I came across this the other day on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.  It struck me and obviously made me pause.  I’ve seen other brands integrate calls to action for social into their in-store signage and point of sale collateral.  But, I’ve yet to see anything this large and in your face.

I love the direction that Express is taking, but I think they made a minor mistake.  Does the average customer know what a CMO is or who the CMO is?  I don’t think so.  But, people know what a president, vice president, stylist or designer are.

When you consider they’re in the fashion business, I thin they’ve missed an opportunity.  What do you think?

If you’re a normal person, you spent the weekend with your family, friends, relaxing, enjoying some well needed rest and relaxation, and tuning into the Winter Olympics. But, if you were like me, your eyes were transfixed on twitter instead of the TV. This weekend we watched a very angry Kevin Smith (yes, that Kevin Smith) vent his frustration at Southwest Airlines.

Let me give you the high-level version of the story:

1. Kevin Smith is booked on a Southwest flight; he purchased two tickets…which equals two seats
2. He changes the flight
3. He flys standby…in flying standby he only has one seat, no longer two
4. He’s a large man and does not fit into one seat; thus violating Southwest’s pre-existing policy
5. Southwest kicks him off the plane, offers him a $100.00 voucher, and rebooks him on a later flight
6. Kevin Smith launches an explicative filled tirade against Southwest on twitter

Southwest is known for great customer service. I, like many people, watched with fascination as Southwest tried to deal with the situation. Would they buckle under the weight (no pun intended) of Kevin Smith’s followers and clout?

Well, they handled the situation with calm, grace, honesty and most importantly EQUALITY. They offered up several tweets, phone calls and finally a blog post.  The Southwest blog has been inundated with traffic, which has ground their site to a screeching halt. With that in mind, here’s the full text of their blog post response to the situation.

NOT SO SILENT BOB

Many of you reached out to us via Twitter last night and today regarding a situation a Customer Twittered about that occurred on a Southwest flight. It is not our customary method of Customer Relations to be so public in how we work through these situations, but with so many people involved in the occurrence, you also should be involved in the solution. First and foremost, to Mr. Smith; we would like to echo our Tweets and again offer our heartfelt apologies to you. We are sincerely sorry for your travel experience on Southwest Airlines.

As soon as we saw the first Tweet from Mr. Smith, we contacted him personally to apologize for his experience and to address his concerns on both Twitter and with a personal phone call. Since the situation has received a lot of public attention, we’d like to take the opportunity to address a few of the specifics here as well.

Mr. Smith originally purchased two Southwest seats on a flight from Oakland to Burbank – as he’s been known to do when traveling on Southwest. He decided to change his plans and board an earlier flight to Burbank, which technically means flying standby. As you may know, airlines are not able to clear standby passengers until all Customers are boarded. When the time came to board Mr. Smith, we had only a single seat available for him to occupy. Our pilots are responsible for the Safety and comfort of all Customers on the aircraft and therefore, made the determination that Mr. Smith needed more than one seat to complete his flight. Our Employees explained why the decision was made, accommodated Mr. Smith on a later flight, and issued him a $100 Southwest travel voucher for his inconvenience.

You’ve read about these situations before. Southwest instituted our Customer of Size policy more than 25 years ago. The policy requires passengers that can not fit safely and comfortably in one seat to purchase an additional seat while traveling. This policy is not unique to Southwest Airlines and it is not a revenue generator. Most, if not all, carriers have similar policies, but unique to Southwest is the refunding of the second seat purchased (if the flight does not oversell) which is greater than any revenue made (full policy can be found here). The spirit of this policy is based solely on Customer comfort and Safety. As a Company committed to serving our Customers in Safety and comfort, we feel the definitive boundary between seats is the armrest. If a Customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a Customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement.

I love Kevin Smith. I love his movies, except Jersey Girl. Mallrats, specifically, holds a special place in my heart. So, as you’d imagine, part of me was pulling for Kevin Smith. Initially…that is. But, as I watched Kevin Smith act like a petulant child, my allegiance switched. And, then after reading their official blog post response, I was 100% in the Southwest camp.

See, celebrities love to think they are above everyone else. You only need to read TMZ to see the countless number of examples that validate that sentiment. Where as many companies would have simply kissed Kevin Smith’s derriere and treated him with kid gloves, Southwest did something simple, but remarkable. They treated Kevin Smith the same way they’d treat everyone.

