McKinsey Quarterly pegs “hijacked” as the newest marketing media trend, joining traditional strategies paid, owned and earned. The form looks to present even seasoned beauty digital pioneers Lancôme and Clinique with the challenge of how to reclaim a campaign gone awry. Here, the latest on hijacked and some solutions on how to recognize and respond to it.

Hijacked is when your company’s asset or campaign is taken hostage by those who oppose it, such as when consumers, stakeholders or activists make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them.



How to Handle a Hijack


McKinsey says one consumer electronics company has recognized that every review or rating posted about its products creates the possibility of a hijacked conversation. It now responds to all comments within 24 hours. Positive feedback gets a thank you, an invitation to become a Facebook friend and special offers; negative reviews get explanations of how to fix issues, instructions on how to navigate an interface more easily, or follow-up questions to learn more about what the consumer didn’t like. Some hotel chains, recognizing the importance of travel sites (such as the popular TripAdvisor), likewise encourage satisfied guests to post comments online, while employing staff to follow and answer negative comments. These conversations become an interactive public research project to gather information for future improvements. In effect, the evolution of media types means that a company’s marketers are now on the front lines of its efforts to deliver outstanding goods and services.




To read a full report from McKinsey Quarterly’s, “Beyond Paid Media: Marketing’s New Vocabulary,” https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Strategy/Beyond_paid_media_Marketings_new_vocabulary_2697#2