Thesis
Word-of-Mouth Communication Marketing for Loyal Customers
Abstract Word-of-mouth communication is an important Marketing source of value and is becoming even more important. People share everything and the survival and success of companies is depending on it. Sometimes it seems like companies do not have any control over this. But they must at least manage WOM communication and they can even influence it. Through case studies I will analyze how three successful companies do this and what they get out of it. In this study I will discuss how companies can influence and even encourage their customers to participate in WOM communication and spread good words about the brand. WOM marketing activities can be focused on money, amplification, influencers, triggers and emotion.
Bachelor’s thesis – Business administration Author: Romy Kruijning Student number: 10628363 Supervisor: Dr. Marco Mossinkoff Date: 29-06-2016
Statement of Originality
This document is written by Romy Kruijning who declares to take full
responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is
original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and
its references have been used in creating it.
The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the
supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
Index
1. Introduction ... 3 2. Theoretical framework ... 4 2.1 Word-of-mouth communication (consumers) ... 4 2.2 Word-of-mouth communication (companies) ... 6 2.3 Loyalty ... 7 2.4 Figure 1. Connection model ... 8 2.5 Loyalty and WOM ... 9 Figure 4. ... 10 3. Conceptual framework ... 10 ... 4. Research Design ... 12 Methodology ... 12 5. Results ... 15 5.1 Calvin Klein ... 15 5.2 Uber ... 26 5.3 Zappos ... 35 5.4 Survey ... 44 5.5 Table 1. ways of generating ... 45 Figure 6. ... 46 6. Conclusion ... 47 ... 8. Reference list ... 491. Introduction
One of the most powerful sources of value in Marketing is word-of-mouth communication. According to the Global Trust in Advertising report conducted by Nielsen 83 percent of consumers around the world state that they completely or somewhat trust earned media, such as recommendations from friends (Nielsen, 2015). This percentage is higher than all of the other forms of advertising investigated in this report. Bansal and Voyer (2000) support these numbers with their conclusion that consumers listen often rather to informal or personal communication sources as opposed to formal or organizational sources. WOM has been defined as the ability of individuals to influence other people their opinions (Sweeney, Soutar & Mazzarol, 2008). This ability is especially interesting for companies and their marketing department because this initiates that people can be influenced to buy something. WOM is very valuable for a company since it can provide a competitive advantage. Positive word-of-mouth referral by satisfied customers can be a potential point of differentiation. Positive WOM lowers perceived risk during the evaluation phase of the customer. In addition it can increase the likelihood of purchase (Sweeny, Soutar & Mazzarol, 2008). An additional advantage from WOM holds that it usually does not cost anything; consequently it is called the cheaper acquisition method (Schmitt, Skiera, & Van den Bulte, 2011). Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst of Zappos says people will share everything, good or bad, what, when and where they purchased. Thus alongside gaining the benefits of WOM it is also a necessity to manage WOM. Besides the previous definition, WOM has been defined as “giving people a reason to talk about your stuff, and making it easier for that conversation to take place” (Sernovitz, 2006). In order to achieve good, positive conversation customers have to at least be satisfied with the product and brand. There has been a great deal of research about WOM including the behaviors of the customers and their motivations to share information about companies. This research suggests that loyal customers are the potentials in spreading the word. In addition there have been studies about the skills and methods that companies can use to positively influence WOM. Further insight into these matters is relevant because of the power of WOM as mentioned in the beginning of the introduction. It is useful to specify and contextualizethe implications of WOM Marketing approaches. The central question of this research is what WOM Marketing activities can companies use to encourage loyal customers to word-of-mouth communication about the brand to attain new customers? Focus is accordingly on WOM by customer to customer (C2C). There are many ways to get people talking about a product, the brand and company and I will inventory and review them. Through case studies I will demonstrate how companies in practice use marketing activities to create word-of-mouth communication. Before the deepening into the ways of generating WOM I will discuss the kind of connection, or the levels of loyalty that customers can have with a company and label them into a model. Finally I will connect the loyalty levels with the appropriate WOM marketing approaches. In other words what WOM approaches work for what kind of loyalty?
2. Theoretical framework
The research question is composed of several concepts and in the next part the definitions of these concepts will be defined and discussed. Subsequently I will outline the connection between these concepts. The following questions will be answered; What is the perspective of consumers on word-of-mouth communication? What is the perspective of companies on word-of-mouth communication? And how does loyalty contribute to word-of-mouth communication? 2.1 Word-of-mouth communication (consumers) There has been a lot of research on the senders’ perspective and reasons why word of mouth is taking place (Sweeney et al., 2008). Sweeney et al. (2008) emphasize the importance of the receiver’s perspective and have gained insights in this matter. They suggest that the focus of further research should be on the whole cycle of WOM rather than one perspective. The word-of-mouth communication process between customers can influence the decision process dramatically. Sweeney et al. (2008) do add that merely a positive WOM generation is not enough; obviously the receiver needs to react positively. The source (sender) has generally nothing to gain from the receiver’s subsequent actions. Word-of-mouth tends to flow through interpersonal channels based on shared interests, friendship or family. Factors such as risk, tie strength and the degree to which the word of mouth message is actively sought should be considered(Bansal & Voyer, 2000). Receivers often initiate product conversations by asking communicators for information. Further, the senders’ and the receivers’ expertise are worthy influences on the receivers’ purchase decision. The process of senders and receivers is displayed in figure 2. Consumers participate in word of mouth communication as a result of social, emotional and functional drivers (Lovett, Peres, & Shachar, 2013). Thirteen brand characteristics that can possibly arouse word of mouth communication and that have been examined in previous research have been listed (Lovett et al., 2013). Social drivers are quality associated with a brand, premium brands, differentiation, visibility, and relevancy. Emotional drivers are satisfaction and excitement. Functional drivers are the age of the brand, complexity, knowledge, and the type of good. Finally involvement and perceived risk are defined as hybrid characteristics (Lovett et al., 2013). Companies can anticipate on these characteristics by evaluating and optimizing them. That complexity of a product or brand is a substantial driver of WOM communication is supported by Bughin, Doogan and Vetvik (2010), they found that influence of WOM is greatest when it is about a product with factors that tend to make people conduct more research, seek more opinions and deliberate longer than they would otherwise. Jonah Berger (2013) lists six principles (STEPPS) that drive people to share. These drivers are social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value and stories. Social currency is why we share things that make us look good. Triggers are used to keep people to talk about the company or product. These are stimuli causing people to think about related things (Berger, 2013). Linking products and ideas to signs in the environment creates triggers and causes people to frequently think about the product. Products that are cued more by the environment receive more WOM communication (Berger & Schwartz, 2011). These linkages can refer to brand associations, which are the attributes of a brand that come in mind when the brand is talked about (Management study guide). Another driver is emotion, when we share because we care. We often share things that provoke emotions like anger, amusement and excitement. Public is a driver since people tend to observe and imitate others and this is crucial in whether products and ideas catch on (Berger, 2013). Also the practical value is a driver since people like to help others and share ideas and solutions which were useful to us. Finally, people learn
