The Next Big Thing Is Doing PR Right
Posted At: November 4, 2013 2:15 p.m.
by Kyle Borland
Last semester I had to sign up for Klout, the social media influence rater, for my social media class. I remember thinking how this would never benefit me, but I did it to get that A. Fast forward several months later, and I’m singing a different tune.
Last week, I received an email from Klout saying that I had received a Perk because of my score (66). Normally these Perks aren’t amazing, but it’s still free stuff so I always click on the email — I’m still a college student at the end of the day. On the other side of that URL was a giant image of a Samsung Galaxy tablet and a button for me to claim my prize.
When I clicked the “Claim Your Perk” button, I fully expected a virus to take over my computer or a message to pop out saying my identity had now been stolen. Instead I got a confirmation email from Samsung and Klout giving me the address of an event being held on my campus the following Monday and that I needed to attend to pick up my tablet.
When Monday rolled around, the event had been cancelled by the university, and I thought my chances of getting a free tablet had ended. That was until I received a personalized email from Samsung saying that they still wanted me to have the Galaxy Experience and asked for my shipping address. The next day there was a package from Samsung waiting for me when I got home that night — tablet and all.
I was so enamored with Samsung because of its fast response that it wasn’t until my roommate looked at me and said, “Wow. That’s some good PR,” that I realized just how right he was. In PR, we are taught to always focus on our publics and that building relationships is the heart of what we do. With a focus on its customers, Samsung is building relationships with people who wouldn’t otherwise buy its products.
I’ve always been an Apple boy. I have an iPhone and an iPad 2. I closely follow the battle raging between Apple, Samsung and Google — I even get alerts to my phone. On the tablet and phone side of things, Apple has always had a significant lead but now Samsung has my loyalty.
Apple has amazing products but when a company shows it is loyal to you — that it cares about you and your personal experience — it’s hard to say no to something like that.
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First of all, thanks to your blog post; I just signed up Klout so that maybe I will get a new Samsung tablet too. After reading your post, I am very impressed by Samsung’s loyalty. I always thought Apple had one of the best PR teams. But I rarely ever see them send personal emails. I always have problems with my Macbook. When I email Apple about it, they take hours or days to get back to me. I do wish that you would have talked about the PR aspect more in the post. I felt like the majority of the time you were talking about background information rather than talking about the importance of PR using good customer service. Overall, it was a good post that caught my attention.
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Kyle,
PermalinkThis was definitely an interesting article to read. All those assumptions you had about Samsung are exactly what I would have been thinking too. I am extremely impressed with Samsung’s loyalty to its customers after reading this. In my opinion, loyalty to the client and customer is one of the most important aspects of PR. Like you, I own many Apple products. But dealing with Apple hasn’t been a walk in the park. I have had countless glitches with my iPhone 5s, and Apple’s customer services haven’t been very helpful. Every time I call them for help with my phone, it is extremely difficult to reach a human being. Once I do reach a person, they are short and treat my problem as unimportant. One time, they were supposed to call me back and never did. Though Apple’s marketing is impeccable, its PR needs work. Had Apple shown me the respect and loyalty that Samsung portrayed to you, I would go out of my way to recommend its products.