"Fat Girl Costumes" Available Only at Walmart!

For me, the week before Halloween is usually the time where I begin brainstorming what I should dress up as.  This years ideas consist either a witch or Dexter's victim. The decision has yet to be made, so I'll get back to you on that one.  On October 21, Walmart had a social media/website hiccup when they described their plus-size women's halloween costumes as "Fat Girl Costumes."

Once this was pointed out on Twitter by a customer, it went viral.  People took to social media, more specifically, Twitter in order to relive their thoughts on the sticky situation.  The insulting title was taken down by 10:30 am.  However, Walmart failed to completely take down and fix the issue on their website until about 1:30 pm.  The title was changed to "Women's Plus-Size Halloween Costumes" but the page was blank when customers went to visit it.

In the past, we've seen companies make mistakes on their websites or via social media.  Whether it was a disgruntled employee or an honest mistake (not sure how this would be an 'honest mistake') the most important step for Wal-mart to take would be resolve the problem as fast as possible and then apologize.  For example, I previously posted about Urban Outfitters 'blood-stained' sweatshirt, or Zara's striped 'holocaust' children's sweatshirt.  Time and time again we've learned that a companies best approach to damage control is to fix the situation immediately, and to RESPOND to consumers with an apology of some sort.  In this specific case, Wal-mart did just that by issuing an apology via twitter which can be seen below.

So, the issue was cleared up by Monday around 1:30, but Wal-mart was far from in the clear.  They spent the rest of the day, and probably the rest of the week replying to angry tweets from customers.  The moments after a company faces a conflict will define how successful they will be in the future, to an extent.  Keeping customers satisfied, loyal, and happy will keep your brand in the forefront of their mind at all times.  Customers are the root of the business, or they should be.  Social media is where consumers are, it is IMPERATIVE that companies recognize this, attempt to genuinely connect with their consumers on a one-to-one basis, and social media is the key to doing so.

Swift's "Welcome to New York" ain't no Sinatra

If you know me personally, you know that I am an insanely BIG super-fan of Taylor Swift (take this moment to judge me now, I don't care).  With that being said, you probably also know that I 'friendly' and 'casually' stalk everything New York City.  However, my all-time favorite playlist on Spotify is "Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits," (you should probably stop reading this right now, find that playlist, and play it while continuing to read this in order to get the full effect).  Now, Taylor Swift's highly anticipated album, titled '1989' comes out October 27, 2014.  Taylor  has been posting to Instagram daily with small snippets of lyrics of different songs from her new album in order to continue building anticipation.

Last Tuesday, she released news via Instagram that another single would be released around midnight called "Welcome to New York."  As you can imagine, when I saw this post I was excited to say the least.  For the past few months my roommate and I have been casually and imaginatively planning how we would be living in NYC after college graduation (a cute place in Brooklyn with a stoop, or maybe in the FlatIron District, close to Eataly & The Chelsea Market preferably- hey I said imaginatively, a girl can dream, right?).  Recently,  I have even been searching for a full-time position there too, that's another blog post for another day though.  The point of that rambling was 1- I love Frank Sinatra, a lot. 2- I also really love New York, and 3- I've always been a fan of Taylor's.  So, this "Welcome to New York" track on her new album really had high expectations for me.

So, after about an hour of HIGH anticipation, "Welcome to New York" was posted to Youtube. Go watch it here.  Needless to say, I was surprisingly disappointed (and I feel bad typing that, for the record).  What's one to do when their icon has a new song that doesn't quite drive me wild? Go to social media, of course.  In a heated frenzy, I posted the following on my Facebook after about an hour of watching and reading articles about Taylor and why she was 'inspired' so much by NYC.

I read several articles that criticized Taylor about her new single, the one above in particular insisted that "Welcome to New York" would be the 'next New York anthem.'  "Welcome to New York" by Swift just doesn't have the sparkle, the pizzaz, the depth,  it doesn't make me feel anything.  Now, "New York, New York" by Frank, of course is a completely different story, listening to it makes me feel like i'm already in the streets of New York, you can hear the passion in Sinatra's voice, it's not the same four words being repeated throughout the majority of the song like Swift's version.  Maybe Taylor's rendition will grow on me, but I was expecting something better, especially from an artist like her.  I also stumbled upon this video, where Swift explains why she wrote "Welcome to New York."  She says "I dreamt about moving to New York, I obsessed over moving to New York, and then I did it," which is something i'm sure young women or even some men can relate to, I know I can.  There's not a day where I don't think about what moving to New York would be like, it's what a lot of people think about when they graduate college, to go somewhere they've always dreamed of living.  She goes on to talk about how she was "wide-eyed" and "optimistic" but she's Taylor Swift, she bought a $19 million dollar penthouse in NYC, she has nothing to worry about as far as living in a closet-sized space, dealing with subways or directions, or living on a budget.  So can I relate to her after all? Maybe not so much.  If anything her new song about the wonder city has disheartened me and damaged her credibility more than anything else, in my eyes at least.  That's not to say I won't be buying her album when it comes out next Monday.  I just think she's got some BIG shoes to fill if she's trying to compete with Frank, or even Jay-Z on a New York Anthem.

