A reader has pointed out the irony of online popularity which can generate a 'flash-mob' of customers one minute and a vicious back-lash from the 'flash-mob' which doesn't get instant satisfaction. We refer to the online riot over 2degrees, which was inundated by a flood of subscribers, who were then frustrated by the inability of the company to cope with the demand.
An article published in the Herald Online http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10590762 quotes a customer talking about 'day 8' of the outage. Others are suggesting that 2degrees fires its website managers or builders.
Among the views expressed in the Herald feedback from readers is one which suggests that we all re-do our maths. It is not sent by a Vodafone spokesperson, but Vodafone has placed an Ad. right in the middle of readers' views. Some of those views are supportive of 2degrees and some are extremely critical, so the Ad. seems a well-positioned and transparent way of weighing into the controversy.
Problems with 2degrees are almost, but not yet like, Jetstar's experience of unexpected enthusiasm for what seemed to be the best deal around at the time. Interestingly, both companies used a Web-based intermix of e-marketing and social media to attract customers and communicate with them about their service. But it wasn't the internet that failed them, it was their unpreparedness for the demand and their inability to live up to customers expectations.
Mind you, unprecedented demand has happened in marketing long before social media. Experienced marketers always warn against over-hyping a new product before the early-adopters have entered the marketplace. They advise contingency planning for the dreamed of, but unexpected, massive demand that a good deal can attract.
A client of mine had to charter a Jumbo aircraft and fill it with supplies, after we launched a new product with simply public relations and no advertising in the introductory stage. (The client was delighted, and the campaign won an international award, but thank heavens for an available Jumbo Jet.)
It has not been so easy for 2degrees and Jetstar. The lesson they provide is social media can accelerate demand and provide a forum for widespread criticism that outpaces in a few minutes solutions which take a few hours or, worse still, days or weeks.
Posted by Joseph Peart
An article published in the Herald Online http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10590762 quotes a customer talking about 'day 8' of the outage. Others are suggesting that 2degrees fires its website managers or builders.
Among the views expressed in the Herald feedback from readers is one which suggests that we all re-do our maths. It is not sent by a Vodafone spokesperson, but Vodafone has placed an Ad. right in the middle of readers' views. Some of those views are supportive of 2degrees and some are extremely critical, so the Ad. seems a well-positioned and transparent way of weighing into the controversy.
Problems with 2degrees are almost, but not yet like, Jetstar's experience of unexpected enthusiasm for what seemed to be the best deal around at the time. Interestingly, both companies used a Web-based intermix of e-marketing and social media to attract customers and communicate with them about their service. But it wasn't the internet that failed them, it was their unpreparedness for the demand and their inability to live up to customers expectations.
Mind you, unprecedented demand has happened in marketing long before social media. Experienced marketers always warn against over-hyping a new product before the early-adopters have entered the marketplace. They advise contingency planning for the dreamed of, but unexpected, massive demand that a good deal can attract.
A client of mine had to charter a Jumbo aircraft and fill it with supplies, after we launched a new product with simply public relations and no advertising in the introductory stage. (The client was delighted, and the campaign won an international award, but thank heavens for an available Jumbo Jet.)
It has not been so easy for 2degrees and Jetstar. The lesson they provide is social media can accelerate demand and provide a forum for widespread criticism that outpaces in a few minutes solutions which take a few hours or, worse still, days or weeks.
Posted by Joseph Peart
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