Jen Quinlan

This evening, I was fascinated by what I’ll sum up as lost opportunity by an Illinois-headquartered costume rental company, Dallas and Company. They’re what I’d classify as a small business with a big personality that is testing the social space as an engagement and customer service channel.

Check out conversation below between one of their fans and employee that manages social. Talk about lost opportunity! A friendly advocate of your brand contacts you to determine if they can buy merchandise from you to accompany one of the biggest moments of their entire life - proposing to their wife to be?!?! On a scale of 1-10, this is a ‘10’ lost opportunity in the social space.

Imagine if Dallas and Company responded differently. Here are three scenarios to play out:

1. Even though D&C doesn’t apparently carry customizable balloons, what if they wrote back to celebrate their constituent’s exciting moment he is planning and provide a recommended time, number, and team member to speak to to help plan out the big moment and place a custom order / provide other options that might help him craft a big moment.
   
   Insight: a costume store doesn’t sell garments, they help their audience create moments / memories.
   
   
2. Build off of scenario 1 above, but extend it. How about instead of making the customer pay for this order, D&C decides to turn him into a passionate brand evangelist. D&C, for free, works with Bryton to create a bigger than life moment with an over-sized, customized balloon at no cost filled with helium. On top of that, they arrange for a local photographer to video tape the whole thing. What if they even throw in a bottle of champagne hidden off camera with a private waiter to serve the happy couple moments after *fingers crossed* she says “I do”.
   
   Insight: D&C now has a passionate evangelist that will shop from D&C for life. I’d also put high probability on Bryton posting content (video D&C will shoot for him of the moment) to his own FB page (he has 140 friends on FB that let’s assume each have 100 friends each = 14,000 potential reach) and other social network channels. On top of that, D&C now has a gem of content they can post to their FB page and possibly even drive a local broadcast media opportunity “man proposes to girlfriend of 2 years with help of local costume shop”. 
   
   
3. One other angle, take scenario #2 above - but add some creative juice. What if D&C planned an in-store experience that was wild. Get Bryton to invite all of his bride-to-be’s family and friends to the store. Have them dress up in costume and hide. Have a secret camera that tapes the bride in the store browsing, trying to figure out why her fiance took her there. He proposes, she realizes - “oh my gosh, that isn’t a fake gorilla - that is my in-law!”… viral video content GEM!
   
   Insight: Think of yourself and your audience as publishers of content. Create experiences to enable this.

In summary, providing a powerful customer service and brand experience to create a brand evangelist (especially when relating to one of the most intimate moments in a person’s life - proposal) as a marketer can reap far greater return than any slapstick radio spot, dry print ad, or unoptimized paid search placement. Listen carefully to what your fans are saying and strategically assess opportunities to invest in when it makes sense for your business / potential return aligns with your core business.

Note: I’m a meddler - I couldn’t help but nudge Dallas and Company to help them realize the marketing opportunity at hand, and “pay it forward” for my new friend Bryton of Champaign, IL (see my last comment in social conversation chain below on Facebook). Will keep you posted if D&C changes their stance - then maybe I’ll be the “Small and medium business customer service whisperer” of the social space. Good luck, Bryton!