and can pick up a great amount of knowledge through stories. Required is that the content must be related to the products it promotes in order that it can be traced back to the company (Berger, 2013). 2.2 Word-of-mouth communication (companies) The perspective on WOM has changed, in the past people perceived it as a side effect of marketing activity (Lovett et al., 2013). Nowadays encouraging word-of-mouth communication is a marketing activity on it’s own. Figuring out how it works and developing a systematic approach to manage it is of great importance for the success of a brand (Lovett et al., 2013). Andy Sernovitz (2006) describes four rules of WOM in his book. He says companies need to be interesting or unique, make it easy, make people happy and earn trust and respect. Then to optimize the WOM game he says there is a need to find people who want to talk about the company, these people could be customers, fans or bloggers (Sernovitz, 2006). These people need content to talk about which can be a cool product, a special offer, great service, silliness, a neat ad or a new feature (Sernovitz, 2006). Tools like forums, blogs, emails, samples and coupons can help spread the word. At the same time it is very important that the company assists in the conversation by replying to feedback, participating in social media and joining discussions (Sernovitz, 2006). Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003) support the importance of satisfaction and trust. Among the drivers of WOM communication are agent programs, viral marketing and referral reward programs. Seeding programs are used to help spread information about a new product or idea by getting a group of target customers to adopt the product early on to affect others to buy it (Libai, Muller, & Peres, 2013). Those people in the target group would be the influencers, who Sernovitz (2006) calls the people who want to talk about the company. Influencers share stories consistently and the goal is to get them to share stories about a company or product. They share stories to build ties with the people around them, they want new things to provide fresh content and they are intrinsically motivated (Wright, 2015). To get influencers to share a company must have a story that is interesting, relevant and authentic. What is something about my brand that can really inspire a conversation? Companies should amplify by establishing a discussion about their brand, product or campaign. Get people to talk about them and get them to spread the word.
Amplification can be accomplished through creating mystery, provoking outrageous reactions and surprising people by being unexpected (Brown, 2001). WOM value could be measured by how many new people are influenced or by the profit results (Libai et al., 2013). 2.3 Loyalty A customer being highly satisfied is the baseline for the relationship, yet to gain loyalty it is necessary to deepen the relationship. The highest goal in this relationship is an emotional connection (Magids, Zorfas & Leemon, 2015). The level in the relationship determines if a customer is going to express satisfaction about a brand or not. The customers can be satisfied, but in order to get them talking they need to be more. There is much debate about the definition of brand loyalty and from this discussion comes the conclusion that it is a very complex concept (Lyong Ha, 1998). Although some brands nourish the tendency of customers to identify with it, others just simply deliver a reliable and predictable benefit from a purchase (Mossinkoff, 2015). Aaker (1991) defines brand loyalty as a measure of attachment with a brand and how likely the customer will be to switch to another brand, especially when this brand makes a change. He states that loyalty starts with satisfied or habitual buyers. Brand likers are truly enthusiastic about a brand because of emotional benefits. A company can anticipate on these emotional benefits by linking associations or experiences to a brand (Aaker, 1991). Committed buyers are proud users of a product whereby the brand plays an important role in their lives because of close ties with their personal values (Aaker, 1991). Pimental and Reynolds (2004) talk about customer devotion and describe this as an intense level of loyalty that survives poor product performance, scandal, bad publicity, high prices and absence of promotional efforts. Benefits of the brand are rather affective in nature than utilitarian. Devotion can manifest by showing the brand logo on products other than the product categories of the brand (Pimental & Reynolds, 2004). An extraordinary devotion to an object is referred to as fanaticism and can mean a strong emotional attachment to the object with passion, love, intimacy and dedication (Chung, Beverland, Farrelly & Quester, 2008). When attachment to a brand is high, consumers are willing to make personal
sacrifices such as money, time and energy (Park, Micinnis, & Priester, 2006). Figure 1 Connection model (Mossinkoff, 2015)
The type of connection, which is represented with a dollar sign, is composed of a functional product and money sacrifice. These customers are the lowest in the degree of connection because they see the product only as a functional product for which they are prepared to pay money. Loyals buy the product also only for functionality but they are prepared to sacrifice more than money, they are willing to make effort to purchase. Members see the product that they buy as a brand and as an experience and they want to fit in the community of this brand, but they are only willing to give up money for this. Fans adore the product and thereby everything that comes with it, they love the brand and company and they are prepared sacrifice a lot for it. This is the highest degree of loyalty. The above described customers all have a certain connection to a product and all of them can potentially recommend the product if they are satisfied. Whenever a functional product just does the job it is already possible that a customer can recommend it. But in order to encourage this word-of-mouth communication it depends on the type of connection what WOM marketing move works best. For example for a customer that only buys a product for functionality and is only prepared to pay money,
it is probably not effective to organize events for them. Likewise a fan probably does not really care about discounts, they will buy it anyways. 2.4 Loyalty and WOM Reichfield (2003) states that customer loyalty is more than repeat purchases. Strong signals of loyalty are recommendations to friends, family and colleagues. This could be regarded as a personal sacrifice because customers risk their reputations. Moreover Mossinkoff (2015) writes that the involvement with a company is directly related to the extent to which on has to give up resources. There is an actual tendency of loyal customers to bring in new customers, at no charge to the company (Reichfield, 2003). Also Gremler and Brown (1999) conclude that loyalty is means more than purchases, the value of customers includes referring new customers to the firm. Furthermore, Wangenheim and Bayón (2007) found that there is a link between customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth referrals, which in turn affects new customer acquisition. Besides these findings they add that newly acquired customers are likely to give WOM (Wangenheim & Bayón, 2007). These connections between Loyalty, WOM and new customers are shown in figure 3. The ‘net promoter score’ is the percentage of customers who are promoters of a brand or company minus the percentage who are detractors (Reichfield, 2003). With this tool companies can measure and manage customer loyalty (Reichfield, 2003). The question: How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague? is asked. This score provides insights in how to get more promoters and fewer detractors, people who are very unlikely to recommend. There has been a great deal of research about WOM, although this is mainly about the behaviors of the customers and their motivations to share information about companies. This research suggests that loyal customers are the potentials in spreading the word. But there is still debate about what loyalty entails. In addition there has been studies about the skills and methods that companies can use to positively influence WOM. However research about the specific marketing activities that companies can prosecute to encourage WOM communication is scarce.
Figure 2. Figure 3. From figure 2, the process of senders and receivers, I came to figure 3 through the rest of the existing literature. Figure 4.
