Location is also relevant with social media
A few weeks ago I did play golf in Germany
and tasted a delicious alcohol-free beer from Erdinger. So, I decided to Google
for it and check where I could buy this product in The Netherlands. I thought
that this was a 5-minute job. I could not have been more wrong.
I could not find any brick and mortar
store, which would be selling this product. Isn’t this strange as this is the
best selling alcohol-free brand in Germany? Therefor I did contact them via
their website with this simple question: where can I buy this product? First
they did send me to a distributor which happened to have as their only customer
…… Heineken! This approach didn’t work and I did contact them again. The
helpful area sales manager arranged a call with a local sales manager and he
actually pointed to a store (rather close to where I live) where I could buy
the product.
This process did cost me quite some time,
which shouldn’t be the case. So I did send the area sales manager some feedback
and suggestions. Especially that a proper use of social media would be quite
useful for them as well as for their prospects. And again I was introduced to
another local sales manger, who did write this reply:
“We would like to inform you that we are already
working on several marketing activities in order to promote especially ERDINGER
Alkoholfrei.
This product is positioned as a Sports and Fitness Drink and therefore we
do support several sport events, mainly running events. In 2012 we started a
sponsoring campaign with the Dutch Trail Cup in the Netherlands which takes
place in Gulpen, Rheden and Schoorl (14th of October).
So far we have used the dutch Runner's World for 3 advertisments, incl.
editorials on their webpage.
In what kind of social media are you working with?”
Obviously they lack a clear understanding
of what social media is and can do for them. This marketing approach will cause
the same problems i.e. if people want to buy the product after the
events/advertisements they can find no source where they can actually buy the
product. And there is also nobody (via social media!) who they can contact. I
also doubt whether they will use the same laborious process as I did.
What are the learnings from this
experience?
Well, it looks like a typical example of a product-focused
company who has problems with putting the customer at the center of their
operations. Also a clear understanding of the benefits of social media is
lacking. The marketing department should also see their approach as part of a
larger ecosystem, instead of focusing on an isolated activity only. There are
still huge opportunities by putting the customer at the start and at the end of
all your activities.
Are you giving priority to the customer
(service) experience?
Enthusiasm drives Excellence!
