How I Brought Back The Strasburger: Three Consumer Interaction Tales On Twitter

I got out of bed this past Sunday with my bags packed. It was 5 AM and I was in North Carolina ready to fly home from a client event and my colleague Philip and I walked into the Asheville Regional Airport to some disappointing news: our flight was delayed two hours.

I was livid. I could have slept in a bit more before checking out and the delay now ruined my entire Sunday schedule. While I wasn't as mad as the gentleman behind me, who proceeded to cause a scene in front of the counter (well it’s not really a scene if the terminal is empty,) I was pretty cranky about the whole situation.

So I did what any other social media pro would do: I complained on Twitter. Philip and I decided to go get some breakfast  and by the time we returned there was already a tweet from US Airways waiting for me. Kudosto US Airways. .

The idea of customer service changed when a disgruntled Comcast customer posted a video of his technician falling asleep while trying to fix his issues. All of a sudden consumers had a loudspeaker to make their grievances heard, magnified to a level that not only grabs the attention of others but those at the top of the executive suite.

Lesson: In order to be successful in social media, it's not enough for companies to just be present - they have to be listening too.

So after my delayed flight I went to DC's BGR: The Burger Joint to grab dinner and try a one of their newest burger creations: The Strasburger, named after Stephen Strasburg, the phenomenal Washington Nationals pitcher who's been extremely popular with DC residents this summer. It was an extreme burger challenge I just had to take on (if you don't know, I enjoy eating awesome food creations).

When I walked up to the counter and asked if I could get a Stasburger the cashier answered, much to my disappointment, was: "Absolutely not!" He explained that the burger was a promotional item only for the month of Strasburg's debut with the Nats. I was crushed, and once again I took my sadness to Twitter.

Meanwhile at NMS, fellow Nats fan Laura Murphy was wondering if she could still try the Strasburger, so I reported to her the unfortunate news that our dreams of a cheeseburger with hot dogs and 14 pickles would never come true.

Or so we thought until BGR found our conversation and came to the rescue:

Laura and I are now making plans to venture down to BGR this week to enjoy our burgers, and you can be sure we’ll have photos up on Twitter.

Lesson: Great customer service is the same in social media -- just give the customer what they want and they’ll reward you in the end.

While I was busy daydreaming of Vermont cheddar and endless pickles, another story was buzzing on Twitter: Old Spice pitchman Isaiah Mustafa and his personalized Twitter responses on YouTube. Earlier this week I wrote about Old Spice’s campaign and how the zany, over-the-top acts featuring the former NFL player were a viral video hit.

Old Spice then managed to take that to the next level, something I thought was impossible. Starting on July 12^th, Old Spice posted a series of videos featuring Isaiah Mustafa responding to various Tweets, Facebook messages, YouTube comments, even questions on Yahoo! Answers. The personalized videos are short, hilarious, and simply feature the pitchman standing in the bathroom with a towel and in some cases a prop. The simple set-up and production quality is key for a quick turnaround and has allowed Old Spice to continuously post answers until around 9 PM EST before calling it a night. He has continued to post videos two days later.

The campaign is already being called a hit and perhaps even the best online campaign ever. Blogger Mike Shaffer already lent his thoughts citing its success because of the star, fast turnaround, and humor. On top of those reasons I’ll add two more:

1) Targeted Influencers

The first video in the campaign was to Ellen Degeneres, a supporter of Isaiah who has already featured him on her show. The first batch of videos also targeted media/internet influencers including Kevin Rose of Digg, Perez Hilton, Alyssa Milano, and Guy Kawasaki.

2) Personalization

We’ve seen some cool personalized campaigns, like phone calls from Samuel L. Jackson, but to have a personalized video that took actual time and effort from Isaiah and company is better than any autographed photo. To have a big brand like Old Spice reach out to a single consumer via YouTube will certainly get that person excited enough to tell 10 or more people.

I mean look how excited I am from a burger joint - now I wonder what I’d have to do to get Isaiah to make a video for me!

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In the end, these three interactions highlighted to me the importance of what we do with social media every day here at NMS. US Airways opened their ears, Old Spice turned on their cameras, and BGR turned on the grills. How are you using Twitter? Like a loudspeaker? Like a bulletin board? It isn't enough to simply be present or to even talk with your following. You have to connect with them. To be successful on Twitter, brands need to listen, speak, AND act.