One of the things I kept getting told about being on a blog, using twitters, Facebook and so on is that it is about listening. It’s not just about me talking about whisky one-way. It’s about the chat. And that’s good because, whisky at heart is about being sociable. But we upset a few of you recently…
Just as people said they liked non-chill-filtered whisky – and we brought one out – people got in touch to tell us that they felt our recent Facebook competition offering free stays at the Jura Lodge to promote The Diurachs was a bit heavy handed in the spirit of social media.
People had no problems with signing up for the Facebook site, the official site or the Twitter account, but they didn’t like the idea of sending invites out to all their friends with the hope of getting 50 friends signed up. We thought it was spreading the word of a great whisky, some good fortune and a great place to stay (the Lodge costs £300 a night). We were over-excited.
You didn’t agree.
Some of you thought it was like getting your to spam your friends (which isn’t very sociable or good fortune at all) while others felt it was harsh as there was no way to guarantee your friends would sign up.
So we’ve changed it. By way of apology, we’ve made it simple. Sign up for the three sites and tell us what you like about Jura Whisky on the Facebook page.
And that’s it. Do that and we’ll enter you into the draw for the holiday stays.
I’m sure most of you will agree that we’ve tried to do well with whisky fans online in 2009 – with the blog and other areas, the giveaways here, on Facebook and Twitter, the blogger meet-ups in Glasgow and at events across the world, the Whyte and Mackay Safari Hunt in Glasgow and London – so we really didn’t set out to annoy anyone.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see if Richard is in the top 100 Scottish names of 2009… think we should start that as a campaign for 2010?
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Tags: facebook, social media, sorry, Twitter
Great blog post… many other brands should take a leaf out your book in terms of revisiting their social media campaigns to make them more engaging. Top read…
Thanks Andy. It’s been baby steps this year but we’ve got some exciting plans for 2010. We know we won’t please everyone but this seemed like a time when change was necessary.
What a great way to put the train back on the tracks. Congrats on your post and the sentiment that brings it about. Happy to see this.
This is an amazing example of using social media to listen, respond and fix. This may very well end up in a PR how-to guide one day. Well done.
Good listening! Good adjustment! Your baby steps this year have been excellent!
An admirable post – by clearly someone that listens. I commend you on your honesty and approach. As a keen whisky drinker, I have drunk it but never purchased – you’ve made me want to.
Merry Christmas
Many thanks Chris. We’ve had our worries over going onto social media so much this year – trying to do some blogs, Facebook pages (for me, Jura Whisky (AKA The Diurachs) and Jura’s Willie Tait, Twitter accounts (three at the last look) and Podcasts and YouTube video – and we know we can’t please everyone all of the time. What we have learned though is that being honest and open with people – in talking about whisky or what we are doing elsewhere – seems to be a good thing.
That doesn’t mean sorry is an easy word to say though!
Have a good Christmas and a great New Year.
Brandi, we’ve learned that this is about listening to the customers (both current Whyte and Mackay fans and potential ones) and while we can’t make a whisky for every single person, we can work with people to ask them what they want from us. If we can do it, we will. If we can make it easier to like our whisky, you bet we’ll do it!
And I hope all you guys posting here are entering for a chance to stay at the lodge!
Thanks Kimba, we’re doing what we can. The kind words are appreciated.
Have a great Christmas and a top New Year. SLAINTE!
Thanks Colin. Let me know what you buy and what you think of it. The 22 year old is a particular favourite for many, though the 30 year old was recently dubbed The Best in the World by its peers. Let me know how you get on and have a great festive period.
And next time we have a blogger/twitter tasting session at my whisky suite make sure you get along.
This is a great post and I am very happy that you were able to honestly say “We’re sorry” It is not often that a company has the stones to do such a thing. Thanks for the post and for the good vibes that it will bring in the community.
Thanks Jeff! It seems to have done nothing for the members of the Facebook group or the number of entries to the Lodge competition though, so perhaps it hasn’t gone down that well!
[...] recent Ikea event confirmed this for me that it was on the rise. It also happened for a Scottish whisky. We’re now in an era where an apology at the start of a campaign can be planned or [...]
Personally I admire your approach to the situation and I think you’ve handled the PR aspect absolutely perfect because you listen and respond in real time and show the consumer you care.
However, you mention in the previous comment that the number of your Facebook members has not increased as you hoped for. Personally I think it is the effort the consumer has to do because they have to sign up three places – not many people are both on facebook and twitter. Personally I am not on twitter for two reasons 1) i don’t have a smartphone so i don’t feel i can fully embrace the power of twitter 2) i feel my choice of social networks encompasses me for the needs i have for social networks. Even if I were on Twitter, I would feel i should join all the groups, not because i wanted to but because i had to, which i think is in contradiction to the pleasurable values social media represents.
In retrospect I think you might have enjoyed a greater success if only people had to join one site of choice and make the statement of what they like about Jura whiskey there. If it was on Twitter the consumer had to embrace the power of 140 and be very concise – but i reckon people that are already on Twitter already embraces that paradigm.
Also I think this competition is more targeted existing customers as the incentive is to talk about something that has already happened so for people that have never heard of Jura Whisky (or Whyte & Mackay for that matter) this might be too big of an effort just to be in the draw of a price worth £300 as the chances of winning the price is likely to be fairly low. When this is said i think the price to be won is really good and loyal and existing customers are after all more profitable in the long run.
Hope you have a great 2010!
Johan, thanks for the reply (and a great 2010 to you as well). There was nothing to stop people who hadn’t tried Jura trying it – either by buying a bottle or trying a dram in a bar – and writing about it.
The social media guys here have looked at what worked here and what didn’t and while the main focus for the future will be on the Jura Facebook page but we’ll be spreading the offers for 2010 – Jura’s 200th anniversary – around, so that those who just follow on Twitter, or through the forum on the Jura site, there’s something for them.
Hope to see you here again!