My friend Ivan Croxford wrote an interesting post today (link below) about last week's epic product recall by Maclaren of ALL the strollers it has sold in the last ten years in the U.S.. Amidst all of the efforts by Maclaren to manage this crisis, Ivan was surprised by the relative lack of attention that they have paid to social media.
This is a particularly tough case since babies are involved (evoke emotion and passionate response in all humans). You would think that Maclarent would take one look at the fiasco that Motrin experienced around "Motrin Moms" and get their proverbial online butts in gear.
Ivan's recommendations to Maclaren:
- Hire an experienced community manager fast.
- Make sure you know what people are saying about you and where.
- Take part in conversations across the Web.
- Use Twitter properly, not just as a broadcast mechanism.
- Work with advocates and detractors.
- Facilitate discussion on your Web site about the recall.
I wrote about a related topic this week on SMT titled "Why Customer Service is The New Marketing" http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/141797. The comments there surface the fact that a lot of companies still don't understand how big of an accelerator the web has become for both positive AND negative customer momentum.
There are great and inexpensive tools that can help to deliver on all of the points above, eliminating any real excuses for businesses since technology is no longer a barrier. Companies need to engage in social media and online means as a baseline way of engaging with customers all year round, not just when a crisis comes knocking.
Links:
- Motrin Moms - The Story and Fiasco for Motrin
- Ivan Croxford - Crisis Management and Social Media
- Why Customer Service is The New Marketing
Videos:
Tags:
- online engagement
- Customer Service