Thomas Says | Search

These days when people have something negative to say about a brand they don’t just moan about it to a few friends, they take to the internet to broadcast their displeasure. This is an issue for brands because bad news travels fast – the average person has around 120 Facebook friends (not to mention Twitter followers). Consumers are also becoming savvy about this, they know how to make sure the brand sees their tweets and they know that a complaint posted on a brand’s Facebook wall will be picked up more quickly than one emailed directly to the company.

Once the consumer has vented the brand must decide how to react. Sometimes the best plan is to ignore the complaint (if it seems unreasonable for example) but generally speaking, ignoring the problem will make it worse. Most brands will discreetly contact the consumer and try and sort out the complaint behind the scenes. Other brands however will try to turn a negative into a s positive which requires a bit of effort and creative thinking (or a free voucher).

Case Study: Glasses Direct

I recently had some problems I had with an order with Glasses Direct. I sent my sunglasses off to them to have new lenses put in but when they returned they were wonky, one of the arms had been damaged. I sent the glasses back but when they were returned to me they were still wonky. This annoyed me so I tweeted about it:

Glasses Direct replied, as I expected they would, with a tweet saying that they would look into my complaint. Then a few hours later they send my the following tweet:

Which contained a link to this video:

The result was 300 views, 20 retweets, a link from my Facebook page and a little boost of positive press. If you were being cynical you might suggest that the video might have been motivated by the fact that my Twitter account is linked to this blog with posts about Social Media but hey, it worked. The video put a smile on my face and turned a negative situation into a positive one.

The Secret (is not a secret).

The moral of the story obviously isn’t to make a video for every unhappy customer, but to carefully judge the situation. If the complaint was more serious a funny video might make it even worse (Stop making videos and sort my order out!). The secret is to:

• Acknowledge the complaint
• Apologize for the problem
• Take control of the situation
• Explain how you are going to fix the problem
• Fix it

These aren’t actually secrets of course, this is exactly what you would need to do if you worked in a high street shop. The only difference with Social Media is that you must be quick (time moves faster on the internet) and you must be seen to fix the problem. Social Media sites are public places, if you resolve a complaint make sure you make this clear (“Just checked your account – we’re going to sort out a new frame for you…”) so that everyone who sees the tweet/post knows that the problem is being solved.

It’s one of those phrases that makes me feel a little bit nauseous but it is good practice to “own the problem”. Introduce yourself and make it clear that you are going to be responsible for finding a solution and preventing it from happening again. Don’t pass the blame or get someone else to sort the problem – you are now the customer’s point of contact.

The Importance of Word of Mouth

The most important point is to fix the problem, whatever it takes as this is the only way to make the consumer trust you again.  If you don’t you risk losing more than just one customer. Consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know more than any other factor when deciding what to buy:

When asked what sources “influence your decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product” 71% claim reviews from family members or friends exert a “great deal” or “fair amount” of influence. (Harris Interactive, June 2010)

The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010)

In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)

between 10% and 24% of [US] social media users turned to social networks when making purchase decisions about various categories of products and services. (eMarketer, October 2009)

Stats via Bazaar Voice

Ask anybody to name a successful Social Media campaign right now and they will probably mention Old Spice. Old Spice’s The Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign staring Isaiah Mustafa certainly got a lot of attention online but how successful was it? The graph below showing the rise in Google searches for “Old Spice” suggests increased interest but is this enough?

Shortly after the campaign finished many blogs including Time.com’s News Feed were reporting that sales of Old Spice body wash had actually fallen by seven percent. This figure spread quickly and created a lot of debate. Had Wieden + Kennedy’s campaign not increased sales at all? Had it actually had a negative impact on sales? In actual fact the sales figures quoted were out of date, revised figures (which have yet to be confirmed) suggest a 107 percent increase in sales.

Is online buzz enough without increased sales figures?

Would we still consider this campaign a success if the original reports about reduced sales figures had been correct? Is increasing awareness of you brand a reasonable ROI for a campaign this large? Personally I would still have considered this campaign successful although Old Spice might have, depending on what they were looking to achieve. It certainly got people talking about and engaging with the brand. The viewing figures of the videos, Twitter mentions, video embeds etc. were at the levels most brand created ‘viral videos’ could only dream of. It will be interesting to see what Old Spice do next to capitalise on the brand’s improved reputation.

