experience matters

Andrea Donatucci | Critical Mass Chicago

Last week, I attended the Chicago AMA BrandSmart Event “Staying Relevant in an ever changing world.” The day started with an inspiring keynote presentation from Walgreen’s CMO Kim Feil called “Changing Times at Walgreens- There’s A Way.” She explained how her team is working to change consumer perceptions and emerge as the preferred and trusted health services provider. With their new brand campaign “There’s A Way,” Walgreens is moving beyond the trusted traditional channels of TV and print and expanding into digital (online advertising as well as the largest out of home digital display in Times Square) to deliver integrated messaging and a more consistent customer experience.

What made her presentation especially fitting to the theme of the day was her own personal story… her first day as the new CMO at Walgreens was the same day that Wall Street experienced its biggest one day drop ever. Her “best laid” plans of transforming the brand were immediately revisited with the lens and added pressure of compelling consumers to spend (in especially trying economic times).

Beyond the keynote, I tried a sampling of breakout sessions from the available tracks of Innovation, Engagement and Social Media. My favorite presentation was one entitled “Diving into the Social Media Mosh Pit” given by Melissa Meulenberg, ecommerce Manager for the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago.

My reason for selecting this session was two-fold: the title sounded pretty interesting, plus this particular hotel is located across the street from the CM Chicago office and has been the topic of much conversation… but more about that later.

Melissa is a marketing department of one so I was immediately impressed by her simple but efficient methods of staying aware of the brand dialog that is in play on Twitter, Facebook and Trip Advisor. She told many stories about being tuned into what current and past guests were posting and responding quickly. Some of the major themes:
1.   Selecting the sites in which you wish to join the dialog
2.   Setting aside time each day to respond to posts and contribute new, relevant content (not solely promoting or talking about your brand)
3.   Turning fans of your brand into public advocates.
• Hard Rock has an outreach to encourage those with positive hotel experience to share their story on Trip Advisor
• Their ranking on Trip Advisor has moved up 30 spots among Chicago hotels in last 18 months to #46
4.   Proactively searching for comments about your brand as a Customer Service opportunity (before, during or after the experience with your brand).
• When comments are overly negative, taking action privately first and then publicly to remedy the situation
• Also taking action when posts give the opportunity to turn a good experience into an extraordinary one

All of the stories were entertaining, but the following account is my favorite.

In October 2009 a mom blogger (@Mom101) was staying at the hotel for a conference. Knowing that this guest was a blogger, Melissa decided to follow her on Twitter. She noticed that shortly after checking in, the guest in question posted the following question:

Within minutes Melissa quickly tweeted the following response:

An amusing dialog continued between the guest and hotel management, which ended with a happy customer and some free advertising for the hotel via the blogger’s description of the exchange. (And then being able to retell the story at events like this one and the repostings like mine provide added exposure too. ☺)

Melissa went onto explain that this is not the first time that the question of tinting the bathroom windows was raised. She explained that they had also received a Website comment/complaint about this same problem from a local office worker.

This individual worked in an office building located across the street from the hotel and complained about the hotel guests he was spotting from the comforts of his desk (and obviously not enjoying it). While sitting in the audience and hearing this story, I had to refrain from laughing out loud since I knew firsthand what a great view local office tenants have of the Hard Rock Hotel guestrooms–our office is in that same building right across the street. There have been many occasions when I’ve come in the morning or returned from lunch, and noticed a line of co-workers looking out onto Michigan Ave. No, they are not enjoying the amazing skyline. You guessed it, they were witnessing the “entertainment” provided by Hard Rock Hotel guests. (There are both good and bad spottings, but I rarely hear CMers complaining the way this hardworking gentlemen did.).

But I digress…

What I liked best about Melissa’s presentation were the easy, smart and practical methods she shared to stay in tune with the buzz on a brand. Can a property of her size do more? Leverage more advanced techniques? Absolutely. But in the meantime she knows where her consumers look for advice, practices clever detective skills and is proactively correcting problems as they occur (or even before they happen) to turn a special occasions into unforgettable ones. Well done!

Andrea is an Account Director for the Autotrader account in our Chicago office.