THE "GO TO" PLACE FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN SPECIALTY FOOD MARKETING.
Is Excellent Customer Service Part of Your Marketing Mojo?
I have a rule that I can only watch Oprah if I work out at the same time.
So I was watching the show & lifting weights early last month when she promoted the free KFC grilled chicken meal.
That’s when I–and the rest of the planet–flooded the coupon download site and shut it down for hours. Too many people trying to print out coupons at the same time.
That was just the beginning. The free meal offer proved so popular that franchises were running out of grilled chicken for paying customers.
When I showed up at my local Kentucky Fried Chicken–there was a sign on the door saying there was grilled chicken for paying patrons only. I had to turn the coupon in for a raincheck.
I signed a form so that KFC could offer future compensation–most likely another free offer.
Still waiting to see how this turns out.
You’re probably wondering what the devil does KFC have to do with specialty food selling.
Specialty food or fast food…your marketing can only do so much for you.
If KFC doesn’t follow through on their promise of free grilled chicken, I’m going to think 2 things:
a) They are too disorganized and careless to fix a marketing ploy that was TOO successful.
b) They don’t honor their commitment.
Granted…I’m not really their market. I eat KFC maybe once a year.
But I wonder how failure to follow up will land on their regular customers?
I don’t know the answer to that…but I wouldn’t want to risk that relationship with my customer base.
We should all be so lucky to run a marketing campaign that exceeds our wildest expectations.
However, I’m not here to discuss foresight & preparation–my interest is from the marketing standpoint.
In my opinion, how KFC–or any food company–handles its customer service can enhance or undermine its marketing efforts.
Have you had a customer service issue come up as a result of very good marketing? How did you resolve it?
I’d be interested to read about your experience.
Suzanne Ryan
The Gourmet Copywriter
So I was watching the show & lifting weights early last month when she promoted the free KFC grilled chicken meal.
That’s when I–and the rest of the planet–flooded the coupon download site and shut it down for hours. Too many people trying to print out coupons at the same time.
That was just the beginning. The free meal offer proved so popular that franchises were running out of grilled chicken for paying customers.
When I showed up at my local Kentucky Fried Chicken–there was a sign on the door saying there was grilled chicken for paying patrons only. I had to turn the coupon in for a raincheck.
I signed a form so that KFC could offer future compensation–most likely another free offer.
Still waiting to see how this turns out.
You’re probably wondering what the devil does KFC have to do with specialty food selling.
Specialty food or fast food…your marketing can only do so much for you.
If KFC doesn’t follow through on their promise of free grilled chicken, I’m going to think 2 things:
a) They are too disorganized and careless to fix a marketing ploy that was TOO successful.
b) They don’t honor their commitment.
Granted…I’m not really their market. I eat KFC maybe once a year.
But I wonder how failure to follow up will land on their regular customers?
I don’t know the answer to that…but I wouldn’t want to risk that relationship with my customer base.
We should all be so lucky to run a marketing campaign that exceeds our wildest expectations.
However, I’m not here to discuss foresight & preparation–my interest is from the marketing standpoint.
In my opinion, how KFC–or any food company–handles its customer service can enhance or undermine its marketing efforts.
Have you had a customer service issue come up as a result of very good marketing? How did you resolve it?
I’d be interested to read about your experience.
Suzanne Ryan
The Gourmet Copywriter
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