Ryanair’s Marketing Suicide – Idiot Bloggers Bite Back?

Ryanair responded to a blogger’s post about a glitch on their website with juvenile, aggressive comments. (You can read the full Times story of Ryanair’s peculiar response to a blogger’s innocuous post here: Ryanair, best for cheap.)

Ryanair are a budget airline. The entire business is run on a shoestring in order to provide cheap flights. Clearly, shoestrings don’t create the most joyful of workforces, and perhaps this is the cause of the vitriolic reaction to a well-intended post by a blogger.

The interesting thing about this story is that Ryanair have followed up negative and bitter comments on the original blog post with official statements that are even more damning:

“Ryanair can confirm that a Ryanair staff member did engage in a blog discussion. It is Ryanair policy not to waste time and energy in corresponding with idiot bloggers and Ryanair can confirm that it won’t be happening again.

Lunatic bloggers can have the blog sphere [sic] all to themselves as our people are far too busy…”

Now, the reason this is crazy is because, even if Ryanair really don’t care what bloggers think or write, and even if Ryanair are happy to create such a negative media storm needlessly and pointlessly, then they should care about the effect of all the negative links. “Idiot bloggers” may have a considerable impact on the results that appear when people search for Ryanair.

Perhaps the people who want extremely cheap flights don’t care about the negative publicity…? Is that why Ryanair think it’s acceptable to behave in this manner?

Whatever happens, it’s sad that Ryanair couldn’t have joined the online discussion in a more sociable way!

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Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Evil

Short version:

Some marketers are evil. All they want is money. They don’t care how they get money, or how they get money for their clients. They don’t care about morals, authenticity, reputation or karma. But marketing doesn’t have to be evil. It can be authentic, honest, open and useful.

Long version:

Marketers have a bad reputation. Why? Maybe it’s because they often prioritise selling over ethics. Maybe it’s because they use sneaky, manipulative gimmicks to increase sales. Maybe it’s because they are relentless with their marketing messages, rarely stopping to listen.

Marketing is not inherently evil. Marketing does not begin from a default position of evil. Marketing has become loaded with negative connotations, but all it means is offering a product or service – originally the process of taking your farmed produce to the market, where you would sell or barter it for money or goods.

Now, assuming that your products and services are not evil, and that they are genuinely useful things that people want or need, and can derive some benefit from, then offering those things for sale (marketing) can’t be evil.

I’m working on a guide to selling on the web, which won’t contain a single evil idea. All of the advice will be nice ways to sell genuine products in an authentic way.

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Corporate Twittering: A Marketing Mess in a Social Space?

Back to Andy Budd’s recent post about social media consultants clogging up the social media world…

I was wondering about businesses using social media tools, and whether or not it’s okay. Is it right for organisations to invade a space intended for socialising? Does anybody really want marketing to trickle into their online conversations?

It’s always going to be a delicate issue, as many people resent marketing messages intruding yet another aspect of their social life. So what’s acceptable?

I think that the ideal compromise between marketing and social media is for individuals within organisations to exist online – representing their organisation but no being defined by it. So a company’s people enter the social media-sphere, bringing their business with them.

Corporate communications

Who wants to hear what a company has to say? Arguably, very few people give a monkeys what a lifeless entity has to ‘say’. But if an organisation’s people can join in – representing both their own self and their employer, then everyone is happy. The organisation gets thoughtful, proactive participants in digital life, a discreet marketing boost and the chance to show the world what an open, progressive company they are.

Everyone else wins because we don’t get showered with generic corporate communications or blatant spam.

What do you think? Are corporate Twitter accounts bad, bland or brilliant?

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Posted in social media | 5 Comments »

Why Twitter? – Method in the Mayhem

Short version:

Twitter , while seemingly pointless, is actually useful. If you’re clever and persistent, you can use Twitter to:

  • Let contacts get to know you as a person
  • Develop existing relationships and create new ones
  • Learn about your friends, colleagues and contacts
  • Demonstrate your intelligence/wit/charm
  • Get answers to your questions
  • Find new clients
  • Find volunteers to help you get things done

Long version:

This post is all about how I accidentally started lobbying for Twitter, and the justifications I gave for its use. If you don’t know already, Twitter is essentially a website that allows you to create your own account, then post short messages (limited to 140 characters) that answer the perennial question: What are you doing?

Twitter is loved and hated – to some it’s a beautiful device that brings them closer to their world, and to others it’s an inane time waster and an unwanted surge of information in an already overloaded world.

