Archive for the ‘Brand Awareness’ Category

37signals You Have Successfully Weathered a Customer Service Storm

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

All too often, companies give in to the instinct of burying their corporate heads in the sand when crises arise, instead of immediately engaging their customers.

In “How To Ride a Storm” (Inc., Feb. 2011), 37signals co-founder Jason Fried shares his company’s honest, transparent approach to dealing with unhappy customers when it’s Campfire product malfunctioned.

“When one of our products malfunctioned, thousands of stranded customers erupted in fury. Yet we came out of the crisis more credible than ever.”

Fried’s approach was to regularly update 37signals’ website with service repair status updates and engage each individual customer through Twitter who was voicing their ire or concern. They also took the blame. They acknowledged their responsibility for letting Campfire falter.

“We are battling demons on all fronts and losing. It’s pathetic, I know,” tweets 37signals co-founder, David Heinemeier. “We’re spending the goodwill we’ve built from years of reliable service like it’s going out of style.”

By signaling to customers that they were committed to fixing the problem while providing a continuous stream of status updates, 37signals avoided eroding all credibility as a service provider, and endeared itself to customers who saw 37signals as a true partner commitment to the needs of its customers.

They get it. In the always on conversation, 37signals made sure to openly communicate with its unsatisfied customers and strengthened its authenticity as a brand.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/how-to-turn-disaster-into-gold.html

Posted in Brand Awareness, Conversation, Internet, Social Media | No Comments »

Five Top Super Bowl XLV Social Media/Mobile Campaigns

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Alas, the Atlanta Falcons are out of the playoffs, but don’t tune out just yet. Some of the biggest players aren’t setting their sights on the Lombardi trophy, but will be fighting for a title just as prestigious – to be the biggest brand at the Super Bowl. By throwing out budgets, giving credence to the wildest ideas in the brainstorm and utilizing the latest technologies, brands will fight for the honor of being the company you bring up at the water cooler on Feb. 7.

Below are  some of the best social media and mobile campaigns and contests to look out for leading up to and during Super Bowl XLV.

Coors Light

Snap, Send, Score – Doesn’t get much easier than that. Using your mobile phone, “snap” a picture of a unique upc code on Coors Light products and even in store, outdoor or online advertising, “send” the picture via text or e-mail to Coors Light and “score” instant-win prizes. The unique mobile incorporation, instant gratification for contestants and heightened brand awareness for all participants make this contest a winner.

If you’ve got a camera phone and are purchasing some brews, take a picture of these things on the package or on promotional materials and text to 26753 or send it to coors@snaptag.mobi. Click here for more info: http://www.coorslight.com/superbowl/how.aspx

Doritos/Pepsi Max

While run through its own sites, Doritos and Pepsi utilize all social media outlets to promote the Crash the Super Bowl promotion, which promises to air during the Super Bowl the best fan-created commercials. In the age where a kid singing into a webcam can go viral and get 30 million views, incentivizing clever and tech-savvy people to create high-viral potential commercials about the product is a win-win. Additionally, they’ve built in milestones wherein if your commercial ranks as one of the top rated during the game, you’ll get a ton more money and meet with their ad agency to consult on future campaigns.

Voting is still up, so be sure to take a look and pick the best one on www.Crashthesuperbowl.com (I’m torn between House Sitting and The Best Part myself).

Mercedes-Benz

“The First Twitter-Fueled Race” is a bit complicated but an incredibly unique idea. Four two-person teams in different parts of the country are given different Mercedes-Benz cars and told to drive to Dallas, site of Super Bowl XLV. These aren’t ordinary cars, but fuel economy/horsepower is somehow affected by Twitter activity (Mercedez is mum on the details, preferring to describe them simply as “Twitter-fueled automobiles”). People can choose which team to support and give them extra “fuel” by hashtagging or retweeting their messages. There’s also celebrity tweeters for each team who can give them a literal boost with their twitter activity. First to make it to Dallas wins, and you can win Super Bowl tix as well if you help “fuel” the winning team to victory.

It might be confusing and Tweets probably won’t replace fossil fuels anytime soon, but the thinking behind this contest has to appreciated – kudos to Mercedes for taking a risk on a crazy idea that might just be a big hit.

