Dominos does a great job of social marketing. For a pizza company there is bound to be negative feedback but Domino’s does a good job of promptly getting back to the customers. They also do a good job of engaging the visitors of their page without giving away free pizzas but rather with games, polls and events.
Domino’s is providing a dialogue environment to communicate with users. Customers are expecting to receive customer service. They get attention by posting a picture and adding commentary of whatever it is they are dissatisfied with. From the three examples that I’ve seen, the representative’s get back to the customer with a site and reference number for the customer to visit to address their concerns. A Domino’s representative seems to get to the customer within an hour.
Some of the engaging games, polls, and events that are creating visitor participation include: Voter Boot camp, Show Us Your pizza, Play Today, Free Phone (to promote their new delivery application), and Ultimate Delivery Vehicle. From the aforementioned events I will discuss a few that seemed to be generating the most participation and feedback from customers. The first is “Show us your pizza,” a gallery for showcasing pictures taken by customers of their freshly delivered pizzas. This not only increases participation but it also shows customers that their pizza doesn’t need to be professionally photographed to look good. The Ultimate delivery vehicle contest gives fans the opportunity to design the best delivery vehicle with their provided program. The designs receive votes, and the winner with the most votes receives a price. ‘Play today’ is for charity; $1 donations from Domino’s behalf are given to St.Jude hospital if users beat the 4th level of their game. This is the most meaningful of content on the page. The cover photo promoting the charity shows their beliefs and causes they are supporting. It gives the message that Domino’s is a company that donates to charity. Also, it really makes people want to play the game. It is one of the few games that you can say you’re “playing for a good cause.” They even lured me into playing! As far as premiums go, there aren’t any coupons or discounts on their products however Domino’s does hold a Phone giveaway raffle to promote their delivery application.
Dominos could improve content flow and add more videos. The content is good, but the flow isn’t. In the last month there has only been one video that is not entertaining. It is what looks like a sped up video of an employee folding 20 pizza boxes. Some memes (not funny) have been made referring to the video. The two things we continue to see are updates about the vehicle design and the pizza box folder. Overall Domino’s is doing a great job promoting their company and product’s with social media.
-- Amir Mohatshami
Philadelphia Cream Cheese
The Philadelphia Cream Cheese Facebook shows that they do a lot more than just make cream cheese. They invest a great deal of time and effort into perfecting their Facebook page. To begin, the Facebook page is very well groomed. The cover photos and other photographs are all professionally taken and most of their pictures display more than just cream cheese. The Facebook page contains videos of different things one can make with the cream cheese and an abundance of well taken photographs. The site offers premiums such as, liking a picture in exchange for a recipe. It does not offer discounted or free items. However, the site also offers plenty of free recipes, many of which are holiday appropriate that encourage people to really use Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
The primary way in which Facebook fans participate is by liking photos and commenting on their experiences with the cream cheese. Many people discuss their success regarding a certain recipes and share some of their own recipes. This mode of participation most likely attracts the age group and gender the product wishes to target (Middle-aged women). Although there are massive amounts of comments from users claiming they made certain recipes, there are very few photos posted by the actual consumers. Those that are posted by consumers are generally well photographed with an appealing demeanor. Majority of the photos on the Facebook page are generated by those that control the page. The Philadelphia Cream Cheese Facebook does occasionally communicate with those that are commenting. I noticed it was able to answer a few questions, but it avoided many questions. Some people lashed out on the site because of its ownership by Kraft, and their recent decision to invest 2 million dollars to oppose the labeling of GMO’s. The site provides new recipes on an almost weekly basis, with a few extra ones during the holidays.
-- Pauline Loghmana
Mountain Dew
With "7,418,778 likes & 106,780 talking about this" Mountain Dew's Facebook page does an effective job in keeping up with 'fans' and keeping them updated about their products. As I scrolled down the Mountain Dew 'wall', I saw several statuses asking fans to "like this status if..." type of scenarios, and up to 50, 000 fans, would respond in either "liking" the status or in comments. Mountain Dew would also make a bunch of funny puns or jokes in their statuses, that would attract the users to "like" or pay attention. Mountain Dew has a promotion with XBOX's Halo 4 video game, as shown on the new Mountain Dew's bottle wrapper. There are photos posted of the videogame next to Mountain Dew bottles, with thousands of "likes". There is also a link posted under the photos asking fans to enter the promotion to win a box of games. This way, fans can associate the drink with their favorite game system or video game.
Mountain Dew constantly refers to the fans as #DewNation, and asks fans to vote to help pick the next Dew at YourMaltDew.com, as this keeps fans in a participatory activity associated with the brand. Mountain Dew also has an event on Facebook, called the "Regional Dew". This is an interactive sweepstakes for users, that would give the winner prizes if their "name of a drink" and their very own "designed label" wins for the drink of "their region" distributed by Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew also posts photos and music of new artists under THEIR OWN LABEL: Green Label Sounds. So not only is Mountain Dew a drink -- it has the same interests of music/artists as their fans do.
