Greggs this week provided a glowing example of how to handle a social media nightmare after an offensive version of their logo appeared on Google on Tuesday.

On 19th August, Britain's biggest bakery chain was inundated with thousands of tweets after a fake company logo appeared in Google searches, insinuating that Greggs has been supplying faeces to the less classy end of society for over 70 years.

The spoof image, pulled in from uncyclopedia.wikia.com, appeared on the right hand-side of Google when users typed the company name into the search engine.

Thousands of people were quick to point out the error to the company’s social media team who reacted brilliantly to the unexpected busy day at the office.

^{The infamous fake logo. Photo: uncyclopedia}

A common reservation of starting up a social media presence is often the fear that it will encourage negative messaging.

With their response to this nightmare, Greggs proved that PR disasters can occur even without the adoption of social media networks, and goes even further to show that using platforms like Twitter can be fundamental in very quickly turning a negative into a positive.

Here's how the social media team at Greggs cleverly used Twitter to control the situation, whilst using it to their advantage to portray their fun personality through light-hearted responses to tweets received and jovial interactions with Google:

Greggs' intelligent, witty and timely handling of this incident via Twitter has resulted in huge positive feedback and buzz around the brand. 'Greggs' was trending on Twitter and stories have been published surrounding the baker's reactions to the event in the likes of the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Guardian.

What we can learn from this is that to be absent on social media is to lack a powerful crisis management tool. The risks of negativity resulting from being active on networks such as Twitter are far lower than the likelihood of such activity generating positive and impressive engagement, which would otherwise be unattainable when relying purely on traditional forms of media and communication.

If you'd like to chat to one of our social media gurus, contact the office on 020 72657 880 or tweet us @Lambinthecity

What's your DQ?

As part of their eleventh Communications Market Report, Ofcom has conducted a research study measuring the confidence and knowledge of communications technology to calculate an individual's 'Digital Quotient' score, or 'DQ', with the average UK adult scoring 100.

The study, among nearly 2,000 adults and 800 children, found that six year olds have the same understanding of digital technology as 45 year olds, while digital confidence seems to go into long-term decline when people reach their 20s, culminating in a steep drop at the age of 60. The graph shows that 60% of people aged 55+ have a below average 'DQ' score.

According to Ofcom, the ‘millennium generation’ of 14 and 15 year olds are the most tech-savvy in the UK with the highest score of 113. The research suggests that this mid-teen peak is due to increased broadband and digital communications access while growing up.

More time online than asleep

The difference in score is reflected in shifting communication habits, with younger consumers embracing newer technology and taking advantage of mobile devices. Children aged 12 to 15 are less likely to talk on the phone, with the vast majority (94 per cent) of their communications seeming to be text-based via instant message such as whatsapp and social media services such as Facebook.

In contrast, UK adults spend a fifth of their communication time speaking on the phone and a third on email. On average, UK adults now spend 8 hours 41 minutes using media and communications - more time than they spend sleeping!

“The communication habits of all ages are shifting as they embrace newer services and take advantage of portable connected devices,” says Ofcom.

Communication and media habits

More than six million consumers have 4G mobile subscriptions out of a total 55 million
4 in 10 households now have a tablet, up from a quarter a year ago, while 61 per cent have a smartphone
Total communications revenue was unchanged at £60.2bn in 2013, although average per household fell to £117.08 with the largest decrease in mobile services
TV viewership dropped below four hours per day for the first time since 2009
The UK TV industry generated £12.9bn in 2013, up 3.4 per cent mainly due to higher spending on sports channels