Starbucks is dealing with its social media crisis one tweet at a time

In the aftermath of the incident where two black men were accused of trespassing and arrested, Starbucks announced that it would close 8,000 of its US-based stores for race-sensitivity training. Unsurprisingly, some members of the public took to Twitter to comment on this decision. For instance: Less predictably, perhaps, Starbucks engaged with the … Continue reading Starbucks is dealing with its social media crisis one tweet at a time

Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

After trialling it out with a handful of users, Twitter has increased the maximum length of tweets from 140 characters to 280, for all users. Some people expressed concern over how the additional capacity will be used by the trolls and harassers that litter the platform. Others have talked about the creative challenge … Continue reading Three advantages of Twitter’s extended characters limit

Emotion analysis for real time interactions

Emotions influence how we interpret situations, what we do, and even how we remember them. Thus, emotions are a very important driver of how consumers behave and why. Because of this importance, there has been a growth in the number of products that promise to scan online conversations (e.g., in social networks, or on product … Continue reading Emotion analysis for real time interactions

Three things you need to know, if you are using Twitter to study consumer emotions

With 313m monthly active users around the world, of which 82% access Twitter via their mobile handsets, Twitter is likely to be a great source of insight into what customers are doing, paying attention to, or talking about. As Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola’s head of creative content for Asia-Pacific, said, it is like a big focus … Continue reading Three things you need to know, if you are using Twitter to study consumer emotions

On irony and sentiment analysis: Samsung Galaxy is A-OK

Samsung is living a marketing nightmare with its Galaxy Note 7 phone. After several reports of the phone overheating and catching fire, the company had to issue a global recall. And, as if that was not enough, the phone’s replacements have reportedly been catching fire, too. So much so, that the company has, now, stopped … Continue reading On irony and sentiment analysis: Samsung Galaxy is A-OK

Using emojis in marketing can backfire

According to a study conducted by Professor Vyv Evans for Talk Talk, 80% of UK people use emojis to communicate, with 40% saying that they had sent messages using only the famous icons. Emoji, the study claims, is the ‘fastest growing new language’. Unsurprisingly, some brands have embraced the emoji trend, and started using … Continue reading Using emojis in marketing can backfire

Consumers are talking about you, but what do they really mean?

Dr. Robin Croft, a fellow academic and much valued commentator here on the blog, drew my attention to an ethnographic study that he carried out with two other colleagues [1], on how different genders talk about products, services and brands. Croft and his colleagues observed informal conversations between various groups of people. Each group had … Continue reading Consumers are talking about you, but what do they really mean?

Three steps to spot brewing social media crises

User generated content (UGC), like tweets, blogs or videos, which criticise brands, can spread widely and quickly. If marketing managers leave these conversations unattended, they can go viral, and threaten the brands; whereas handling the negative UGC will reassure other customers (including potential ones) that the company listens, cares and is in control. So, brands … Continue reading Three steps to spot brewing social media crises

Handling social media crises

When problems happen and customers take to social media to vent their frustration, it may lead to a social media crisis like the one faced by United or Comcast. So, it is important to detect problems quickly, and act effectively. I recently published a paper, co-authored with Finola Kerrigan, Dirk vom Lehn, Cagri Yalkin, Marc Braun … Continue reading Handling social media crises

October 2015 round up

October was busy. Very busy. This included a lot of firefighting, which I tend to find very draining. My #5pm pictures show that I spent a lot of time at my desk. But, unfortunately, only a minority of that time was spent on writing or, for that matter, on anything remotely related to research. Instead, my month … Continue reading October 2015 round up