Saturday, September 17, 2011

How Cocoberry got Social Media completely wrong





It’s remarkable to note the pace at which brands, retailers, companies are getting onto the social media bandwagon. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become a rage for everyone, be it customer or brands.

Social Media’s popularity has grown manifold over the years and small and large size businesses are equally earmarking separate budgets to increase their presence on social communities. But how much do these businesses understand social media? Here’s one excellent example of how cocoberry - India's First Premium Frozen Yogurt Chain got social media completely wrong.

I recently stepped in to a cocoberry store and found a huge poster on the window pane. It read - Tweet and win yourself free movie tickets in a lucky draw. But guess what? Where did they want us to tweet? – On the receipt of the bill!

I froze like a frozen yogurt for a second and I thought to myself, why would I tweet on the bill? Will I write 140 characters on the bill? Will I count if I exceeded 140 characters? (LoL)

This shows the lack of knowledge these businesses have about social media. Why wouldn’t they let the customers do live tweeting? Why can’t they have lucky draws over twitter? Well these were some questions pouncing in my head while having the frozen yogurt. It’s funny to observe how poorly businesses are trying to compete with the peers, coming with some great ideas to engage their customers with the brand but all in vein as they are getting it wrong without realizing it.

It’s even more interesting to see their twitter page (@Cocoberryfroyo) where they have not taken any pain to follow their sweet customers! Knock-knock cocoberry, you got to wake up before you are kicked out of the social media planet…

The full potential of social media as a marketing platform is yet to be realised and brands and retailers need to work their way up to tap the same. Since the medium is cost-effective, marketers are arguably upbeat about its utility. The phenomenon indeed, has just begun and the best is yet to come.

What do you think? Feel free to post below with comments, suggestions, and even criticism!