Abercrombie & Fitch Does It Again – Another Marketing Disaster

It seems that Abercrombie & Fitch just cannot get it right.

After its previous marketing disaster, the company went on to alienate even more potential:0">potential

) customers.

The company launched a T-shirt with the following text printed on it:

#more boyfriends than t.s.

It tried to poke  fun at singer Taylor Swift’s love life,

As any marketing professional could have told the company, it alienated the singer’s loyal fan base. It did not take long for fans (known as “Swifties”) to take action.

Ms. Emma Worley from Pennsylvania posted an online petition asking Taylor Swift fans around the world to rally against the T-shirt. She got about 130 signatures supporting her petition to have the shirt pulled from stores. Although this does not seem to be an impressive number, it was enough to force Abercrombie & Fitch to react, announcing on Twitter that it would pull the T-shirt from its stores.

Apart from Ms. Worley, fellow Swifty Ms. Chelsea Nicole took to You Tube to express her discontent.She calls Abercrombie's PR department to voice her complaint. She also appeals to fellow swifties to do the same.

Singer Taylor Swift herself hasn’t made any comment about the T-shirt, which is a smart move from her side.

Taylor has more than 20 million Twitter followers who don’t want to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch anymore. To just quote one of them: “I don't even care that the T-shirt is out of production, I will never shop at Abercrombie & Fitch again. I hope your business falls to the ground."

It’s time for Abercrombie & Fitch to reconsider its marketing and PR!

German Court Rules: Autocomplete of Google Searches Can Be Illegal

The founder of a public company sued Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) since googling the name of his company offered autocomplete searches that connected the company’s name with "Scientology" and "Fraud".

According to the plaintiff, these autocompletes were baseless. Furthermore, they infringe on personal rights as well as corporate image.

The GermanFederal Court of Justice agreed and ruled that Google’s autocomplete function sometimes present suggestions that are considered to be a breach of law. With this ruling, the court overturned the verdict of the District Court of Cologne.

The ruling could help former First Lady Bettina Wulff with her lawsuit against Google. When her name is googled, Google’s autocomplete function offers additions such as "red light district" and "escort." Needless to say, the lady is not amused.
 
The ruling does not imply that Google is liable for each and every autocomplete. Owners of search engines “Are not obligated to check the legality of autocomplete searched proactively for liability”. Only when a victim reports infringement must the search engine owner take action.

Google spokesperson Kay Oberbeck explained that the autocomplete suggestions are generated by users searching Google, not by Google itself.

According to German lawyers, Google’s autocomplete function could go two ways: (1) the autocomplete function will be completely deactivated in Germany, or (2) users will be automatically able to remove autocomplete suggestions.

One thing is clear, Google has to react quickly!

Google Acquires Navigation App Operator Waze for $1,1 Billion

Google (GOOG) is buying Waze, a navigation app operator, to keep up with competitors such as Facebook. The deal is expected to be announced on June 11^th according to an anonymous source. Google will have access to 40 million Waze users.

Waze is a relatively unknown company. It provides a free app for iPhone and Google Android devices. Base on the principle of crowd-sourcing, real-time GPS data from Waze users are used. This makes traffic and navigation information accurate and useful. Users can also add information themselves, such as traffic incidents, speed traps and gas prices.  

It is a smart move considering the rise in use of smartphones and tablets. Google and Facebook are both targeting mobile device users with a wide range of services, including navigation.

Greg Sterling, analyst at Opus Research told Bloomberg that Google will be able to provide better navigation services such as directions and traffic information.

There are three reasons why Google is spending more than $1 billion to acquire Wave:

1) Wave has an innovative and hot technology

2) Wave directly competes with Google Maps

3) Apple and Facebook will not be able to acquire Wave.

Waze was founded in 2009 and according to IVC, Waze has raised $67 million to date in three financing rounds from venture capital funds and strategic investors.

How a Fake Restaurant Review on Yelp Backfired

A SF writer got wind of a review of Tuba restaurant on Yelp.

The woman who wrote the review claims to be working at the SF.  She wrote: “This place totally rocks! The food blows your mind away. I also write for SF weekly and I definitely am writing about them this week!”

But there is one major problem - she never wrote for SF! As the editor stated, he knows all the writers and what they are and aren't assigned to do, but he never heard of “Maya C.”

The SF editor set out to correct it –easier said than done. Yelp isn't easy to deal with.

He sent the fake review Ms. Maya C. a message: "I am the food editor at SF Weekly. Who are you? We don't have a Maya C. working for us right now. Please explain why you cite us in your review of Tuba."

Maya C, sent the following response (to avoid legal action?): "sf weekly voice, I will fix it. I am very very sorry to cite your name, I haven't checked my reviews since."

Needless to say,she did not. SF Weekly is obviously worried about its credibility, while Yelp could not care less.

In the mean time, just ignore the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! fake review of Tuba - it’s as real as a three dollar note. If you still want to go to Tuba, I have a bridge I want to sell you…..

Maya C has damaged Tuba's restaurant's reputation beyond repair - be careful when you engage a so-called social media wizard ad Ms. Maya C!