3. Conceptual Framework
Summarizing the existing theory leads to several connections between variables. In order to have loyal customers they at least need to be satisfied. Loyal customers are tended to talk about the brand, product and company in a positive way and can attract new customers in this way. An emotional connection can deepen the relationship and this can increase the likelihood of word-of-mouth communication and eventually new customers. To influence and encourage these loyal customers to communicate about the brand a company can use marketing. WOM marketing serves in this model as aSender
Message
Receiver
Response
Loyal
mediator. It mediates the relation between loyalty and word-of-mouth communication. The mediator influences the relationship between the independent (loyalty) and the dependent variable (WOM). In this case the mediator influence is positive since the efforts of companies are to increase WOM. This summary of connections between the variables is showed in Figure 4. Looking at this model there are a few Questions that arise. What are loyal customers? and What is WOM marketing? In what ways can companies generate word-of-mouth communication? How can companies get people to talk? To answer the first question and looking at previous research we can ask ourselves is a customer loyal when he or she purchases repeatedly or even consistently? Or does it take more than this like several researchers of this phenomenon conclude. The degree to which customers connect with a brand differs and this can determine the kind of loyalty. In the figure 1. the types of loyalty are summarized. A type depends upon the level of connection to the company. This connection can either be as a functional product need, or as a brand altogether. A brand that fulfills only the functional product need is wanted for its utilitarian benefits. On the other hand there are brands that generate emotional commitment with feelings like passion and dedication and involved. It also depends on the sacrifice of resources that the customer is willing to make, this can be just money or it can take more effort as the willingness to give up time.
4. Research design
In this chapter I will discuss and justify the methods for this research. Furthermore I will clarify the selection of cases and point out the limitations of this research. 4.1 Research questions In what ways, which influences or drivers can a company encourage loyal customers to word-of-mouth communication? This question will eventually lead to an inventarisation of the ways in which companies can generate word-of-mouth communication. How can a company adjust the WOM marketing to the extent to which customers are loyal (connected)? Hence, I will apply the inventory of ways to the types of loyal customers. What marketing activities can companies use to encourage word-of-mouth communication about the brand through loyal customers to attain new customers? What WOM approaches work for what kind of loyalty? 4.2 Methodology The research philosophy exists of the position of the researcher on Ontology, Epistemology and Axiology. Ontology is concerned with nature of reality and can be either objectivism or subjectivism. There are three positions on Epistemology, namely Positivism, Interpretivism and Realism. Lastly, Axiology is about the question if the researcher really can be value free and objective. A characteristic of Positivism is often Objectivism, which means that social entities exist as a meaningful reality external to those social actors concerned with their existence (van Hemert, 2014). Positivism is about the observable social reality and studies facts instead of feelings (van Hemert, 2014). Phenomena should be isolated and observations should be repeatable (Davison, 1998). As for the researcher, he or she should be value free. Interpretivism exists often of subjectivism, which says that social phenomena are created from the perceptions and consequent actions of those social actors concerned with their existence (van Hemert, 2014). Suitable research is a study of phenomena in their natural environment (Davison, 1998). This research is regularly in-depth, qualitative and with a small sample (van Hemert, 2014). It should be kept in mind that researchers influence these phenomena so they are value bound. It has often been observed that no single research approach is essentially betterthan any other. A combination of methods could mean an improvement of the quality of research (Davison, 1998). Case studies can be used to define relationships that are there in reality. A deductive approach is theory driven research. The inductive approach is data driven research, without relying on existing theory. For this research the data generation process is both deductive and inductive. This study is explorative and interpretive. Case studies can be used as a teaching device for marketers and as research methodology. As research methodology it provides tools to study complex phenomena within their contexts (Baxter & Jack, 2008). A case study is defined as an intensive or in-depth analysis of an individual unit (person, community) stressing developmental factors in relation to its environment (Merriam-webster). Looking back to Interpretivism, a case study can also be described as an examination of a natural phenomenon in its natural setting. Data can be collected through multiple methods with one or a few entities. The goal of Case studies is giving rich understanding of context and processes. Cross-sectional study is research at one specific point in time. Longitudinal research involves repeated observations of the same variables over a long time of period. 4.3 Multiple methods Selection and number of cases For this study I have chosen three successful companies with established brand images. Selection of these brands was based on the kind of marketing activities that they are known for and therefore talked about. With each brand I have examined their history and culture. The brands are Calvin Klein, Uber and Zappos. Calvin Klein is an American fashion house known for their controversial campaigns. Uber is an app that offers a taxi service. Zappos is a website that offers shoes, clothes and accessories. This research method is called multiple case study. Using multiple methods is called triangulation Internet research Online consumer reviews are the second most trusted source of brand information and messaging, with 70 percent of global consumers surveyed online indicating they trust
messages on this platform, an increase of 15 percent in four years (Nielsen, 2015). Therefore I will conduct Internet research on the websites of companies, social media, blogs and forums. I examined the comments on the Calvin Klein Facebook page from the first of January by counting the words that are used in the comments using the search function of Safari. To prevent that comments with the words were with another context, I filtered them. Survey/ interviews Example questions in the survey could be: Do you have certain brands or products that you recommend to people that you know? What are the requirements for you to recommend a brand or products? What makes you want to recommend a product? Why do you recommend products or brands to others? What features of the product and brand do you promote? (Think of a product or brand that you buy often.) (Think of the last purchase of a product and brand.) 4.4 Generalization/validity/limitations/biases Generalization is typically low since case studies are often limited to one organization and it is often problematic to find similar cases with comparable data. To improve the external validity or generalization this is a multiple case study and multiple methods study. A research bias can arise due to different interpretations and perspectives of data.
