I understand the marketing tactic. My question is, how do you handle a potential backlash from a natural disaster such as this?

No. You have crossed the line. This is not just another media event to exploit. If you want to promote helping people in crisis that is one thing. If you are just trying to make a buck while they suffer and you are doing nothing to help then you are not someone I wish to associate with. If by helping them you receive good PR is different. But just scavenging the wreckage is not okay.

You got it right as always HS! I put a quick article together last night about the damage a Cat 1 Hurricane can still do,a few images of damage Sandy left behind in Cuba, had G crawl it, submitted to the usual but what tickled me is Yahoo indexed it in 30 min and G got it for an image then the traffic took off. A quick 434 hits is always nice. Fresher stories from more trusted sources have since pushed article back but hey it was fun while it lasted. So, I'm proof you can create a quick story on breaking news in order to get some quick hits. I didn't write the article for quick hits but just to be ahead of the game for once.

This post is incredibly in poor taste. People are in danger. They need relevant information not the crap you are spewing on this page. No wonder I unsubscribed from your daily email bombs of ebooks and infographics. This was a reminder that I needed to unlike your Facebook page. Thanks.

Thanks for the comments! 
 
@ward and @steve, sorry we rubbed you the wrong way: this post isn't supposed to be insensitive to anyone who is getting affected by this natural disaster.  
 
You both bring up a very good point about crossing a line with newsjacking - marketers need to be very careful regarding the way they talk about world events like this one. There are ways to provide information that is helpful to the community, and ways to always insert your product/service in the conversion and thus alienate people.  
 
For instance, Sears above was helpful in the way it created a targeted page that made it easy for people to find the items they might be looking for in an emergency situation.

To piggyback off of Magdalena's comment, I just wanted to apologize for our insensitivity. We should've erred on the side of caution with this post, and we made a mistake. We've made a few adjustments to the article and swapped out the previous call-to-action. While we think there is an interesting marketing lesson here, we hate to offend our readers, and we're very sorry.  
 
Pamela Vaughan | HubSpot Blog Manager

I too apologize for my comments and I do hope HubSpot posts this. 
 
After I submitted my comment and read the post again I knew there would be some backlash. But think people do you really think HS is saying we should all throw up articles on Sandy and use it a way to get conversions? Really? 
 
First of all I doubt too many people who visited my post on Sandy or any others posts are in a buying mood. 
 
Second of all consumers are way to savvy and would see right through it. 
 
I believe what HS meant to say was you can write a thoughtful and informative post etc. about a current event or emergency and if done so with sincerity then the article could prove to be beneficial.  
 
I recommend not even putting any links other than your resources in the article.  
 
When the time comes your readers, clients and or customers may remember the post you wrote (as long as it's sincere and informative)and then visit your site again. 
 
I in no way took this article wrong or have a problem with it. 
 
Common sense goes a long way.

While I understand the desire to "hook" on to a relevant story, these examples are pretty tacky. I'll give a bit of leeway to the Sears one, but the rest border on tasteless, and I certainly wouldn't be drawing attention to them. Two Americans have already died, and many more in the Caribbean. The ability to "newsjack" should not simply rest on suggesting a commonality with a major story. It should also pass the "is this in good taste"? question, and the "is it too soon?" question. On both of those, these examples fail. 
 
I received an email earlier today with the alert that I'd be "blown away" by the deals on shoes and handbags. Not okay.  
 
Please rethink this.

Thanks, Dana - that is exactly what we were getting to here. 
 
@Zen, thanks for the comment! I agree that these examples weren't outstanding. There are certainly better ways to tell helpful and powerful stories. The angle here was mostly on the mix of avenues to tell that story -- through your blog, social media, website, email.

I learned a valuable lesson today from this article. Oftentimes, I find myself solely focusing on metrics, goals, etc. I have a feeling this is easy to do - forget about the bigger picture. I will continue to be a reader of HubSpot content. I have directly implemented several strategies and many tactics from these frequently published articles. Learning is a lifelong adventure. Let us hope for the best and prepare for the worst for Hurricane Sandy.

Tacky and insensitive. I'm more likely to remember businesses negatively when they try to capitalize on disasters.

