The Red Cross, a Rogue tweet, and a PR Disaster Turned Marketer's Dream

Back in 2011, Gloria Huang was a young social media specialist working with the Red Cross. She also just so happened to be a fan of craft beer. Why does that matter? Well, with the simple push of the "post" button she let over 2 million fans of the Red Cross know of her passion for good beer and her penchant for getting "slizzerd" with her friends. The post was meant for her personal account.

 

Above is the "rogue" tweet Gloria mistakenly sent out via the American Red Cross' Twitter handle. It wasn't long - about an hour - before someone at the Red Cross realized the mistake and it was deleted. However, in the social media world an hour is plenty long enough for people to take notice. The post was re-tweeted and plenty of American Red Cross fans were left scratching their heads and wondering what #gettngslizzerd had to do with saving lives. What happened next is a great example of how two companies took advantage of the mistake and turned it into something positive.

The Red Cross deleted the "rogue" tweet and apologized with the Tweet above

After deleting the "rogue" tweet, The Red Cross acted quickly and posted a tongue-in-cheek apology. Acknowledging the gaff while also making light of the situation allowed the organization to turn a potential PR nightmare into a story that went viral. The Red Cross received a ton of mentions across the digital landscape and their reputation suffered little to any harm. In fact, they actually benefited from the mistake!

Recognizing the opportunity to chime in on their mention in the post and support The Red Cross and its mission, Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery responded. They reached out to The Red Cross and had them set up a special page where fans could make donations and they encouraged their followers to do so - while also using the hashtag #gttngslizzerd

 

Dogfish Head Brewery took advantage of involvement in the tweet and came to the aid of The Red Cross

In the end, Gloria didn't lose her job (rightfully so) and she blamed the tweeting error on a lack of HootSuite experience. Putting things in perspective, Wendy Harman of The Red Cross stated, "Listen, we deal with huge, natural disasters all the time… this really isn't that huge." (Wasserman, 2011)

 

Reviewing the The National Labor Relations Act and Workplace Social Media Policies, this example most likely falls under #9, Employers remain entitled to enforce important workplace policies, even in the context of social media. Granted, this was a post made in error but irregardless the content certainly did not comply with the organization's workplace policies...unless getting slizzerd is okay at The Red Cross (but I doubt it is).

 

If Gloria Huang's post about getting slizzerd had been sent from her personal Twitter account nobody would have ever batted an eye. Because it went out from the official Twitter handle for The American Red Cross it was quite a different story. When it comes to applying guidelines for employee's own use of social media the following National Labor Relations Act and Workplace Social Media Policies are most important: Opinions are largely protected. and Employers remain entitled to enforce important workplace policies, even in the context of social media. The two guidelines protect both the employee and the company. (Halpem, 2012)

 

When representing their company or organization, employees should be expected to follow the following guidelines; Employers may prohibit employee “rants.” and Confidentiality clauses should be narrowly tailored. (Halpem) These two guidelines protect the company from defamation as well as preventing competitors from gaining knowledge that could have major consequences.

 

 

Sources:

Here's To #gettngslizzered With The Red Cross. (2011, February 16). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/mariah/heres-to-gettngslizzered-with-the-red-cross.htm





Halpem, S. (2012, December 3). When is Your Company's Social Media Policy an Unfair Labor Practice? Recent NLRB Decisions Offer Long-Awaited Guidance for Employers | The National Law Review. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/when-your-company-s-social-media-policy-unfair-labor-practice-recent-nlrb-decisions-

Wasserman, T. (2011, February 16). Red Cross Does PR Disaster Recovery on Rogue Tweet. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://mashable.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-tweet/

Taco Bell Si, Yo Hablo Buyer Persona

I haven't been to a Taco Bell in years. Since the last time I made a run for the border the fast food chain was still selling nothing but tacos, burritos, and something they sadly tried to play off as nachos. In recent years though they've added a ton of new menu items that are not quite Mexican and not quite Martian. You can now even grab breakfast at Taco Bell, I'm not saying you should, but you can. They've apparently also sold over a million of their Doritos Locos Tacos and I've still not had one (yet). So, whereas I might not be the target audience for late night tacos or chalupas, or early morning A.M. Crunch Wraps, Taco Bell does know that audience well and they do a great job connecting with it online.

