UO Sells 'Blood Stained' Kent State Sweatshirt, Responds via Twitter

Before social media, how did companies make up with their customers after their company or products are seen in a negative light?  Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow companies to respond directly to consumers as a group or individually when something goes wrong.  Disaster Control.  What should be the first step that companies should take when they've made a mistake?  Take responsibility, and be upfront about the issue.  The short window after the incident occurred and  when disparaging comments start rolling in is a crucial point in how a company chooses to handle a negative situation.  Because of social media consumers now have a loud and prominent voice when it comes to telling companies and other consumers how they feel about a said company or a particular product. Consumers are always watching, always updating and always sharing on social media sites, and companies are finally catching on.  Recently Urban Outfitters came out with a so-called "Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt."  Retailing for a hefty price of $129.00, Urban Outfitters described the sweatshirt as "washed soft and perfectly broken in, this vintage Kent State sweatshirt is cut in a loose, slouchy fit.  Excellent vintage condition.  We only have one, so get it or regret it!"  This sounds all well and good, except for when consumers actually got a look at the sweatshirt. Take a look below.

Now, if you aren't familiar with the actions that took place at Kent State in 1970 then here's what happened in a nutshell:  the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed college students and in the process shot and killed four students and injured nine others on the Kent State University's campus.  consumers argue the sweatshirt that Urban Outfitters is advertising has what looks like blood stains on it, which correlates with the Kent State shootings.

Above is a tweet that was sent out showing pictures of the sweatshirt on the Urban Outfitter's website.  Consumers blew up social media sites, especially Twitter to put blame on Urban Outfitters. 

The "vintage" sweatshirt sold out quickly online and even popped up on Ebay with a 'Buy it now' price of $2,500.  In the following days of the sweatshirt release, Urban Outfitters took to their Twitter page in order to relieve some of the damage they had created  among consumers.  Below is an apology that Urban Outfitters released on their official twitter page promptly after receiving backlash on the sweatshirt.

While this type of situation is tough to deal with for any company it raises several questions dealing with the company.  How could an employee of Urban Outfitters not make the connection between Kent State and little red drops on a sweatshirt before putting it live for customers to see?  It almost seems like Urban Outfitters pulled this stunt on purpose, though I'm not sure of their motivations if that is the case.  In any case, Urban Outfitters played their cards correctly by issuing an apology for the world to see.  The most pressing takeaway from Urban Outfitters hiccup is that social media sites are where consumers are.  It's where they complain, give praise, and in most cases it's where they look first for any new source of information they might be looking for.  Social media platforms cut out the middleman (news reporter, etc.).  It allows the consumer and the company to talk directly with one another, which has shown to be really powerful for consumers and companies alike.  Companies and major brands have caught on to all of this and realize (most of them) that it is imperative to communicate and keep up with their customers through means of social media.

How to Fake it, Cuddy Style

Have you ever read, watched, heard, or seen something that just seems to stick in your mind for some amount of time?  It might be a new insight, a catchy phrase, or a meaningful quote that has some connection to your life.  For me, this epiphany came sometime during my junior year of college when I was sitting in a 300 plus person lecture hall in a required business leadership class.  On this particular day in class we paused from our regular, monotonous lecture to watch a Ted Talks video.  This may have been the first time I came to know what a Ted Talks video was now that I'm thinking about it.  If you aren't familiar with the Ted Talks series or the Ted organization, below is a description of their mission, via Ted.com.

The twenty-minute and something second video we watched in class feautures a social psychologist by the name of Amy Cuddy. According to the New York Times,  Cuddy's Ted Talk is ranked number two  on the list of "Most viewed Ted Talks of all time" with just over twenty million views. Throughout the video, Cuddy harps on body language and how it is perceived not only by those around us but how we notice and take in our own body language. Cuddy touches on the natural human and animal characteristics of body language such as opening our arms up when we're feeling powerful, or sinking down when we feel inferior.  While this is interesting Cuddy really hooked me around the seven minute marker when she mentions the commonly heard phrase "fake it until you make it."  She explains this thought by saying that even if you don't feel powerful or happy, if you pretend to be a certain way then you will think and embrace that feeling.  Cuddy then goes on to discuss "power posing." Cuddy argues that standing in a power pose, such as standing with your hands on your hips for just two minutes while looking into the mirror can significantly increase your confidence due to varying levels of cortisol and testosterone in the brain.  Below are the pictures of the high-power and low-power poses Cuddy shared during her presentation.

With roughly four minutes left in the video Cuddy flips the script and tells a personal story of how she got to be who she is today.  She tells a traumatic story of her battle to recuperate from a horrific car accident, and in doing so she mentions how she got into Princeton and felt like she was a wasn't meant to be there. Cuddy discusses feeling paralyzed, and filled with anxiety when it came to giving speeches and living up to high expectations.  The main message Cuddy stresses towards the end of the video is "Fake it 'till you become it."  She says give presentations over and over again or whatever your hurdle may be, until you realize that it is a part of who you are.  Be bold and just do it is the takeaway I got from this video.  Feeling like you don't belong or you aren't good enough is a common feeling the majority of people feel at some point in their life.  The message that Cuddy is sending out is a powerful one.  I can't tell you the amount of times I've felt that "I'm not good enough for this," "I don't deserve this," or "I can't do this."  After watching this video that day in class I've probably watched it ten times over.  Amy Cuddy and her message of "fake it 'till you become it" has stuck in my head and comes forth in my mind when I'm having doubts or when i'm feeling unsure about an obstacle that i'm facing. 

