Microsoft Fail! #DroidRage Proves Mudslinging Doesn't Pay

Some companies try to boost their brand at the expense of others. However, the methods do not always render the results they?re looking for. This is what happened when the marketing team of Microsoft Windows Phone (@WindowsPhone) requested Android users to write their ?malware horror stories? on Twitter. ' The hashtag #DroidRage was created last December 5, 2012 as an avenue to supposedly cite the bad experience users have had with malware. The problem was, only 3 percent of the people using smartphones actually have a Windows Phone so it would be unlikely to gather a good number of reports and experiences from their supportive clients. This activity graph shows that a lot of Twitter users have actually adopted the #DroidRage hashtag; but the bigger question was: Did the campaign work? With weak support from actual testimonies, the plan backfired since others who posted were actually Android users who thought that it might be good to give Microsoft a taste of its own medicine and instead tweet about their complaints on the brand. Other companies in the past experienced the same type of backlash when trying to market their brand online, as with #McDoStories and #WaitroseReasons. Online marketers should be more careful when planning their strategy next time.