5. Results
Case studies
The following chapter consists of case studies on Calvin Klein, Uber and Zappos. For each of the companies I discuss their foundation, organization and culture. After this I will investigate the ways in which the company generates word-of-mouth communication, or in other words how they get people talking about their brand. In the case of Calvin Klein this is mainly through controversy. For Uber it was initially the referral rewards but I elaborated it with partnerships and special actions. Zappos is a company that is all about customer service. I conducted Internet, mostly social media research for each of the companies. This is to assess how customers respond to the brand and the marketing activities of the company. Lastly I discussed and labeled the kind of customers into the connection model (Figure 3). 1.) Calvin Klein The company Calvin Klein Inc. was founded in 1968 by Calvin Klein with Calvin Klein Limited, a coat shop located New York City. The first collection is described as a line of youthful, understated coats and dresses. In 1969 Klein was on the cover of Vogue magazine. In 1971 the collection was expanded with sportswear, classic blazers and lingerie for the women. In the 1980s the company introduced a line of boxer shorts for women and a men’s underwear collection. By 1992 the company nearly filed for bankruptcy but it recovered with the success and popularity of its underwear, sportswear and fragrance lines. In 2002 Calvin Klein was sold to Phillips Van Heusen Corp (PVH). Klein himselfcontinued his job as the creative head but from 2003 he proceeded as advisor and retired in 2004. Sales of Calvin Klein in 2010 were estimated by PVH to be $4.6 billion. Brands that include Calvin Klein Inc. are Calvin Klein Collection, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Sport, Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear. The US is the largest market, accounting for almost 60 per cent of its annual sales. Europe comes after the US generating about 20 per cent of totals (PVH report, 2014). Controversy Calvin Klein is known for their controversial advertisement campaigns. The global marketing campaigns are the core of Calvin Klein and the objective is to “engage customers through proactive, modern and iconic lifestyle imaginary” (PVH report, 2014). Campaigns are shown on billboards, print ads or commercials. The company has been criticized for promoting gang rape, violence, child pornography and drug use (Sanchez, 2013). The American Family Association, the U.S. department of Justice and the former president of the United States Bill Clinton, targeted the brand (Sanchez, 2013). Several of the advertisements have been pulled off from billboards, magazines and air (Sanchez, 2013). Although many consider the controversial images of Calvin Klein inappropriate, the company is up to the present day still one of the most successful fashion houses in the world. Example 5.1.1 The controversy started in 1980 with a commercial for jeans starring 15-year-old model Brook Shields. Shields played a prostitute in the film Pretty baby at the age of 12. The tagline in the commercial became famous; “Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” The American Broadcast Company (ABC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) banned this commercial. The issue was the insinuation that Shields was not wearing any underwear. When Klein was asked about the marketing approach he said; “Jeans are sex” and “The tighter they are the better they sell”. The jeans were even so tight that the store selling the jeans purchased a sofa so that customers could zip up the jeans lying down.
It does not seem like a good thing that the TV networks banned the advertisement, because people potential or existing clients, most likely hear about this through the media. Some of these people must think that it would not be banned for nothing and this could influence their purchase decision. But at the same time, Calvin Klein got a lot of publicity out of this with which comes brand awareness. Despite the critics Calvin Klein sales increased with 2 million pairs a month (The Daily Street, ). Again, regardless of the negative reactions on this ad the gross profit was $85 within 12 months and therefore the campaign was successful (Encyclopedia). A survey conducted by the New York research firm Video Storyboard Tests about the Obsession campaign revealed that this would be the most memorable print ad of the year and this lasted four years (LA Times, 1989). Consequently it became the second best selling fragrance in the world. Example 5.1.3 In 1995 ads featuring models in what seems like a wood-paneled basement. It was felt that the images resembled child porn. This campaign provoked parent groups, child welfare authorities, leads of the Catholic League and the American Family Association. An investigation by the US Justice Department about this campaign was started for the possible violations of federal child pornography and exploitation laws, but eventually dropped. Calvin Klein had to prove that all the models were actually adults. (Sanchez, 2013) Example 5.1.2 In 1992 Calvin Klein launched ads starring the 17-year-old Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg. In the ad Kate moss is posing topless and straddling the actor. The ads led to a media explosion because of the near naked models. Following was the $17 million budget Obsession campaign with Kate moss in commercial and print ads for the perfume. Some opinions stated that the ads glamorized drug use. Bill Clinton publically condemned most of the brand’s ads in the 90s. (Diaz, 2015)(Sanchez, 2013)
Nevertheless the campaign did not offend the target market, the Jeans line continued to be one of the strongest sellers among youths (Encyclopedia). Example 5.1.6 In 2010 the brand was under fire because of a billboard, which would suggest foursome sex. Some talked about boycotting the company and the American Family Association launched an appeal at the website and sent over 15,000 email complaints to Calvin Klein. (Sanchez, 2013) Example 5.1.4 In 1999 Calvin Klein introduced CK Calvin Klein Kids Underwear. Their ad featuring kids jumping on a couch in underwear was criticized. Some people saw this as child pornography. The president of the American Family Association responded: “Nothing more than child pornography.” “Whether you like it or not you have pedophiles in this society. Anything that could get them excited is detrimental, irresponsible and reckless.” (Sanchez, 2013) Example 5.1.5 In 2008 Eva Mendes was in the commercial for Calvin Klein’s Secret Obsession perfume. Her rolling topless around the bed was considered as too provocative. The US networks banned the commercial. Mendes claimed that she loved the fact that it was banned. “It means that the ads are totally Calvin, totally provocative and a little controversial.” (Sanchez, 2013)
Example 5.1.7 In 2010 the ad campaign of Calvin Klein with Lara Stone on billboards in Australia was banned. The images would be ‘suggestive of violence and rape’ according to the Advertising Standards Bureau. The company also received backlash from sexual assault workers and women’s groups. (Sanchez, 2013) Example 5.1.8 Just now, 2016, Calvin Klein released a campaign I______in #MyCalvins. Even now, the shock standards lay significantly higher; Calvin Klein knows how to disturb causing an explosion of the Internet. This campaign is already called the most provocative yet. Again the company is accused of child porn and called pervy, disgusting and disrespectful. Glorification of rape culture and a disappointing objectification of the female body once again were other negative comments. MTV: “Calvin Klein’s latest campaign just went from sexy to gross”. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) launched a petition calling for Calvin Klein to pull the ad. (Evans, 2016) (Harwood, 2016)
Sex sells According to Chen and Berger (2013) controversy creates interest, which leads to increase of the likelihood of discussion. However, controversy can also create discomfort, which can lead to a decline in the likelihood of discussion. This research concludes that when companies want to generate word-of-mouth communication, no more than a moderate level of controversy is helpful. The amount of controversy depends on the channel and audience (Chen & Berger, 2013). So on the one hand the controversy can cause that some customers become upset with the brand and lead to losing them as existing or potential customers. On the other hand, when these customers become upset to the level that they want to express and share this can give rise to a discussion about the brand. The main discussion that Calvin Klein creates is about boundaries the taboo of nudes, what is appropriate and what is not? Further is in the book the house of Klein (2003) written that Calvin Klein brought the idea of ‘Ambisexuality’ to the table. This means that Klein blurs boundaries of age, gender and sexuality. The sex and the ambiguity make the marketing controversial, it arouses discussion between people and in the media. Gustafson, Yssel and Witta (1996) write in their research that Klein has become master of obtaining free publicity. He knows how to make just enough and the right kind of noise and through this he obtains tens or hundreds millions worth of free publicity. Out of 120 comments on the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign, 63 claimed that the campaign was tacky, went too far, and was in poor taste or offensive (Gustafson et al., 1996). Alan Millstein, editor and publisher of the Fashion Network Report in New York adds “He’s gotten millions of free publicity from this.” (1995). Research found that sexual advertisement is more engaging, involving and interesting than nonsexual ads. Further, recognition and recall of sexual visuals is significantly higher than that in similar ads without sexual images (Reichert, 2016). Brand-name recall was found to depend on the relevance of the sexual appeal to the product. Pushing the boundaries and changing the industry standards, Klein redefined what was acceptable in advertising (Evancarmichael, 2006). The company is profiting both of the positive and negative feedback.
