The few encounters I’ve had with snakes in my life usually involve the snake coming in one direction and me running in the opposite. However, I’ve been willingly following a snake for a week now. Ever since the now famous Bronx Zoo cobra managed to perform a sneaky jail break from its cage about a week ago, I’ve been captivated by the Twitter account for the slithery escapee launched by some genius social media savvy individual.
I would love to be looking at this snake situation from the eyes of the PR department at the Bronx Zoo. What started out as a potential breeding ground for a crisis communication situation Poisonous snake on the loose? No thanks!) turned tons of media spotlight on the Bronx zoo; and not in a negative way, in my opinion. People are flocking to the zoo to see the cobra. Companies are trying to cut promotional deals with the zoo (Venom Energy Drink offered a year’s supply of the product to the zookeeper who found the cobra). There is even a huge contest going onto name the crafty critter. The Bronx Zoo could have had an angry mob of ophidiophobes on their hands. Instead the nation simply fell in love with a toxic but terribly cute snake, and the Bronx Zoo did not have to lift a finger. Talk about a lucky PR break!
Social media tactics do not have to be detail heavy or carry a serious message…sometimes a few simple tweets and some humor can go a long way. Never thought I’d take PR lessons from a reptile, but this case seemed to be full of successsssssssssssssss…
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