Twitter vs. United States

On Tuesday, October 7 2014, Twitter filed a lawsuit against the United States Government on the notion that the government is violating Twitters first amendment right by imposing strict regulations against Twitter and what they can and cannot post when it comes to “national security related surveillance requests.”  Last spring Twitter, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and LinkedIn went in on a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice that stated “the tech companies are allowed to publish the number of data requests related to national security (such as National Security Letters or FISA Court orders) — but cannot divulge the precise number of requests,” according to Mashable.com.  Twitter mentioned that something like this may happen back in February when they first published a transparency report, which outlined why they were being prohibited from posting certain content.

  

When Twitter announced the lawsuit on Tuesday afternoon, Twitter’s lawyer took to their blog and said, “"It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance — including what types of legal process have not been received."  According to Mashable.com, Twitter and the U.S Government have been negotiating for months about what the outcome should be, and resorting to litigation was the last thing Twitter wanted to do, but the two companies couldn’t come to a sensible agreement.  This incident can be compared with the NSA surveillance programs leaking in correlation with Edward Snowden.  While the dust is still settling with that incident, I think it was a smart move to take litigation with the U.S. government in order to protect their reputation and themselves as a company.  The last thing Twitter wants to be seen as is collaborating with the government against their users.  I also thought this article was interesting because of what is  happening  currently with the Republic of Turkey and how they were intervening with social media sites in order to stop people from connecting with each other about the on-going situation.  I think it’s interesting that Twitter doesn’t have anything to say to the Republic of Turkey about them cutting off ways for citizens to talk to each other.  Regarding Twitter’s lawsuit against the United States government, several advocacy groups have come into the spotlight in support of Twitter by saying; “Twitter is doing the right thing by challenging this tangled web of secrecy rules and gag orders.”  I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out.  While I agree that people have a right to say what they want, I find it interesting that Twitter is taking such a big stand on the issue. Below is the actual tweet Twitter sent out affirming their official lawsuit against the U.S. Government.

Crushing on the Pub, My Lovemark

Oh how I love the Pub.  No, I'm not talking about your local beer joint, I'm talking about Publix Supermarkets.  Didn't see that one coming did you? Yeah, I get it, loving a grocery store might come off sounding a little psychotic, but you can relate i'm sure.  Everyone has their favorite brands, a brand that you're loyal to no matter what.  It can be compared to as a soul-mate or a best friend, something you never want to see go, something you will defend even if you know there's a chance they're in the wrong, something you get excited to see, or in marketing terms, a Lovemark.  Publix is my Lovemark.  I love Publix for many reasons that may be similar to the reasons why you are infatuated with your lovemark.  It's where my mom's always shopped, it's where i'm comfortable going.  I will drive the extra few miles it takes to get to Publix instead of going to a closer competitor.  The experience is just worth it to me, i've never had a negative experience at any Publix. Their customer service is top-notch, their 'Buy One Get One Free' weekly specials rock my world, and who am I kidding their subs, chocolate chip cookies and sweet tea can't be beat.  I can tell you a lot about Publix that the average grocery shopper wouldn't know including when their weekly ad changes, their mascots name (yes, Publix has a mascot, Plato the Publixsaurus), and what a rain check times 10 means.  Throwing the line, hooking the fish, and reeling in the catch is a marketers job, in short.  I'll be honest in saying Publix has me hooked.  How do companies lure consumers in and eventually capture their brand loyalty?  It's all about evoking emotion out of the consumer, making them feel as if they're part of the family.  From the family-oriented BBQ or birthday party commercials to the fourth of July weekly ad, Publix screams emotion and the importance of family to their customers.  If you share an infatuation with Publix like I do, you probably remember the Thanksgiving commercial that featured the 'pilgrim pair' salt and pepper shakers.  If you haven't seen this cute and clever commercial, watch it here.

 The premise of the commercial is family, the commercial ends with the quote "there's nothing like being together for the holidays," which is the only audio in the commercial, besides the fast-paced music.  In fact,  after my mom saw that commercial, she went out and bought the exact salt and pepper shakers, which we still have and use every Thanksgiving holiday.  You're probably still pondering over what the nickname 'the pub' has anything to do with this.  My mom has always called Publix, "the pub." So, in short that's what my family has come to call it.  Publix has taken advantage of getting on social media platforms in order to reach the customer better.  Most of their tweets interact with their customer by asking questions like "what food could you eat everyday for the rest of your life?"  Responding to consumers feedback, both positive and negative comments, on social media sites is HUGE. Publix actively responds to customers and takes action to fix the said issue or hand out appropriate praise when neccesary.  Publix also boasts a strong record of being a company with excellent company culture, as it has been ranked as Fortune's "Best Companies to work for" every year since 1998.  What allows a company to become a lovemark for a consumer?  In my opinion, a company that is able to relate and interact with consumers on a human level, a company that invokes emotion and feelings from a consumer, and a company that evolves throughout time in order to be where there consumers are (social media, for example) is a company that will have the upper-hand in cultivating a life-long relationship with consumers.