Celebrities Another thing that Calvin Klein does to get people talking or rather sharing is using social celebrities in the ads (Marsh,2016). Nowadays Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner are the faces of Calvin Klein. Bieber has 68,1 million followers on Instagram and Jenner 57,2 million. These celebrities have a lot of influence because of the followers and fans that are watching and copying them. PVH (2014) reports that he #mycalvins campaign featuring these celebrities led to a sharp increase of followers across social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Weibo in China. For this campaign followers are challenged to share photos of them wearing their favorite Calvin Klein pieces. Additional to the increase of customers and thus a drive of customer engagement there was a clear increase in purchases of underwear (PVH report, 2014). Calvin Klein uses social media in its advantage and has an enormous social reach because of this. Likewise, Calvin Klein posts a lot of pictures of celebrities in Calvin Klein wear at big events on social media.
Internet Research Social media Facebook: 11,457,793 likes, 12,006 people talking about this Calvin Klein gets a lot of comments on Facebook posts, people discuss about photos and the company. Thus, they generate a lot of word of mouth communication through social media. Negative comments are mostly people commenting on the advertisement, further there are some complaints about the quality of the products. Demographics Gender: 71% women, 29% men Age: 18-24 Relationship status: Single Education: University Job: Management Interests: Festivals, movies, cars, clothing Location: US, India Devices: Desktop & Mobile Purchase behaviour: Food and Drink, Subscription services Instagram: 5million followers, last post two days ago, photos: average 70k likes, movies: 200k likes. Twitter: 3.17million followers Pinterest: 21.3k followers Frequency of words in the comments on the Facebook page. pedo (44) gross (6) creep (5) pervert (9) wrong (18) adult (10) exploit (6) advert (36) boycott (6) hate (19) bad (33) models (32) sexy (27) sex (42) nice (51) love (237) life (23) perfect (16) gorgeous (23) amazing (22) style (9) fashion (11) best (23)
Negative Frequency Positive Frequency Pedo 44 Love 237 Gross 6 Sexy 27 Creep 5 Nice 51 Pervert 9 Gorgeous 23 Wrong 18 Life 23 Adult 10 Perfect 16 Exploit 6 Amazing 22 Boycott 6 Style 9 Hate 19 Fashion 11 Bad 33 Best 23 Models 32 Advertisement 36 Negative comments/ Complaints: poor quality > shoes, jacket, trousers personal information invasion of privacy, no class, China poor working conditions (Lide Shoe Factory), PEDOPHILES hi! Welcome to your new haven, creepy, perverted little scumbags, sleazy ad, disgusting, freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, freedom to not purchase any Calvin Klein products is an even better thing., stop sexualizing, sexual exploitation, sick, abusive, boycott, feed the models, gross.
Negative
Poor QualityNo
class
Poor working conditions Perverted Stop SexualizingPositive feedback: Perfect fit, nice clothing style, hot, amazing, wonderful, Kendall looks amazing, gorgeous, classy, stunning, love your ads, Fashion has always been about sexuality and pushing the envelope with provocative ads, beautiful, great diversity, perfection, love your designs, the best, sublime, great campaign, phenomenal, my favorite, elegant. Most of discussion on the Internet about Calvin Klein is about the style and people expressing their love for the brand. The second most used word on Facebook is Pedo and also the word advertisement is mentioned often, so many people show their disgust about the ads. The negative comments can be summarized into three categories; complaints about the quality of products, complaints about the ads, complaints about the company (the way they do business). People share because they want to express their opinion or react upon others to discuss campaigns and photos. People react on the more provocative campaigns to react upon their values and norms. The positive comments are mainly to say how beautiful the clothes are and this has a lot to do with social identity, showing you wear brands like Calvin Klein. People are definitely prepared to sacrifice money since Calvin Klein is a rather expensive brand. And customers of this brand who are rather positive and praising the style and photos are showing that they buy and wear this brand. This
Positive
Amazing GorgeousLove
Classy
Stunning Great diversityThe
best
inclines that this is a company where people buy for the brand and not only for a functional product. On the Facebook page the brand is described as: “Calvin Klein is a global lifestyle brand that exemplifies modern, sophisticated style, while remaining true to our pure, natural and often minimal aesthetic.” House of Fraser describes Calvin Klein customers as modern, uniquely sophisticated individuals” and states that the company offers “tasteful, timeless looks interpreted through the Calvin Klein aesthetic.” Calvin Klein is part of a lifestyle that stands for young and sexy. Customers that want to be part of this lifestyle identify themselves with the brand. Although customers are prepared to risk their reputation, they are not necessarily willing to sacrifice time or effort. Calvin Klein’s marketing activities exist mainly of controversial campaigns, which express sexiness. Members will feel most attracted to this since they identify with this and consider this as part of their lifestyle and something they want to fit with this. Customers that see Calvin Klein mostly as a functional product can be customers that for example feel like the underwear is just really comfortable.
2) Uber - Referral rewards & partnerships The company Uber Technologies Inc. is an online transportation company. Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp founded Uber in 2009 in San Francisco (Wikipedia). Via the mobile app consumers can submit a taxi trip on their smartphones. The company raised $49 million in venture funds by 2011, funding rising to $2.8 billion in total funding by 2015. Expansion to other cities United States followed soon. In 2011 Uber expanded to Paris and after this it spread over the world. As of April 12 2016 the Uber service is available in 6 continents, 70 countries and over 400 cities worldwide. The success of Uber even began a trend called the “Uberfication” defining the imitation of Ubers’ business model by several other companies. Value proposition Much of the success of Uber has to do with the ease, speed and convenience that it offers. The proposition is simple; one push on the button summons the nearest taxi driver to get you to your destination in the quickest way possible (Tenemos). This satisfies a need that was not yet fulfilled, the need of safe, reliable, effortless for-hire transportation and for a fair price (Chicago Uber case study). After the drive customers can express their (dis) satisfaction by rating their driver. From all the transactions that Uber deals with they generate a lot of data. Uber keeps track of everything via the app. The precise pick-up and drop-off points are mapped plus the frequency of destinations that are visited including restaurants, cafes and hotels (Tenemos). Data on the amount clients spend on taxis is collected and the duration and time of the rides is also included in the data. Reviews are there to view how much luxury customers expect and what they think could be better. Uber collects all of this data to customize and optimize the journeys of the customers. The data is not only useful for Uber but also for other companies. Uber has partnered up
with the hotel chains Starwood, Hilton and IHG, the restaurant chain Zomato, Citymapper, Spotify, Live nation, Goodwill and even kitten shelters. Types of cars Uber offers different kind of cars reach a wider public of potential customers. The Uber website distinguishes between economic, premium, accessibility and carpool for the types of cars. Herewith the company fulfills the needs of a variety of customers. These different types are known under a variety of terms (Quora): • UberTaxi, partnerships with local taxi commissions. • UberX, allows local drivers with non-luxury cars such as Toyota, Honda to respond to notifications on the Uber app. Everyday cars for everyday use. Better, faster and cheaper than a taxi. This is the least expensive Uber service and is perfect for people who do not have a lot to spend, who do not have a car and need to get to their destination. • UberXL/UberVAN seats at least six passengers against a higher fare price. This is for people in groups or families. • UberSelect is a luxury sedan, which seats up to four riders. This can be a BMW, Mercedes or Audi with leather interior.
