Heinz losing the online debate over replacement of Farley’s with Nurture

Heather Yaxley has written an excellent analysis following my post about Heinz replacing Farley’s baby milk with an overpriced alternative called Nurture. She says that “It seems amazing that Heinz hasn’t considered the power of social networking and new media to spread the story about a 70% price increase as it replaces its Farleys brand with one called Nurture.” She also observes that Heinz doesn’t appear to be responding to the extensive online criticism.

This is a mistake for any brand to make, as a quick Google search will tell you. A search on “Farley’s Nurture” shows that nine of the ten links on the first page are all negative conversations or reports about the name change. Most people don’t go beyond the first page of links. My blog post from Monday night is already the fifth highest link.