I have to tell you that the guys who created Burger King Studio -- Mess Marketing in Chicago -- demonstrated awesome social media management skills. You will recall my post wherein I gushed about the cool t-shirts you can make online, and gave them what-for about glitches on their purchase process. Look at all the things they did right here:
♥ They are keeping track of social media mentions of their project. [check]
♥ Rob Robinson, creative director, immediately posted a comment on the blog [check]
♥ Then he tracked down my e-mail and sent me a personal note there too [check]
♥ He apologized for the problem, acknowledged my concerns, said they would give the feedback to the web team, and would also try to find my custom designs! [check, check, check, double check!]
♥ I got an additional wow when a package showed up at my office, with two t-shirts, some cute buttons, and a catalog of the project showed up. [2 checks and a gold star for that one!]
This is totally going to make workouts more fun while trainer TK - aka the princess of pain - is tossing medicine balls at me.
♥ Oh, and one more thing. They went hunting for my custom designs, and have promised to send them along as soon as they are made. [extra credit!]
Here they are:
I told him, via e-mail, that I was planning on using the t-shirts as prizes for a workshop I am doing for a client on consumer trends. Because I thought their project was pretty leading edge. Which it is.
Okay, so he's getting a little earned -- aka unpaid -- media. And he had to exert a little effort for it, as do you. But look at this circle of happiness that was created. He gets more profile. I get cool t-shirts. AND I get a killer story for the next dozen or so presentations I give. Everybody wins.
And an even more loyal BK customer, who really likes to have it her way.
***
Stopping by Chris Brogan's blog I found an interesting report from Citrix about web commuters -- the workshifting phenomenon. Some startling statistics like these: by 2008 there were 33.7 million US teleworkers. Forrester is projecting big growth, such that as many as 1/3 of the workforce will work from home at least part of the time. Given that you can't flip burgers or change hotel sheets from home, I'd guess that this means knowledge workers will be telecommuting a lot.
A study Citrix Online commissioned found that 73% of American workers and 53% of small business owners want to be able to work remotely.
In the late 80's I was part of a Future of Work Secretariat that the ministry of labour in Alberta launched. We were talking about this stuff then, but the technology just wasn't there. Now it is.
Apart from technology support, what does this group of people need?
***
In a similar vein, Aon Consulting has published a report about employee attitudes around social media in the workplace.
Aon is looking at the big shift towards Millennials in the workplace,
and their comfort level with social media, and seeing a disconnect with
the ways employers communicate.45% of the 8000 respondents in the study already work remotely. Almost half use instant messaging at work. Four in ten use text messaging at work -- not to talk to family and friends, but to exchange information.
"The internet’s power not only gives people access to a wide range of news perspectives, but it grants each
person an outlet to express his or her own opinion on it. Employees are using social media to collect
information, to interpret and communicate it to others."
So many organizations seem determined to keep the lock on social media. If this study is any indication, it's not going to work.
***
Have a great weekend! 