With hosting events, collaborating with gaming companies/artists, having promotions and giveaways, and constantly keeping fans updated about these events on Facebook, Mountain Dew overall does a wonderful job in keeping users engaged and up to date about their events and most importantly -- the brand, with thousands of responses and millions of "likes" on their Facebook page.
-- Lara Sarkissian
Walt Disney Studios
The Walt Disney Studio company Facebook page does a decent job in social media marketing. Considering the extent and legacy of the Walt Disney Company, one would expect the page to have more interactive content. However the Facebook page mostly consists of updates and the interactions on the page are modest.
The Walt Disney Studio company Facebook page has a smaller amount of premiums than other sites. Although it advertises exclusive offers, typically the offers are not free and only provide a small discount. The Walt Disney Studio company Facebook page also lacked user-generated content. While at times the company Facebook would ask for user-generated content, typically it is the company sharing their own updates. User-generated content becomes almost a rare event when the company has less news to update. But with such a strong presence in the entertainment industry, when does Walt Disney Company not have a new update to share?
The Walt Disney Studio’s Facebook page participation was one of the page’s better aspects. The WDS’s Facebook contained a lot of ways to interact including a “Fix-it-Felix” game to promote their new movie “Wreck it Ralph”, while encouraging Facebook user interactions. The Facebook also includes links to events, prompt updates through photos or videos, and other links that promote their new products. Within these posts there is a sense of “customer service ‘portal’”, where users are encouraged to communicate with both the company and among each other. Last, content flow is another positive aspect of the Walt Disney Studio company; the page is constantly updated with new tidbits, especially since “Wreck it Ralph” was newly released.
The main reason that the Walt Disney Studio company Facebook page does a decent job in social media marketing is because of its consistent up-to-date information. The Walt Disney Studio Facebook page does provide previews and small looks at their upcoming products and because it is so easily integrated into the average Disney fan (all you need to do is “like” the page), it is effective in reaching their target audience: true Disney fanatics who want to on a first to know basis of all things pertaining to Disney (such as myself). Given Disney’s reputation and successful marketing strategies, it’s only a matter of time before their upcoming products become viral.
-- Lauren C. Wong
Chipoltle
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a company that does an excellent job in using Facebook to reach out to customers. This is a given seeing as how they are positioned in the market to appeal to health and environmentally-conscious people, who are demographically young and well-connected to the internet.
• Premiums (giving away free things to attract users/customers)
Giveaways occur here and there. A Halloween costume contest and a free burrito when purchasing $30 or more in gift cards are recent examples. In the costume contest, Facebook users are told to send in Facebook photos taken at any Chipotle location for a $2,500 prize.
• Participation (creating events, venues, games, surveys to involve users)
Chipotle is heavily involved in events that promote community outreach and awareness with both customers and suppliers of their ingredients. Their Facebook page has links to many different food and sustainability-oriented portals that promote their green outlook. Examples include “Chipotle on Campus,” “Cultivate Festival,” and a strong endorsement of California’s Prop 37, which failed to pass two weeks ago.
• User-Generated Content (creating venues/galleries to showcase user-submitted materials)
Chipotle excels in user-generated content as well. Their “Boorito” costume contest, mentioned above, led to the creation of a gallery of hundreds of user-submitted photos comprised of numerous Chipotle themes. Furthermore, the company updates its Facebook galleries with photos taken at local events attended by many.
• Customer Service "Portal" (are they providing a "dialogue" environment to communicate with users?)
Looking at recent wall posts by users, it looks as though their Facebook team takes the time to respond to almost every single wall post made by a customer, even if it’s not an explicit request.
An example:
Casey U: will you marry me chipotle?
Chipotle Mexican Grill: I wish I could, but my parents want me to focus on my career for a few more years. Will you still be around? - Joe
• Content Flow (are they providing new and engaging materials regularly?)
Yes, the company’s Facebook page is updated with news, happenings, and photos multiple times per day. It is obvious that they have a dedicated and proactive Facebook management team.
-- Elliot
Coca Cola
The Coca Cola website on facebook does a decent job marketing itself. Pictures of people laughing and sharing a bottle of Coke aim to give you a warm and happy feeling. The Coca Cola Company has over 54 million likes on facebook, and over 832 000 people are talking about this site. They claim that their site is a “collection of your stories showing how people from around the world have helped make Coke into what it is today”.