You can follow the action and participate on their Facebook page here:http://www.facebook.com/mercedesbenzusa

PhoneDog /Cost Plus World Market

The exact opposite of Mercedes, these contests are simple and straightforward: “Like” PhoneDog or Cost Plus World Market on Facebook and automatically get entered to win hundreds of prizes worth close to a half million bucks. Rather than a traditional sweepstakes that helps companies build a database for mailers/e-mail that people often ignore, these companies will get new fans on Facebook to see every update they post. To topi it off, they also get a measurable audience with built-in analytics and an impressive follower number that will make them even more appealing to potential followers.

You can like these companies here:

http://www.facebook.com/worldmarket

http://www.facebook.com/worldmarkethttp://www.facebook.com/phonedog

Audi

Audi will seek out and reward 10 of their social media fans with the “most original and numerous” posts before the Super Bowl with trips and other expensive prizes. However, much like selling cookies or wrapping paper in grade school, this contest rewards elbow grease for social media users. It also levels the playing field by not counting impressions, just posts, so you don’t have to be @ParisHilton to have a shot at winning.

To participate, just start tweeting and Facebook posting about Audi – simple enough!

Posted in Advertising, Atlanta, Brand Awareness, Conversation, Events, Media, Social Media, Television | No Comments »

How to manage (and not mismanage) your branded Twitter handle – Part 2

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Continuing from my last post, here are a few more general guidelines and pointers on what to do (and not do) with your brand’s Twitter handle.

Do: ReTweet, Don’t: Repeat Tweet

ReTweeting is great. Repeat Tweeting is not.

ReTweeting is sharing someone else’s tweet with your followers – it helps spread ideas that are worth spreading and engages others to become followers. ReTweet relevant tweets often.

Repeat Tweeting is sending out the same or very similar tweets from your own handle to increase the chance of visibility among your followers. It is ok in small doses, but carries brand-damaging potential if done in excess. Twitterati @GuyKawasaki, founder of AllTop, endorses repeat tweeting just three times over the course of 16 hours, and even this modest repetition has vocal opponents. Repeating tweets will get your message in front of more followers, but may turn off followers who get the message more than once or twice.

Pointers on avoiding Repeat Tweeting:

  • Tweet during the highest traffic times to get your message heard. People typically check their Twitter feeds before and after work and during lunch. Tweet between 7-9 a.m., 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. in the time zone of your biggest markets to reach the largest audience.
  • Break up multiple tweets. If you’re promoting a contest or event and need to spread the word, rephrase each repeat tweet and buffer each one with tweets on other topics.
  • If you do it right, your followers will ReTweet for you. Share something your followers are interested in and watch the RTs multiply organically.

Do: Engage potential followers and provide incentive to follow, Don’t: Just sit there

Unless you’re an A-list celebrity, don’t count on people seeking you out and following your brand on Twitter. Like any startup, getting your Twitter handle off the ground requires

Pointers on getting others to follow you on Twitter:

  • Go to where the conversation is. Chances are that people are already talking about your brand or subjects related to it somewhere on Twitter, so find them using keywords and hashtags. Teusner Wine, a small Australian winery registered @Teusnerwine last January and started searching wine-related terms, following influential wine tweeters and engaging people tweeting about wine. They now have more than 7,500 followers.
  • Engage, don’t sell. Dave Brookes manages the @Teusnerwine handle, and says that he tries to keep conversations relaxed and steers clear of sales. “This is about building trust as well as relationships—and that comes from not selling.”
  • Offer something of value. Giveaways, contests, fan votes and exclusive content all provide incentive to follow your brand on Twitter. If you fill your feed with opportunities to influence your brand, win freebies and get brand announcements before they go to anyone else, people will follow.

Posted in Brand Awareness, Internet, Social Media | 1 Comment »

How to manage (and not mismanage) your branded Twitter handle – Part 1

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Congratulations, you just registered @MyBrand and you’re now officially on Twitter. Now it’s time to gain ground on the notoriously fickle medium, carefully script tweets to sound like they aren’t scripted and explain to your boss why you don’t have 10,000 followers after your first week.

Good luck – here are a few general guidelines and pointers on what to do (and not do) with your brand’s Twitter handle.

Do: Write Tweets in a casual, friendly tone of voice, Don’t: Use Webspeak

Business speak is unwieldy, cumbersome and difficult to fit into 140 characters, and a medium like Twitter calls for a more conversational, friendly voice, so cutting and pasting from press releases isn’t effective on Twitter.

