Last week I opened a box of Kix and poured a bowl full to begin my day. About ten bites in…surprise! I saw something out of place in my bowl amidst the circular corn goodness, it was a 4 inch long yellow twistie-tie. The yellow plastic kind with a wire interior. This was just the beginning of my “Kid’s tested mother approved” moment. (and let’s ignore the fact that I had already had 10 bites in this picture…I know I exceeded the one cup serving size suggestion!)
What should one do when in this peculiar position? Tweet about it,
"Ten bites into my Kix, I find this! GENERAL MILLS what's up with that"
in fact, this was an instagram moment linked to both Twitter and Facebook for instant life sharing photo goodness.
Just one hour following my post I received a message on twitter from @GMills_Sandra saying, “@thadhuff So sorry about this. We would like to investigate further. Please call me: 800-245-2277 x48321. Package info would be helpful.”
Remember last week how I indicated that the conversation was not one way, that we hear about our brand, church, communication in more than a one directional fashion. This is exactly what every company needs to be engaging in. It is professionally called social engagement and it goes beyond shouting loud about your product in order to gain customers. It’s managing and listening to the conversations about your products and brands in order to best project the service and culture you desire to stick to your story through your customer base. It’s as easy as setting up TweetDeck, Hootsuite or Digsby with the searches you desire to keep track of.
After speaking with Sandra on the phone and giving her my address for some free boxes of cereal I am a happy customer. And the story of the yellow twistie will be a beginning and not an ending of a better story. I was reminded of the importance of our being aware of the conversation happening around our brand and just how odd that bag of cereal can be!
One final addition…Sandra did mention that there are large magnetic devices that should have removed any metal out of my Kix before they went into the bag. Made me feel better for a second, then I thought…why would they need those magnetic devices and what metal is traveling down the conveyer belt with my cereal? I will have to pound that thought out of my head before eating another bite!