• UberBlack is the offering of a black car typically used for business. This is the luxury service. This option has the highest fare price and is for business people who need a business appropriate car and have enough to spend. • UberSUV Expansion products (event stunts) Uber has expanded the company not only around the world but also in service categories. These expansions are original and with these Uber tries to respond to current trends and to local traditions. Because of the originality and convenience of these expansions people will spread the word. The challenge with these new services is to make the existing customers aware of them and to attract new customers. Example 5.2.1 UberEATS is an online delivery service powered by the Uber app. The goal of this product is to deliver meals in minutes. This service is partnered with top local restaurants in the cities. The participating restaurants submit their main dishes that change daily. There are some pop-up restaurants participating featuring celebrity chefs to promote their foods. It started with UberFRESH in Santa Monica with expansion of on demand food service. The online food delivery environment is growing and very competitive and Uber focuses mainly on speed. Delivery time is ten minutes or less. In 2015 the name changed to UberEATS and the product expanded to Barcelona, Chicago, Paris, Melbourne and New York City. In the states it is among others available in Los Angelos, San Fransisco, Seattle, Toronto and Washinton D.C.. In most of the cities only lunch is available for now but in others there is also option for brunch and dinner. Meals cost around €10 with a €2,50 delivery charge on top. (UberEATS) (Wikipedia) (Said, 2015)
Example 5.2.2 UberRush is a courier service launched in New York City. It uses bike and on-foot messengers to get your package from one point to another. The process is to request a messenger who will follow your delivery instructions and deliver. The journey can be tracked via the Uber application. Pricing is based on zones in NYC. Within a zone a delivery will cost $15, for each additional zone an additional $5 is charged. Current wait times are about five minutes. The deliverers go through an extensive background check before hired. (Shontell, 2014) Example 5.2.3 UberPool matches trips with similar routes and consequently let’s customers share rides and costs. Customers pay only for their part of the trip and therefore this way of taxiing is the cheapest possible. The driver will only wait two minutes at each pickup location. This option was first launched San Fransisco and soon after this in Paris and the service expanded to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City in 2015. The service is also big in China. Environmental impact is substantial according to Uber, that calculated that UberPool saved about 34million kilometres in the first three months of 2016. 34 million kilometres account for about one and a half million litres of gas and about 3.8 million kg of carbon dioxide emissions. (Manjoo, 2016)
Example 5.2.4 UberPop is a service that got a lot of critique. The idea is that users are linked to drivers without professional taxi or chauffeur licenses, while Uber covers supplemental insurance. Hereby the vehicles are actually private cars. The governments of the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France and Germany have banned Uberpop because it would be a violation of the local jurisdiction regulating taxi services. (RT, 2015) Example 5.2.5 UberChopper is a team up with Corporate Helicopters to offer an on-demand helicopter service. For the first time it was tested flying between New York and the Hamptons. Further the helicopters have been flying to the Cannes film festival and Coachella Festival. A return ticket for flying between Los Angeles and Neon Carnival was $695. (Lucy, 2016) Example 5.2.6 UberBOAT was launched in Miami Beach for a connection with the mainland through collaboration with Stella Artois. Pricing is normal prices plus an additional fee of $35. There is also a taxi boat in Istanbul between the continents. (Billy, 2015) Example 5.2.7 Ubers’ Rickshaws are available in New Delhi and payment has to be in cash. On Valentine’s Day Uber delivered roses and on hot summer days it delivered ice cream. On the Facebook page of UberNederland there are a lot of posts published by the company wit original offers especially for the customers in Amsterdam. On the 2th of June the company posted about UberBIKE, which is the option to order a bike rack with the car so that you can take your bike. This is the company anticipating on the local popular transportation. UberSLOEP was an offer to buy a boat trip on the canals in Amsterdam. On Valentines
Referrals The Uber website suggests: “you can earn free rides or Uber account credit by inviting your friends to signup and ride using your personal invite code”. Sharing the personal invite code will get referrals, new customers a free first ride. After the ride the next ride for the referring person is free. With this referral program the company tries to personalize the service and above all get their customers to share the service with friends. A research at a German bank found that referrals have a higher retention rate; they are 18% more likely than others to remain with the company. Plus referrals are more valuable in the short and long term, they would account for 16% more in profits (Schmitt, Skiera, & Van den Bulte, 2011). Customers can be rewarded for referring in informational, financial, time and reciprocal referral rewards. Referral reward programs can be monetary rewards so cash or in-kind rewards such as coupons, gifts and free products (Jin & Huang, 2014). The reward system of Uber compensates the customers who share with free products. Success
Internet Research Social media Facebook: 4,867,442 likes, 115 people talking about this, 70 reviews On Facebook, reviews are mostly positive, 41 people rank the company with five stars. The 26 people that give Uber only one star have had bad experiences with the company and complain. The complaints are mainly about the drivers that are not doing their jobs the way they should. Demographics Gender: 52% women, 48% men Age: 25-34 Relationship status: Single Education level: University Jobs: Sales Interests: Sports, TV Location: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City Device users: Mobile only, desktop Purchase Behavior: Subscription services Spending method: Any card, cash Instagram: 214 kfollowers, last post one day ago, on average 2,000 likes. Twitter: 556k followers, last post 17 hours ago On Yelp there are 290 reviews on Uber, the majority of respondents are living in the area of New York. Most of the bad rankings are complaints of customers. That there are more negative reviews than positive reviews does not necessarily mean that the company does a bad job. It can also mean that for this kind of service the customers rather sharing their bad experiences and complaints than their good experiences. 45 of the reviews are about bad customer service,
123 are on trouble with the drivers especially drivers cancelling and taking longer routes. 33 complaints on price surges. Love (17) Convenient (22) Nice (21) easy (13) friendly (14) polite (11) bad (28) cancel (50) gps (14) driver (123)
Negative Frequency Positive Frequency
Bad 28 Love 17 Cancel 50 Convenient 22 GPS 14 Nice 21 Driver 123 Easy 13 Hate 7 Friendy 14 Polite 11 Notable is that there are way more negative reviews with complaints than positive reviews, as shown in the graph of Customer affairs. Customer affairs Complaints Bad customer service Drivers taking longer routes Drivers cancelling Surcharge Rude drivers Overcharged
People share because they want to complain or say how good the company is. Most complaints relate to drivers’ their behavior. Since the value proposition is about convenience and ease, the customers of Uber would use Uber because of functional product need fulfillment. These customers care a lot about prices considering that Uber is cheap compared to competition. To anticipate on the $ level of connection, Uber has options like the referral programs. For the Loyals, Uber has expansion products and is organizing a lot of special deals. These deals are really original and are definitely something that gets people talking about the company and makes people aware of the brand.