They rarely offer premiums, but you could send a coupon with a “99 cents discount” on Coca Cola products to a friend. This is not really impressive, and I think Coca Cola could have done better. Coca Cola tries to get the customers engaged in conversations by asking questions such as: “we really want to know… What’s your secret formula to happiness?” and “what good times are you sharing today?” They are providing a good dialogue environment in general, but I’m missing posts and questions about customer satisfaction.
Coca Cola have initiated a participation singing contest where the winner will be performing with Jason Derulo at the 2012 American Music Awards. You could also do a “Live Google Hangout”, and talk to the Nascar drivers sponsored by Coca Cola. While they do well on creating events, I’m missing games and surveys that would involve the users better. Coca Cola have over 5000 pictures of sponsored events, but I could not find any pictures that the customers had sent in themselves. They update their website regularly, and post new materials almost everyday.
-- Ane Røst Klausen
H&M
Wal-mart
Wal-Mart, for the gargantuan corporation they are, have a fairly crappy global website. Although they do have promotions, specifically, right now, for Black Friday they guarantee certain items will be in stock -- but there's no real give-aways or freebies to attract users/customers.
Neither is there any real opportunity to participate (unless you count buying shit on their online store) nor generate content yourself. They do allow you to do in-store pickup of a product, though! In terms of customer service, they do have phone numbers & e-mail contacts, but that's about the extent of it. Their products are updated regularly -- that is really all you can say about Wal-mart's website (their Facebook page is pretty much the same story). I think any member of our class could do a better job with Wal-mart's social media marketing -- there is much room for improvement in this department, to say the least. Oh, if someone from Wal-mart reads this -- yes, I am looking for a job!
-- Dylan Johnston
Hot Pockets
They rarely offer premiums, but you could send a coupon with a “99 cents discount” on Coca Cola products to a friend. This is not really impressive, and I think Coca Cola could have done better. Coca Cola tries to get the customers engaged in conversations by asking questions such as: “we really want to know… What’s your secret formula to happiness?” and “what good times are you sharing today?” They are providing a good dialogue environment in general, but I’m missing posts and questions about customer satisfaction.
Coca Cola have initiated a participation singing contest where the winner will be performing with Jason Derulo at the 2012 American Music Awards. You could also do a “Live Google Hangout”, and talk to the Nascar drivers sponsored by Coca Cola. While they do well on creating events, I’m missing games and surveys that would involve the users better. Coca Cola have over 5000 pictures of sponsored events, but I could not find any pictures that the customers had sent in themselves. They update their website regularly, and post new materials almost everyday.
-- Ane Røst Klausen
H&M
With over 12 million likes I would say the H&M company Facebook page does a decent and effective job of social media marketing. They provide a good content flow with information about new store openings, new clothing items in stores and new designer collections. They are reaching out to their customers trying to involve them especially through asking direct questions, creating events, competitions and galleries for user-submitted content. They are also engaging their customers in their political campaigns such as the 'fashion against aids' campaign and encouraging their customers to get involved and donate money for a good cause.
The H&M Facebook page does provide some premiums/give aways. However, this is typically done to attract costumers to their new store openings by offering the first 100-200 people in line a free t-shirt (or some other clothing) and/or a free gift card. Other noteworthy examples were registering online on the H&M official website to receive special discount offers and special H&M give-away events.
The participation aspect of the H&M Facebook page were pretty good. They seemed quite keen on involving their customers by regularly asking their customer direct questions such as "where should we open a new store next?", "what's your favorite piece of the collection?"or "what's your must have item for the summer?". Their customers could share “their favorite H&M memory” or participate by voting for the winner in the different contests H&M provided. They also encourage their customer to engages and participate in their political campaigns. There were a fair amount of contests provided on the H&M Facebook page. The latest one being; posting a picture of your signature style and win a trip to New York and see Lana Del Rey. The customers where also invited to different H&M events, such as 'Katy Perry live from H&M Tokyo”. They also had user generated content. This usually involved different galleries to showcase user-submitted materials. This was for example galleries of 'your favorite style for autumn', or 'your favorite festival look'.
Even though they didn't have a direct customer service portal, the customers could post comments on the wall. This way H&M provides a way to communicate with the customer and answer their questions. The content flow were also good. They provided new and engaging materials up to several times a day keeping their customers up to date on what's happening inside the company.
-- Vilde Larsen Hellum
Coach
With 3,855,524 likes and 99,152 people "talking about it", the Coach Facebook page could be considered very active. Coach, a high-end designer handbag and fashion company, attracts a different set of clientele than other Facebook pages. It appears that many people who like and post comments on the page are avid Coach fans; people who have liked the page because they love the brand and what it represents and want to be associated with it. Others come to the page looking for deals and some post to resolve customer service issues. Currently, Coach does not seem to use its Facebook page to advertise premiums, though it does circulate news of sales. When a user posts a problem, Coach usually replies promptly with a Customer Service phone number to call, which reflects well on the company (although the posting of a problem in the first place does not).
