In woodwork you’re told to measure twice and cut once – for social media there should be a similar rule, such as “plan once and test offline ad nausea”.
I recall with a wry smile the crass corporate guff of the now infamous Gerald Ratnor who caused the collapse of his jewellery business (and huge losses to his shareholders I guess), when he said his jewellery was (as I recall) “Crap”, when I read today of the Waitrose social media campaign of equal renown (or I’m sure it soon will be).
I have to admit to laughing out loud at their gaff, but it beggars the question whether they considered the profile of their average customer when the marketing guru’s at Waitrose in Bracknell (no doubt already promoted to head office) thought it would be a good idea to ask their customers to Tweet their response to the statement “I shop at Waitrose because…”.
Replies included:
- I shop at Waitrose because I don’t like being surrounded by poor people.
- I shop at Waitrose because Clarrisa’s pony just WILL NOT eat ASDA value straw.
- I shop at Waitrose because the toilet paper is made of 24ct gold thread (unless it’s the essentials range).
- And one tweeted “because darling, Harrods is too much of a trek mid-week”.
I’m pretty sure that particular Social Media campaign has been swiftly withdrawn, but it does make you think that one should think first darrrling.