3) Zappos- Outstanding customer service Zappos.com is an online shoe and clothing shop. Nick Swinmurn founded it in 1999 in San Fransisco. The founder states that inspiration for this company came from failure to find a pair of the shoes at his local mall. He launched the website in June 1999 under the name ShoeSite.com. A few months later the name changed into Zappos in order not to limit the company only to footwear. Location of the company moved to Las Vegas because service minded people for the call center would be available over there. The call center is 24 hours a day, every day available. The collection expanded and currently the company offers clothes, bags, watches, accessories, sunglasses and shoes from 1065 different brands. In 2001 Zappos quadrupled their yearly sales to $8.6 million. By 2008 Zappos hit $1 billion in annual sales. But how did they come this far and how did they make this possible? Culture The success could be appointed to the focus on customer service. It is all about the experience while buying shoes, the ease of buying a product and the company culture behind the products. Ten core values are defined on the website to clarify what the company stands for and to ensure that all of the employees live by the same culture (Zappos, 2006). The core values (Zappos website, 2006): • Deliver WOW through service, • Embrace and drive change, • Create fun and a little weirdness, • Be adventurous, creative and open-minded,
• Pursue growth and learning, • Build open and honest relationships with communication, • Build a positive team and family spirit, • Do more with less, • Be passionate and Determined • Be humble Marketing Instead of launching big marketing campaigns to raise awareness and promote products, the company invests in the service and experience and relies on word-of-mouth communication (Andruss, 2008). Employees A service-oriented culture begins with hiring, hire employees with a good culture fit. Being excited and enthusiastic comes naturally, you cannot teach it; you have to hire for it (Andruss, 2008). New employees have to complete a customer loyalty-training program of four weeks in the call center. At this program employees learn the history of the company, become familiar with the culture and figure out if they are a good fit. Dropouts are offered $2000 to leave. Customer service experience Zappos optimizes the customer service and experiences from begin till end. All the parts of the process are operated in-house (Andruss, 2008). And when they do fail in delivering the expected products on time, the strongest part of the companies’ customer service comes out. This is when they fix it. And they fix it like a boss. Research has proven that post failure satisfaction exceeds prefigure satisfaction which is called the Service Recovery Paradox (SRP) (McCollough & Bharadwaj, 1992). This is certainly the case for Zappos and examples of this strength will be described later in the examples of the excellent customer service shared on social media.
These examples show that Zappos is willing to go to great lengths for their customers. It does cost money but the word-of-mouth that arises from this, from people spreading the word is worth it. This is consistent with the marketing strategy of Zappos. The budget spent on advertising is not much according to CEO Hsieh. “Our whole philosophy became ‘let’s take most of the money we would’ve spent on paid advertising and paid marketing and instead of spending it on that invest it in the customer experience/customer service and then let our customers do the marketing for us through word of mouth’ and that became the whole business model” (Bulygo, 2013). This kind of campaign action is to get the attention of potential customers and improve brand awareness. Of course it also enhances the affection of the existing customers. Example 5.3.1 The company broke its own record of longest customer service phone call on the 8th of December 2012. Duration of this conversation was ten hours and twenty-nine minutes. Content of the call was surprisingly not even a complaint about Zappos. The conversation was mainly about living in the area of Las Vegas. The customer eventually bought a pair of Ugg boots. The US contact center operation review of 2007 showed that American call centers similar to the customer service center of Zappos receive about 43 billion calls per year (2007). The Huffingtonpost wondered why the company does not use an automated call system since the costs of such a system are significantly lower. Jeffrey Lewis, the Zappos Customer Loyalty Team supervisor responded: “Zappo’s first core value is deliver wow through service, and we feel that allowing our team members the ability to stay on the phone with a customer for as long as they need is a crucial means of fulfilling this value.” (The Huffington Post, 2012) (Infinit Contact, 2013) Example 5.3.2 On November 23rd 2011, the day before Thanksgiving, Zappos announced that they would pay for the tolls on two of the roads in Massachusetts between 5 and 7 pm. Those roads are traffic jammed year after year. Zappos: “Through this effort we hope to brighten the day for weary holiday travellers.” (Van der Pool, 2011) (Infinit Contact, 2013)
Example 5.3.3 shows that Zappos listens to their customers and is willing to adjust to them. Lots of stories of customers that experienced an extraordinary experience in the customer service with Zappos are shared on social media. Example 5.3.3 Zappos was ranked first as best retailer of vegan shoes by PETA, they have a wide collection of leather-free shoes. However the company had been selling other fur products. PETA launched a campaign whereby public members wrote to the CEO to persuade him to end the sale of fur. On social media people posted about this campaign and shared the petition. Zappos has a fur-friendly policy, wool products, shearling and skin products are excluded from the collection since 2008 (Zappos, PETA). (PETA, 2008) (Infinit Contact, 2013)
Example 5.3.4 Blogger Zaz posted about her experience with Zappos. Her mother died and she was unable to returning the pair, the company helped her by arranging to pick the pair up themselves. They even delivered flowers. She writes: “I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is. So… IF YOU BUY SHOES ONLINE, GET THEM FROM ZAPPOS. With hearts like theirs, you know they’re good to do business with.” This was a personal blog but the post inspired other bloggers to link back to the post. Even high profile blogs like the Consumerist, wrote about the story. (Bustos, 2007) (Marco, 2007) (Infinit Contact, 2013)
There are a lot more stories available from beyond satisfied Zappos customers. CEO Tony Hsieh of Zappos listed his top ten e-commerce lessons in 2007 at the eTail conference. He underlines a few important points that he learned about e-commerce. E-commerce is rather about repeat customers than acquiring customers. “WOM really works online but can also work against you.” “Do not compete on price because this does not attract loyal customers”, they will jump at the competition as soon as their prices are lower. “Make sure your website is accurate.” “Customer service is an investment, not an expense. The goal is to create lifelong relationships with customers. That’s why Zappos Example 5.3.5 Jay was a best in man on a wedding that Saturday. He ordered the shoes from Zappos that the groom picked out for the guys at the wedding. The choice for Zappos was mainly because the shoes were cheapest. He paid for a three-day select shipping from UPS, ordered at the 12th of May and needed at the 19th of May. However everything went wrong when UPS delivered the package to the wrong location. Finally it arrived at the local service center at the 18th of May. Jay called the center and asked them to hold the package there so that he himself could pick it up and ensure that he got the shoes in time. This was impossible according to the UPS center. Than the poor guy, a bit desperate now called Zappos as a final resolution. Zappos offered a replacement pair of shoes that would be delivered overnight to the destination of Jay, where the wedding was held. Also they would take care of the other pair of shoes and ship them back to Zappos. In addition Zappos updated the Zappos account of Jay to VIP, this gives members free overnight shipping on al subsequent orders. But this was not everything; on top of this the company gave a complete refund for the shoes. Jay: “Zappos has earned a customer for life – in addition to all this, I originally ordered from them because they had the cheapest deal on the shoes I needed.” (Popken, 2011) (Infinit Contact, 2013)
