Final Presentation: Incorporating Social Media in Urban Planning

Incorporating Social Media in Urban Planning from Patrick Deschenes


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Social Media Monitoring Part II: Amazon Echo Dot 2

After examining the success of the "Alexa Moments" campaign it was clear that Amazon was successful in establishing a connection with their customers. The Echo and the Echo Dot products by Amazon's own account were selling in the millions. Records indicated that they were the highest selling item on Amazon.com for Black-Friday sales and became very popular during the Christmas holiday season. While the products were surly popular in terms of sales, the social media presence for them appeared to be lacking in comparison.

The Echo's Facebook followers

The Echo's Twitter followers

The company Amazon itself was far more popular on Facebook and Twitter.

Amazon's Facebook followers

Amazon's Twitter followers

With the company having a significantly larger social media presence than the Echo products you would think they might cross-advertise for it more on their own page. Instead many posts on their social network platforms appear to be advertisement for random products sold on their website as well as advertising for other ventures the company is moving into.

This advertisement appears to come off as funny and whimsical while certainly being aimed at getting a viewer's attention. If Amazon is going to increase the social media traffic for their Echo and Echo Dot products there should be a little more cross-promotion on the company's main social networking pages.

Competition

Amazon's main competition when it comes to their Echo product is also from a company molded by the internet age. Google as we all now well is by far the most trusted and recognizable search engine in the world. Like Amazon, their massive growth and wealth has given them the ability to spread into other markets far beyond their original purpose. Google's answer to the Amazon Echo is the Google Home.

  

The small and sleek Google Home functions essentially the exact same way as the Amazon Echo with it being a smart speaker that responds to the users voice to answer and do just about any task. One difference is that the "call-word" is Google rather than the Echo's Alexa. For example you'd say "Google what's the forecast?" instead of "Alexa what's the Forecast?"... very original. If you're from around here you know where there's a Dunkin' Donuts on one corner there's a Honey Dew across the street. Companies are always competing to corner the market on a particular good or service and smart speakers appear to be no different.

Google Home's Social Networking Presence

Facebook

There did not appear to be any pages dedicated purely to the Google Home by Google as there were with the Amazon Echo. Instead pages were much smaller while offering advice, answering questions, and relaying news.

Twitter

Twitter page for "Made by Google"

Twitter page for "Google Home News"

The Twitter was far more organized than the Facebook while being separated into "Made by Google" and "Google Home News". In Made by Google the page was dedicated to all of the products made by google and attracted more views. There was typical advertisement but the feel was much more to the point and refined whereas Amazon's pages were attention getting but appealing in their own way. The second page Google Home News claimed to be an unofficial page for the product presumably created by enthusiasts. Much of the information was similar to the other page except focused entirely on the Google Home as appose to any other product. After review it seemed that even with Amazon's faults they were still ahead of their competition in terms of social networking.

Google Trends

Amazon Echo (blue), Google Home (red), Alexa (yellow), Amazon Echo Dot (green)

Google Home has a noticeably greater reach than Echo or Echo Dot, but Alexa is still far and away more widespread than both. Alexa is represented in the Echo platform which indicates that the marketing of the product still remains its greatest asset than the name of the product itself.

The world comparison highlights this distinction even further with "Alexa" being recognized around the world and having a greater spread of influence. This theory also holds true for the Google Home. Although the Echo and Echo Dot products might outsell the Google Home, Google itself has a major influence globally. Although Amazon is certainly huge in its own right Google with its early internet roots and iconic use still places a step above Amazon.

Social Mention

Turning to social mention it was important to notice how the Echo compared to its competition the Google Home. Although this method is not an exact science, it proves the continuing narrative that Echo and Google Home are fairly comparable, but it is Alexa that draws the greatest attention. (all social mention data was collected on Sunday 3/12/17)  

Google Home

Amazon Echo

Alexa

While the Echo and Home were very close the phrase Alexa excelled in all categories. Amazon has hit the groundswell in a way that has created a buzz among their most recognizable feature. A simple word and relatable series of commercials gave the goundswell something to connect with and ultimately aid in sustaining the Echo/Echo Dot's success.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: 

Viral videos, marketing, and distribution system are just a few of the more notable strengths that exist with the Echo/Echo Dot. The Alexa Moments campaign solidified the product as a widely recognized device and one that could be useful in any household. It stands out as a marketing campaign that perfectly taps into the groundswell by relying on the groundswell to power their user based commercials. The distribution system is also something that is an obvious strength for a company that is primarily known for its website that sells most products.

Weaknesses: 

The traditional social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. are significantly low in followers when compared to the pages designated to the primary company. While Amazon gets social media the pages associated to the Echo products are lacking in quality content and followers. This could be a lot to do with the size of the company itself. Amazon is a massive company and it may be stretched too thin to handle every branch, product, and outlet the best it can. The primary purpose of Amazon will always take top priority but the social media managing for one of the products it creates like the Echo could use a re-tooling. Li and Bernoff in the book state that once a company starts getting involved with social media it sets itself up for judgement by how well it maintains it. The staleness and overwhelming advertising feel to the Echo's social media pages could be a reason for a lack of followers.

