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c h a p t e r8 :ENGAGEMENT ON THE SOCIAL WEB■To test this idea, consider a successful business—in the profit and loss sense—
that largely ignores the conversational (social) issues that surround it. Walmart in the
early nineties comes to mind, with issues ranging from hiring and pay differentials to
product pricing practices and new store locations. While Walmart was being attacked
on all sides, its public policy, summed up, seemed to be “We can’t hear you.” As busi-
nesses took to the Social Web, Walmart tried as well—unsuccessfully—to create an
early presence in places like Facebook. Each time it tried it was overrun by hard-core
detractors, or worse stumbled over its own efforts to “control” social media.
Compare this with Walmart now: Stores are changing, becoming more open,
designed and located with more input from communities, with attention to the kinds
of products stocked and the quality of these products. Walmart has introduced organic
foods and is working with Bazaarvoice to implement a comprehensive ratings and
reviews program across its product lines. These are all efforts that would be widely
praised if just about any other retailer were to have implemented them. Yet, if you
search Google for “walmart brand advocates” the top results returned are still things
like “Why do some people advocate boycotting Walmart?”
The insight is this: Business success by itself does not translate into overnight
Social Web success, and in particular when a historical view of the business involved
presents a picture that is counter to the norms associated with the successful use of
social media and social technology. Furthermore, even when these brands involve
themselves in social media, the results are typically lackluster, or worse, actually con-
tribute at first to the further negative perception of the brand. In the case of Walmart,
time will tell: tarnished reputations on the Social Web, correctly managed, do heal.
Walmart appears committed to this and over time will benefit from a sustained effort
to reinvent itself. As noted earlier, building a new reputation takes time. Walmart is
most certainly on the right path and will ultimately get there: It is an organization built
on clear goals that serve the needs of its customers, and it is run by smart people.
Back to advocates: It really is about the combination of business savvy and a
genuine intent to place customers—and not the brand—at the center of the social expe-
rience. Brands like Starbucks—who openly and deliberately called on customers to help
it find its way forward—and Zappos, eBay, Microsoft, Google, Nike, and SAP have
all undertaken specific programs to overtly reach out and connect—to engage—with
customers and constituents. The result is an increased momentum—call it brand mojo
if you want—that places a further distance between these firms and their competitors
while decreasing the separation between the businesses and their customers. The overall
result is the emergence of brand advocates, and in particular brand advocates that are
unexpected and/or nearly invisible (except to the potential customers they influence!).
When Comcast undertook its Twitter-based customer service program,
the initial observation was simply: “A lot of people are complaining about us on