Coach seems more distant in terms of interaction with its customers in comparison to other brands' Facebook pages which ask consumers questions like "Which style do you like the best?" or "Where should we open a new store?" Coach does not seem terribly interested in involving its Facebook users (participation) in those types of matters, possibly because Coach already has an established brand and style. The Coach Facebook page mostly serves to introduce new products. This can have unintended consequences as it gives users the opportunity to post negative comments, ie: "These are the ugliest boots I've ever seen!" or "What was the company thinking?". Coach also posts pictures of celebrities carrying one of their bags, and these posts seem to generate a significantly higher number of likes. This is actually a good marketing ploy by Coach, even though it doesn't involve user interaction, because it allows them to show consumers that celebrities are using their products, which is very important for a fashion brand. Coach also has an album of pictures from well-known fashion bloggers which serves a similar purpose, but they could do even better if they had an option for Facebook users to submit their own fashion pictures (user-generated content), maybe for some sort of contest or incentive. In this sense, the Coach Facebook page is successful, but it could easily become a lot better if it included more user participation, premiums, and user-generated content.
-- Dana KilianWal-mart
Wal-Mart, for the gargantuan corporation they are, have a fairly crappy global website. Although they do have promotions, specifically, right now, for Black Friday they guarantee certain items will be in stock -- but there's no real give-aways or freebies to attract users/customers.
Neither is there any real opportunity to participate (unless you count buying shit on their online store) nor generate content yourself. They do allow you to do in-store pickup of a product, though! In terms of customer service, they do have phone numbers & e-mail contacts, but that's about the extent of it. Their products are updated regularly -- that is really all you can say about Wal-mart's website (their Facebook page is pretty much the same story). I think any member of our class could do a better job with Wal-mart's social media marketing -- there is much room for improvement in this department, to say the least. Oh, if someone from Wal-mart reads this -- yes, I am looking for a job!
-- Dylan Johnston
Hot Pockets
“Irresistibly
Hot” is no, not a phrase to describe bikini clad women, it’s the slogan that
graces the Timeline banner of one of America’s most favorite microwavable meals-
Hot Pockets. Hot Pockets’ Facebook page is ‘liked’ by 775,504 hungry users who
all have chosen to become a fan of the product for a variety of reasons. Perhaps
they all enjoy these salty wannabe pizzas, but their reasons for ‘liking’ Hot
Pocket’s Facebook page could also include keeping tabs on special offers,
finding entertainment in hilarious ads involving one of hip-hops finest, Snoop
Dog, or simply to show their ‘friends’ that they are ‘cool’ because they ‘like’
Hot Pockets. The reasons are endless, but I will examine what the Hot Pockets’
page has to offer it’s thousands of devoted consumers and what possibly brought
them to ‘like’ this stereotypically ‘stoner’ snack’s page in the first place.
When
you look at Hot Pockets’ Facebook page, the first photo that might catch your
eye is the Timeline banner photo which consists of Snoop Dog next to a large
and living Hot Pocket character. This comical approach to marketing may appeal
to a variety of markets from young consumers to hip-hop fans. A quick scroll
down the page and you will find that the brand is always posting comical visual
content from videos to images. Some of this content offers to the user to
engage in conversation; for instance one photo is simply the image of a mustache
and a goatee and the text reads, “Which is HOTTER a mustache or a goatee?” This
image received 440 ‘likes’ and over 150 responses to the question. Is the
question relevant to the taste or quality of Hot Pockets? No, but it brought
users to engage on it’s page which also in turn will show up of friends-of-fans
news feeds which helps to further promote and market.
Comments
from users and fans of the product’s page are overwhelmingly positive with
comments like, “these are sooooooo good lol” but there were indeed a handful of
negative respondents, too. Users who
complained about the quality of their Hot Pockets or those who were offended by
their advertisements were replied to from the Hot Pockets brand with sympathy
and suggestions how to further get in touch with customer service to better
address their complaints. In addition to user generated comments, Hot Pockets
posts mostly just posts visual imagery including videos and photographs of
their life size Hot Pocket. They do not really put any special or promotions on
their page, their main way to suck users into their Facebook world is
definitely through the comical and humorous approach.
-- Katie Roseff
On February 27, 2011 Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting event took place during the annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami Beach, Florida. Amongst the crowd of celebrity chefs who attended, Food Network host Paula Deen teamed up with fellow friend and costar Robert Irvine for a cooking scene. Paula Deen was pictured atop Robert Irvine, or for lack of a better word, “riding” him. It was not long before photos were posted all over internet social networks. The day after the photo was taken; “Paula Deen Riding Things” had its own Tumblr. (
