Spitting Images: The Importance of Branding and Public Relations
Newish to Twitter, I have flirted with a few different strategies for engaging followers. I started off thanking each new follower individually, then in groups, and then I tried jokingly thanking everyone at once asking “do you feel special?”
About a week ago I decided, as a true winner would, that it wasn’t my tactics at fault, it was just my followers. I’d think “It’s there loss, because I know I’m a great person,” before running off to huddle in my regular corner. Tired of trying, I decided I would boost my follower-base, and I retweeted a seemingly promising tweet I found at the top of my feed:
Looking for friends! #followback #TeamFollowBack #500aDay #1000aDay #Follow4Follow
Nine hours later, I had lost 50 followers (of my then-450), replaced by one “up and c0mming r4p st4r, youngist in da game.” What was my error? With 82 characters, I ruined my reputation, all of the subconscious branding work I done thus far, and we all know that the Internet is unforgiving.
My bad news is a company’s good fortune
I felt like my mistake would be a good lesson for businesses, and help show how easy it is to lose “followers.” For me, it ends with having a few dozen fewer people to endure my constant I-just-posted-a-new-blog-post spam. For a company, a few dozen fewer customers is a big deal.
It’s all about your image
It may sound like an adage, but this header should be taken literally, and taken seriously. The image of your company, of your brand is not something that should simply be considered when you are deciding upon and designing new projects. Brand image is something on which your new projects should be focused.
Take Larry Byrd for example, easily perceived as one of the hardest-working basketball players ever. He really is a walking, talking, three-pointer shooting cliché of hard work – the first at practice and the last to leave. I recently read an interview of his where he mentioned how frustrated his team used to make him when they would immediately hit the showers after practice was over. (I mean, that is what the coach told them to do):
“Don’t you want to work on your free throws? You’re at seventy-eight or seventy-nine percent. Why not shoot eighty percent?”
Certainly this is a grand example of Byrd’s determination, but just imagine what those refrigerator-shaped, exhausted players were thinking when they were headed to the locker room and Larry was still on the foul line: “He’s the guy that is getting the ball for the game-winning shot.”
Reputation lasts longer than foul shot averages. To this day, Larry Byrd is referenced on sports channels (and marketing blogs), revered as a determined, persistent, and good guy. He established this image, and now he reaps in the benefits – Dwight Howard’s Big Mac. (Did you not see that commercial?)
I’m not saying you have to shoot eighty percent
Of course, not every company is on Sports Center every weekend. Obtaining and maintaining recognition and a good reputation is difficult. Everyone wants to poke holes in the famous person. I found nearly a dozen poor reviews of FedEx during a five-minute Google search, each hinting at how FedEx does not do what it promises. Anyone looking for more, unbiased information about FedEx would be overwhelmed by stories of bad experiences. The hit that the web presence of FedEx takes from only a dozen or so poorly written posts is incredible compared to the very real fact that FedEx has millions of always-satisfied loyal customers that just don’t feel the need to publicly share their satisfaction.
Unfortunately, frowns have a greater impact than smiles (should I reference Bill Clinton in this post too?).
You can’t please them all
No, but you can try. This is what you have a customer service department (or at least a representative) after all – to make sure that you are doing your best to sooth the easily provoked tempers of every last client.
For a Business Writing class I took junior year, I wrote four letters of complaint to different companies. Reebok and Nike, for not having the shoes I want in near-by locations; Burger King, for not realistically portraying their Steakhouse XT burger on their commercials; and Blacksburg Transit (our bus system), for, well, being a bus system, all received a letter. Weeks later, I received generic apologies from the companies, seeming to say “Hey, tough luck kid, we have all of these customers that still love us.”
A classmate of mine sent a letter of complaint to Skullcandy, claiming that his 80 dollar headphones broke within a few days, both times he purchased them. He brought the hand-written apology from then-CEO Rick Alden (written on a piece of loose leaf no less), a 50 dollar gift certificate, and the new pair of better, more-expensive headphones they sent him.
I bought Skullcandy earbuds a week later. Yes, I was hoping that they would break.
In conclusion?
Your image is arguably the most important aspect of your marketing plan, and alone can both make sales and lose them. Do your best to take responsibility for every infraction. What seems small now can, in the long run, add up to hefty sum.
If I pay 60 dollars twice a year for Nike shoes, my lifetime worth is nearly 7000 dollars. Is that worth a hand-written letter and gift card?
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