Opportunities:

Take advantage of the groundswell's infatuation with Alexa/Alexa Moments campaign and build a community. Every data gathering mechanism has shown that far and away Alexa is very well known globally, even more so than the product. Amazon needs to take advantage of this by expanding their marketing into different forms of social media. A blog or forum where those that are obsessed with the Echo can share stories, post user made videos, and discuss the product in detail would be very useful for the company. Not only would this be a good outlet for the obsessed, but also assist those that have operation questions and give Amazon organic user generated feedback that they can use for improvements and future campaigns.

Threats:

The massive size of Amazon and the Echo's competition with the Google Home. You would think the massive size and established presence of Amazon as only a positive, but there are aspects of that which also make it a threat to the Echo/Echo Dot. A lot of revenue and success for Amazon already comes through different areas so the success of the company doesn't rely on the Echo or Echo Dot. If for some reason the company had to abandon the product they could still survive. Although this is far from happening due to the success of the product it is still something that could always remain a threat. Also as previously discussed in the blog the Google Home is the main competition to the Amazon Echo. A bunch of tech blogs have compared the two and they are relatively close in performance and price (except the Echo Dot which is far more affordable). Personal preference aside the Echo is slightly ahead, but a lot of that has to do with it being older than the Google Home. As technology approves and adjustments are made Amazon will need to be wary of Google to make sure that the Home doesn't overtake the Echo.

Final Thoughts

The Amazon Echo/Echo Dot has a lead over its competition, but that lead is not necessarily secure. They have done a great job at listening to their groundswell and creating a marketing campaign that has rocketed them to success. Right now though their use of social networking is coming up short and a lot of that has to do with their uninspired boring approach. Something that was as successful as the "Alexa Moments" campaign deserves a different more unique landing spot where the passion for the product can grow and aid Amazon for improving the device. Blogs, forums, and additional methods that pool enthusiasts together would be an easy first step for keeping the momentum of the Echo/Echo Dot alive. Simple and mundane advertising on social network pages dedicated to the product don't seem to draw a crowd like the short comical commercials do. A large company like Amazon may have trouble creating something as organic and unique as this again, but they can't rest on their success they need to strive to remain ahead of the Google Home. Sticking to a personal and relatable approach provided them with initial success and it would appear to be their best option going forward. 

Taking to the skies with groundswell and JetBlue

Fasten your seat belts and set your electronic devises to airplane mode. Now set them back to normal and send a tweet! For the airline JetBlue interacting with their customers and establishing a sense of community is important for setting their brand apart. The scrappy airline may not be the largest in the United States but it's wiliness to embrace the groundswell has established it as a pioneer on social media. As Li and Bernoff state in the book by embracing the groundswell innovation moves quickly. JetBlue's forward thinking has propelled the company to stand out in terms of their customer service and desire to receive feedback.


JetBlue's slogan "You Above All" emphasizes their devotion to the customer

The "Inspiring Humanity" campaign

A self aware company is a successful company because it shows that they are actively trying to improve in areas where they could be lacking. For JetBlue, connecting with customers is as vital to their success as the actual service they deliver. "We call ourselves a customer service company the happens to fly planes," says Laurie Meacham who is JetBlue's Manager of Customer Commitment. With this kind of attitude it only makes sense that Twitter would be used heavily by JetBlue as another platform to reach out to customers and tap into the groundswell.

Like Li and Bernoff stated in chapter 10, when it comes to Twitter once your company starts to connect, people will expect the company to listen and respond, not just broadcast. JetBlue doesn't just meet these standards they exceed them and offer a textbook performance of how a company should connect with its costumers on Twitter.


An example of JetBlue's impressive response time

JetBlue prides themselves on responding to most customers

JetBlue is responsive, friendly, helpful, and they are determined to make everyone's input appear valued and heard. Their ability to respond quickly and be on top of feedback from the groundswell has a lot to do with the corporate culture of JetBlue. The culture of the company is driven to not just preform admirable as an airline, but to do so with the customers best interest in mind. Striving to listen, change, and improve based on costumer feedback was not a process that was mastered overnight by JetBlue. It took time and small steps in the right direction in order to become the success they are today.

Starting the groundswell from within in order to properly embrace the groundswell of the costumers is an essential part of the process. With the corporate culture in mind JetBlue first needed to make the mental shift in order to let people adjust to how things should be done. Next they had to support the strategies needed to take their organization to the desired location. Finally they had to gain executive support for their change.  Although JetBlue emphasizes customer support, new ideas and changes like their immersed expansion into something like Twitter had to be worked on in-house before they could take it to the next level with the outside groundswell.

Fostering professional growth for their "crewmembers" is vital for JetBlue because happy and successful employees bring better ideas and motivation when they feel more embraced by the place they work for. It's true for pretty much every organization that when you encourage and listen to employees they reward the company with loyalty and enthusiasm. JetBlue helps to promote engagement among it's employees through their corporate citizenship programs. These programs are JetBlue's way of promoting groundswell from inside their company. Usually the bigger a company is the more challenging internal communication can become, but for a company like JetBlue this is not an issue. Listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing are all objectives that are applied by JetBlue through their employee programs. They all fall in line with what Li and Bernoff determine to be necessary for a program's success.     

