Singtel marketing fiasco a good wake-up call for industry: Experts
By Irene Tham, Technology Correspondent and Lim Yi Han, The Straits Times, 21 Mar 2015
By Irene Tham, Technology Correspondent and Lim Yi Han, The Straits Times, 21 Mar 2015
StarHub chief executive Tan Tong Hai said in a statement: "We note and accept Singtel group CEO's apology."
An M1 spokesman said: "We accept Singtel's apology and will not be taking further action."
The Infocomm Development Authority is still investigating whether Singtel breached the Telecom Competition Code, which is imposed on all telecommunications licensees.
Last Saturday, blogger Wendy Cheng, better known as Xiaxue, blew the whistle by posting on her website a leaked 2014 e-mail from social media agency Gushcloud that gave instructions to its bloggers on how to complain about StarHub and M1's network connections and services.
Gushcloud was employed by Singtel in June last year to manage its e-campaign to promote a youth mobile plan. The social media agency's bloggers could receive up to $4,000 in cash incentives, among other benefits, for successful sign-ups.
Ms Cheng also posted many samples of the online complaints from Gushcloud bloggers targeted at the rival telcos.
Singtel apologised for the marketing campaign on Tuesday.
The company explained that its marketing standards that forbid negative campaigns had not been followed, and that the incident was an "isolated" one.
On Thursday night, the telco posted a second apology, this time on Facebook. It was signed off by Ms Chua, who pledged that the company would reinforce its "high standards and values" internally and with its business partners.
Singtel also terminated Gushcloud's services and said the employee involved in the campaign was no longer with the company.
So far, at least two bloggers have apologised for posting negative comments in the Singtel marketing campaign, although they insisted their comments were not fabricated.
Dr Ang Peng Hwa, legal adviser at the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (Asas), said: "Consumers cannot be taken for granted. Fake comments or Facebook 'likes' cannot be passed off as genuine ones."
Asas is planning to roll out new guidelines for interactive advertising, such as those on social media or blog sites. These will specify that advertorials must be clearly marked as such, and discourage advertisers from buying fake Facebook "likes", said Dr Ang.
The Consumers Association of Singapore's executive director, Mr Seah Seng Choon, said advertisers should include these guidelines and the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice into their contracts with social media agencies.
"Companies must also supervise what social media agencies do," said Mr Seah.
Dr Adrian Yeow, a senior lecturer at SIM University, said unethical practices, including paid content not being disclosed, may have surfaced due to rising competition among social media agencies.
Dr Terence Heng, an assistant professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology, said: "The ethical values surrounding blogging or tweeting as a form of marketing are still relatively new as opposed to, say, television or print advertisements."
He is confident that a better understanding of values that underscore traditional journalism will "gather pace" after this scandal.
Mr Alvin Lim, 35, who runs a blog called Alvinology, said a lot of bloggers are very young and do not have the experience to turn down dubious requests from advertisers.
Gushcloud chief executive Vincent Ha yesterday also apologised to M1, StarHub and the public for the campaign.
He said: "We regret the recent incidents and how it has affected the industry, our influencers and our clients... We are disappointed in ourselves for the way it turned out.
"We have started a process of auditing our practices, processes and people, to ensure that we can be a good agency and partner to our present and future clients."
Ms Cheng said: "I'm kind of surprised that it has blown up to be so big. I never expected that. I think it's very gracious of Singtel to apologise."
She said it had come as a shock to her when there was talk of legal action being considered in connection with the episode.
"Personally, I don't really want to see the bloggers get sued," said Ms Cheng. "A lot of them are very young."
It all started with an anonymous e-mail
Blogger Xiaxue set out to expose smear campaign but did not expect storm that followed
By Lim Yi Han, The Sunday Times, 22 Mar 2015
Blogger Xiaxue set out to expose smear campaign but did not expect storm that followed
By Lim Yi Han, The Sunday Times, 22 Mar 2015
The Gushcloud-Singtel scandal all began with an anonymous e-mail to Ms Wendy Cheng, the blogger better known as Xiaxue.
The e-mail, which she received on March 11, contained a link to a website which had posted leaked documents from social media agency Gushcloud.
The documents included a brief by the agency, asking its bloggers to smear rival telcos M1 and StarHub, as part of a Singtel digital campaign last June to promote a mobile plan for youth.
"I couldn't believe my eyes. I've never, ever seen a brief like that... asking to trash a competitor," said 30-year-old Ms Cheng in an interview with The Sunday Times.
She started doing research to confirm the allegations, going through Gushcloud bloggers' various platforms, including Twitter and Instagram. She found that the brief had been followed.
After getting three lawyers to look at her material, she put everything up on her blog on March 14. Little did she realise the storm it would cause.
The Infocomm Development Authority opened an investigation into whether Singtel had breached competition rules. StarHub said it was exploring its legal options.
Last Thursday, Singtel's group chief executive officer Chua Sock Koong apologised to M1 and StarHub. The telco also parted ways with an employee who had been involved in the campaign, and cut all ties with Gushcloud.
But the damage was done. Netizens came out to slam both Singtel and Gushcloud, which apologised as well, for the negative marketing campaign.
Social media experts described the incident as a wake-up call for the industry.
Ms Cheng, who studied media and communication at Singapore Polytechnic, said: "I'm kind of surprised that it has blown up to be so big. I never expected that."
Many also wondered if her post was simply a way to discredit Gushcloud, a rival to Nuffnang, the social media company she belongs to. In December, she also put up an "expose" alleging that Gushcloud inflated its bloggers' page views.
"There is criticism that I 'punish' people by blogging about them based on my own warped sense of morals... People think that I'm very arrogant," said Ms Cheng,
"But I don't do that, unless they personally challenge me or insult me until I really buay tahan (Hokkien for 'cannot endure it') already."
That was part of the reason for her first expose, she said. She was offended when Gushcloud co-founder Vincent Ha disputed one of her posts last March, she added.
Ms Cheng has in the past also named and shamed commenters who posted derogatory remarks about her and her friends on the Facebook page of sociopolitical blog Temasek Review.
Earlier this year, she took out a protection order against the satirical Facebook page SMRT Ltd (Feedback) for harassing her.
But she said her latest post had as much to do with the importance of holding the industry to certain standards.
She also realised that the possible fallout could hurt Nuffnang and the social media advertising industry in which she was an early pioneer, as clients and netizens may lose confidence in bloggers.
Said Ms Cheng, who started her full-time blogging career in 2005 and now earns as much as "five figures" a month: "But in the long term, it will probably improve the industry."
Said Ms Cheng, who started her full-time blogging career in 2005 and now earns as much as "five figures" a month: "But in the long term, it will probably improve the industry."