the buzz

As we’re all aware, in the past year Twitter and Facebook have emerged as beneficial marketing tools for businesses. And most companies are still trying to understand how these new media outlets can work to their benefit. I’ve seen quite a few campaigns where a company will give away a free toy (like a new iPhone or Flip camera) to one lucky person who follows their Twitter account, or becomes a Fan of theirs on Facebook without any connection between the prize and their brand. For example, a paper manufacturer giving away a free iPhone doesn’t seem to make much sense. This tactic is certainly a way to get your follower/fan numbers way up – but does it help to build your brand?

With that said, I’d like to point out a company who has rallied the most popular social mediums (YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter) to launch a hugely successful campaign to reenter a market it hadn’t tapped in over a decade. Ford Motor Company’s “Fiesta Movement” is a shining example of how to narrow down to your target audience, create a relevant and engaging campaign and create a buzz about your product that doesn’t rely on chance. The Harvard Business Review profiled this campaign last week here: How Ford Got Social Marketing Right. Take a minute to read about this impressive campaign and let us know (in the comments) your favorite aspect of this multi-faceted effort. And if you’re a business with a curiosity about social media and need some help getting started, drop us a line.

I did quite a bit of my shopping online this holiday season, as did several other S&Jers, and probably as you did too. For the most part, I had very good experiences (thank you, thinkgeek.com & zappos.com). Some of my co-workers weren’t so fortunate. Items were back-ordered without notification, incomplete shipments… the usual suspects. We had a bit of a gripe session here about it, which got me thinking about how customer service has evolved along with technology. Today, we shoppers have higher expectations and louder voices. We look for satisfaction 24/7 — not just during business hours as it was back in the day. And give us multiple ways to reach you please: email, live chat, phone, snail mail, smoke signals…  Yep, it’s a new reality, and some companies are rising to the occasion, some not so much.

Two cases in point: one S&Jer ordered something online from Company #1, never got a notification, didn’t get any response from email, couldn’t get through on the phone. So she did what any self-respecting Gen Yer does: she tweeted about it and named names. Didn’t get her any further in her quest, but it probably made her feel better — and it spread the word to her network. This same S&Jer also had a backordering issue with Company #2. So she called, immediately got an actual human being on the phone, and explained her situation. The pleasant lady cancelled her backordered item, and to be nice, gave her 25% off an already received item. Someone in that company had empowered the reps to do what they felt right to assuage a disappointed customer. Yes, it cost them the 25%, but an irate customer would have lost them more in the long run. Oh, and this S&Jer also tweeted about her good experience too. My guess is, it won’t be long before Company #1 goes out of business or totally reassesses their way of doing business. The Darwinism of retailing, if you will.

The way I see it, companies can look at this new technology-empowered consumer as a burden or an opportunity. The smart ones are realizing they can open a dialogue and develop relationships with their customers, get feedback on their products quickly and, as in the case of Company #2, get a second chance to correct mistakes. Here’s hoping that this new era of transparency and sharing and tweeting and Facebooking will raise everyone’s game. Power to the people!