The campaign was forward thinking, fun and clearly created by people who understand how the internet works. Creating videos for internet celebrities such as Perez Hilton and Digg’s Kevin Rose was a cunning plan, how could they not share the content with their readers when everyone had gone Old Spice mad? The videos made Old Spice seem like a cool, modern brand if even if most of were left wondering if Old Spice body wash still smelt like our granddads.

Having attended the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Social Media Party last week  I thought that it might be a good idea to kick things off on this blog with a summary of what was discussed during the event.

The day took the theme of a party with each of those presenting following this theme to some extent. This helped to tie together the different elements of a successful Social Media campaign although it did lead to a few over-stretched metaphors! I will cover two of the six talks in detail today, for a great overview on everything presented head over to Roberto Kusabbi’s blog rktalks. For another perspective check out Johnny Gedye’s post on the subject.

Inviting the cool kids: getting the right people to talk about your brand in the right way.

This was the discussion I was most interested in beforehand. Working in Natural Search my job often involves engaging with bloggers in a number of different verticals and I was keen to know how they feel about being approached. As a blogger myself I am well aware that unsolicited contact can be viewed with suspicion and that bloggers are very protective over their online presence and their readership so this is a tricky subject.

This discussion was chaired by James Whatley who is the Director of Engagement of 1000heads. Three bloggers joined him to talk about their experiences: Mr Holy Moly of holymoly.com, Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review and Rowena Fan of Cosmetics Candy. Here are some of the points raised:

• Bloggers like free stuff. This one is obvious but it is a good reminder that people respond to incentives of all kinds. Personal incentives are also worth considering: flattery is always worth a try.

• Bloggers want to be contacted personally (by name) by people who have a good understanding of their blog and their audience. Generic press releases about irrelevant events or products will largely be ignored.

• Bloggers will reply if they want to. Don’t keep hounding people and getting in contact too often, if you haven’t had a reply it might be for a good reason.

• Bloggers (like Ewan Maclead) might have day jobs. Consider when you are contacting them and be aware that they might be working to a different timetable than you.

• Bloggers like Social Media press releases. These should contain blog ready content such as images, quotes and a link to more information. The less work the blogger has to do the more inclined they will be to get involved.

• Bloggers (at least those who were present) are happy to be contacted via Twitter. This is probably best done once you have formed a relationship with them.

• Bloggers want to feel special. Exclusive content shows that you value the blogger you are engaging with and don’t just see them as a host for your press releases. If you are sending video content considering giving different clips to each person you contact.

• Bloggers (or perhaps just Mr Holy Moly) don’t care about embargoes and enjoy breaking them.

Picking the right venue – how do you decide the best social media property for your brand?

This talk was given by Ted Hunt of Innocent drinks whose laid back presenting style was free of marketing jargon and quickly won over the audience. Innocent approach their Social Media campaign with the same humor and imagination their offline marketing is known for and with an emphasis on communication.

Ted told us that Innocent are happy for their Social Media presence to grow slowly, gaining followers in a sustainable way. They aren’t interested in quick wins and traffic spikes, they want to engage with people over time. They find that their social media campaigns gain interest slowly but constantly build rather than peaking and fading away as traditional campaigns might. Ted used the metaphor of a pair of trainers which look better as they age, wearing in rather than wearing out.

Wear in not out

Innocent primarily use Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr as well as having their own blog. With the exception of blog hosting (and presumably Ted’s wages) they spend very little money on Social Media, everything seems to be done in house. I got the impression that they don’t try to track ROI, they simply treat Social Media as a vital part of their marketing strategy.

Innocent see their blog as a window onto their company letting customers see what is going on behind the scenes. They operate in a transparent manner that lets people feel that they know the brand and this leads to them feeling a connection.  It’s clear that Innocent want to engage with people and don’t just have a web presence because they feel like they should. Listening to Ted talk I got the impression that Innocent’s Social Media campaign evolved naturally rather than being mapped out in advance but this might just be part of the plan. What is clear is that their campaign fits their brand perfectly and works well for them.