It's disconcerting, but far too often two declarations are made about social media in the business world: 1) "Everyone/My Competitor/My Neighbors use social media so my company needs to do it, too." 2) "I'm running a business not trying to make friends.  I don't see how social media makes any business sense."  In both cases, I cringe.  

Social media is a communication vehicle or a tool - just like billboards, bullhorns, hammers, or whisks.  You don't decide you want to use a whisk and then run around trying to whisk things, results be damned.  Rather, you start off with a task (in Hat Trick 3C parlance "an objective") and then pick the right tool for the job.  The decision to use social media should go the same way: What are you trying to accomplish? Why? What does success look like?  When you approach Twitter/Facebook/YouTube in this manner, you're more likely to be pleased with the results.

Millward Brown, one of my all-time favorite market research agencies, recently posted a great POV about considerations around social media.  You should check it out:

http://www.millwardbrown.com/Libraries/MB_POV_Downloads/MillwardBrown_POV_Social_Media_Bubble.sflb.ashx

- GLG

Two companies abroad are rethinking the customer experience.

2 the Loo in Amsterdam, tapping into the frustration of finding decent restrooms when one is out and about, provides clean restroom facilities for a fee.  As a mom of two young children, I would likely take advantage of an offering like this. What do you think?

Meanwhile in Delhi, the metro authority now offers baggage check-in service for domestic airline passengers.  There are many reasons to love this idea, but I particularly find it inspirational on two fronts: 1) it takes an insightful look at the entire breadth of the customer experience for plane travelers 2) in doing so, it crosses "supply chain ownership" boundaries.

- GLG

The best relationships – with friends, family, and co-workers – are built on trust and great communication. As consumers, we look for brands that consistently provide these very same things.

This is exactly why I chose a particular camp for my daughter this summer. It was a brand I trusted from a previous experience with their preschool/daycare. They could always be counted on to communicate what was happening each week. They were great about sending home monthly calendars, weekly newsletters to hear about how lesson plans went, daily reminders about what to bring the next day, and even email reminders to reinforce messages. You may think this was over-communicating, but I really appreciated all that interaction with my hectic schedule.

So the first week of summer rolls around and I haven’t heard from the camp. “Did I accidentally forget to register for the first week?” I asked myself. I felt certain I could trust them to send a welcome email before camp started. I called and sure enough I had registered and my daughter missed the first week of camp! Where was my reminder email? How was I supposed to know what my camper needed for the week?

After several phone calls to understand where the breakdown was, they informed me that they have no systems in place to trigger welcome emails or reminders to parents. This would have been helpful information to know when I registered for camp. How can I trust them if they couldn’t even explain this when I registered and they offered no solution for the future?

Wow, they are missing many opportunities to restore trust!

Consumers also lost trust in Mattel in 2007 when they had to recall toys made in China not once, but twice because of lead paint. Mattel took quick action to regain the public’s trust. To start, the CEO publicly apologized and announced a new three-point check system. Next, Mattel didn’t hide behind the recalls. They used attention-grabbing ads on sites like Yahoo to alert customers and explain how to return the recalled products. Lastly, they have a Consumer Relations Support Center on their website to provide extensive details about recalls which reinforces transparency and helps rebuild trust.  

What do you do to maintain trust and communication with your customers?

- Betsy

P.S. Fisher Price announced a recall today via Facebook and provided customers with a link to their Customer Support Center tab on Facebook. What an excellent way to build and maintain trust through social media communication. And a customer has already given Kudos! Well done, Mattel.

If you are like most Americans you neither know nor care that the U.S. men's team recently played in the Gold Cup or that the women's team has just advanced to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.  Although viewership of the Gold Cup finals reached 8.9 million in the U.S. and there are more soccer moms in every American suburb than there are old-growth trees, soccer is still less of a main stream sport in this country.  Along with its cousins, tennis and hockey, soccer just doesn't have the following that football or baseball has.  Super Bowl 2011 brought in over 110 million viewers. Even the 2010 World Series, which some would argue did not have the most interesting teams, enjoyed about 15 million viewers for Game 5.  

Lack of monstrous sponsorship and advertising dollars notwithstanding, I believe one of the reasons behind Americans' lukewarm love for soccer is lack of personal history.  Think about your own experience.  What teams do you follow with a fervor? What sporting events do you just have to watch?  More than likely, there is some thread of personal history involved.  Maybe you completely come alive during Virginia Tech football season because VT is your alma mater and, however subliminally, you equate Tech football with your carefree college days.  Maybe you gnash your teeth for days when the Boston Red Sox fall apart late in the season, because you and your dad (and his dad) spent many a warm afternoon watching them play at Fenway. Sport fanaticism is so personal and so often rooted in history that fans often feel like they are part of the team.

Soccer is still a relatively young sport in the United States and players often have to go abroad to get the experience and training they need to become world-class.  Thus soccer is automatically at a disadvantage for getting into Americans' personal histories.  Over time and as the demographics of the country evolve (i.e. higher proportions of Latin Americans, who revere "football"), soccer may well come into a larger following.  Until then, though, Major League Soccer (MLS) should consider ways to weave itself into the personal histories of American viewers.  Perhaps, MLS can offer " Daddy (or Mommy) & Me" promotions where local, junior soccer players can play a short scrimmage at half-time and get discounted tickets for their parents to watch the rest of the game with their kids.  Should MLS players do more grass-roots marketing such as guest starring at soccer clinics for local clubs?

Tapping into personal history can be an important marketing strategy for any consumer business, not just sports.  Kraft macaroni recently launched Homestyle Deluxe.  No longer are they just offering a quick and easy way to get dinner on the table, but they are tapping into people's history (real or imagined) of homemade mac and cheese lovingly prepared by their mothers.  How can your business tap into consumer's personal history to create growth and loyalty?

This section features short articles, links, and real-world examples that we hope will help you change your game for the better.  Please feel free to post comments and share game changer ideas with us, too.  We're always excited to learn. 

Our first featured Game Changer is a little out there, but sometimes extreme examples can be the most illustrative.  See how Tesco used consumer understanding and insightful thinking to transform grocery shopping in South Korea. How might you capitalize on consumer behavior to meet your business goals?