I recently found myself evangelising on behalf of Twitter at a party – I was recommending Twitter to a social media consultant, who viewed Twitter as an unnecessary additional distraction.

So, how did I justify Twitter?

1. By demonstrating usefulness

I gave real examples of how Twitter had been genuinely useful to me.

Example 1:

I’ve been working on writing guides recently, and when I wanted some readers to give me feedback, I turned to my Twitter followers.

And nearly ten different people responded. And those are ten people who volunteered to read my guide. I’ve since received their feedback and revised my guide.

Without Twitter, I would have had to email the people I thought would be most likely to cooperate, or most interested in providing feedback. With Twitter, I can broadcast the request and let interested people decide for themselves. It’s less pressured, more casual, and more effective because of it.

Also, many people follow me on Twitter who I’ve never met – let alone emailed. So I’ve had relative (and in some cases total) strangers giving me valuable feedback. Without Twitter, that would not have happened.

Example 2:

Back to my writing guides… I realised that having nice looking PDFs would probably help the guides get distributed and get read. So I needed a designer.

As the guides are going to be completely free, and freely distributed, I’m trying to avoid spending money on them. So how do you find a designer who is willing to work for nothing more than a discreet marketing opportunity and a dose of good karma?

I was wary of even asking anyone to work for free, because I’m sensitive to the fact that many people receive requests for work on spec, or on the promise of equity. But I asked the Twittersphere, happy knowing that nobody could reasonably resent my request, because it’s so easy to ignore.

And you know what? I had two offers from designers, willing to take a look at my project. Currently, Emma Nicol from Door 22 is working on the guides (the guides are now published). Thanks Emma! I should point out that Emma only agreed to even consider helping me out because we had become better acquainted through Twitter.

2. By suggesting that not using Twitter means you miss out

What’s happening in your town? What are the latest web apps, memes or theories that are bouncing around cyber-space? How do you know about all the ‘latest’ things?

Twitter can be a great way to keep up with the world. People tend to Tweet about their new discoveries or latest passions. So you get to hear about them.

Increasingly, conversations are taking place within Twitter. Ideas blossom, burst into life, crash, burn and die before they’ve even left the Twittersphere. If you’re not on Twitter, you’ll never know.

3. By explaining the value of the seemingly inane

So you’ve looked at Twitter, and got annoyed because people post messages (or Tweets) like:

Now, everyone has their own idea of what is useful, what is boring, what is rude and what is pointless. The beauty of Twitter is that you can constantly refine your Twitter stream. If someone consistently Tweets about stuff that doesn’t interest you, block them. It’s easy.

But, it’s worth considering that even ‘inane’ messages about what people are eating or cooking or blogging about, are giving you a window into their lives. You may have a strong network of business contacts, but how well do you know your contacts as people?

Twitter gives you a great opportunity to get to know the people that you work and network with. Twitter also gives you a great opportunity to meet new people. And yes, that means meeting people in real life too!

4. By explaining that I’ve found work through Twitter

I’ve encountered new clients through Twitter – people I might never have met had it not been for a connection on Twitter.

For many people, Twitter is a great way to maintain contact with their network, and to expand their network in new directions. There is probably no greater way to casually, gently tell people that you exist.

In conclusion

Twitter offers powerful benefits. But you have to contribute before you’ll ever get anything from it. If you view Twitter as just some way to find people to do things for free, or just as a tool to promote your blog, or just as a forum to moan about your boss, then you’ll probably struggle to really enjoy it.

View Twitter as something bigger; something that you do because it’s fun, something that just happens to be very useful.

Further Reading:

To avoid accidentally annoying lots of Twitterers, I recommend reading Josh Russell’s article on Twitter etiquette.

How to Grow Your Twitter Network (How to Find More Followers) by Gregor Spowart

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A Missed Opportunity

What is this?

till receipt

It’s a missed opportunity.

As I sorted my receipts (for expenses purposes), I took a trip down memory lane. I remembered meetings and coffees and lunches and appointments and clients and friends. When I found the receipt above, I remembered thinking that the cafe had failed to set up their till properly.

So rather than being reminded of this particular cafe, and seeing their name again, I get an advert for the Sharp XE-A212 till.

Maximising potential

Marketing is all about little opportunities like this. It’s just about gently reminding people that you exist.

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The evils of marketing-led enterprise…

In a follow-up to yesterday’s post about getting a marketing mind involved in business decisions, I’d like to

Maverick

expand on the views I expressed.

