While researching the topic of Social Media this week, I was fascinated to see how various companies have managed to successfully promote their brand on the Internet through various methods. This article by Samir Balwani does a great job in giving a few examples of this. I was particularly intrigued with the way Starbucks received direct ideas from their customers via the My Starbucks Idea. It is important for a company like Starbucks to know what people want in their coffee. Consumers are very particular about the taste of their coffee and are likely to stick with one they like for the rest of their lives. By getting suggestions directly from the people, Starbucks is not only making an effort to retain existing customers, but also attracting new ones in the process.
I also liked the idea that Comcast came up with in order to satisfy customer service. There are several companies out there that have a Technical Support staff available online that consumers can chat with on their website. However, this requires users to go to the website and initiate a chat themselves. Comcast realized that sometimes customers are angry and are likely to post comments on sites like Twitter creating negative publicity. By having a dedicated staff that attempts to please these customers, Comcast is showing that it truly does care about its service.
