Treat others how you want to be treated.
It’s a concept as old as the human
relationship, and in the age of social media, it translates to marketing ethics
as well. “Put on your consumer hat, explained Likeable Media’s Dave Kerpen
(2011), “and do unto others, as a marketer, as you would want done unto you as
a consumer” (p. 110).
Following the Rule: Zappos
Zappos is the epitome of corporate honesty and
transparency. From the company’s very core spread all the way out across its social
media presence is an authentic sense of honesty and transparency. Zappos’
honesty policy starts at the very top with CEO Tony Hsieh. The company has an
entire blog dedicated to public messages from the COO and CEO. In a blog post titled HowTwitter Can Make You a Better (and Happier) Person, Hsieh cites four ways
in which Twitter has helped him grow personally, the first of which being
“Transparency & Values.” Cited in the same post is a reiteration of Zappos’
10 core values which are also visible throughout its website, social media
platforms, emails, and even its packaging.
Though he is far from what one would consider
to be an avid tweeter, Hsieh has his own personal, verified Twitter account, through which he
communicates with followers honestly and openly, even when delivering tough
news. In the left photo below, Hsieh tweeted a link to an informative blog post
about Zappos restructuring a large production location, redistributing workers
to its sister company, Amazon. Rather than receiving snarky remarks about
corporate culture and the nature of business, many people tweeted their thanks
to Hsieh for being so open, commending him on his transparency.
Zappos’ authentic transparency travels all the
way down the totem pole, too. The company has seven different Twitter handles
for handing things from customer service issues to insights and app
development. The company is quick to attend to any semblance of a customer
service complaint on social media, but it rarely has to as the majority of
comments left on its pages are praising the company’s service. (It’s worth
noting that none of these praises are left un-thanked.)
Unfortunately for the modern consumer, not
every company is a Zappos.
Breaking the Rule: Walmart
Notoriously disparaged for its questionable employment
practices, the biggest corporation in the world has not made things any easier
on itself through its social media presence. With upward of 60,000 social media mentions a day, it’s reasonable not to expect Walmart to respond to every
single @ thrown its way. However the company did not start off on the right
social media foot with its Wal-Marting Across America fake blogging blunder back in 2006. A blog surfaced in
September 2006 featuring the journey of a couple who traveled in an RV to
various Walmarts across America, interviewing employees who to readers seemed
unusually satisfied with their employment conditions. Enough public skepticism and
some digging revealed that the traveling couple was actually a public relations
stunt; they were paid by Walmart for
their blogging. In and of itself, this does not seem like a terrible offense,
but the fact that it was never disclosed that the blog authors were being paid
for their reviews puts into doubt the authenticity of all of the interviews
featured on their blog. Walmart was in direct violation of The Word of Mouth
Marketing Association’s “Honesty ROI.”
 |
| (Kerpen, 2011, p. 110) |
All of the social media expertise in the world
couldn’t save Walmart’s perpetually crumbling reputation, but the corporation
has become more aware of its social media responsibilities in the past few
years. “Thanks to an orchestrated campaign behind the scenes, the company is
starting to gain some traction by engaging with shoppers on social media,
getting out the good word and most importantly, harnessing the power of the masses
that actually like Walmart” (Heller,
2014, para. 2).
Walmart should build out this social media
network of supporters moving forward to try to regain some positive brand
sentiment. Transparency may not be able to win back those with an already
negative impression of the brand, but it can help to retain loyal customers.
“In an age of corporate secrets, a little honesty
and transparency goes a long way toward building trust with your prospects and
long-term commitment from your customers” (Kerpen, 2011, p. 116).
----
Sources:
Heller, K. (2014). Is America ready to like Walmart? Forbes. Retrieved http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2014/03/21/is-america-ready-to-like-walmart/
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: how to delight your customers, create an irresistable brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (and other social networks). McGraw-Hill.
----
Sources:
Heller, K. (2014). Is America ready to like Walmart? Forbes. Retrieved http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2014/03/21/is-america-ready-to-like-walmart/
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: how to delight your customers, create an irresistable brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (and other social networks). McGraw-Hill.
Hi Brenna,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think that Zappos has come up in a positive light in almost every class I've taken thus far for in the IMC program. Their social media voice, honesty, and transparency seems very much aligned with their corporate culture. Open, positive, and committed to providing a great experience for their customers (as well as their employees). The fact that their CEO is even involved with the day to day customer experience says a lot. It certainly lends to the company's credibility as well as the authenticity of their "voice". As Kerpen puts it, "You have to be an authentic human being in your interactions. Anything less and your consumer might consider your attempt at conversation to be nothing more than a marketing ploy..." (Kerpen, 2011).
Your Wal-Mart example is a great example of lack of authenticity and the negative impact it can have. Another example of this is something that occurred just after this year's Super Bowl. Budweiser ran an ad that stirred up a lot of resentment from the craft brewing industry. They took it upon themselves to regulate their Facebook page quite strictly so it almost exclusively showcased the positive responses from their loyal followers (some of which were so positive they almost seemed suspicious) which led to even more anger from those that did not agree with the tone of their advertisement. If your a huge corporation and you run an ad during the Super Bowl you should be big enough to handle both positive and negative feedback. If its publicly only showing the positive than consumers will not see you as being open, authentic, honest, and transparent. Great post. Cheers!
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Thanks for your reply, Russ! It is rather shady that a brand as big as Budweiser was taking to such petty measures as deleting negatives comments on social media. I completely agree that a corporation big enough to afford a Super Bowl commercial should be operating under a "don't dish it out if you can't take it" mentality.