It is, however, not difficult to go from friendly and conversational to writing in Webspeak where all ur tweets lik dis n til no1 gets wat ur saying. If you think using Webspeak will help you reach a younger consumer base, take a look at three youth-oriented brands with more than 1.5 million followers each: Zappos.com online shoe store (@Zappos), Woot.com discount website (@Woot) and Threadless t-shirts (@Threadless) all use correct grammar and spelling. So there.

Do: Respond and follow for customer feedback, inquiries and complaints, Don’t: Respond to/follow everyone

Twitter is an amazing customer service and insight tool that allows companies to directly connect with their customers in real-time, receive valuable consumer feedback and get heads up on issues before they become problems. Jet Blue, the New York-based airline, joined Twitter in 2007 to help with customer service after they realized their customers were Tweeting about travel problems via smartphones and laptops at the airport. Today, @JetBlue has 1.6 million followers and the handle serves as a primary customer service resource.

Of course, not all tweets are constructive. Between spammers, hashtaggers, stalkers and swearaholics (more here), your feed can get bogged down with off-topic or unwanted messages. Responding to these messages or following their authors increase the noise that obscures your brand.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Twitter tips for your brand……

Posted in Brand Awareness, Internet, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The BCS Controversy is Good for your Brand

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

via UPI.com

As week one of the 2010-11 college football season approaches, mention the Bowl Championship Series to a typical fan and get ready for a lecture.

It’s unfair, it favors perennial heavyweights without giving up-and-coming teams a chance or it’s a shameless money-making scheme for the conferences and TV networks are all common complaints. After all, Utah destroyed Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl and was the only undefeated team that season, the 2007 LSU squad was the first 2-loss champion in college football history and, let’s be honest, Ohio State didn’t deserve to be in the same stadium as Florida in 2006.

But the BCS has managed, inadvertently or otherwise, to do what every other college or professional sport wishes it could – it generates conversation after the championship game is over.

Controversy breeds conversation, and no sport ends its season more contentiously than college football. In every other major sport, only one team wins their last game of the post-season, and they are declared the league champion. In college football, half the teams win their last game.

How is this good for college football? People talk. They talk about who would’ve won if the BCS champion played the winner of the 3-4 match-up or how their team’s defensive scheme could’ve stopped the BCS champion when their opponent couldn’t. And they don’t forget – Auburn fans still talk about their 2004 snub and Boise State will remind anyone listening that they’ve been undefeated since 2008 without any serious BCS Championship consideration.

But most importantly, they watch. Whether to fuel their ire or rectify last season’s injustices, college football fans will forever tune in next season to see what happens.

The proof is in the numbers – 17.7 percent of U.S. television viewers watched Alabama and Texas play in the BCS Championship game in January, as compared with 12.8 percent who watched the NBA Finals, 11.7 percent who watched the World Series, 9.7 percent who watched the Final Four and 4.7 percent who watched the Stanley Cup Finals. Only the Super Bowl has better ratings.

Controversy is not always bad, even though we’ve been tempered by oil spills and stuck gas pedals to think it so. Controversy begets discussion and spurs otherwise ambivalent parties to action. While not fit for every brand or every situation, an ounce of controversy can be worth a pound of traditional PR.

Just ask Burger King. In early 2009, the company rolled out the “Whopper Sacrifice,” a Facebook application that rewarded users with a coupon for a free Whopper for every 10 friends they “defriended” on Facebook. Rather than allow an anonymous defriending, the application also alerted each defriended victim that they had been ditched for a free Whopper. Despite its controversial purpose, the application was extremely well-received by Facebook users, resulting in the defriending of 233,906 friends in less than a week (before it was shut down by Facebook for “privacy reasons”). Burger King also received extensive press coverage and incited debate among brand experts and consumers about whether it was ethical to promote and reward anti-social behavior in social media.

Burger King took a product it has sold since 1957 and used controversy to reinvigorate its brand awareness more than 50 years later. The sandwich was exactly the same and the price hadn’t changed, but the campaign generated hundreds of millions of impressions featuring the Whopper.

Squeaky clean PR has its place, especially if your company’s line of work invites controversy to begin with or is in a heavily regulated industry. But if you’re hawking burgers or the BCS, controversy may just work for you and your brand.

Posted in Brand Awareness, Conversation, Sports | No Comments »