I wasn't offended, newsjacking is a real thing, like it or not, and while maybe we shouldn't choose to do it in a case like this, there wasn't (at least by the time I read it) anything insensitive in here. Maybe not the best timing, it probably would have been a bit better coming out AFTER the storm, but hey.

I think you guys are overreacting... this is not a "major" catastrophic event. It's a category 1 hurricane. Would be interesting if we could connect a "mood map" to this "catastrophic event" and see how people are dealing. HubSpot has nothing to apologize for.

I think these examples are awesome! What a great opportunity for someone offering funeral services or a will and trusts attorney. Spot on HubSpot!

I want to expose myself

Right now David Ogilvy is rolling in his grave. It's the insensitive, morally bankrupt, no-low-is-low enough people behind above campaigns that give marketing a bad name. And I'm sure the free "Killer Content" marketing eBook is not lost on the readers. Stay classy HubSpot.

Lighten up folks. If you're offended by these comments in any way you're being far too sensitive and I'm sure every day you shrug off many much more insensitive and objectionable comments that are more worthy of getting yourself into a lather about.  
 
Hubspot has nothing to apologize for and the intervention of someone higher up the food chain to apologize serves to indicate you are a bit panicked and that's not necessary.  
 
You can't pander to everyone who has a hissy-fit about something they don't like or you would say nothing. In the unlikely event the person threatening to ''unlike' you on Facebook (now there's a mature and serious threat) there will be 5 who do the opposite just to balance the books and say thanks for an interesting and provocative article.  
 
I guarantee the threat to unsubscribe or send future Hubspot blogs directly into the fires of hell where they will suffer for eternity along with anyone or thing else this person doesn't like will not happen - they will open immediately and scan in detail your posts looking for further reasons to take offense and evidence of why your blogs should not be read - and probably forward the links to friends and family telling them not to read the blogs either (thus adding gasoline to the fire). 
 
For my part I'm also unrepentant. We make skin care products and Tweeted 'Looking for quality body exfoliant? Then #Sandy is what you don't want ..." If people find that offensive then I'm sorry that is the case, but won't be apologizing or retracting.  
 
Great article Hubspot! Controversy gets attention! Food with no spices can get a little bland and its necessary to add some chilli from time to time as many more will appreciate the variety than seek to have you run out of town because you gave them mild indigestion.

Beyond tacky. I would put these companies on a list of ones I would never do business with.

Tying your business to a current news story is a common PR strategy, and it can be very effective if done right. The problem is that most businesses don't do it right. Remember Kenneth Cole's tweet about the shoe sale during rioting in Cairo? I think it's far more effective to insert yourself into this kind of story by serving rather than selling. For example, if your business sells mobile phones, providing them to local shelters so evacuees can contact loved ones is a great way to get noticed without compromising your principles.

I completely agree with Robin - this kind of newsjacking can so easily cause outrage (evidence via the comments on this post).  
I would also add that it is really important to make sure you don't have auto scheduled posts during a disaster.  
E.g. your company building collapses and lives are lost but here is your corporate account tweeting about 50% discounts and specials.

@Robin, I absolutely agree with your point about "serving rather than selling." That is the key element to getting noticed as a brand that is helpful and valued by the community. 
 
I do remember the Kenneth Cole tweet - that was a clear example of selling. We actually had David Meerman Scott talk about it on the blog as well: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/25964/A-Valuable-Lesson-From-a-Twitter-Marketing-Fail-Marketing-Cast.aspx 
 
@Claire, you bring up a great point about auto-scheduling - another example that you can't automate all your marketing!

Disgusting.

Agreed - not appropriate, sensitive or clever.

Newsjacking something related to death and destruction is very dangerous. I'm reading this morning that 20 people have died and there is billions of dollars in damage. That's not fun nor funny. 
 
If your company has a legitimate tie to the disaster and you are genuinely seen as being helpful then okay. For example, a home improvement superstore could blog "just received a shipment of 250 generators in the Boston store."  
 
But a frivolous attempt at newsjacking to draft off the news of the storm to sell a product unrelated to the storm is bad form and may trigger a negative backlash.A restaurant that says "Storm special - 35% off all appetizers" is not a good idea.

