When you get a social networking invitation from your single-brew coffee maker, you know that social media is now mainstream.
Today’s email in-box featured this invitation from Tassimo, to follow their “taste master” on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. I was happy to see how well they interact with customers via Facebook and provide customer support. It’s clear Tassimo has lots of enthusiastic customers and brand advocates, and has begun a good conversation with fans of the brand.
In Tassimo’s case fans say they want the company to broaden distribution, offer more flavor choices and brewed beverage options, and help customers replace fragile components of the brewing machine when they wear out. My take: their Facebook page has become a good source of customer intelligence for Tassimo’s strategic marketers and product planners.
As a second example of the mainstreaming of social media, my local yoga studio now maintains a Facebook page. The studio uses Facebook to promote special events, highlight contributions (like books written) by the teachers or yoginis, offer meditation guidance and so on.
Unlike Tassimo’s example, which clearly involves marketers and social media pros, the yoga studio’s Facebook presence is maintained by the teachers and students – it’s authentic, but lacks the “production values” of a commercial brand. Both offer a good service to their customers and clientele.
It’s good to see truly useful examples of social media in action.