How marketing could make you bland

If every business only made products that were easy to sell, we wouldn’t have Stinking Bishop cheese, or Robin Reliants, or Michael Buble. The influence of marketing also has a terrible effect on Hollywood – stripping the art out of film and replacing it with dull, beige blockbusters in which everyone survives.

If my previous employer had allowed the sales team to dominate product development, every product would have been shamelessly populist, hell bent on crowd-pleasing, never daring to step in new directions.

Be a maverick, and to hell with marketing

Don’t run your business via the marketing department. What the hell do they know, anyway? Let ideas run sideways through the corporate field. Innovate like crazy. Business is about more than money.

Mixed messages

If you’re starting to feel confused, let me clarify: it’s a great idea to ask someone of a marketing bent to review your plans. It’s a terrible idea to let said marketing person run the show. Having a say is one thing, taking control is something else.

(Picture courtesy of Alaskan Dude)

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Why you should involve marketing in all your business decisions

I often get drafted in to write copy for projects that are nearing completion. Copy (supposedly) is the icing on many a corporate cake. I waltz in with a pen, release my prodigious vocabulary, then naff off. And often, that approach is just fine. But, to paraphrase NatWest adverts, there is a better way…

Everything in business should be run past a copywriter

I once worked for a company that designed and produced a large number of original products. The product development team was highly creative and highly effective, but on occasions the sales team would despair because unsellable products were produced.

The sales team knew, from their close relationships to their buyers, what would sell and what would not.

Eventually, the sales team were brought in to development meetings. From then on, product development was focused on products that would have a future.

It’s always a good idea to think about the details of selling a product before you make it. If a copywriter can write about your product, it has a better chance of success. Planning the marketing of a product or service will often suggest variations or alternatives to the original product.

SEO and product development

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) also plays an interesting role in modern product development. Performing a thorough keyword analysis often suggests under-exploited niches, which in turn may affect the products and services a company offers.

So if you know a friendly copywriter, give them a call now. (My number is 07790 748 243.) A copywriter or marketing professional may provide insights that open up profitable new markets.

Shame about the name

Product naming is another area that copywriters can help with. Copywriters will be thinking about products on shelves, words on websites, and what those things will mean to the public. Don’t name a product without carefully considering the details of selling it. Even better, ask someone from outside your company for a second opinion.

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The future of online advertising?

The Future of AdvertisingWill McInnes and a commenter (Jonathan Hopkins) on his blog have got me thinking. Will’s post was about the future of advertising, and how advertising might best evolve in our digitised world. Jonathan suggests that businesses might do better to focus less on themselves and their products and instead try to help people.

Jonathan suggests that companies could use their advertising space to provide useful information that is still relevant to their products. So, for example, the Financial Times might offer statistics on shares. Tesco might provide recipes, or cleaning tips. Ikea might give free room-furnishing advice.

While it seems like a fine idea to be helpful, and build relationships with the people that may become customers, I’m not convinced that this kind of advertising will work. Obviously it will work to the extent that people will use the information provided and may recognise the organisation that provided it. But will they remember what the organisation does? Or what they’re selling?

Advertising doesn’t just exist to forcefully sell products – it often does a great job of informing people about new products and services. So advertising that forgets the product and focuses on providing useful information, may neglect to provide useful information about the product.

I suppose the obvious solution is a marketing strategy that cleverly combines useful content with product information and brand messages. And I think many brands already do this – perhaps the evolution will be into even less obvious advertising, with the useful content at the fore and the brand and products in the background (or perhaps blinking too fast to be visible to the naked eye, but having a rather powerful effect on your subconscious).

(Picture courtesy of Goribob)

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Why CEOs Should Learn to Love the Blog

“If you want to be seen as a cool place to work, then you need to have a blog. And it’s not just about being cool; it shows that you believe in being open and transparent. Customers also prefer to deal with a company that is not just a faceless entity.”

- Debbie Weil, as quoted in the Guardian article “Why CEOs should learn to love the blog”

Now this article is a couple of years old, but it’s still very relevant. I like the idea of smaller companies using blogs as a way to connect to customers in a cost-effective manner.

But, given the enormous number of blogs in existence, only quality blogs (regular, interesting and informative) will find an audience.

One point not mentioned in the article is the significant Search Engine Optimisation value of blogging. Take a look at my free white paper if you want more information: Free White Paper – Blogging for Business

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