Is there any major consumer company around that seems to understand basic customer relations less than Sony?
Isn’t rule No.1 in the CR manual, “Don’t spy on customers?” If so, then rule 1-A must be: “Take extra care to avoid spying on customers’ children.” The latest example of Sony’s disconnect with the masses came this week when the company’s music division was fined for surreptitiously collecting information on children under 13-years old. On Thursday, Sony agreed to pay $1 million to the Federal Trade Commission for collecting information on 30,000 children without obtaining parental consent. According to the Associated Press, Sony violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act when it collected the data from hundreds of fan sites, including those of such musical acts as Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera… Sony’s growing list of scandals raises the question of whether anyone at the conglomerate has an ounce of public relations savvy. If they don’t, the company should find someone fast and that person’s mission should be to smack down overly zealous marketing ty