Taco Bell's buyer persona is young, hip, and tech savvy

A quick scan of Taco Bell's social media helps paint a picture of the fast food company's key buyer persona. There are pictures of teens, tweens, and twenty-somethings in carefully staged photos. They are young, energetic, plugged in, and tech savvy. They're happy being full for $5 and for the most part they're not overly concerned with calories. Why would they be? They're young and hip and are up for something new and perhaps even just a bit loco. They want to stay connected. They want the latest Taco Bell App, and they want to enjoy life and being young.

In David Meerman Scott's book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, he mentions the importance of "understanding what their buyer persona wants to believe" about an organization (Scott, 2013) For Taco Bell, the main message they deliver via their social media is that they are different and their customers are too. Taco Bell is not another burger joint and if you eat at Taco Bell you're part of a different type of crowd.

Taco Bell does an excellent job reaching that crowd via simple social media posts, re-posts, and plenty of giveaways. They speak the lingo of teens and tweens and they have a fun and lighthearted approach to connecting with their followers. A great example is their current drive to get a taco added as an emoji option for smart phone users. Whether or not that ever happens doesn't really matter, but its a rallying point for followers. Overall, Taco Bell has really benefited from moving beyond that little dog...



One company that doesn't do a whole lot when it comes to advertising and promotion is Trader Joe's. The grocery store chain has managed to depend almost solely on word of mouth and mailed paper flyers. I feel that Trader Joe's could benefit from making more consumers aware of how reasonable their prices are along with the quality of what they offer.

Many of the same shoppers that go to my local Whole Foods also go to Trader Joe's for a number of different things...just not all their groceries. One specific buyer persona I would focus on if I were the company's social media coordinator would be the young professional who is looking for a good deal but who might also be health conscious. This persona also includes young parents that are buying food for their children.

Trader Joe's has cheap (and good) wine, does everyone know this?

To help attract this target audience with this buyer persona, I'd first work to develop a blogging platform that could be utilized by each Trader Joe's branch as I feel people have an attachment to their local store and not to the company. Blog posts would be broadcast via Twitter and Facebook (again, these would be location specific accounts). I'd make sure to include lots of pictures of young men and women and couples with a wide variety of products as well as young children enjoying Trader Joe's products for kids. Where applicable I'd show images of the wine and beer sections to showcase the deals and one less stop on the way home.

As far as measuring the success of this marketing  and social media initiative goes, I'd first go with some analytics to see page load stats for the blogs themselves and then check Facebook page numbers and Twitter followers. It should be fairly straightforward. More than anything I'd want to show that developing this buyer persona was drawing in like-minded shoppers that perhaps had not been engaged with the Trader Joe's brand in the past.

Sources:

Scott, D. (2013). The new rules of marketing & PR: How to use social media, online 
video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, & viral marketing to reach buyers 
directly (3rd ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.

Building Trust: Transparency is No Longer Negotiable

 

One of the biggest lessons in this week's readings has to do with the value of transparency. In recent years a power shift has occurred thanks to the social media revolution. No longer can a company hide within the safe confines of its corporate walls while it relies on a PR firm and a strong legal team to handle the rare issues that warrant such involvement. In today's marketplace a company must be prepared to engage with consumers  on a daily basis at their level, openly, and honestly or risk serious damage to their reputations (and potentially their bottom lines). The power now lies with the people.

As Dave Kerpen puts it in his book Likeable Social Media,

"Honesty and transparency build a direct relationship between you and the customer, and any deviation from these values can erode brand trust forever."

Considering what we've learned about the importance of honesty and transparency, in your blog post this week please...

Provide an example of an organization/business/company that does a great job being honest, trustworthy and transparent in their social media interactions with their fans and/or critics.

• Is their honesty and transparency something their social media fans notice and comment on?
• Do you feel it provides them with a competitive edge?
• Can you provide a specific example where they've had a positive impact in a social media setting through their honesty/transparency? Perhaps even turned a negative situation into a positive one (such as the "From Foe of FiOS to a Fan of FiOS" example on p.81)

Provide an example of an organization/business/company that has NOT done a great a job being honest, trustworthy, and transparent in their social media interactions with their fans and/or critics.

• What potential impact(s) does a lack of honesty and/or transparency have on an organization?
• Can you provide a specific example where the organization you've chosen has had a negative impact in a social media setting through a lack of honesty/transparency? What could they have done differently?
• In order to regain the trust of their consumers, what should they do going forward?
• Is it possible for companies that have lost brand trust to regain it OR is it truly lost forever?

 *Please cite your sources and incorporate pictures, videos, hyperlinks, tags, etc.