What’s old is new again with social media. This last week Amp Energy drink launched the Before You Score iPhone application to appeal to guys looking to pick up the ladies. The App is pure sophomoric fun in true bad taste and feels like a Saturday Night Live sketch come to life as an iPhone App but it has created a storm of anger in the social media community causing parent brand Pepsi to apologize for the App.

Controversy builds interest and in this case it has got the app a lot more attention than it would have if the haters had not said a word but this is nothing new.

Several years back religious groups use to get upset and protest Hollywood movies that didn’t go along with their beliefs. By protesting a film they raised awareness and drove more paying ticket buyers to the theaters. Eventually these groups learned that their efforts to publicly denounce a film that didn’t fit their beliefs only benefited the movies they disagreed with so they stopped drawing attention to the flicks they hatted.

At several cocktail parties at Blogworld this week I heard both men and women talking about the B4 U Score AMP iPhone App. That never would have happened had the haters not been so vocal.

Pay close attention to your paying customers. Give them what they want and engage them in your conversation but keep in mind there are people out there that will never like your product. They will never recommend your product and more importantly they will never buy your product. But if you can polarize your audience and get the very people that hate you to publicize your product and bring it to the attention of people who may like or even love your product, then you need to love the haters.

AMP, Energy Drink, AMPUP, B4 You Score, iPhone app