HubSpot, I generally enjoy your posts, but you never should have never put this post up, as is. It was in really poor taste and I would imagine someone, somewhere at HubSpot agrees.  
 
I get that you were trying to showcase an example of marketing tied to news, but in this case, your post seemed to be giving praise to the brands that were trying to make a buck off a disaster that has caused deaths and tremendous destruction across the eastern seaboard.  
 
It would have been better for you guys to point out the good examples of newsjacking that were occurring, along with these bad examples. What most of the companies did in your examples was in pretty poor taste.  
 
It would have been more helpful and more well-received for someone like Sears to offer to donate items to shelters, etc. in heavily affected areas or offer to work with people who needed to buy new things rather than simply pushing sales.  
 
I received several bank and credit card notices sharing that they were waiving late fees and offering cash assistance to those who might need it, and thought they were appropriate and in good taste and it left me feeling even more glad (if one can feel glad about having credit cards) that I was a customer. Can't say the same about Sears and others.

Thanks for the comment, Jamie! It's a good point about highlighting the examples that we agree with and those that we disagree with. The one of InStyle magazine was focused on selling and certainly looks cheap.  
 
The bank and credit card notices example sounds like a noble and helpful approach.

I think that if you are going to newsjack off of this story, that you can do so by offering helpful advice. As mentioned, people are being affected by this storm and anything we can do to help them should be appreciated.

Mike, thank you to the HubSpot team for providing a very important learning experience.  
 
There is a lot of good in the debate that you sparked.

Mike - the discussion your post sparked is important. We needed to get these issues out in the open. While the original post was off, getting the pros and cons of newsjacking out there is incredibly valuable.

The time to discuss newsjacking is long after the storm is over. People are still in shock and are dealing with more important things like the loss of their homes, loved ones, and countless other tragedies. Rather than discussing something fairly useless, like how marketers can capitalize during a storm and how we feel about those who do, why don't you post an article on how marketers can help during a disaster by sharing information about disaster relief. Worry about sensationalism later.

How about comment-jacking? I get that you wanted to tone down your post and make amends. But coming to this late, I'd still appreciate a chance to see the discussion as it played out.

How do you dictate where the line should be drawn? As soon as you attempt to, you limit what can be done in terms of successful capitalism based upon natural events of the world. The amount of money donated by some of these companies to humanitarian efforts is off the charts, so personally, as long as it is causing no direct harm to those affected by the disaster, where does the fault lie? Are we next going to say that companies can't promote products after a major sporting event such as the world series?

Um, Robert Ashford,, you ask "How do you dictate where the line should be drawn?" then go on to ask if companies can't promote themselves using the World Series. Human beings can see there's a pretty clear line between a human tragedy and a sporting event. Well, most of them anyway.

Why am I not surprised not only by the insensitive post but that you took it to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. You could have just apologized and left it at that. Instead, you are trying to point fingers at other companies? Shame on you.

In the sake of the article, my point between the lines Dennis, is that companies don't directly market and sale goods based upon the loser's of the sporting event, but rather on the positive side of the event. Until someone decides to market life insurance touting the deaths in this disaster, the point stands. Using the story to market products to beautify ones self while stuck at home, or goods that can help you get through it? That seems to be taking a positive stance while trying to make a profit; it's business.

Marketing during any tragedy or national event requires an understanding of the situation. The examples above give marketers and agencies a bad name. But for some of the bigger brands, say a Sears, they can gamble with their brand - they're really to big to fail. And there is the fact that, as much as we hate it, many of us report on negatives more than positive. We are having a discussion of newsjacking during a tragedy and bringing attention to those doing it, isn't that what they want?

I agree with Dennis that the comment from Robert Ashford takes human intellect and empathy to a farce. People, myself included, have capitalized on pop culture news to promote their products as an ancillary wave of web traffic surrounds those phrases. The line comes into view when the event is a tragedy as opposed to a cultural event. You didn't see successful firearms company advertising after the Virginia Tech or Ft. Hood shootings, nor did you see boat company advertising after Katrina. There is an unspoken line that most decent marketers respect and to be required to define it seems like it should be an exercise in futility.

