized Warren Kremer Paino for its Maine tourism work. He described the agency as "some big company in New York with no ties to the state, pissing away tax money."

Whether as a result of naivete or arrogance, Warren Kremer Paino sparked the passions and defensive instincts of Dutson and his supporters, especially those of several dozen bloggers and members of the Media Bloggers Association, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members about blogging and citizen media. This caused a chain reaction that quickly entered the business and mainstream press, including feature reports in the Boston Globe, AdAge, the Associated Press and, of course, MediaPost, among others.

But I'm sure this story isn't over yet; the incident has left a massive trail of consumer-generated media, which are dominating the top shelves of the Internet's search indexes and will be highly visible to influential stakeholders for a long while, if not forever. This case will likely go down in history as marking a sea change in how advertising is done in the age of social media, including how agencies must now manage their own reputations.

So what really went wrong?

Whether the agency's lawsuit was legally justified probably doesn't matter. What does matter is that the firm is perceived to have sought to smother citizen criticism of government spending and ultimately free speech. Just as bad, it seems to have stampeded into a vibrant online community with poor etiquette and utmost disrespect for the venue.

What should Warren Kremer Paino do now? First, Thomas McCartin, the firm's president, should show some humility, if not admit defeat. Whether right or wrong, his agency is perceived by many to have done a horrendous job navigating a blogger and media storm, one which bystanders believe didn't have to happen in the first place. Regaining credibility will depend on acknowledging that things went wrong and a lesson was learned.

Second, Warren Kremer Paino should consider reaching out to some of its detractors for an off-the-record meeting, or even a truce. Why? To explore whether any frayed relationships with influential citizens (in Maine and across the blogosphere) can be repaired. It should use this opportunity to really understand why things went so wrong in the first place. For example, what ignited Dutson's passions and initial criticism, and what nonlitigious actions could've diffused or redirected them. This could be tricky, but what's to lose at this point?

Third, while Warren Kremer Paino's dilemma is a priceless lesson in itself, the agency should make major, visible investments in its social-media capabilities. I have no doubt that at least a few executives of the firm became overnight masters in many of the free blog search tools out there. But the agency should do more: it should identify and reach out to online stakeholders who are on its side, in order to correct factual inaccuracy and build a bank of understanding and good will for the future. It should start its own CEO blog, so it can join the conversation and better understand the venue which it so clearly misjudged in the first place.

Some say that Warren Kremer Paino will never escape the stigma of this storm. If that is true, it might as well hold its head high and position this event as a valuable lesson and turning point toward becoming a much better agency. If it wants to survive - in terms of both reputation and competitive capabilities--it will need to embrace social media loud and strong, defensively and offensively. Like all marketing agencies, it will need to integrate social media into its total mix of client strategies and tactics.

Finally, Warren Kremer Paino must reevaluate its legal counsel. Seth Godin recently wrote, "Actually, all your lawyers are in your marketing department. Most lawyers view their job as a defensive one. They use phrases like, 'keeping you out of trouble.' Unfortunately, when they interact with the public or with a partner or even a landlord, they are marketing your organization, whether they want to or not." I'm not so sure the management of Warren Kremer Paino realized this.

Conclusion: Ignore Social Media At Your Peril

I emphasize that this column is in no way intended to pick on Warren Kremer Paino-- NOT AT ALL. This could've happened to any one of hundreds of agencies struggling to keep up with consumer-generated media and its impact on stakeholder relationships and the greater marketing mix. The reality is, getting egged by bloggers is an inevitability for every company and person! We should examine this case and learn from it.

What do you think?