In a recent #MMchat session, I referred to McDonald’s as a social media best practice and said they should give me some free fries for the reference. In a tribute to the way McDonald’s is “tuned in” to its audience, Rick Wion, the company’s director of social media, responded to one of my tweets and said that he would indeed buy me some fries.
What resulted was even better … a lengthy discussion and a short video interview when I got to meet him live at SXSW. Talk about the business benefits of Twitter!
How does a global icon like McDonald’s — one of the world’s most important brands — engage with millions of customers? Well here’s the answer in this video. I think you’re going to love this interview. We touch on some very significant topics about the research that went into their effort, humanizing a brand, staffing up for an initiative like this, and where it will lead.
Would love to hear your comments about this. We may even be able to get Rick to answer a few questions.
Mark Schaefer
Here’s a link to the #MMchat with @MarkWSchaefer The True Business Benefits of Twitter
And a link to all of Rick Wion’s posts here @TheSocialCMO
I really enjoyed your article and shared it with some of the other leaders I work with. It’s helpful to see big brands scaling up to take advantage of the benefits of listening (not just talking).
It’s funny, but I wrote this leadership blog post below about an experience I had with
McDonald’s and no one commented. That’s surprising given how many times it was retweeted and shared on Facebook.
http://8pmwarrior.com/2011/03/dont-be-cheap-offer-value-a-lesson-from-mcdonalds/
Keep up the great stuff Mark!
Aaron@Biebert