of an item. Sounds risky, but when they need another pair of shoes, they will go to Zappos.” The CEO also said: “don’t try to be interesting, be interested.” And all of this effort pays off whereas 75% of orders are by repeat customers (Andruss, 2008). Internet research Social media Since the company is a website and thus an online experience, the WOM communication is of particular interest. Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst says people will share everything, good or bad, what, when and where they purchased. Once the customers are in, Zappos engages them over multiple social media. They are actively present on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Facebook: 2,123,518 likes, 53,857 people talking about this When reviewing the Facebook page of Zappos it is striking that all of the responds on posts of the company are positive. Most of companies’ their pages are full of customers complaints of requests but with Zappos this is not the case. But then the company does not have reviews and ratings like other companies on Facebook. The company has 2,116,802 likes, which is compared to international companies not a lot but for American companies it is quite a lot. Also worth mentioning is that on most of the posts of clients there is a quick and thoughtful response of Zappos. When there are negative comments on pictures it is mainly about sizes that are not available and Zappos responds to this trying to fix it even though these complaints are due to the manufacturer. Posts on the page by customers are about thanking the company for their amazing customer service. Although there are no reviews on the Facebook page, the webpage is exploding with them, there is a page called customer testimonials with 10031 reviews. Aaron Magness is overseeing Brand marketing, PR, business development and Social media at Zappos. He says: “Things that happen through Twitter and Facebook let us tie into what customer are asking for, we ask people what they think and then adapt and react accordingly to support their needs as best we can.” But then again also on the website there are barely any negative reviews or complaints to be found.
Content customer responds Facebook: appreciates customers, goes above and beyond. Helpful, encouraging. Thoughtful, amazing customer service. Terrific service, Quick and easy, taking care of customers, amazing customer service experience, best customer service, blown away by awesome customer service, they really truly do live by that amazing customer service and culture. Instagram: is a less of a popular social medium but Zappos’ page has 67,200 followers and the account is up to date since the last post was 21 hours ago. The average amount of likes on the photos is 250 and on the movies the amount of likes is 2000 or even 3000. Twitter: 46,400, last post 17 hours ago. ResellerRatings 342 reviews, 9.99/10, 291 reviews rank Zappos 5 stars, 26 reviews give Zappos 1 star. Love (45) SiteJabber 457 reviews, 90 % satisfied. Comments Appreciates customers Goes above and beyond Thoughtful Helpful Amazing customer service Quick and easy Takes care of customers Best experience
Positive: Love (134), amazing (27), fast (61), service (171), best (69), Negative: Poor unprofessional customer service, poor service, lengthy waiting time for customer service, limited selection, jeans shrunk, bad customer service (5), high prices, bad shipping service, pricey, Positive Frequency Love 134 Amazing 27 Fast 61 Best 69 Striking is that there are barely negative reviews and complaints.
Demographics Gender: 79% women Age: 25-34, Education: University 64% - High school 30%, Relational status: married 45% - 31% single Job title: Administrative 35%, Sales 33%, Personal care 25%. Lifestyle: (upper) middle class, children, home owners, people carrier drivers 30% of the audience matches. US Online purchases: Medium US Retail spending: Low Purchase behaviour: Food & Drink, Clothing, Subscription services Device users: Mobile only Spending method: debit card People share because they want to thank the company and express their opinion on how great the company is. Customers are more connected than only the functional product need, they are engaged with the brand. Since this company is not really about a lifestyle or the what, the customers could be identified as fans. The company attains and retains these fans by extraordinary customer service.
Figure 5. Inventory of ways of generating word of mouth communication I described three companies that get people talking in their own way. Calvin Klein does this by controversy, which actually sounds like it would have a negative impact. But they are known for it and are thriving through it. The majority of their customers could be identified as Fans because they are part of a lifestyle and because they are talking about love and passion concerning the brand. Uber uses referral rewards, partnerships and events to get people talking. Most of their customers are actually $ and Loyals because they are more concerned with prices, convenience and speed rather than the events and partnerships of the brand. Of course these events and partnerships are working for other customers and for spreading the word about the brand. Finally Zappos has an outstanding customer service what makes them successful. This customer service causes their customers to be actual Fans, alongside the fact that most of their customers repeat purchase, most of them also express their love and thanks. For these companies, these methods work to encourage word of mouth communication. For different companies, different methods work.
5.4 Survey In order to expose the reason why people would recommend a brand in practice, I interviewed 20 people. I asked them straight away why they recommend products or brands. Questions Do you have certain brands or products that you recommend to people that you know? Why did you recommend it? Answers - Extraordinary customer service > car garage (2x) “I recommended this car garage to my colleagues because they helped me really good. Their customer service for lease car drivers is just what it should be, especially the follow up and I haven’t seen it as good anywhere else.” - Hard to find need fulfilled > Gstar (2x) “I recommend Gstar pants to tall friends and family because they offer long pants with a good fit and of good quality. In the ordinary stores I have trouble finding good jeans that are long enough and fit me.” - Quality (10x) “When the quality of something is the best I have ever had, I will recommend it to people.” “Nike just does the job.” “When something just works.” “When it works the way it should.” - Design (2x) “I recommended Apple laptops because of the design, I just think it looks good.” - Price, Value for money (4x) “I recommended Huawei phones because they are working just as good as Apple IPhone and aren’t as expensive.” “I recommended restaurants to my friends who are students and do not have a lot to spend when the restaurant it’s food is delicious and affordable.” Most of the participants, in the survey indicate that they would share their experience with a product or brand with friends or family if the quality were good. If the product works they would recommend it.
