Starbucks? recent stumble, after its Snapchat geofilter allowed users to run with it to voice their complaints, reveals the potential dangers of user-generated content campaigns, which may be vital in connecting with young demographics but come with a price.  

The barista chain was hoping to celebrate its new rewards program by creating a lens filter on Snapchat for users to share with friends, but instead consumers used it to voice their distaste for the new system. Campaigns on Snapchat driven by users? content creation are necessary today, but brands tapping into this strategy need to find a way to amplify the good and let the negative be swept underneath the rug before launch to ensure their success. 

?All user-generated content comes with the inherent risk of negativity,? said Pamela Sandler, digital experience director at Bernstein-Rein. ?Large, global brands in particular are a target for this negative backlash because of their scale. 

?Brands must have a strong constitution to ignore the noise, but must also have a strategy to amplify the positive interactions,? she said. ?Unfortunately for Snapchat, they do not yet have an analytics dashboard for brand marketers, so it can be difficult to prove that the positive engagements cancelled out the negativity. 

?User-generated content is not new, nor is it a fad, and technology advances will only continue to empower consumer voices.?

What happened to Starbucks is a warning to marketers, representative of the old saying ?think before you act.? With so much controversy already in place over the new loyalty system, as many believe the program is making it harder to earn rewards, Starbucks? interactive lens came at a bad time and allowed users to steer the conversation in negative light. 


Twitter user @tiffersaurous expresses her unhappiness with the new rewards

But brands should not keep away from leveraging Snapchat for sponsored filters and UGC, and instead should be prepared for this sort of negativity. Marketers need to develop thick skins and realize that a few negative posts in the grand scheme of things are not something with which they should be too concerned, but should develop ways to reward and amplify users sharing positive content that embodies the campaign. 

?To avoid these adverse effects, marketers should think everything through thoroughly before launching a user-generated content campaign,? said Carrie McIlveen, U.S. director of marketing at Metia. ?Brands should also ensure they have an easy way for users to report problems, monitor site in real-time and respond quickly before the problem escalates. 

?Brands can also see this as a golden opportunity to showcase their businesses? ability to go above and beyond to satisfy customers,? she said. 

Snapchat?s platform is very closed and content will not go viral within the platform itself, but the problem occurs when a user shares that negative content on other social platforms. While Snapchat may lack the ability for brands to monitor content, the channels where it becomes a real issue are able to be tracked.

?Brands can help to start a conversation, they can enter a conversation, they can support a conversation but they cannot control the conversation on Snapchat,? said Dimitry Ioffe, CEO of TVGla. ?There is no issue with user-generated content 'living on' Snapchat, issues arise when you, the content creator, move share your content off of Snapchat to promote your posts to other more shareable platforms and or your 'friends' on Snapchat screenshot your content and do the same off Snapchat.?