Motrin offends Mothers

With the US Presidential election over, painkiller medication Motrin made some waves on twitter this week. I've never heard of Motrin until now.

This is the ad that sparked the controversy from mothers on twitter, friendfeed, blogosphere and Youtube. Eventually it made it into mainstream media. The Mothers who took offense thought the ad was condescending and thought that wearing a sling wasn't a "fashion statement".




Responses to the Ad:




I'm not a mother so I didn't find it offensive but there were some interesting conversations that took place very quickly on twitter. Whether you agree or not, the conversation is taking place online.

Lessons:

Test the waters before you release such a campaign, Motrin says "We Feel Your Pain" You can only feel someone's pain when you really understand their world. Take the time to learn about your audience. Spend time with them. Show them what your campaign team is thinking of doing. You'll be surprised what they'd come up with.

Motrin have now removed the ad and apologised. I believe this is still a fantastic opportunity for Motrin to listen and respond to all if necessary. Plan another campaign, but this time include some of the people who have voiced their opinion. Imagine how that would go. One thing is for sure - we've heard of Motrin now!

Obama addresses the American people each week why can't CEOs of companies do the same?

Obama's first weekly youtube chat clearly marks a new era of 21st century American Presidency from the Whitehouse. He's staying true to what he promised and that is connecting with his people at the grassroot level.





I hear a lot about transparency and authenticity in my social media business travels, but deep down companies are still nervous about putting themselves out there in fear of what people may say about them.

Brands embracing social media have a headstart compared to those that are still deciding or may never join.

I believe transparency is one of the most important competitive advantages a Company can have for attracting customers or employees.

What do you think?

New Zealand Insurance Roadside Assistance

When was the last time you experienced AMAZING service?

First Vlog

I wanted to share with you where I'm going to be the next couple of weeks. We've met some amazing people in Christchurch and great news we're going back next week. Hope you're all well and I look forward to sharing my next post with you next time.

A summary:

• Monday, August 4th, 7:30am - 9:30am, at Lowndes Associates‘ Business Intelligence Workshop, at the Stamford Plaza in Albert Street, Auckland. Subject is “Online Strategies for Non-Online Businesses” Bookings here.
• Thursday, August 7th, 12pm-2pm, at the Marketing Association’s Southern Luncheon at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, 161 Cashel Street, Christchurch. Subject: Making Sense of Social Media. Bookings here.
• Wednesday, August 13th, 2:30-3pm as part of the day-long Digital Future Now summit, at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland. I’ll be on a panel with Paul Reynolds and Nicholas O’Flaherty discussing how social media can help business. Bookings here.
• Monday, September 15th, 4:15-5pm as part of the day-long 6th Annual Media Relations Conference at the Wellington Town Hall. I’m chairing a “champagne roundtable” (hic!) on exploring the potential of social media. Bookings here.
• Tuesday, September 16th, 1:30pm-5pm in a workshop entitled Blogs: Friend or Foe? Also at the Wellington Town Hall. Bookings here.

And if you can’t make it to any of these, we’ll still be producing the weekly Jump In video podcast, and appearing from time to time on Radio NZ National’s Virtual World segment with Jim Mora.

Web 2.O Customers

How do I stay in contact with my customers? How do I provide a platform that's easy for them to communicate with me?

These are some popular questions I come across in my travels when speaking to clients. Why are these important questions? It's because there's so many online communities customers identify with now. There are over 350 social media sites and growing. And they're attracting people because it's appealing to their interests. It may be books, pets, cars, clothes, environment, cultural art, business and the lists goes on.

Regardless of what industry you're in, you need to be asking yourself these questions and I'm sure the answers have changed since you last checked.

My question to you: Does your static website draw customers to your brand?

If the answer is No, then you may need to consider experimenting with some social media tools to leverage your current marketing strategy.

I've included a diagram that we use in our presentation which is one of many ways you can get your message out there and how you can strategically tie it back to your website if you have a web 1.0 website.

Where do you start? You can start by having a blog, which is just what you're reading.

Mitre 10 Mega

Have you ever been in a store half an hour before closing time and you feel hurried along?

