Smart brands have moved beyond simply opening up themselves to transparent customer feedback through social media; they’re now figuring out how to manage the customer conversation more strategically. At Social Media Week Chicago on September 22, three companies show you how they do just that.
United Airlines: Brand Protection through Engagement
Lora O’Riordan, manager of social marketing programs for United Airlines, shares how United has used social to manage crises. As she puts it, “Crisis management is an important part of our social media strategy. On any given day, we walk into the office and don’t know what kind of circumstance we’re going to encounter.”
For instance, in December 2010, a blizzard rocked Europe and ravaged New York, one of the most heavily congested air centers in the world. The storm ultimately disrupted all eight United Airlines hubs in North America, affecting 2,500 United Airlines flights and 2,000 flights for Continental (which had recently merged with United).
The experience was trying.
“At the time, we were still setting up our social media plans and strategies at United,” she says, “and we sorting out a more refined crisis management plan at Continental.”
On top of that, the magnitude of the storm was unexpected. “We just ran out of planes and space for flying,” she says. “I don’t think our response was a success.”
By contrast, when Hurricane Irene struck the eastern seaboard of the United States, United Airlines used social media more effectively to communicate with people and provide customer care.
The reason: United was able to anticipate and respond to the storm from an operational standpoint, which made it easier for United to handle the communications required to handle the fall-out of the hurricane. And both United and Continental were more prepared with social media response programs in place.
“From a communications standpoint, we could create a before, during, and after plan. We had a communications bridge line set up and could answer people’s questions as best as we could.”
Another type of “storm” that United must manage: flaming tweets from angry customers, especially celebrities and high-profile executives with large Twitter followers.
“The tweet from a celebrity becomes a crisis as the retweets multiply. On top of that, we are an airline — people like to pick on us.”
The key to addressing these Twitter storms is exercising judgment: is the tweet a valid issue requesting a response or a rhetorical statement?
She adds, “Celebrities and high-profile people create their own type of crisis. But if you have a crisis in the moment and you have zero followers, I’m going to listen to you.”
Unilever: Listening and Responding
Unilever has an interesting challenge, as articulated by Christine Cea, director of marketing communications: protecting the reputation for a huge portfolio of 400 brands ranging from Axe to Lipton.
It’s tempting to be overwhelmed – but Unilever is actually quite active. How? Answer: by empowering Unilever brands to engage with customers through tools like a Social Engagement Playbook and a listening dashboard.
The Social Engagement Playbook was created based on best practices especially from Unilever brands Axe, Ben & Jerry’s and Dove. Using the playbook and its own listening dashboard, Unilever can answer questions like:
What are people saying about our brands?
Who are our fans and influencers?
Which comments require a response, and which comments are simply rhetorical?
What should our voice be?
For instance, Axe has a very open and playful voice. The Axe voice uses terms like guys and girls to describe males and females. So, Axe responds to posts on its Facebook wall using a distinctive voice.
“Today, the act of listening is an equity statement,” she says. “If you are not listening in a concerted basis and responding in a concerted way, you become in the consumer’s eyes an ostrich with its head in the sand.”
Viewpoints: Helping Brands Find Advocates through Reviews
Viewpoints is a ratings review service for consumer products that manages community efforts for Sears Holdings.
Says Matt Moog, founder and CEO, “Twitter and Facebook are largely streams of content that appear and dissipate. Consumer reviews are longer lasting. Each time a review is written, it will be ready 50 times that year by a consumer.” So how to plan for the reality of customer reviews?
1. Identify and track specific issues to gain insight into the source of potential problems.
2. Reach out to “fans” and offer them some recognition.
3. Respond to complaints and involve customer service.
4. Promote your customer service approach.
Viewpoints client Procter and Gamble knows how to create fans and learn from its products from reviews, too. More than 3,700 people have reviewed the Bounce Dryer Bar – and not by accident, either. In fact, Proctor and Gamble asked Viewpoints to encourage those reviews, both negative and positive.
P&G worked with Viewpoints to send samples of the Bounce Dryer Bar to customers for them to review. And nine out of 10 people did so. P&G got feedback, such as “varies in lifespan depending on use” and “doesn’t stick well” on the negative side to praises about its scent on the positive side.
“Proctor and Gamble recognizes that reviewers form a fantastic focus group to understand what is right and wrong with your product, and what needs to be improved.”
And, of course, brands like P&G and Olympic Paint can call out positive reviews for their own advertising.
“If you want some action from a brand,” he says. “Review it.”
Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Your Brand
Smart brands have moved beyond simply opening up themselves to transparent customer feedback through social media; they’re now figuring out how to manage the customer conversation more strategically. At Social Media Week Chicago on September 22, three companies show you how they do just that.
