With social media being on everyone’s radar, it’s unsurprising to see some of the world’s top companies creating accounts to interact with their customers on a multi-platform level.
There are companies who will play by the rules and will always stand by the faithful saying of “the customer is always right”, and there are some who aren’t afraid to tell people what they think. Enter the corporate troll.
Hi-ho Sliver away!
Enter a new generation of corporate brand cowboys, ones who aren’t afraid to get personal with clientele and let them know exactly what they think. Surprisingly the UK’s largest supermarket, Tesco, is leading the way, with their offshoot brand, Tesco Mobile, gaining a lot of exposure by letting people know that they’re not just a faceless organisation and that they have feelings too.
As I write this @TescoMobile are currently running a social media campaign entitled #nojoke, where they use this hashtag to poke fun at people, places and themselves. It gives a personal touch to a somewhat faceless corporate brand.
@TheSamShawcross We have a question for you Sam… pic.twitter.com/aaaw0rnzWm
— Tesco Mobile (@tescomobile) October 9, 2013
As you can see they’re not afraid to put down to anyone who may get in their way, but what this engagement really does is create a whole lot of positive PR. People will write blogs about their social strategy (like me!), their posts are published on social bookmarking sites such as Reddit and Digg and their humourous tweets will by retweeted numerous times. This tweet alone was retweeted over 500 times!
Tesco mobile aren’t afraid of losing one or two customers when their witty put downs could potentially gain hundreds more clients. Good job Tesco Mobile, we hope me companies can do what you do.
Richard