Customer Engagement using Twitter -Wendys way

I started following the Wendy's burger handle when I came across some nice promotional activities by the brand. And it was a very hilarious to scroll down the timeline of Wendy's . The fast food segment in USA is very competitive and their ad campaigns and customer interaction is very intuitive  and heart warming.

Prosumption can be defined as “value creation activities undertaken by the consumer that result in the production of products they eventually consume and that become their consumption experiences” (Xie et al., 2008, p. 110). 

Brands are becoming more intuitive and encourage customers to interact with their official pages in social media. This leads to consumers and brands creating more content which the brands use to induce more interactions and in the long run loyal customer. 

There is this person who tweeted to Wendy's saying that they celebrate their anniversary at any outlet of the Wendy's chain.  Soon enough the official twitter handle sent out a tweet saying, the company would love to send an anniversary gift. 

This is another instance of a customer cosplaying as the Wendy's girl and tweeting out tagging the official handle for a free frostie  and the company responded and it got a great number of buzz over the interaction. The brand exposure was over 40k interactions.

The company also made itself relevant to the current generation by linking up their brand with popular culture , like  Anime, American football,etc.. 

It even went on to launch its own RPG (Role Playing Game) based on its fresh ingredients. So it was able to reach out to multiple segment of audience. The health conscious consumers and also the nerds who play RPG's. 

So if one company does this wont other companies be far behind, Popeyes Chicken and Burger King constantly challenge Wendy's in twitter and the interactions tends to be hilarious, but this one instance the interactions got too cute and three brands interacted, first Popeyes Chicken tried to troll Wendy's and Wendy's trolled back, so Aviation Gin made a comment and Wendy's interacted saying the girl loves Ryan Reynolds the owner of Aviation Gin brand. This interaction caused too much buzz over the brands and built even more customer engagement.  

In an article (Using Twitter to engage with customers: a data mining approach) the authors say social networks serve as ideal platforms where consumers participate in prosumption – collaborative recommendations and development for specific products, services, and brands through eWOM (electronic Word Of Mouth) 

So we can come to a conclusion that Brands that interact more create more eWOM and value both for brands and consumers.

Amazon - Audible - App Review

I came across the Amazon Audible app, when I was searching for some E-book reader apps, so the first time I saw the ad for the app I wanted to try it but left without finishing the installation. So when I saw that we can download one audio book per month for free even in the trial period I immediately jumped at the chance. So how did it go.

The Installation:

You can either click on any banner ads or go the application store and search for the audible app.
Install Audible

•  While installing the app will ask for Credit Card or eligible Debit Card detail for billing
• The first 30 days it is free , afterwards it will bill you 199 Rupees per month.
• While using debit card, you might be billed for 2 rupees for checking the account info.(Refunded within 48 hours)
•  Once you have logged in, you get one credit which can be used to purchase any book of any price
•  After one month if you are not satisfied you can unsubscribe from the service, and also keep any book you have downloaded.

The Layout of the Application

The layout is pretty much straightforward , if you have used the kindle app you will find the audible app familiar.

The three stripes at the top left hand will open up the main tabs as shown in the figure
The home screen will show the last listened book at the top and recommendations at the bottom.
The Library contains all the book you have bought
The news tab gives a link of social media presence of the app
The stats tab has interesting divisions, it has a ranking system, a collection of badges, listening time and the titles in the account.
The Store page  has different filters and also the account details (The page where you can change billing cards and cancel your account)

The Performance of the application:

The App is designed for people who love to read and listen to books

The layout is very simple and clutter free
Once  you open an audio book, it is very intuitive, you have the Play/Pause, Forward, Rewind, buttons.
In addition you have the option of checking the chapters and adding book marks, if you want you can also increase the narration speed. (Which I would recommend you not to)
If you are listening to the book together with friends there is even the option of sharing your progress.
The best feature is the automatic car mode, which turns on when it is connected to car via Bluetooth..

The Verdict:

It is a must have app if you are a book worm, also try it once to feel the effect of stories being narrated to you by great narrators. I got the sherlock holmes collection narrated by Stephen Fry.
It is a very good experience so do try using the app, as you get to keep the book you download during the trial period. Install Audible

Try Audible