United Airlines: Brand Protection through Engagement
Lora O’Riordan, manager of social marketing programs for United Airlines, shares how United has used social to manage crises. As she puts it, “Crisis management is an important part of our social media strategy. On any given day, we walk into the office and don’t know what kind of circumstance we’re going to encounter.”
For instance, in December 2010, a blizzard rocked Europe and ravaged New York, one of the most heavily congested air centers in the world. The storm ultimately disrupted all eight United Airlines hubs in North America, affecting 2,500 United Airlines flights and 2,000 flights for Continental (which had recently merged with United).
The experience was trying.
“At the time, we were still setting up our social media plans and strategies at United,” she says, “and we sorting out a more refined crisis management plan at Continental.”
On top of that, the magnitude of the storm was unexpected. “We just ran out of planes and space for flying,” she says. “I don’t think our response was a success.”
By contrast, when Hurricane Irene struck the eastern seaboard of the United States, United Airlines used social media more effectively to communicate with people and provide customer care.
The reason: United was able to anticipate and respond to the storm from an operational standpoint, which made it easier for United to handle the communications required to handle the fall-out of the hurricane. And both United and Continental were more prepared with social media response programs in place.
“From a communications standpoint, we could create a before, during, and after plan. We had a communications bridge line set up and could answer people’s questions as best as we could.”
Another type of “storm” that United must manage: flaming tweets from angry customers, especially celebrities and high-profile executives with large Twitter followers.
“The tweet from a celebrity becomes a crisis as the retweets multiply. On top of that, we are an airline — people like to pick on us.”
The key to addressing these Twitter storms is exercising judgment: is the tweet a valid issue requesting a response or a rhetorical statement?
She adds, “Celebrities and high-profile people create their own type of crisis. But if you have a crisis in the moment and you have zero followers, I’m going to listen to you.”
Unilever: Listening and Responding
Unilever has an interesting challenge, as articulated by Christine Cea, director of marketing communications: protecting the reputation for a huge portfolio of 400 brands ranging from Axe to Lipton.
It’s tempting to be overwhelmed – but Unilever is actually quite active. How? Answer: by empowering Unilever brands to engage with customers through tools like a Social Engagement Playbook and a listening dashboard.
The Social Engagement Playbook was created based on best practices especially from Unilever brands Axe, Ben & Jerry’s and Dove. Using the playbook and its own listening dashboard, Unilever can answer questions like:
What are people saying about our brands?
Who are our fans and influencers?
Which comments require a response, and which comments are simply rhetorical?
What should our voice be?
For instance, Axe has a very open and playful voice. The Axe voice uses terms like guys and girls to describe males and females. So, Axe responds to posts on its Facebook wall using a distinctive voice.
“Today, the act of listening is an equity statement,” she says. “If you are not listening in a concerted basis and responding in a concerted way, you become in the consumer’s eyes an ostrich with its head in the sand.”
Viewpoints: Helping Brands Find Advocates through Reviews
Viewpoints is a ratings review service for consumer products that manages community efforts for Sears Holdings.
Says Matt Moog, founder and CEO, “Twitter and Facebook are largely streams of content that appear and dissipate. Consumer reviews are longer lasting. Each time a review is written, it will be ready 50 times that year by a consumer.” So how to plan for the reality of customer reviews?
1. Identify and track specific issues to gain insight into the source of potential problems.
2. Reach out to “fans” and offer them some recognition.
3. Respond to complaints and involve customer service.
4. Promote your customer service approach.
Viewpoints client Procter and Gamble knows how to create fans and learn from its products from reviews, too. More than 3,700 people have reviewed the Bounce Dryer Bar – and not by accident, either. In fact, Proctor and Gamble asked Viewpoints to encourage those reviews, both negative and positive.
P&G worked with Viewpoints to send samples of the Bounce Dryer Bar to customers for them to review. And nine out of 10 people did so. P&G got feedback, such as “varies in lifespan depending on use” and “doesn’t stick well” on the negative side to praises about its scent on the positive side.
“Proctor and Gamble recognizes that reviewers form a fantastic focus group to understand what is right and wrong with your product, and what needs to be improved.”
And, of course, brands like P&G and Olympic Paint can call out positive reviews for their own advertising.
“If you want some action from a brand,” he says. “Review it.”
Tags: and Your Brand, Comments, Complaints, Facebook, Proctor and Gamble, Questions, smwchicago, Social Media Week Chicago, Unilever, United Airlines, Viewpoints
Posted in SMWCHICAGO 2011