 I challenge you to watch Amy Cuddy's Ted Talk (here's the link), and to live through this motto.  Even if you don't receive the same message from the video that I did, try the power posing before your next big presentation or interview and see what you get out of it.   Remember, don't "fake it 'till you make it," "fake it 'till you become it."

CoverGirl's "Get Your Game Face On" Campaign Packs a Protest Punch

According to Mashable.com, CoverGirl recently launched a new campaign entitled "Get Your Game Face On" as a way to market their cosmetics to savvy NFL-watching consumers.  CoverGirl's "Get Your Game Face On" make-up line features products that coordinate with different NFL teams colors.  Recently, the NFL has been in the public eye in relation to the Ray Rice scandal.  If you aren't familiar with what happened here's the 410:  TMZ got ahold of a video that allegedley shows Rice physically abusing his then-fiancé in an elevator. What happens next, you ask?  People took to social media, of course.  In the days following the video surfacing, photoshopped pictures started popping up of CoverGirl's campaign images.  These images were changed to show off a big, bruised, black eye on the model (while still showing off the Baltimore Raven's purple and gold colors, I might add). Below is a few images and tweets of the photoshopped image.

  Most of the backlashed received was targeted towards Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner.  Attached to the doctored image was the hashtag, #GoodellMustGo.  Several Women's advocacy groups have taken the center stage in boycotting the NFL until action is taken against Goodell.  Once again, social media, and in this case, Twitter has proven to be an excellent way for consumers to band together in order to have a voice against large, powerful organization/corporation.  While no action has been taken against Goodell to date, there's a better chance of Goodell facing some sort of punishment when consumer's are stirring the pot on the issue via social media platforms.  Let's hope for some form of a response from the NFL or Goodell himself.  In the past, we've seen large, profitable companies make the wrong choices when it comes to handling their social media accounts correctly.  Take Kit-Kat and GreenPeace for example.  When GreenPeace publicly confronted Kit-Kat about where their ingredients were coming from, Kit-Kat went as far as to delete consumer's negative comments and also didn't respond to the situation (via their social media sites) in order to defend themselves.  I think a social media post of some kind, or lack thereof  regarding an apology or statement of remorse from Goodell or the NFL  could be a game-changer in the way people perceive the NFL as a dominate, and credible organization.

Meet & Seat: Dutch Airline Uses Social Media to Connect Passengers

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines came out with an innovative campaign in 2012, which they called "Meet &  Seat."  Meet & Seat was designed as a networking tool and involves connecting passengers through social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Through Meet & Seat, passengers are able to pick their own seat next to other passengers who share the same interests.  Over 50,000 people have used Meet & Seat since it launched.  However, KLM airlines has serviced over 52 million customers in the past two years.  In my opinion, Meet & Seat is a smart idea when it comes to connecting and networking with others who happen to be on the same flight as you, but there are some issues that come along with it that need to be addressed.  Some argue that flights are for taking a break from doing business with others since many passengers who fly are those who are doing so on business related trips.  Other people argue that there isn't enough time to give a full pitch to another interested businessman. Another issue is competition, Delta introduced a similar campaign called Innovation Class.  While I do think this is an interesting way for people to connect with others, I think the idea is a bit much considering after a long day from traveling and meeting with clients the last thing I would want to do is sit on a long flight and network with a possible new client.  There is an obvious trade-off here though, if your business trip wasn't as successful or as busy as you expected it to be, then this could be a great opportunity to gain a new acquaintance or a new client.  In other words, programs like "Meet & Seat" could make up for a business trip that didn't fulfill your expectations.  There are pros and cons to "Meet & Seat" as there to everything in life.  Personally, I don't think this idea has gained enough interest or traction when I compare amount of passengers that have taken advantage of this service and the amount of passengers who fly on a yearly basis.

Chipotle's "The Scarecrow" Campaign: Why it Worked

If you haven't watched Chipotle's "The Scarecrow" video do so now here.  This is the epitome of a marketing campaign gone viral.  Within 2 days the scarecrow video had people talking.  This video made people feel many different emotions from angry to awed.  There's no mention of the brand until the last 30 seconds of the video.  There's also no people or no talking in the video. "The Scarecrow" tells an emotional, dramatic story about a scarecrow who lives a monotonous life in which he works for the evil, robot crows who are the owners of a large processed food industry, CrowFoods.  It seems as if the robotic crows are controlling the scarecrows and how they think and live their lives.  The scarecrow has an epiphany one day, quits his job and realizes he can make his own fresh, unprocessed food and eventually opens up his own small restaurant in order to "cultivate a better world."  The video got mostly praise, but also some backlash too. This video has reached more than 13 million consumers to date, an enormous accomplishment in itself.  At the end of the video, it prompts watchers to download and play the scarecrow game available in the app store.  Why was this video so popular among consumers? It made people think and feel.  It made some people question what they were putting into their bodies.  It made other people question Chipotle and their motives, citing that some of the information that was posed in the video wasn't the full truth.  The arguments for and against "The Scarecrow" video are appealing on both sides but Chipotle has done what it set out to do: get you, the consumer, talking, thinking, and sharing your thoughts and ideas about their brand.  In my opinion, it's a genius marketing campaign.