Social media is about the now, about the networking and the conversations positive or negative that we have with people who share our work and interests. And for consumers that is power. Consumers can now complain and find people who share their grievances with specific companies, brands or products.
Think about this, ‘positive news stories are repeated on average 3 times, while negative stories can be repeated up to 11 times’. On twitter and social media platforms though the figures for repeating negative experiences is far, far higher.
Just imagine what would happen if somebody who’s on Twitter has a bad experience with a brand. Chances are that they’ll share that with their network, some of whom will have empathy and re-share this with their own network. And so it starts, at the drop of a tweet, a brand can find itself at the centre of a maelstrom.
Companies and brands are now more sensitive that ever before to consumer criticism, which is why they are investing marketing and communications budget on social media.
But because social media is about real-time conversations, it also helps in brand development and product promotion. The walls that divided consumers and brands are blurring.
Since it was founded in February 2009 Media140 has focused on exploring the impact of social and real-time media in media, marketing and communications.
The first event in May focused on how social media is changing journalism, while the second this Monday, 26 October will look at how brands are using social media to stay ahead of the competition.
A full day of debate will touch on the pro-active use of social media for brands as well the power that consumers have and how brands can protect themselves from, well, themselves and the bad customer service that irates us all.
Guest speakers include Media140 founder, Ande Gregson, Head of Customer Experience for Easyjet Paul Hopkins, Daljit Bhurji, Managing Director of PR Week’s 2009 New Consultancy of the Year Diffusion PR and Hill & Knowlton’s Director of Planning Candace Kuss.
I’ll be blogging and tweeting from the event, so follow my twitter feed and visit us from 09.00 GMT.
And if you have any questions then tweet or email me.
Reward your customers and save your reputation, the O2 way
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Apple
Britain is a country with little focus on customer care. In fact for many UK businesses rewarding customers for their spend and loyalty appears to be an after thought. Rarely do companies invest in their customers so to get them to do the ‘word-of-mouth’ sale on their behalf, which as we know is the best endorsement and way to get new customers in.
Just look at UK mobile phone operator O2, which yesterday released details of it’s pricing policy for the Apple’s much anticipated iPhone 3GS, over which it has exclusive UK rights. The sting wasn’t the 18-month fee of between £96 and £274 depending on your tariff, but the cost for current customers who signed up for the minimum term this time last year. Existing customers were told that they would have to pay for the remaining terms of their existing iPhone 3G contracts, which could be anything over £150. All very different to when O2 offered a free upgrade from the first iPhone to the current hand-set.
You would have thought that pricing policy for such a desirable product would have been developed whereby existing customers aren’t made to feel hostage. In fact, the sweets have been offered to new customers while existing ones are being ignored. A big mistake given that many O2 iPhone users have turned against the company, complaining not just about its pricing policy but it’s lamentable 3G nationwide coverage, to name but a few points.
You wonder why the company didn’t think of empowering its customers with new models so to reward them and encourage them to further promote the company and brand to others. Blogs though are being written picking on all of O2s issues, working to dissuade customers from switching to a company that cares little for their users.
The #O2fail hashtag and Twitition on Twitter have over 2100 people signed-up. And the blogosphere is certainly working hard to knock O2 where it hurts. The media is also running stories, with The Daily Telegraph and Sky News highlighting the concerns from loyal customers.
As it stands and having set a populist precedent with the free upgrade between the first and second generation iPhone O2 have a lot to do to stop the steady stream of complains. It takes a lot to build a reputation and it looks like they’ve forgotten the golden rule of ‘looking after our customers’ first.
Tags: #o2fail, apple, brand, iPhone, loyalty, mobile, o2, pricing, reputation, rewards, telecomms
Posted in comment, consumer, media, mobile, news, pr | 2 Comments »