There's a theme or a notion that needs to be outed and discussed in the wider forum and that is how people (including myself at times) seem to latch on and add to stories or potential stories without fully considering their consequences or sensitivity. 
 
Yesterday, the topic was brought up in Wired: 
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/10/truth-lies-doxxing-internet-vigilanteism/ 
 
And here on the Hubspot Blog, a post and a retraction (thanks!) in a similar vain. 
 
These days, we live in an incredibly polarized world and it is easy to think the worst of anyone. We hope to avoid it but it happens. We hope to gain understanding with each new post and snippet of a story but there's a time and place for everything. 
 
Thanks for listening.

I'm sorry that Hubspot has grown too big to be able to voice your own opinions and write what you want without a huge backlash from your readers.  
 
Although this newsjacking maybe offend some people the bottom line is that if done right, it works. These marketing teams aren't being paid to be sympathetic. And this is an interesting/valuable article in my opinion. Keep up the good work!

Julian-- 
 
Saying marketers aren't paid to be sympathetic is like saying doctors aren't paid to make people better. That's EXACTLY what we're paid to do. If we can't identify with our audience we're not very good at our job.

You know, I feel that there are silly things to advertise through tragedies but there are also helpful and positive ways to market during hard times. If someone has another's life-saving best interests in mind, that is one thing. To try capitalizing on someone's appearance, let's say, during a crisis is another. I don't think I would care what I looked like if I was losing my whole world but if I could get my hands on food or clean water...even heat sources, that would improve my world. These disasters should be carefully stored in our minds and perhaps we should learn from them. You never know when Mother Nature will rain down on you. Having items to sustain you in such cases would be a great thing. I also believe in anyone's right to free speech. Being in good form or not really doesn't matter. I respect their right to say what they want to whether or not I agree. I just move on if I feel it is in bad taste. The web has made us fear saying anything and saying it ourselves for that possibility that the public will rip into us. Sad, but that is how some people are. We are free people to do what we wish, within reason. Many try to take that away and we shouldn't let them. May God bless those affected by this tragedy. I do feel badly for everyone that has had their lives turned upside down. The reality of it is that it is current news. It is something we can all relate to. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about those things.

Elizabeth - 
 
I didn't say we can't empathize consumers. Of course the first step in marketing is understanding your target audience. Sears' audience needs supplies to help weather this storm. Why is it frowned upon that they are reaching out to them. 
 
I think Sears' storm supply page provides actual value to people. It's a win win in my eyes.  

You should have dropped this topic all together, your newsjacking the story again!

Feel this is a slight grey area. Sears campaign i have to say i think is fair enough, it is providing a valuable service. Where as InStyle Magazine and i'm sure we have all seen the American Aparrel offer, these are tastless. With 8million homes without power who are they targeting.  
 
More thought should have gone into these and is a clear case of jumping on a possible marketing oppurtunity.

If Sears had offered a discount to help those who needed emergency mattresses, generators, etc, they would have been capitalising on the marketing opportunity while showing genuine concern for those who have suffered due to Sandy, while at the same time earning valuable good will. (They could have limited the offer to the cities most affected.) 
 
 
 
But to simply use it as a retail headline is tacky at best. 
 
 
 
It's one thing to capitalise on on news, it's another to capitalise on a disaster.

I don't think that you should have pulled your story. 
 
I happened to be following (and working to calm) some tweeps who have autism and this storm was VERY hard on them, even if they weren't ordered to evacuate. Articles such as the one on date ideas could have been very helpful to them. It's about value.

After reading some of the other posts and Robert's response, I can see where there may be a fine line to walk. I still don't agree that tragedies should provide your trending ad copy for blatant newsjacking, but there are other ways of gaining advertising without sinking to the level of the cosmetics ad. The idea to become the story instead of newsjacking seems the most logical. Why couldn't Sears set up a provisional store and truck in some of the most essential items to the provisional store along with providing an opportunity to access other services as well? That story makes headlines instead of steals them and benefits from tragedy. They could at very least offer a few dedicated volunteers from their stores or executives to provide some of the aid services. Another way to be the story instead of steal the headlines.

