Case Study: Social Communication Betrays TSN

We have all heard the expression, "A happy customer tells one friend, an unhappy customer tells everybody they know." I've heard this expression my entire life, especially while working in the hospitality industry as a Bartender while in University. Since I started a career in Marketing I've heard and read about this principal more times than I can remember, but it wasn't until this past week that I really took the time to appreciate just how true the statement is, and how big of an impact it can have.

It all started on Tuesday, or "game day" as the Vancouver Canucks were playing that evening. The buzz in the city was more evident than usual, as the Canucks were to pay tribute to the late Rick Rypien, who had died unexpectedly in the off season. For those of you who don't follow hockey or the Canucks, Rick Rypien was a fan favorite in Vancouver, and although he signed with a different team in the off season, his loss was felt by many.

TSN was to broadcast the Canucks vs Rangers game as their second part of a double header. As it got closer to 7:00pm, it became clear the early game was not going to finish on time. 7:00pm came and passed, and TSN opted to stay with the early game instead of switching for the pre-game ceremony and video tribute to honor Rick.

In frustration, I went to Twitter to announce my displeasure. After I scolded them, I clicked the #tsn hashtag I had put in my post. Keep in mind this was 7:02pm, so I thought I would be the first and perhaps only person complaining as it would take a while for people to realize what was happening; I was wrong. Thousands of posts had beaten mine to the punch, scolding #tsn for their disrespect to Vancouver, and to Mr. Rypien.

I would say that TSN has done a great job in utilizing social communication to its advantage, as virtually all of their broadcasters have very active twitter accounts, and I always look to them for the latest news. Because of this, I usually always tune in to TSN programming to watch these same broadcasters. By all accounts, a social media success story, right? Maybe, but in the years I have watched TSN with no complaint, not once have I ever praised or recommended them. This backlash is just one small example of how that old saying, "an angry customer tells everybody" is amplified in the age of social communication.

For those of you who missed it, here is the tribute to Rick.

Content Spam: Spam v2.0

"Content is king." I've heard this a lot lately.

In my pursuit of knowledge & experience, I read at least 100 articles (in some form or another) a day on social media, marketing, branding, advertising, etc. There are some conflicting opinions, but content is not debated; for successful online marketing, you must provide useful content that appeals to your target audience.

However, much like every aspect of the Internet, there is far more spam and garbage out there than legitimate sources of information. In a world of short attention spans and dare I say, too much information, Spam v2.0 (content spam) is making things difficult for content marketers.

So how do us lowly marketing professionals overcome this? The only way we can; through hard work, consistency and effective brand strategy. Here are a few suggestions:

• Does your blog have a highly focused target audience? Trying to be too much for too many people will limit your ability to provide relevant content to any one group of followers.
• Don't write blogs for the sake of writing blogs, make sure you are saying something of importance to your target audience.
• Craft your content based on what is important at that moment to your audience. Have the BlackBerry technical issues been over covered by the media in the last week? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean your audience doesn't want to hear your opinion about it.

The importance of being a resource for relevant information is becoming exponentially more important with more spam content muddying the waters.

Real Estate Developers: A Manufacturer Unlike Any Other

The residential construction industry is just different. Builders & developers are unlike any other manufacturer in the world, and here's why.

For almost every other product or service, customer care, brand identity and quality of the product are absolutely vital to the success of the manufacturer/service provider. Think about it; if Toyota makes cars riddled with problems (such was the case with various models last year), sales immediately go down because people have so many other options.

But with real estate, it's not that simple. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Let's start with the biggest single factor in real estate, location location location! Land is in limited supply, and if you own some in a desirable location, people will want it; that's a fact. Secondly, unlike most other products, people simply don't buy homes all that often. Well, most people anyways. Even though the average number of homes a person will own in their life has doubled over the last 30 years, the length of ownership is significantly longer than any other product out there. Why is that important? Because a person will likely only buy one new home, builders don't have to worry about customer retention. Everybody needs a home, and there are plenty of other people either growing up or immigrating who will require a home in a desirable location.

If you combine these two factors, you are left with an industry that doesn't have the same competitive pressures that others do. Of course, government regulation mandates construction standards, so it's not like builders are constructing poorly built homes that are unsafe. But buying a new home isn't necessarily a simple process, and it isn't finished when the keys are handed over either.

Communication, customer service and warranty are all vital components to being satisfied with a  new home purchase, and this is where it pays to do your research on a builder before deciding to buy their product.

Feedback, Please

A video that I created for our website to stress the importance of information when purchasing a new home. Does it keep your attention? Is the message clear enough?

Feedback is appreciated.

-Brent

Why now?

Welcome to my blog.

What is its theme, its purpose if you will? I'm not sure. Why now? I'm not entirely sure of that either.

Over my 27 years on this earth, I've done a lot of writing. Some while being paid, most while being forced by some form of educational institution, but none for the pure enjoyment of writing. During my time in University I had always wanted to keep a blog about my experiences as a struggling student; juggling my academic, work and family responsibilities and share it with the world to see how my situation compared (or contrasted) to others in my position. But like most non essential activities, it seemed like there was always something else that needed to be done.

So here I am. Three or so years post graduation, I am now heading up the Marketing department for Conasys Inc, a supplier to residential builders and developers. I live my life completely submerged in the world of real estate, learning my craft as I go.

Marketing is my trade, real estate is the industry in which I apply it. I plan on writing about what I observe, what I learn and of course, the mistakes made along the way.

You are welcome to check in from time to time, should it interest you.

-Brent