DeleteHi Brenna,
ReplyDeleteThese are two great examples. Zaps is an especially good one because you see that the CEO, Tony Hsieh, shares news via social media - good or bad - and is immediately praised for his transparency by followers. The example you give of his tweet is a good one as well, since it deals with corporate restructuring, which, often times, involve layoffs and transfers - definitely not ideal news to release to the public (other than investors, maybe). Zappos is a great example of a good relationship between company and consumer. As Kerpen says, "When you share insights into your company's values and culture and encourage an honest discussion about the decisions you've made, your customers will trust you more, feel closer to you, and want to strengthen their relationships with you," (Kerpen, 2011, Ch. 9).
As for Walmart, another great example, and one I was actually planning on writing about until I had seen that you beat me to the punch! One thing I always see Walmart patting itself on the back about is the number of people they employee in this country. However, many times, that number fails to mention the high percentage of workers they have that aren't given enough hours to make a living wage or receive medical benefits, forcing many of them to enroll in government sponsored healthcare, forcing the American taxpayer to foot the bill, as Walmart enjoys record profits and corporate handouts. Do you see Walmart blogging or tweeting about this ugly side of business? Nope. Do you see them mentioning the countless number of small businesses they've forced out of operation in every town they set up shop? Nope. Obviously, I'm one of those people that has a pretty negative impression of the Walmart brand, but, like you said, that does not mean they should not bother being transparent. In fact, I would love to see them come forward, and I think it would be a great marketing move for them to change some of their business practices and put it out there for all the world to see. Profits may suffer at first, but I think it would be better for them in the long run, and definitely better for their brand image.
Great post, Brenna!
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Thanks, Jeff! I too would love to see Walmart truly change their business practices, and if they were to truly change from their core, they should use social media as a primary vehicle for spreading word of this change. Unfortunately if the business is not making positive changes, the social media side of the business doesn't have much 'good news' to work with.
DeleteZappos - darn autocorrect!
ReplyDeleteHi Brenna -
ReplyDeleteFabulous post! Not only did I love your analysis of Zappos and Walmart, but also loved how you were able to tie in multimedia and references to the reading through visuals. I think it really brings your blog and point to life.
I especially enjoyed how you focused on Twitter feeds of people at Zappos who are so high up, including the CEO. It's rare in this day and age for C-level to speak out directly to the public, let alone Twitter followers. This reminds me of people like Forbes Media Chairman and Editor in Chief, Steve Forbes who is incredibly active on Twitter. I would expect this type of activity from someone like Mr. Forbes, who's job is media and delivering news through various media outlets. But it's really nice and refreshing to see leaders of companies outside of media, like Zappos, step up and take part in the conversation.
Great Post!
Allie
Thank you, Allie! It is very rare that a C-level executive takes to his or her own Twitter to speak as an industry leader. I think it's because so few of them can do it with conviction and transparency, and without those two things I think a CEO-style Twitter account would do more harm than good. It's so easy to expose a lack of knowledge of or true passion for an industry by a single social media gaffe, and unfortunately there are so many corporate level executives whose only real goal is to improve the bottom line. It is definitely refreshing to see people like Hsieh and Forbes who have a true passion for what they do and can be seen as thought leaders in their respective industries!
DeleteHi, Brenna.
ReplyDeleteZappos.com – Great example! I’ve heard so many great things about Zappos and it’s obvious from your example that Zappos is more than just great customer service. Hsieh is obviously dedicated to being honest and transparent with both his employees and external publics. Having been a part of a marketing and PR team when a restructuring occurred, I can say that is one of the most difficult things to communicate. For Hsieh to be so open and honest about the situation leaves me speechless. What an amazing company! How do I get a job at Zappos?!
I took the time to read his blog posting you mentioned. The four things he shares as points in how Twitter helped him to grow personally, are great! I intend to do my best in accomplishing these things as I become more comfortable with Twitter. Thanks for sharing that blog with us! I think everyone can benefit from reading it.
As for Walmart, I have to say that I’m not surprised. It seems that over the years Walmart’s personality has changed and not always for the better. I think Sam Walton would have a thing or two to say about a stunt like that one! I’m glad that you chose to compare these two organizations. I think it really shows how transparency can make a difference in how your business will be viewed.
Thanks for your reply, Mandy! I enjoyed Hsieh's blog post as well and enjoyed how it read as a genuine reflection of his personal experience in growing his brand.
DeleteIt is funny you should say you're not surprised by Walmart's lack of display of transparency on social media. Some of our classmates and myself seem to have had the same reaction toward Walmart, which unfortunately for the company makes it an easy target for social media complaints and outspoken Walmart protesters. I think both of these examples really show how a company's social media image is truly tied to its corporate identity and culture.
Amazing post. Very informative and laid out really well. In regards to buyer persona, isn't it an extremely difficult and time consuming process to accurately obtain information such as slogans individuals like? Is there a simplified method to obtain information such as a persons aspirations or media that they rely on? How often does a persons buyer persona change? Thanks for a terrific post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Loren. It's definitely a time consuming process of extensive market research to accurately develop specific buyer personas, but for as in-depth of a process it is, is is certainly worth the reward of being able to connect with the right potential buyers through the right media and with the right messaging. I'm not sure that there is a simplified way to obtain accurate information on such buyer profiles without just making assumptions, which is absolutely not the right way to build a target business demographic. Buyer personas change and develop as much as a business' identity does, sometimes one outpaces the other. While some members of a certain buyer persona are growing out of that demographic, other new members are falling into the buyer persona demographic, so it is important for a business to keep in contact with their research subjects to monitor change in the buyer persona, but still retain some of their original tactics to attract new buyers. Here is a very informative article I read on some tactics to keep buyer personas fresh: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/04/tips-keeping-buyer-personas-fresh/
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