Jason Falls
Brand responsiveness through social media continues to give companies around the globe high marks and good publicity. From the old standby of Dell to the emerging omnipresence of Ford and GM, big brands are starting to not just listen to conversations about them, but respond as well. But two recent experiences for me, ironically with major competitors, makes me pose two questions:
- Can a big brand’s personal responsiveness scale?
- Are big brands playing favorites by responding only to those they deem “influencers?”
Case in point:
Social media marketing is all about businesses having conversations with their customers. In many industries this era is the first in which brands have actually listened rather than trumpeted their hype from the tallest billboards and loudest channels. That listening is opening the eyes of brand managers, CMOs and CEOs everywhere.
Unfortunately, brands sometimes forget to listen internally, though. A recent and very strange personal experience illustrates this point.
On Wednesday of this week, my family stopped at our local Dairy Queen for lunch. We grabbed it to go since our house is less than a mile from the store. When we got home, my wife opened her bacon cheeseburger to add ketchup and exclaimed, “You’ve GOT to be kidding me?!”