Befriending the Customer
Once upon a time, the customer was just that, a customer, and the brand was just trying to sell things. Like a junior high school dance, the two groups stood awkwardly on opposite sides of the room talking amongst themselves, occassionally venturing across to shyly interact.
Well everyone, these days are over. Brands and consumers are becoming closer and closer, and as they do, we wonder, should brands really become friends with consumers? To me, the answer is clear: YES.
There is nothing wrong with a brand interacting with a consumer. In fact, nowadays, the best marketing campaigns involve back and forth discussions between the two sides. An great example is Edge shaving gel’s #soirritating campaign. A team of two spent all day finding and responding to complaints across twitter brought to them by the #soirritating hashtag. The team has given out everything from iPads and computers to megaphones and a dancing panda Youtube video in order to “sooth irritation”. This has brought many twitter followers and uses of the hashtag, but most importantly this campaign has brought vast amounts of positive brand recognition for Edge, a recognition that has always been greatly important for any brand.
So I say, why doesn’t every brand start communicating directly between themselves and their customers? Be nice to your customers, befriend them, and it will surely pay off for your brand!