Chevrolet Engages with the Groundswell

The groundswell can be a great tool for companies to use for public relations, marketing, but mostly staying relevant and successful for a new generation of consumers. Li and Bernoff state that listening is often one of the most neglected skills in business (pg. 93). If a company is going to prosper then they need to listen to the groundswell around them in order to actually find out what the consumer wants and what they think of their brand. However, as smart a decision as listening is the only next logical step is to interact with the groundswell and devise the best next course of action to take. As far as auto manufacturers go Chevrolet has been on top of this interaction for years.

Bigger companies like Chevrolet that have been around for decades have been using the older way of advertising for years and you would think might be hesitant to change. However, for a company that has dealt with bad press keeping up on the current trends in advertising will go a long way to helping the brand in the long run. By starting small while thinking big Chevrolet has listened to the groundswell around them and the auto industry to try and market their brand to whole new generation of consumer. Talking with the groundswell through the four most effective methods of posting a viral video, engaging in social networks and user-generated content sites, joining the blogosphere, and creating a community has brought the company recognition as being innovative and active in the their industry.

Like many companies, Chevrolet has used clever marketing ploys in an attempt to create dialogue through social networks like Twitter. The #TechnologyAndStuff campaign was started by accident when company spokesperson uttered the phrase while awarding a free truck to World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner

For a company like Chevrolet they know that something like this will get the groundswell's attention but it won't sustain them. The companies insight and devotion to staying relevant has led them to some energizing social media campaigns. By energizing the groundswell they can tap into the power of word of mouth by connecting with the consumer (pg. 131). To Chevrolet's credit their social media presence has done a lot to energize consumers especially first time buyers. More than a third of sales to the company's new Spark, Sonic, Trax and Cruze models are Millennials that are new to the brand. The buzz created by the company's social media marketing team have aided in spreading the brand and attracting a new base of consumers. This new base of consumers are more likely to talk about Chevrolet via additional social media outlets which will be attracting additional consumers.              


Energizing the groundswell in a positive way is great for a company, but helping that groundswell support itself is what will be beneficial to sustaining interest. Chevrolet has taken this step as well be creating their own community forum which allows Chevrolet enthusiasts from around the world to talk about the product, ask questions, and receive input from others like them. called The Block this the online community allows automotive enthusiasts to upload profiles that can be shared with friends and contains information about the latest Chevrolet news and events.

The Block provides an outlet for Chevrolet enthusiasts to express their passion for their cars and support other like minded people by answering their questions. Something like this helps the groundswell around Chevrolet to support itself and helps Chevrolet learn more about their consumers and where to fix faults within their products. Instead of telling the consumer what they want and need, Chevrolet can now adjust to what their most loyal consumers are actually saying. It gives the company an ability to adjust their marketing and product designs as it stays relevant to what the groundswell is currently saying.     

Reading Reflection #1

It can be weird and overwhelming at times to think of how fast and dramatic public opinion can be shaped through social media. A careless phrase or an ill conceived marketing strategy by a group or individual could result in a public relations headache and may even do long term damage to public perception. It has been made clear time and time again that the groundswell is not something to take lightly. This large scale build up of public opinion is dictated by the three forces of people, technology and economics (Li & Bernoff, 10).

People have a desire to connect and that certainly plays a huge part in groundswell and economics are the driving force for most things in life so that's not a surprise. In my opinion what might be the most important element of them all is technology. Technology has given life to this media and is constantly changing and growing. To focus on just mastering what is currently the trend at the moment is futile, but to ignore social media trends altogether is worse. It is not so much that an organization can just be aware of social media they have to be actively involved in it in order to be on the right end of the groundswell (Li & Bernoff, 13-15).

Groundswell technologies are as numerous as they are diverse. Blogs and podcasts, social networks, wikis, and certainly forums have all become catalysts for groundswell. Blogs in particular are viewed and used by a great percentage of the population everyday and have become invaluable for businesses looking to stay ahead. However, it is through social networks like Twitter and Facebook where direct interaction with the public can have an even greater impact due to the number of people that visit these sites and how frequently  they visit.

Percentage of U.S. Population with a Social Network Profile

The influence from these media outlets over time have become highly respected and something a successful company is going to want to be aware of and involved in. When it comes to groundswell actions though not everyone necessarily fits into every roll. The Social Technographics Profile refers to the people-to-people activities in the groundswell and essentially divides the population into groups depending on level of involvement. You could be a creator, a critic, a joiner, a spectator, or really any number of different labels depending on the level of which you use or not use social media platforms. The point shown is that groundswell seems to encompass everyone and its presence doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

For people and businesses in particular looking to get involved and to use the power of groundswell for their benefit a key planning process to use is POST. Also known as people, objectives, strategy, and technology this process is at the foundation of groundswell thinking. Study the people you are trying to reach in order to see what they are ready for, figure out what you want to accomplish, determine how you want the relationship with costumers to change, and finally choose what will be the best technology available to do this (Li & Bernoff, 67-68). It may not work every time but it's better to take that chance rather than be left behind.