Tropicana is abandoning its new-look packaging after receiving criticism from consumers on Twitter and other social media channels.
But do flash mobs constitute legitimate research?
Public relations pros quoted in The New York Times sing the praises of these new tools.
“You used to wait to go to the water cooler or a cocktail party to talk over something,” said Richard Laermer, chief executive at RLM Public Relations in New York. “Now, every minute is a cocktail party,” he added. “You write an e-mail and in an hour, you’ve got a fan base agreeing with you.”
And here’s Peter Shankman: “Twitter is the ultimate focus group. I can post something and in a minute get feedback from 700 people around the world, giving me their real opinions.”
Yes, the opinions are real. And somewhere in there you can find real insights. But the twitterverse is just a big SLOP sample – a self-selected opinion poll. The postings of the Twitterati don’t represent anyone – not even Twitter users overall.
Somewhere inside Tropicana, someone is listening to all these mini-rants. And that’s good. And that person should then consider the next step in an inquiry, which is to find out if these opinions are representative of some larger group that Tropicana cares about. There are lots of traditional tools with which to do that – from focus groups to large-sample surveys based upon an EPSEM sample (if you’re not a researcher, that’s an equal probability of selection method sample, which allows you to estimate error from the sample relative to the unknowable population parameter.)
There are lots of self-appointed “social media experts” out there who are just hammer-pounders. What’s that? You know the old saying, “give a kid a hammer, and everything looks like a nail.” These “experts” may or may not have real training or experience in marketing, public relations or research, and they view every problem as being solvable by the tool du jour, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. They offer one-note solutions to complex problems.
Social media are a new part of the communication landscape, and they have transformed it. There are new rules of behavior, new opportunities, new cowpies to step in. Every business should learn about social media and take it seriously.
But I wouldn’t make a knee-jerk reaction based upon what a few cranks said on Twitter.
Yes, they may be customers, but they’re not representative of all your customers. Listen, yes. But don’t let them bully you into making poor decisions. That’s a poor use of social media.