Newsjacking is an interesting way to attract attention, but after the media circus has left town your post will diminish in popularity as well 
 
 
 
Fresh content is the lifeblood of your business without question. Newsjack to be different, but relevancy will ultimately build better relationships 
 
 
 
Just my two cents..... 
 
 
 
Steve Sheinkopf 
 
CEO 
 
Yale Appliance Amd Lighting

This is a very touchy subject I think. If you are trying to profit of the backs of others in trouble there is a problem. Is Sears trying to help or cash in? That is the question. We put together a Hurricane playlist in support of the east coast, but tried to be cautious and respectful of the fact that some people were in real trouble.  
 
The idea of building a playlist around the hurricane was brought to me by one of our writers in Brooklyn, NY. So I'm hoping everyone gets on board. I ok'd the playlist because I have many friends and family on the east coast. And I am putting it out so others can keep the east coast in their thoughts just as I will over the next few days.  
 
If you'd like to give it a whirl, listen to some fun music and think of your friends/family on east coast. Have a listen to Hurricane Sandy rock 'n' roll playlist. 
 
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this blog article if you think this is a good idea or a bad idea. We love music and we love the east coast so it is done with best intentions.

Newsjacking is an interesting way to attract attention, but after the media circus has left town your post will diminish in popularity as well 
 
 
 
Fresh content is the lifeblood of your business without question. Newsjack to be different, but relevancy will ultimately build better relationships 
 
 
 
Just my two cents..... 
 
 
 
Steve Sheinkopf 
 
CEO 
 
Yale Appliance Amd Lighting

I don't think it's a huge deal and that generally people have the sensitivity and judgement to do what's right - I guess my faith in humanity vis-a-vis marketing ethics is intact. I love the HowAboutWe one, since everyone knows that a power outage is a great time to cuddle up with someone. I don't personally feel that recognizing the many who were inconvenienced by Sandy is an outright offense to those who were more harshly affected. 
 
I was going to send an email blast out to a group of New England people yesterday and reference Sandy, but I decided not to since we need to be very sensitive due to the nature of our business. But Sears was certainly right in their own wheelhouse with what they did.

I think newjacking is fine as long as you don't cross any moral lines. 
 
Hubspot "Gangnam style" http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33599/HubSpot-Releases-Gangnam-Style-Parody-Inbound-Style-MUSIC-VIDEO.aspx or Capterra's http://capterra.com/project-management-software-election and (subsequently) Easy Projects' http://www.easyprojects.net/blog/2012/10/30/easy-projects-election-program/ are good examples. 
 
Even with disasters like Sandy, as long as you act classy it might work well for everyone. Wells Fargo is another example: 
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Wells-Fargo-waives-certain-fees-for-customers/7lEe43AAqEa-WWIFhL3KXA.cspx

I have been working on a "Pink" Pinterest Board in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and instead of using any Sandy hashtag on the following tweet I tried to be real: Dreamy Pink will put a smile on ur face & let u escape to another place :) As a pr/marketer, it was sublime but not blatent marketing, yet at the same time, I truly do hope it helps to escape if just for a moment or 2. Great topic, Elaine

I was in Peace Corps in Mali during the OJ Simpson trial. I remember seeing a full-length article in one of the magazines from home that we passed around about the ties that the lawyers and others were wearing. THE TIES.  
 
I was outraged that a serious event such as a murder trial could spark such irreverent and ridiculous stories.  
 
In retrospect, I realize that the US at the time was completely saturated with the news, and this was all reporters had left. And social media around Sandy has parallels. After a brand writes, "our hearts go out to..." updates, perhaps they ponder that a little levity or something else to think about would be good for a stream. 
 
But I have to tell you -- I soaked up the Twitter feed all night and was turned off (or even disgusted) by brands and individuals who used the streams for humor or self promotion. 
 
It's too soon. Way too soon. People died. People have no homes to return to. Millions of people are in the dark. People with hourly jobs can't make money. We may be in crisis mode for several more days. Brands need to keep that top of mind when they send messages into social media.  
 
Instead of telling us great beauty products, make a name for yourself by organizing a collection of essential toiletry samples. I actually appreciate Sears' approach -- a small notice about a site that might help them simplify their emergency shopping. But hurricane hair? I don't think so.

