While many if not all major brands are using social media most if not all miss the opportunity to "connect" all the dots.
How many brands have gone out with a "social media" campaign only to
discover that they under estimated the power of the medium or failed to
"connect" the internal supply chain with expected external demand? Many
if not all.
An Example:
When Dunkin Donuts used social media to launch a campaign for Free iced coffee
many went to their local Dunkin Donuts only to find that their local
store was not participating. Here are some of the reactions from the
"crowd":“talk about false advertising, or at least misleading, dunkin should be ashamed”
“We were told in Boston that Massachusetts wasn’t participating
free ice coffee day. I always go to Dunkin Donuts, but I think it’s
time to start giving Honey Dew my business.”
“Is this a viral marketing scam to get us into the stores, find
out there is NO free iced coffee today so 90% of us will buy something
anyway? Maynard, Concord, Acton MA locations had no idea what I was
talking about when I went in”
The problem was the promotion was only happening in select markets
across the country. What, Dunkin Donuts didn't realize there are no
geographic boundaries to "social media"? Or maybe they failed to put a
disclaimer on their campaign. As if that would not have helped.
There are many other examples of brands not thinking about the
implications and related dynamics of using social media. What becomes
obvious is that those appointed as "heads" of social marketing are
failing to "connect" their message, the medium and the related
implications of their actions with the rest of the "body".
The Human Network Is Connected & Interacts
Organizations have historically had common problems of "silo actions"
by departments or individuals not being connected systemically with
other people and processes. Subsequently the aim of organizational acts
misfire, create variation, increased cost and the cycle of destructive
forces goes around and around the corporate merry-go-round.
Ask any employee of any good sized company if they knew what the
other departments were doing or had done. What answer would you likely get? No idea!
Today the "disconnection" of people, processes and technology is
one if not the most significant threat to organizational survival in a
"connected world". The reason this is true is simply. While your
organization may not be "connected" and "communicating" the people and
the market are and the difference is transparent. If your head is not
connected to your body well that means the body cannot perform as the
head wishes or commands.
Before you think about running a "social media campaign" (which is
yet another marketing scheme) ask the "body" the following questions
first:
- Do you know what social media is?
- If people respond to our message how will you respond to them?
- If people ask about your use of social media how will you respond?
- Would you share our message with your friends?
- What do we need to do to be prepared for people's response?
How well is your head connected to the body? Watch the video below.