Brands and Social Media Carelessness – The Nissan Example

Social Media channels have a ‘delete’ button. Does that mean Brands use the delete button and go through as many iterations as possible to get the right message across?

The ability to ‘delete’ mistakes does not imply the freedom to make mistakes.

Lets say a company posts about their latest campaign and misspells a word changing the meaning altogether. Should the company then apologize and correct or ‘delete’ the mistake hoping nobody noticed.

What about if a consumer notices the mistake by the brand and tries to correct it. what is the right thing to do? should the brand delete the mistake and the comment on it and start as if it was a new baby diaper or should it acknowledge the suggestion by the consumer at some level?

Nissan Canada launched a ‘Rear-Seat comfort concept‘ and were promoting it through their digital channels.

This was their post on January 25th 2012, 9:28 AM. My comment 59 minutes later (10:27 AM).

Now I love this brand and thought I’d let them know about this. this post slipped my mind after that day and life got busy. I noticed this picture today when I was cleaning out my desktop and decided to see what Nissan had done about this. I was intrigued as I did not receive any notifications or even a simple ‘Thank you’. A free car would have been nice too but I was just expecting acknowledgement.

This is the post on their page now, revised, without a blink.

Question:

How should brands react if their social media campaigns give the exact opposite message that needs to be conveyed? Should they be ‘Delete-Button-Happy” and get their message across in iterations?

When Brands spend millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours proof reading their statements, TV and print campaigns - Why should social media be delegated to an intern high on caffeine with a smart phone and knowledge of the Delete Button?

Would Nissan’s management be OK if this mistake was in their print ads any leading national newspaper?

Would the Board be happy to hear this mistake being said out loud in their commercials?

What about their billboards?

If they think these would’ve been a nightmare and would never happen because of quality control, Why does it happen in Social Media?

Balzac’s Coffee

Ever since man discovered coffee beans, he has tried his best to improve the concoction. If you are in Toronto and crave for the perfect cup of coffee with the perfect ambiance to enjoy it in, you must find yourself in Balzac’s Coffee in the distillery district.

How good is their coffee you ask? It is so good that I doubt if they drank this instead of wine during the last supper. So good that I fear it might start a war between countries that have it and countries that don’t. It is so good that I wonder if Starbucks Management have surveillance on Balzac to track its success. I swear I saw some shifty eyes and some camera’s the last time I went there.

As an MBA (Marketing) student, I have been taught to observe the intricate aspects of the experience that defines the brand. So What defines Balzac’s Cafe?

First it is the smell. Regulars at the Distillery district would often find a full-grown man floating in the air drawn to the smell of perfectly roasted and brewed coffee. I swear I feel a couple of pounds lighter every time I smell the heavenly aroma.

And then you step into the café to be transformed into another era. Right from the decades old posters to the antique coffee grinders to the chalkboard menu – everything screams of the perfect getaway café. My perfect spot in the Distillery District café is upstairs on the landing – cut off from the first floor overlooking the ground floor, it is the perfect place for coffee and people watching.

It is a shame that its market awareness is bordering dangerously low. It is frequented by people with offices in the distillery district and some tourists who stumble across the café looking for a cup of java. It is not an alternative to Tim Hortons or Starbucks.

Balzac is a Destination Brand

Balzac’s Cafe operates in a whole different league and should be branded as a destination brand. People travel miles for a Tiffany’s store or even the 360 restaurant on CN tower for the experience and the destination. Balzac has the potential to be a destination coffee café but it needs more market awareness. Can’t wait for the new stores in downtown Toronto.

Their recent influx of marketing for this great chain has been due to its pitch in Dragons Den on CBC.

You can find the video of the pitch here.

I do believe that there are good times ahead for my favorite café with Diana Olson working with Arlene Dickinson of Venture Communications & Bruce Croxon of Lavalife. I would love to see Balzac’s being transformed into a destination brand for its customers to look forward to.

Balzac’s need to have their marketing strategy defined and in place. Everyone wants to be associated with a café with heritage. Starbucks has been well-known to pull off some of the best media campaigns (I’ve written about it in my earlier posts – 1, 2.) to create awareness – not that it needs any, and to attract new customers who would one day become loyal brand advocates.

With the budget constraints of a small operation (Balzac’s sale are $ 3.2million), it would be wise to design an integrated marketing campaign that uses social media to create a buzz around the destination and follows it up with some in-store campaigns. I am sure that once consumers visit the store they would become repeat customers. The question is how do we create awareness to drive people to Balzac’s Coffee Roasters?