This document discusses how brands can utilize social media to their benefit or detriment. It provides examples of brands like Chipotle, Taco Bell, and Naked Pizza that saw success by engaging customers on social media platforms. Conversely, it outlines instances where brands like Applebee's, Kenneth Cole, and Red Cross faced backlash due to mishandling social media responses or allowing inexperienced employees to post. Finally, it recommends that brands take a strategic, multi-person approach to social media and be prepared to react if issues arise in order to build relationships with customers and promote their brand.

1. Image Credit: Unsplash, William Iven
How social media can
or your
brand
By Meggie Yan

2. Image Credit: Unsplash, Kate SERBIN
Social media are web-based
communication tools that
enable people to interact with
each other by both sharing
and consuming information.
[1]
What is Social Media?

3. Image Credit: Unsplash, Mohammad Bagher Adib Behrooz
Some even say that this is the biggest shift since the
industrial revolution, which means that the world has a
brand new playing meadow. [2]

4. Image Credit: Unsplash, eric duvauchelle
The number of smartphone
users in the United States in
2014 is approaching 200
million and growing, year
over year by 20 percent. [3]

5. Image Credit: Unsplash, Kash Goudarzi
Mobile now accounts for 60 percent of all the
time spent on the Internet and 60 percent of
the time spent visiting the retailer-site
category. [3]

6. Image Credit: Unsplash, Daria Nepriakhina
It is in a brand’s interest to be in
our face all the time + to build a
long term relationship [4]

7. Image Credit: Unsplash, Ben White
“Peer to peer” – 56% of consumers said
they are more likely to recommend a
brand to a friend after becoming a fan on
Facebook. [5]

8. Image Credit: Unsplash, Luke Porter
Some brands have successfully utilized the power of
social media to their benefit…

9. Image Credit: Unsplash, MaT Jones
Chipotle pretended their Twitter account was hacked and
gained 4000 followers and got retweeted over 12,000
times [6]

10. Image Credit: Unsplash, Mason Nelson
Taco Bell – social readiness – campaign grew fan base by
200,000 in just 2 days [6]

11. Image Credit: Unsplash, Carissa Gan
Naked Pizza, a New Orleans, Louisiana-based business
catering to health-conscious pizza lovers, tweeted about
its pizzas in 2009 and successfully drew around 4,000
followers in just a few months.
Also sets one day sales record using social media: 68% of
sales came from people ‘calling in from twitter’, and on
top of that ‘85% of their new customers were from
twitter’ [7]

12. Image Credit: Unsplash, José González
The ‘will it blend’ campaign by BlendTec went viral
and as a result they saw its sales grow fivefold. The
BlendTec videos have now been viewed more than
100 million times on Youtube. [7][8]

13. Image Credit: Unsplash, James SuTon
SomeXmes a social media effort
can be more detrimental than
beneficial…

14. Image Credit: Unsplash, Gaelle Marcel
Marketers often think the worst thing that can
happen during a marketing campaign or support
forum is no activity or response. They are wrong.
[8]

15. Image Credit: Unsplash, Glenn Carstens-Peters
The most viral emotion on
the internet is anger – less
likely to subside because of
the long tail effect [9]

16. Image Credit: Unsplash, Tim Gouw
Apple Bee mistake – addressing everyone using fomal
corporate responses after wrongfully firing an employee
only caused people to be more angry. [9]

17. Image Credit: Unsplash, Deniz AlXndas
Jetstar employed accommodative crisis response
strategies (Coombs, 2007) such as apologizing and
compensating which resulted in less customers being
angry. [9]

18. Image Credit: Unsplash, Mikaela Shannon
Kenneth Cole – Twitter fail - they tweeted “Millions
are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new
spring collection is now available online” in references
to protests in Egypt in 2011. They also failed to
apologize after which caused much negative attention
on the brand. [6]

19. Image Credit: Unsplash, ScoT Webb
Tip: Do not let interns manage your business
social media, it is not the same thing as a personal
account. Example: Red Cross employee got drunk
and tweeted about it on Red Cross’ main twiTer
account instead of the personal account. This
shows that inexperience can lead to disaster [10]

20. Image Credit: Unsplash, Marcos Paixão
In regards to social media, we
cannot assume one person can
handle it all – there needs to be
at least one person to analyze
data, one person who
understands the audience and
engages them, and one person
to tie it all together. [10]

21. Image Credit: Unsplash, Claire Satera
Lessons Learned:
Savvy managers understand there is a
feedback loop – don’t just sit back, but listen
carefully. Because consumers not only consume
but also consume, share, and provide their
thoughts. Be prepared to react if problems
occur. [8]

22. Works Cited
Image Credit: Unsplash, Igor Ovsyannykov
[1] NaXons, D. (2017, March 9). Serious QuesXon: What Exactly is Social Media? Retrieved March 10, 2017,
from hTps://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-the-big-trend-3486616
[2] Social Media MarkeXng. (2012, December). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from
hTps://www.researchgate.net/publicaXon/293285713_Social_Media_MarkeXng
[3] Fulgoni, G.M. (2014). “Omni-Channel” Retail Insights and The Consumer’s Path-to-Purchase. Journal of
Adver.sing Research. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
[4] Matrix, S. (2017, March 10). FILM 240 Module 02 Lecture 01 Adver.sing Strategies. Lecture.
[5[ Swallow, E. (2011, September 12). How Consumers Interact With Brands on Facebook [STUDY]. Retrieved
March 10, 2017, from hTp://mashable.com/2011/09/12/consumers-interact-facebook/#CmnoND_NwOqz
[6] Matrix, S. (2017, March 10). FILM 240 Module 02 Lecture 02 Public Rela.ons. Lecture.
[7] Qualman, E. (2013). Socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[8] Hoffman, D. L., & Fodor, M. (2010, October 1). Can You Measure the ROI of Your Social Media
MarkeXng? Retrieved March 10, 2017, from
hTp://sloanreview.mit.edu/arXcle/can-you-measure-the-roi-of-your-social-media-markeXng/
[9] OT. L., & Theunissen, P. (2015). ReputaXons at risk: Engagement during social media crises. Public
Rela.ons Review, 41(1), 97-102. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.10.015
[10] Siu, E. (2013, August 27). 5 Ways Social Media Can Destroy Your Business. Retrieved March 10, 2017,
from hTps://www.entrepreneur.com/arXcle/228051