The World According to Austin Schuetz

On the last day of class in our 445, we had a presentation by Brad Rukstales, an executive from CAC Group.  He discussed his career path and how he has worked to become the President and CEO of the firm.  He also had a presentation about the type’s of clients that his company consults with on projects.

One of the projects he used as a case study that we talked about.  The client was a steakhouse and CAC Group was assigned the task of developing an interactive marketing strategy.  CAC Group then analyzed the data and the finding led to a program in which customers would be engaged via online social media.  This lead to increased sales on two holidays that were not expected, but decreased sales on  another unexpected.

The presentation also discussed some of the companies values and beliefs that the company stands for.  The company is small and has about 20 employees but it seems like a great opportunity to advance in the Data Analyst field.  Some of the responsibilities of the position include an understanding of the concepts of online marketing metrics and analytical techniques, all of which was relevant to the concepts of MKTG 370.  Overall, the final day of class was very enjoyable with an opportunity to obtain a position in the field, and is certainly one that I will consider.

After analyzing different brands using social media tools, I have learned some basic strategies companies can to manage social media relations.  Tools such as Social Mention, Twitter Stream Graphs, and How Sociable can be used to discover relevant information that is being discussed among people about different brands.  Our group decided to use compare two brands that have been established for decades.  Not only have these companies established themselves, but they also have a strong presence in social media.  The companies that our group investigated were Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.  These two companies have different approaches as to managing social media, and it has shown in how the media discusses the two companies.

Coca-Cola has a very interesting brand position among its followers.  With over 36 million followers on Facebook, there is quite a bit of discussion among the brand.  The main thing that was discussed among people among the different social media tools was the new Coca-Cola cans for the 2011 holiday season.  There was a lot of positive feedback and many people thought that the cans were interesting.  The one thing thing that people had to say that was negative about the cans was that there was some product confusion among classic Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.  This was the only real issue that people had about the holiday cans.

As we turn to Pepsi-Cola and how the company is viewed among social media, the story is not the same.  Even looking at Pepsi-Cola on Facebook there are only 6 million followers.  In Coca-Cola’s case, there are people talking about the products, and the excitement.  In Pepsi’s case people are only talking about the brand.  Not only that but there is a lot of discussion that is negative about the brand.  Most of the comments regarding Pepsi are in comparison to Coke.  There are comments that are positive about Pepsi, but most of them are only about the flavor of the product.  None of the comments we found were in regards to anything that Pepsi is doing, and that is a major problem for the brand.

Overall, these two brands are using social media tools, but there should be some recommendations to each company.  Coca-Cola should listen to some of the advice given by the media and distinguish the product line cans from each other so they are not to be confused.  Pepsi-Cola on the other hand needs to develop a more distinguishable social media plan.  they need to develop a strategy as to engage and interact with customers.  This would be my recommendation to the brands.

The company’s social media strategy that I decided to invest was Krochet Kids International.  The organization is a not-for-profit whose mission is to empower those in poverty by providing skills to the workforce.  The company is small, but is growing quickly in awareness and support.  Much of this growth is due to the company’s social media plan.  The company has a Facebook and Twitter page, along with its own website.  After looking at the Facebook page, the company uses the four c’s proficiently.  The company creates engaging content that many people talk about and interact with.  This is one of the most important things to keep in mind with social media plans and Krochet Kids International has proved itself successful in this regard.

The company is also able to control how it interacts by limiting who can provide feedback to its social media sites.  This is where I had an issue with the brand.  I think the company is great and have purchased products from them.  When I left a comment on their Facebook page, they deleted it shortly thereafter.  I was disappointed that they did remove my post.  The one thing that the firm does not like is having others comments on the site which in m opinion hurts the brands image.  By not allowing users to comment except for posts which they create, it constricts the what content is discussed.  This is not the biggest deal in the world, but it is worth mentioning.  The company may not have many many followers, currently they have 35,000 but they do connect with the people who are their fans.

Krochet Kids International could use many of the free social media tools that the internet provides to gage how they are doing in the social media world.  by using tools such as SocialMention, TweetFeel, or Alterian SM2, the company could determine which social media metrics are most important.  Ultimately, the company would want you to purchase a hat from it’s site which it allows.  So looking at how many people view their site compared to how many people purchased a hat would be a place to look to see how sales are doing.  Analyzing which posts and topics people are most likely to interact with is another social media metric that the company could use to see if it is staying relevant in social media.  Overall, the brand is growing due to social media which is a main goal of social media strategies.

The biggest improvement that Krochet Kids International could do is allow users to comment on their social media sites.  By not allowing posting or deleting posts on their site, there is only the brands posts with users comments.  This is a mistake as it does not allow the opportunity to put the brand to work for consumers, which is an effective outcome of social media.  Overall, I fully support this company and love what they do.  I believe that they will become very successful in the future and would even enjoy the opportunity to work for them.  If I am given that chance, I would put these suggestions into the social media plan and hopefully develop an even more enriching social media experience.