Expressing disappointment over a product or a bad customer experience through social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube has become a new trend in the social media world. Even though many big brands have a solid presence on social media sites, they are failing to engage with their customers, respond to their complaints and, as a result, their social media efforts backfire. This article presents two interesting case studies proving that customers are now able to raise their voice and express their feelings through an effective social media campaign.
Case Study 1: Customer Buys Promoted Tweet To Complain About British Airways Customer Service
After British Airways lost his father’s luggage, Hasan Syed came up with an usual if not creative way to show his disappointment about the company’s unacceptable customer service through a social media campaign. But instead of just tweeting his complaint, he paid for a promoted tweet: “Don’t fly @BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous”.
Even though he didn’t reveal how much he paid for the tweet, it reached a wide audience in New York and UK markets. Eight hours after the airline finally tweeted back, “Sorry for the delay in responding, our twitter feed is open 0900-1700 GMT. Please DM your baggage ref and we’ll look into this”. Their response irritated the customer even further, “How does a billion dollar corp only have 9-5 social media support for a business that operates 24/7? DM me yourselves”.
The case was picked up by the news websites and became a great example of how a social media marketing tool can help obtain results with a big corporation. Many people showed him their support by retweeting and commenting. It definitely affected the company’s reputation and doubted the company’s ability to properly manage, monitor and respond to customers’ complaints on social media.
Case Study 2: Jamie Oliver Wins Battle Against McDonalds
The famous TV chef and active supporter of healthy food, Jamie Oliver won a battle against McDonalds, one of the largest fast food chains in the world. As a part of his Food Revolution campaign the chef released a video explaining how hamburgers are made. He demonstrated how parts of beef are washed in ammonium hydroxide and used in the filling of the burgers. The video received over 2 million views on Youtube and were picked up by the leading news magazines and influential bloggers.
By raising awareness through a social media campaign, he created a buzz around fast food healthy concerns. The franchise announced that it changed the recipe even though denied that any particular campaign, including Jamie Oliver’s, had anything to do with the decision.
iRISEmedia is a Digital Media agency specialized in social media marketing and online branding. Our team helps clients increase their reach and profitability by developing a customized and targeted social media campaign. We service clients in Toronto, Ontario and throughout Canada as well as globally.
