Corporate Tweeting. What is it? It’s when brands, more specifically public relations or marketing folks working at the brands, tweet with the purpose of selling product. And that’s where I have the problem. 

First, I appreciate the outdoor brands following me on Twitter. Nice compliment and I don’t take it lightly. And I follow them.

But for me, or anyone else, to get anything out of a corporate tweet we have to get past this SELLING THING. Here are some recent examples: 

Corporate Tweet: Just walked outside and it is raining! Sure glad I have my “BRAND” waterproof-breathable shell on!!

Corporate Tweet: Just saw our new catalogue. Have to admit that we sure have some new cute things in it!!

Corporate Tweet: Got to get outside today and test out my new “BRAND” bike. 

You get the point. Brands have got to stop directly trying to sell product through Twitter and start leveraging the communication channel. It’s the wrong channel to sell product. 

The communication channel mainly consists of people who are familiar with the brand’s products…at least the general product line. These people know the outdoor space and most of the major players…brands, major retailers, etc.  Many are avid equipment users. Many work in the industry. They do not want to know about specific products and where to buy them. 

What do they want to know? 

Tell me what the BRAND is doing right now. Just like Twitter says. What are the brand’s employees and athletes doing?  Tweet about your environmental initiatives, the grass roots events, how the brand is helping people with special needs to get outside and recreate. And tell me what your customers are doing and how they are making a difference in their communities. Make your brand come alive through all sorts of people and events.  Give me a 360 degree brand education. Inside and out. In real time. 

It’s Earth Day. So, tweet about the brand’s activities to celebrate the day. Tell me that you and your fellow employees are getting out of the cubicles and picking up trash. Tell me that you are planting trees at a nearby park…on behalf of the brand. Tell me you are part of a group taking pre-schoolers out to a farm.

Show me your corporate soul. 

And the next time I’m in an outdoor specialty store, which is at least once I week, and I need something…guess who will come to mind? That’s right, you. Why? Not because of an individual product but because you have distinguished yourself by telling me that your brand has purpose in life. 

You stand for what I stand for. And man, I’m gonna buy you.

And will this grow your Twitter base? Damn right. 

And will this approach travel to a larger consumer audience? Same answer. 

Damn right.

Well, here we go again. This time its Amazon’s turn in the barrel. First Motrin got burned by silence. (See the Motrin article in this blog), then SmartWool (see the SmartWool Experiment), and now Amazon.

Over the Easter weekend, Amazon suddenly removed gay and lesbian books from its listings and search results. Authors such as great American writers James Baldwin and Gore Vidal could not be found. 

How long did it take for social media to discover this? About two minutes. Tweets exploded, blogs picked it up, and Facebook was all over it.

Over the weekend, no response from Amazon. Not the CTO, not the CEO, nobody. Finally, on Monday Amazon’s director of corporate communications Patty Smith said that it was a “glitch” and unintended. There is also some evidence that a hacker may have penetrated the system and caused the problem. 

I really don’t care. To me, that is beside the point. Amazon makes billions on the Internet, its home field.  And why didn’t it catch this problem immediately and correct it?  Call it a glitch in the first two hours, apologize, and follow it up first thing Monday morning with another statement. 

What price did Amazon pay? Hard to say just yet. Here is the short-term collateral damage.

1. Amazon is now perceived as a slow moving dinosaur, one that plays in the sandbox but does it awkwardly. Sells stuff. Good at email reminders about what is new, what you bought, and what you might like. But slow to adapt.  

2. Created suspicion in all of society that Amazon may have other issues. Why did it allow great American authors to disappear from its search and listing platforms? 

3. Alienated the gay and lesbian community, many of whom are new media savvy. Many of these people will not return to Amazon.

4. The long tail. This will not be forgotten. It will be brought up as an example of an Internet pioneer’s insensitivity and ignorance to new media. Studied in classrooms. Brought up in blogs. Used as examples in corporate presentations. For years. 

New media is 24/7. Online conversations are going on in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, and, yes, on Easter Sunday. Amazon, you are selling things on Easter Sunday. You seem to be fine with that. But while you were selling, others were paying attention to what you promised to sell and weren’t.  

Consumers are smart. And when they catch a big mistake they publish. And if it takes off virally, millions read, chat, tweet, and post further about it. 

Brands must prepare for these scenarios. Catch and correct early. And then stay on it until the volume level subsides.

Silence is no longer the quiet killer.

The last day of the OR Show is basically a throwaway. Many retailers are gone. Senior management is gone. Those still at the show are shopping for discounts and all are just waiting for three o’clock to break down the booths. Let’s open the Show to the public for the final day. Invite all of the bloggers, the influencers, and the public. Charge them 5 bucks at the door to see the new stuff. And then watch what happens. 

It will be jammed. Traditional media will cover the event, in advance, due to the newsworthiness of admitting the public.  Booths will be crowded with consumers asking questions. Athletes will be on hand to talk with the public and pose for pictures.  Bloggers and influencers will be asking questions, taking notes, and preparing to write reports as soon as they get home. And traditional media will be doing reports live from the show floor. The energy of Day 1 and 2 will not only have been restored, but doubled. 

And what about the retailers? They should be smart about this. Take the opportunity to invite all of their customers to the show for this final day.  Will customers get on a plane and get to the Show? Doesn’t matter. The very fact that retailers are inviting them as their guests on the Show Floor will only increase customer loyalty. And why not take the five top customers to the show as guests of that retailer? Work out the travel and lodging in advance. Make it work. Then take pictures of the customers on the Floor. Put it on the web site. And do you think those customers will talk about their experiences when they got back home?  Oh, and one more thing. Work a deal with the brands so that you can bring back some new product so all of your customers can get a sneak peak at next year’s offering. Make the OR Show a storewide event. 

Buy in from the companies will be automatic to this public day. Why?  Because it is their chance to talk directly with consumers. And consumers are direct customers because companies are now selling to them online. Influential bloggers should be identified in advance and personally invited to the booth for a product line review. Companies should know which of their best retailers are bringing guests to the booth and senior management should be on hand to greet them. Management, reps, pr, product development and marketing should be engaged all day long. Why? Because this is monster leverage. A company can create more marketing momentum in one day then in the previous six months. 

And OR? Its pr effort ought to be in high-gear pre public day. And then it should have the common sense to get out of the way. Let it happen. And then post public day, report the results. All good for OR. 

So, it’s time for all of us to face reality. Retailers can own the show for the first three days. On day four, open the doors and let the great unwashed in. The time for exclusivity is over. Over. The time for inclusion, openness, and a new business model is here. Every one of us will benefit.