Can a mattress be social? Tempur-Pedic becomes buddies with Facebook and Twitter

This is one of the first commercials I have seen in a while that directly linked Social Media with a product. Mattress Company Tempur-Pedic (the squishy mattress with the handprint) has a new “ask me” television campaign to drive potential consumers to Facebook and Twitter sites to get a first hand look at what “actual Temper-Pedic owners” are saying about the mattresses. Tying in social media directly with an ad has been done before yes, but this one caught my attention as it so closely ties in social media directly with the product’s TV ads.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I just had to check out what people are saying. Currently Temper-pedic has 3,396 fans on Facebook.   Tempur-Pedic’s Twitter presence is fan based only, I could not find a page dedicated to the company through a keyword search.   One of the first Google hits on Tempur-Pedic and Twitter came up with a comment by consumer Gretchen Rubin, who claimed that the company’s pillows had a horrible smell.   I guess that proves the posts are real, but if I was the CEO of Tempur-Pedic, it’s probably not the first impression I would want of the company.

Back to Facebook , the replies I read were positive, save one from Nicole Brown on Christmas Eve.   Ms Brown is a current customer and made a comment that she is looking for sheets that better fit her mattress. Tempur-pedic was on its game, and sent a reply with a recommendation for something that may help her in less than 24 hours. The Tempur-Pedic reply was on Christmas Day no less! That’s exceptional customer service!

Based on replies on what customer’s are saying, I wouldn’t mind giving Tempur-Pedic a try.  However, like fine jewelry and luxury automobiles, you get what you pay for. On December 22nd, fan Betsi Lynch called her Tempur-Pedic the “best $7,918 she’s ever spent.” Now that’s some pricey sleep!  

Costs aside, there are lots of consumers that desperately need a comfortable mattress due to back problems or other physical limitations, and I’ll bet this sort of product that would be perfect for them.   Kudos to Tempur-Pedic for taking a brave step into social media to keep the dialong between clients and potential clients going.  

You can check out the Tempur-Pedic ad here:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?comments&v=1204137496205

Social Networking: A new take on family dinner

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Most of us are fortunate to have been given the gift of a pre-determined social network with our families. In today’s mobile society, families tend to be scattered across the country and beyond. In these instances, a close relationship is challenging by early methods of phone call, letter or even email.

Sitting at the dinner table and listening to conversation gave a great perspective on how generations from teens to adults become more engaged with each other through social media. Tools such as Facebook and Twitter can bring individuals together by further creating an emotional bond between family members. How else would Aunt Francis know about niece Sarah’s adventures, experiences and stories at college, 4 hours away?

The beauty of social networking is that it can also bring the same closeness to consumers to brands as it has to family members. Effective branding helps create an emotional clarity about the product, service or company. Companies such as Ford, Coca-Cola and Southwest Airlines have built active social networking sites which allow a channel of direct communication to thousands daily. By doing so, these organizations have successfully accomplished three very critical items: brand familiarity, customer engagement and ultimately, brand loyalty.

Social networking tools allows marketers to develop innovative ways to make target consumers feel like they belong, making the possibility to form a tightly-knit community that bonds a group around an issue or product.

With an effective campaign, we can use social media to create a large Thanksgiving dinner table with outreach to thousands. The pumpkin pie is optional.

Oops….the problems with paid searches

Google proudly distinguishes itself as a company that does not participate as “a pay to play” search engine. If a link appears in a query for a Google keyword search, it’s because Google thought it was a relevant result for the end user’s needs. Yes, the company permits advertising on its site, but ads must be relevant to the current search (more on that below), nuisance pop-ups or fly-ins are not allowed, paid links are clearly identified, and a maximum of three links can appear before unpaid results. Placement samples are shown below:

Advertisers select the queries that paid links should match, and Google then decides placement by an auction. In turn, auction results determine the charge for the ad’s click-through rate If the click-through rate of an ad falls under a certain level, Google pulls the ad.

Sounds fool proof, right?

Wrong.

Even on Google’s blissfully end-user friendly search engine, snafus can result. A few years ago, a search about a horrific murder in which the victim was found in a suitcase yielded Google adword results for a suitcase company. Let’s pray that a copycat criminal wasn’t shopping online that day!

Google has since fixed its technical algorithms so that another similar unfortunate mix of search terms will not occur. But what this example tells us is technology’s failure to react to behavior or intent of the consumers.

Never fear, as this year Google announced a new beta search product that will match an ad with the context of the end user’s current search, in addition to the option for results to factor in the user’s online history not directly related to the current search. Although Google has an in-depth privacy policy, this type of behind the scenes advertising has privacy watchdog groups nervous.

So now it seems Big Brother Google is watching us. Let’s hope he doesn’t have a suitcase.