So am I "newsjacking" on my blog? Sure, I'm hoping to bring some attention to my affiliate site, but in return I'm willing to donate all affiliate sales commissions earned to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund until Nov. 10th, 2012!

Going through a disaster is a great PR opportunity, but using it as a sales collateral is not something I would recommend.  
 
Apple & Microsoft Took A Totally Different Approach During the Japan Earth Quake, Microsoft, for example, created a social outcry by running a Twitter promotion contest, in which they decided to donate $1 per every RT to the earthquake victims, up to $100k .  
 
http://mashable.com/2011/03/13/apple-microsoft-japan 
 
Google also created a page to help out the families to get in touch with the quake victims who couldn't be easily reached out. 
 
I mean, to what extent, does anyone think one can make meaningful profit out of it? What? By hoping the disaster will last longer? I mean, to even think that anyone can turn this into #SandySale opportunity like what American Apparel did is totally wrong!  
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/american-apparel-hurricane-sandy-sale_n_2045739.html 
 
This reminds of Katrina, Walmart did indeed a great job during the disaster and they were not lowballing, but rather precisely doing the right thing. They showed people a sense of gratitude by donating $2 million, and also showed off their warehousing capabilities as they provided trucks load of free water bottles to people in need more than an week before the government could not do anything about it. 
 
They were doing the right things at the right time at the right place for the right people (their favorite demographics). You can't really ask for a better scenario to improve your image, unless people are going through a natural disaster.  
 
Think of what happened on 9/11 and what Bush could accomplish thereafter?  

There are no such things as selfless deeds. There just aren't.  
 
I notice Hubspot have done away with their usual call to actions that are seen with most of their posts. I genuinely think Hubspot wanted to start a meaningful discussion about this topic while it was fresh in people minds, to get valued responses and insights into what marketers think. 
 
What I think that should be taken from this by Hubspot is that you guys have built very strong value among your users. I position you guys as the best in your field so do most of your users, because of this trust I and the users of your content and products have with the brand, this post whether mistimed or just misguided will have a small negative affect on the brand. This is the real insight I will take from this conversation.  
 
Like a best friend that makes a mistake, you usually forgive them. Build enough trust and value with your brand, service or products then mistakes will be seen as just that, not bad, not wrong, just a mistakes.

We posted a blog on behalf of an Annapolis-based landscaping client a few hours before Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Maryland. The blog provided advice on what homeowners could do to protect their house and property, in the short term and long term, against monster storms like sandy. I wanted to wait to post the blog until after the storm had passed, so as not to be perceived as insensitive, but my colleague disagreed. Turns out she was right. The post generated more traffic than previous posts and one reader thanked us for the timely advice. Let me know what you think. The website for Architectural Gardens is : www.arch-gardens.com

I'm guessing everyone is treating Hurricane Sandy like an event, maybe even like the Olympics in terms of using it to capitalize on our collective attention. The worse the disaster the more people use it. The more deadly, the less people feel comfortable trying to profit from it. Sad either way.

Newsjacking can be a great opportunity to promote sales and drive business. However, I believe that in a serious event or dramatic crisis like Hurricane Sandy, the opportunity to drive your own personal sales is not appropriate. Actually, this type of behavior can instead be referred to as “newsjack(ass)ing,” and I believe we had a little preview of the phrase in this post yesterday. 
 
Under certain circumstances it is only suitable to show sympathy, not self-promotion. Check out this blog from a co-worker of mine to prevent such improper behavior:  
 
Newsjack(ass)ing: PR Fail in the Wake of Tragedy and Crisis 

While some of the ads were very creative, there are so many lives lost, property and possessions destroyed, and so many homeless, I think in the case of Sandy,less financial/market share gain and more sensitivity and human kindness 
 
would be appropriate. A campaign to contribute to a fund x% of cost for every product purchased would promote some connection with social responsibility.

It is always a must to set first the market.  
 

New to this. I'm in the business planning stages! News highjacking is excusable in situations of Natural Disaster only in an attempt to provide assistance to the needy or donating to the cause. I think in our quest to building relationships it is tasteful and beneficial in the long term to give rather than take i'n these situations.