That Escalated Quickly.

Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome Back to Late Night Critic.

I recently watched Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, with some of my family. It was a pretty good sequel. But that isn't what this blog is for.

Anchorman 2 had one of the largest Integrated Media Communication campaigns ever. What Paramount was able to do for this movie was nothing short of amazing (whether it was helpful or hurtful is still to be determined). This grouping of advertisements went from the very ordinary (trailers, talk-show tours, etc.) to the new and unexplored (ice-cream flavor, sports interview, the list goes on). Its purpose was to take advantage of the growing interest in movie characters over the actors who play them. This comes from the interest of people today in blockbuster franchises over a single stand alone movie (this is the fault of the movie industry in my humble opinion, but I'll have to cover that another time).

A social media campaign of this size and depth was bound to work at least at some level. And it did work, even for the partners of Anchorman 2. Dodge saw a huge climb in sales by having Ron Burgundy promote their cars. Some have even said that Mr. Burgundy may just be the best car salesman Dodge has ever had.

While this campaign was able to grow sales for some of it's partners it also was a success for the movie. I think the purpose of the campaign was mainly to reach every single person possible and remind them of who Ron Burgundy was. And if that was in fact the goal, they succeeded, easily. People were constantly talking about the movie, or at the very least the man himself Mr. Burgundy. And word of mouth is a huge part of the industry according to numerous articles and just common sense.

The problem for films wanting to implement the methods of Paramount and Co. is the inability to replicate all that Anchorman 2 was truly able to do. Ron Burgundy was a newscaster and this allowed him to enter into numerous live television scenarios that characters based in other roles simply couldn't fill.

My opinion? This movie pushed the limits of social media marketing, but they pushed them to where they should be in today's tech-savvy world. Many people stated the flurry of advertisements was simply to cover for a lackluster film, however going forward big films will have to start marketing themselves in a similar manner. The bottom-line is it worked and it's what it takes to get a brand out into the world these days.

This week in BBB (Best Business Blunders): Microsoft and the Zune
Near the tail-end of 2011 Microsoft very quietly announced the end of the Zune product line and the production of the current model. Personally I grew up and still am a Windows man, but Apple was so far ahead of the curve Microsoft never had a chance. The portable music player was a huge market and looked like it would be possible for Microsoft to gain a small hold in but they didn't plan for the sole success that the iPod was. While it was a sad day for me to see Microsoft defeated by Apple, I feel there has been a lesson learned and the new Windows phone's could start to compete with Apple.

So what is the lesson learned? 

You can't plan for the success of your competitors, but you must do your best to predict it. Microsoft entered into a segment they weren't ready to fight for and lost.

Thanks for tuning in,

AO

Social Media as a Customer Service Tool

Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome to Late Night Critic.

Tonight we will discuss the use of social media as a tool to cool the heated moods of frustrated customers. With the current weather-craze airline services have been put in the spotlight for their reactions to customer complaints, especially in their responses through social media. Jason Clampet recently wrote an article on Skift about the airlines and their use of Twitter to calm the sea of complaints they were receiving. This is what sparked my interest in the subject matter. Social media has been used for this purpose for a few years now. However these days it is common to see a negative post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. and for the culprit company to respond by apologizing and sometimes even offering some sort of gift.

I believe that this form of customer service isn't only good for companies to follow, it is necessary to keep up with the consumers of today. Social media has become a great tool for any company, no matter the size. Sometimes it isn't just about replying directly to posts. A week ago I remember seeing a friend tweet about a bad experience at a local coffee shop. Within 20 minutes he received a note that he could come in and get a free drink on them. Whether it's big or small a company that can use social media to keep track of and comfort their customers can become very successful.

There are also many bad examples of the use of social media for advertising today. From Epicurious using the Boston Marathon Bombing to tweet about their food, to Applebee's firing a waitress simply for posting a picture of a receipt when she was left without a tip. The dark side of what social media does to our world is quickly making itself apparent. A company shouldn't have to remove a post from a website because the number of consumer complaints grew exponentially (see Epicurious). However, as long as companies plan out their use of social media I feel it can be used purely as a tool of good.

This week in BBB (Best Business Blunders): New Coke

Twenty-nine years after the release of "New Coke" Coca-Cola is lucky to be back the number one soda in the US. Why did they even research a new product? After reading through the Coca-Cola website I found that the company was losing its edge on its competitors and the overall cola business was suffering. Although the taste tests for "New Coke" gave off better scores than the original formula, what Coca-Cola failed to determine was their customers loyalty to their already great product. Coca-Cola released their new product after testing it extensively and it garnered great attention, but of the utmost negativity.

So what is the lesson learned? Data is not the only important factor to a product's success. Coca-Cola took 3 months to respond to this issue, but because they listened to their customers they were able to make it back to the top of the US soda food-chain.

Thank you for reading,

Alex Oldfield

Greetings!

Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome to Late Night Critic.

This blog will contain posts on the happenings in modern advertising!

I will be reviewing articles and discussing my opinions of advertising and the use of social media to communicate with today's consumers.

I think it would be fun to introduce a segment I will do every week, Best Business Blunders. First I will research the worst business blunders of our society, both past and present. Then I will discuss them here!

This week in BBB (Best Business Blunders): I recently found out about Hooters trying to implement an air service. All of their flights were serviced from Pace Airlines and the planes were mocked up to be "flying billboards" as John Helyar wrote in a Fortune Case Study of the restaurant. However, as most would realize, the airline industry and Hooters did not mix and after roughly 3 years Hooters Airlines ceased operations. All in all the endeavor cost Hooters around $40 Million (USA TODAY: Hooters turns 30).

So what is the lesson learned? Don't stretch your business into territory it doesn't belong!

Thank you for reading,

Alex Oldfield