Southwest has a simple policy. Kevin Smith was clearly aware of the policy…seeing as he normally buys two seats. Those two simple facts alone make this an open and shut case. If Kevin Smith and every other potential and current Southwest customer wants to avoid this problem in the future they should simply put the donut down.

As someone who flies every single week, I can tell you that it’s simply not fair that I pay for a seat, but only get to use 2/3 of it because the person next to me is taking up 1 1/3 seats. This wasn’t a new policy from Southwest. They weren’t singling Kevin Smith out. What Southwest was doing was being simple, honest and fair. If only every company out there was like Southwest.

I’m out on blogger vacation this week. The keys to TheKmiecs.com have been turned over to a few, select, awesome guest writers. The following has not been edited by me and is the work and effort of the original author. I appreciate the time and thinking that went into this post and hope you will too. Enjoy!

I’ve been thinking a lot about integrated marketing recently. Integrating communication – making PR, marketing, sales, social media and even customer service work hand-in-hand – will enable companies to achieve better results and do more with less.

But I know from my own experiences that this approach to communication is easier said than done. A few quick examples (not intended to be an exhaustive list):

• Sales-driven organizations want their sales reps to leverage LinkedIn – but the sales team doesn’t want to spend the time making connections, answering questions or seeking introductions.
• B2B companies want media clips, but don’t understand how to extend the clip via existing or new marketing channels.
• B2C companies claim to prioritize customer service, yet they aren’t providing such service on the channels used by their consumers.

A while ago, Geoff Livingston wrote a smart white paper entitled The Cultural Challenges to Integration, in which he explained how internal issues hamper company-wide social media adoption. (Side note: It’s very good. You should read it, if you haven’t already.) Unfortunately, the integration problem extends beyond social media. Cultural barriers also prevent the implementation of truly integrated marketing communication strategies as well.

5 Es of Integrated Marketing Success

1. Embrace multiple communication channels. Media clips alone will not drive sales, generate new business leads or strengthen the bottom line. A B2B company certainly benefits from media outreach, but only if it’s accompanied by other marketing initiatives (community relations, relationship marketing, e-newsletter, etc.)
2. Eliminate departmental barriers. It’s not uncommon to see some friendly competition – or all-out friction – develop between the various communication departments. However, if the PR people are supposed to work with the interactive department and the marketing team, these walls need to come down. Managers must foster a creative, “no idea is a bad idea,” team-oriented environment. If communication plans are concocted in silos, integration will suffer … or be non-existent.
3. Educate, educate, educate. Just because we say we want cross-departmental communication doesn’t mean it will happen overnight. People spend years and years developing their areas of expertise. For example, the PR department may suggest an online initiative, but have very little knowledge of how much design and programming time is required. Allocate ample time for internal training focused on integration to help the departments learn to work together and what skill sets each team brings to the table.
4. Examine results from ALL marketing efforts. Current technology makes it so much easier to measure what outreach efforts spark leads. Once-static digital efforts (billboards, roadside banners, direct mail, radio ads) should be interactive – thereby more measurable. (You’d be surprised how many brands aren’t property doing this … still.)  For example, instead of giving a phone number (that few people will remember anyway) on a radio ad, integrate advertising with mobile marketing. Track leads, capture phone numbers and increase convenience by encouraging listeners to send a text message for more information. In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine why any marketing or PR campaign would be developed without strong metrics.
5. Everything is an “experience-creating opportunity.” PR, marketing, advertising and social media are the cornerstones of an integrated communication strategy, but don’t limit yourself to those disciplines. Any interaction with a stakeholder – internal or external – presents an opportunity to create a brand-building experience. How can you make the typical atypical?

The 5 Es are just a beginning to integrated marketing success. What else would you add? Got any success – or horror – stories to share? Let’s start a discussion in the comments.

With nearly 10 years of PR agency experience, Heather Whaling recently launched her own communication firm, Geben Communication. Fusing strategic thinking, strong writing skills and creativity, Heather delivers integrated PR, social media and marketing services to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Connect with her on her blog, Twitter or via email at heather [at] gebencommunication.com.

