Militant consumers
Militant Consumers as a subject has not been studied separately as yet. Various references and examples are found relating to this topic. Militant consumers are dissatisfied consumers who use different medias to register protest against the brands. This concept has been referred to by different names by different researchers like, consumer resistance, consumer militancy, consumer activism, anti brand campaigns, social media disasters etc.
We have seen, social networks are distinctive in that the users create and spread the content – their voice can be heard by millions immediately. The internet has shifted power to customers by redressing the imbalance of information between them and suppliers, as well as giving them the means to voice their dissatisfaction when they receive poor quality goods. Now, consumers are no longer passive recipients of company information and advertising messages, but actively participate in the brand development process. But also, consumers now have got an “prove it to me” attitude and thus they act as a jury and brand marketer have to put up their brand case in front of this jury and prove their brand argument. Consumers are able to clearly broadcast their messages and organize with other like-minded consumers, and to start using anti-brand websites as weapons of empowerment to battle the corporate world by strongly expressing their opinions on the forums like Youtube, flickr, Secondlife.com, Smallworlds, IMVU etc.
Everyone is familiar with the famous United Break Guitar Campaign. Musician Dave Carroll said his guitar was broken while in the airline's custody. He alleged that he and fellow passengers on board a flight plane saw baggage-handling crew throwing guitars. David Carroll and his band recorded and posted a video of a song "United Breaks Guitars" which explained how United Airlines approached the whole incident. The YouTube video was posted on July 6. It amassed 150,000 views within one day, and almost 9 million by July 2010. The Times newspaper reported that within 4 days of the video being posted online, United Airline's stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million in value.
Also the Domino’s Youtube nightmare. Domino’s Pizza Chain discovered two employees in the US filmed "prank" videos of themselves stuffing cheese up their noses and then putting it into sandwiches. The video went popular on YouTube (over 1 million views), and Twitter lit up with disgusted customer complaints. Domino’s apologized and put its own President on YouTube, and started a Twitter response site. Still in just a few days, Domino’s reputation was damaged.
Consumer at times also goes in favour of the brand and elevates it in social media. A customer bought a Nintendo Wii on launch day. He discovered some problems 3 months later. He got a great customer experience, so he publicized this on the web and it’s a top result for “Wii customer service” Google Search (out of 10 million!) this can be considered as a positive side of the militant consumers. It remains in the hands of the brands how to explore this positive side and keep away from the negative. To keep them as threats or take them as an opportunity and make these militant consumers as their own brand advocates.
We have seen, social networks are distinctive in that the users create and spread the content – their voice can be heard by millions immediately. The internet has shifted power to customers by redressing the imbalance of information between them and suppliers, as well as giving them the means to voice their dissatisfaction when they receive poor quality goods. Now, consumers are no longer passive recipients of company information and advertising messages, but actively participate in the brand development process. But also, consumers now have got an “prove it to me” attitude and thus they act as a jury and brand marketer have to put up their brand case in front of this jury and prove their brand argument. Consumers are able to clearly broadcast their messages and organize with other like-minded consumers, and to start using anti-brand websites as weapons of empowerment to battle the corporate world by strongly expressing their opinions on the forums like Youtube, flickr, Secondlife.com, Smallworlds, IMVU etc.
Everyone is familiar with the famous United Break Guitar Campaign. Musician Dave Carroll said his guitar was broken while in the airline's custody. He alleged that he and fellow passengers on board a flight plane saw baggage-handling crew throwing guitars. David Carroll and his band recorded and posted a video of a song "United Breaks Guitars" which explained how United Airlines approached the whole incident. The YouTube video was posted on July 6. It amassed 150,000 views within one day, and almost 9 million by July 2010. The Times newspaper reported that within 4 days of the video being posted online, United Airline's stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million in value.
Also the Domino’s Youtube nightmare. Domino’s Pizza Chain discovered two employees in the US filmed "prank" videos of themselves stuffing cheese up their noses and then putting it into sandwiches. The video went popular on YouTube (over 1 million views), and Twitter lit up with disgusted customer complaints. Domino’s apologized and put its own President on YouTube, and started a Twitter response site. Still in just a few days, Domino’s reputation was damaged.
Consumer at times also goes in favour of the brand and elevates it in social media. A customer bought a Nintendo Wii on launch day. He discovered some problems 3 months later. He got a great customer experience, so he publicized this on the web and it’s a top result for “Wii customer service” Google Search (out of 10 million!) this can be considered as a positive side of the militant consumers. It remains in the hands of the brands how to explore this positive side and keep away from the negative. To keep them as threats or take them as an opportunity and make these militant consumers as their own brand advocates.
Some more examplesDominos Youtube Nightmare
Nestle Pantene Facebook Dell Hell Starbucked.com Killercoke AOL - Cancel my account Taco Bell’s Rats Louis Vuitton: Anti-Genocide |
FeaturesUnsatisfied, upset customers
Techno savvy consumers Fearless Long-term effective Demands immediate action Spreads like a wild fire Can lead to loss of trust Competitors may take advantage |
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