Social Media Marketing and Communication (Original blog post 3)

There is no doubt that advertisement in one way or the other is a means of communication so its no surprise that the social media technologies in turn have revolutionized marketing and advertisement in general.
Today, any business that is not on at least one of the social media platforms is simply a joke and isn't a business to be taken seriously.. I for one will tell you i can not purchase any product or service from any company with out a social media presence. I know a statement like that sounds arrogant but truth be told, todays world is one of reviews and feedback. How is any company with out a social media presence able to avail its customers with these services. Reviews in a way hold any business to a certain standard and feedback enables the companies know what their clients want.
Your average business or company for that matter in todays' world is like a person with a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account. This might seem a little much to many people but the average.

Time spent on social media sites and the demographics.

As you can probably imagine when social media technologies had just come out to every one they simply felt like kids play. but as you have it today even the crept keepers (the old) are all getting online. In fact for the most part the younger generation is getting off Facebook because their grand parents and parents have Facebook accounts. I mean who would want that crazy shot of you throwing up on the side walk seen by your grand dad?

Given the large numbers of people on social media networks many business, organizations etc have joined the different social media sites. Now their biggest challenge is being human.
It is one thing to have social media presence and it's another to have you customers or your audience constantly engaged..

Customers want to relate, be accepted and noticed. Many businesses are catching on, some restaurants now accept "tweet ahead seating". Businesses are infusing their social media presence with life and acknowledging the need of their customers.

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

The American cancer society is a good example of an organization that has humanized their social media presence.  They feature everyday people on social media and in their youtube videos in their quest to raise money to cure cancer

They actively reach out in many ways and connect with people through active involvement. An example is hosting a Google HOA with GE Healthcare to talk about cancer prevention. They also reach out and feature actual survivors in much of their content.

SOCIAL MEDIA COULD DESTROY YOUR BRAND... Final Presentation.

Domino's Pizza.. faced one of the biggest fears any brand could face. In April 2009 social media fostered a sudden and wide spread attack on Domino's pizza after two of their rogue employees came up with a rather unpleasant idea of a prank.

The  employees who were  regular Joe's in Conover N.C soon known to the world people..

As you can can imagine the Dominos was going suffering a PR night mare and thats to say the least. the groundswell had gained momentum. 

The disgusting youtube clip of one employee making pizza that is to be delivered with  cheese that they had just stuck up their nose had hit a 250,000views.

on the first day it was posted on consumerist.com

  

THE RESPONSE: 

Domino's VP of communications at the time Tim Mclntyre, quickly convened a response team to address the crisis.

First , Mclntyre's response team addressed the consumer safety issues, targeting mainstream media,blogs and employees; firing the employees in question; and notifying the local health department and police. 

Next the response team targeted a wider audience on Twitter  to address consumer questions; posted a public apology by the president  of Dominos on youtube ; and took legal action to have the original video removed from youtube.

The Results:

Mr Mclntyre's seemed to be effective. within the first 24 hours it had addressed  the key health issues, the videos and postings and with in another 48, Domino's started to engage a wider public audience in a dialogue and released a video from the CEO directly addressing the crisis.

Despite the effectiveness of Domino's response video , which garnered almost as may views as the remaining copy of the prank video within one week,mainstream media and blogs cited Domino's response as "Sluggish."

While the CEO's response video hit 300,000 views on you tube Domino's  image was still tainted and it still had a lot to do before it could regain the publics trust 

The Take away:

Every brand should establish a crisis response plan and social media infrastructure before a crisis happens, ensure employees at any level know that online misbehavior can result in offline consequences. As a brand ensure your legal team is prepared to communicate with digital platforms if unsavory copyrighted material needs to be removed..