Comments on: People Are Watching – Every Minute of Every Day. What is Your Brand Doing About It?

By: ShellyKramer

ShellyKramer — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:40:28 +0000

Thanks, Brett. Am horribly behind on comments and apologize. You are correct re the power of participatory media (what a great phrase) – and companies had better wake up quickly, as it's certainly not changing any time soon.

By: BrettGreene

BrettGreene — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:30:08 +0000

Great post Shelly. My favorite example of that was when United Airlines had a 10% stock drop after the “United Breaks Guitars” video hit YouTube. If companies didn't wake up to the power of participatory media on their business after that, they never will. I love how you tie your family and personal experiences into your marketing advice.

By: ShellyKramer

ShellyKramer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:46:06 +0000

Thanks Mindy. And we have still not scheduled our lunch! I am sending you a note right now!!

By: ShellyKramer

ShellyKramer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:45:32 +0000

Thanks B. As you and I have previously determined, we are clearly twins separated at birth, so it is no surprise that we agree on this one. I love the power that WOMM has with the advent of social media and agree with you, it's about doggone time. Thanks for always having my back, bro

By: Brian McDaniel

Brian McDaniel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:07:57 +0000

"Nowadays, instead of the buyer needing to beware, brands need to beware."

That's it, in a nutshell. Isn't the reality that this has ALWAYS been the case, but today the consumer has many more tools to reach a mass audience at their disposal and therefore much more power? Word of mouth has a whole new definition, but all the brand really needs to do is what it says it will do. In other words, maybe somehow we are living in an age where a brands integrity becomes paramount. And in my book, that's a GREAT thing!

Yet another interesting and thought-provoking post, Shelly! LOVE the way you think and the how it gets written out!

By: Mark Sherrick

Mark Sherrick — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:47:55 +0000

As a brand, keeping your eye on your own stuff is something that has taken a huge turn with social media. Yeah, back a while you had Tylenol and the cyanide recall, lawn darts, and so on. Accountability is huge today…it always was, but is moreso now. For the consumer, this is huge. It means that companies actually listen – if they're doing it right, that is.

I just hope that there isn't a time soon when consumers have too much power – if companies listen to the consumer way too much and let the whims of a fickle customer base control them, that could cause problems.

By: Drew Hull

Drew Hull — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:36:18 +0000

Hey Shelly, great piece. You are spot on about consumers watching Brands like hawks and calling them out on any mis-step!
I have a personal example for you....
I have been having problems with my Time Warner HD cable and high speed internet access over the last 2-3 weeks. Rather than calling customer service and spending what seems like hours getting through a IVR system only to get a rep who tells me to unplug the modem and reboot my computer, I decided to take my complaints to Twitter to see if TWC was listening.
I Tweeted several comments about the problems I was having and even went so far as to ask if any other companies would be interested in my business. I got direct responses from SureWest and AT&T but have still not heard a word back from TWC.
I plan to change my business over this week. Time Warner will lose $135/month because they weren't monitoring what is/was being said about them on Twitter. I know I can't be the only one. Just do a Twitter search on #timewarner and see for yourself.
Anyway, enough of my venting!
Keep the great insights coming!

Drew

By: ShellyKramer

ShellyKramer — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Honey, the fact that you ramble makes me heart you even more. I am the Queen of Rambling, so we shall link arms and skip away together. I agree with you that tough economic times often make it harder to get any kind of customer service. But those same tough economic times also make customers realize how dear their money really is, and they seem to be consistently demanding more. Which is, really, long overdue. Instead of living in a society where everything is considered disposable, because there is always more money to buy more stuff, we are starting, finally, to get serious about words like reuse, recyle, refurbish and …. respect. And I think that with this newly rediscovered respect that we have for our hard-earned money, we also are not afraid to expect more and demand more from the people who design and manufacture the products we purchase.

Thanks for the read, Tina girl. Can't wait to check out your new blog – I'll bet it's fantastico.

Smooches!!

By: ShellyKramer

ShellyKramer — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:36:22 +0000

Thanks Nate. It IS “soda” isn't it? Yup, I agree, it's time to quit settling for junky stuff and demand integrity and quality from the people we give our money too. Thanks for the read, tootsie.

By: Tina

Tina — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:05:51 +0000

OMG, please tell me my comment didn't get lost?