I was looking for a solution to repair scratches on our wooden floors. I knew a big store like Mitre 10 Mega would be the place to go.

In a matter of minutes a friendly staff asked if I needed help. I explained what I was looking for he said he wasn't the expert the guy who was has gone home.

In a few minutes the staff member said it didn't look like they had anything. I perservered, after all I've traveled a fair way to get here. I found what I was looking for. I saw the staff member on the way to the checkout and told him I found the tube, he wanted to know where so I took him to the aisle.

When I got to the checkout I noticed the packaging was falling apart so I asked if I could exchange it with another one. The response was..."hurry we're closing in 5 minutes".

Some ideas:

• I say this quite a lot and will always say it, training and company culture has everything to do with how your staff delivers great customer service everytime!
  

Involving the Floor Manager to remind staff members about the importance of delivering great customer service everytime is crucial. Remind your people every morning how much you value them before the doors open (this takes 5 minutes). It's a great excuse to rally together and speak to each other before the day starts. You'd be surprised how much fuel this adds to your team.

Besides, you've paid thousands of dollars to bring the customers through your doors so don't forget to major on the customers. You'd be amazed how a smile and a polite team can increase your sales

• Sorry it's not my department I don't know if I can help you

Help the customer anyway (the customer doesn't need to know the internal story I just need someone who can help me) If you don't know, ask someone who can! Tell the customer what you can do not what you can't!

• Hurry we close in 5 minutes
  

I don't need to say anymore please don't say this, let your customer exchange the goods and wait for them.

That's me for this week. Whatever your industry go out there and makes your customers day!

I hope I catch you delivery great service if I don't, we'll share some ideas on how to improve them. Let's make the world of customer service a great one!

Photo courtesy snil

McDonald quick to upsize but....

I went to order breakfast this morning at McDonalds. And I asked if I could have everything on a breakfast combo except the sausages. I don't eat sausages I wanted cereal instead and I mentioned that I'll pay the difference. The girl behind the counter spoke to her manager about it. And she said no we can't do that but I could choose what hot drink I wanted.


What McDonalds do very well

• McDonalds talks about nutrition, they promote lite choices on their menus which is fantastic!
  
• They talk about catering to "individual tastes and dietary needs" on their website
• They talk about constantly reviewing their food
• Excellent, so far so good
  

Wouldn't it be great if....

• They followed through on what the say
  
• They understood what the definition of the word "individual" means
• They followed through and actually cater to customers dietary needs

Suggestions....

• Train your frontline people including your Managers to provide customer service that supports your external brand and marketing messages. (You don't want to be a bucket with thousands of little holes)
• Give your staff empowerment to think outside the square sometimes
  
• Your frontline people can make or break your business whether you're a giant like McDonalds or Mr B selling fish & chips down the road
• Everyone in your company should be singing from the same page if they don't it's a bad song and no one sticks around
• Do not underestimate customer service
  
• You spend so much time and money working on the visuals, words, the creative brief, the ads, the website. So think delivery
  
• McDonalds has a nice website, nice pictures, nice words but they forget how the customer should be treated when they walk through your doors
• Providing excellent customer service builds a lasting customer brand experience and it's the cherrie on that beautiful cake you took so long to bake
  

I'd be interested to hear your feedback or thoughts. Is McDonald in this space? This is another reason why brands should have an online presence because this is where the conversation is happening.

Photo credit: Dr Max

Have you experienced bad or good customer service? I'd love to hear from you.

You deserve what you get.....

A friend made a tasty Korean stir fry for us tonight. And as we enjoyed the meal and discussed all sorts of issues about business we just couldn't escape talking about the good and bad customer service/relationships we've experienced lately.

I don't know whether this subject follows me or I it but I can't seem to get away from it. That's why I'm excited to be here!

The companies that we discussed ranged from small to medium businesses and large firms. What amazed me the most were the stories (positive and negative) we easily recited as if they happened seconds before we met.

Conclusion before I go to bed: You may think that when you provide crappy service we've forgotten about it, tonight proved we had memories like elephants.

Better to spend energy and creative thinking on making a positive impression than a wrong one Marie Young

Photo courtesy of MReece