How many times have you heard so-called “social media experts” preach, “don’t focus on the numbers?” That phrase is generally followed up with “social media is all about engagement and relationship building…just add value, the numbers don’t matter.” I have to admit, even I’ve been guilty to saying things similar to the above. I can understand the spirit of the argument. With social we have the opportunity to connect with people on a true 1 to 1 basis. And, while technology (e.g. twitter) facilitates that interaction it’s ultimately humans that need to make the time and effort to make the connection successful and meaningful.

Focusing on adding value and not the numbers is a nice sentiment. But, it’s a lie. Numbers do matter. The number of followers you have matters. Heck, the number of followers matters more than what you say to those followers. Don’t believe me? Ok, let’s look at a combination of the traditional marketing funnel (awareness, trial, purchase, etc.) and the concept of creating a groundswell. Guess what you need in both situations? You need a mass of people. Yeap. 5 people unfortunately is not a groundswell. But, 5 people who have massive reach can generate a groundswell. This is why companies try so hard to get an endorsement from Oprah. Oprah’s reach is so large and her influence so great that her endorsement can change the course of direction for a brand or product. That’s just a fact.

Again, I can understand the spirit of focusing on adding value. If you help 1 person, that 1 person might recommend you to another person, who you help, who recommends you to another, etc., etc., etc. But, think about that for just a second. The goal of adding value to one person is to get the word of mouth recommendation that ultimately does what? Increases the number of people you can reach. In other words, adding value is a precursor to generating a mass number of connections/followers.

Weather we want to believe it or not, investing in social media takes time, money, and resources. Companies and people need to have a means for evaluating their investment in social against other areas of focus. When the bean counters and CMOs are weighing their options, I can guarantee you an argument of “the numbers don’t matter” won’t hold water and will have you laughed out of the room.

Let’s look at this from another angle; specifically conversions. Now, the term conversion can be loose. It can mean an eMail sign up, a sale, a review, or something else entirely. But, the underlying foundation of “conversion” is getting someone to do something you find desirable. Conversions are measurable. When Dell talks about the $3 million in incremental sales they’ve generated from twitter, they’re talking about conversions. They converted X number of people on twitter to purchase Y amount of goods that translated into $3 million in sales. That’s simple math right? Ok, well guess what, companies look at conversion percentages. There are baselines and benchmarks for the percent of people that will convert. When we think about growing the number of conversions there’s really only two ways to do it.

1. Increase your conversion percentage – if you’re talking to the same number of potential converts, but your success ratio increases, you win.
2. Increase the number of people who might convert – if the conversion percentage holds true, but the number of potential converts increases, you win.

This isn’t a new concept. It’s been around for years. People and companies spend millions on optimizing the funnel. They want the conversion percentage to increase because it drives the bottom line. But, guess what? It’s easier to grow the top of the funnel that it is to optimize the funnel. Hell, in a lot of instances, it’s even cheaper. So, if it’s easier to grow the top of the funnel then don’t the numbers matter? If you have 100,000 twitter followers isn’t your potential influence to drive a conversion greater than someone who has 10 followers? Of course it is, and that’s why the numbers matter.

Let’s stop lying to ourselves. Let’s stop trying to sound preachy and altruistic. Let’s just be honest. In a world that’s driven by the bottom line, numbers matter…even in the real of social media.

You’ll hear people talk about the number of followers they have on twitter or the number “friends” they have on Facebook. As I’ve written before, I’m not in the Collection Business.  No, I’m not looking to just pump up my “stats.” The best thing about social networking is that it can lead to real connections. Michael Leis was the first person that become a real connection. I met him nearly a year ago and I’m grateful for having had a chance to have a real conversation with him.

Recently, I had the chance to meet Judy Abel and Kasey Skala.  Meeting these folks in person was an awesome experience. We met up at a local bar and talked shop for roughly 4 hours. It’s always great to get the perspectives of people from different walks of life. Not only do you get some well needed affirmation when they agree with you but you also get your brain stretched when they bring something to the table that you haven’t considered.  Later on today, I’m going to grab lunch and talk with Keith Privette.  He’s someone I met on twitter and have been trying to meet up with for some time.  Finally the stars aligned and we’re going to make it work.

If you haven’t started making real connections, you’re missing the point of social media. Get out there, organize a tweetup, setup a lunch or grab a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate if you’re me). Because, hiding behind a computer tweeting isn’t very social. But, sharing a beer most definitely is.