I Love Good and Speedy Customer Service
I’m a big fan of the local Vancouver tech Startup scene. So when my friend Paul (@Cismo), and Candie (@socialmediavcr) joined Startup Weekend Vancouver last year and I saw how much they loved it, I made the commitment to join the one that happened on the weekend of August 17th.
Now you’re wondering what all this might have to do with Playboy Energy.
When programmers, designers, and business development people get together for a weekend to create a website or an app, people don’t always get enough sleep. This is where energy drinks come in handy to keep people going throughout the weekend.
I didn’t know if energy drinks were being sponsored at the event, so I reached out over Twitter to Playboy Energy Canada, since they were extremely active on the social media channel and were engaging. I also knew that their main marketing team was located in Vancouver (Startup Weekend Vancouver did have an energy drink sponsor, but it wasn’t revealed on the website).
I`m not going to lie, I also wanted to see how their marketing team would respond to request to sponsor drinks for the event over Twitter and see if they truly were one of the companies that got “it” about social media. I asked them if they would be gracious enough to supply a few cases for me and my friends during Startup Weekend Vancouver.
Playboy Energy was Quick on the Draw
They were really quick on the draw with their response on Twitter. The marketing co-ordinator behind the Twitter account said she would check with the Digital Branding Director.
What impressed me the most about their Twitter marketing was their timely customer service. They responded to my inquiries within a few short hours through DMs (direct messages) and was very open about who I had to contact.
Lee Clow (the man in charge of the infamous “1984″ Apple Superbowl ad) said, “… the technology always comes first. It’s just technology for awhile — -until the day we artists inherit it.” These guys did an amazing job with Twitter and provided great customer service over it. They made customer service an art. Their marketing team was polite through every customer transaction. I felt like I was dealing with a real human being, not just a marketing rep.
Meeting in Person was an Even Better Experience
After a few DMs, and some e-mails, I ended up calling Daryl who was the Digital Branding Director at Playboy Energy Canada and we had a great chat. It turned out that we both were big fans of the tech startup scene. What was more important was that his e-mails were professional, yet approachable.
Daryl invited me to the office to come pick up 2 cases of Sugar Free Playboy Energy. And as he came down the elevator, there he was carrying the 2 cases, the amount I had requested. No fuss, no special requests, just good faith that I would make the best use of the product for the weekend.
We also ended spending a good 20 minutes chatting. He never rushed the conversation, and he took the time to really get to know me and my own interests. Along with taking the time to explain about their brand and what was happening with it. He was transparent about where the brand was going, shared a little bit about their distribution strategy and why they positioned themselves that way, and was genuinely excited about the product.
I believe a good marketing company needs to be a user of the brand or product, or else they’re marketing a bunch of lies.
What Playboy Energy Canada Does Right
They have amazingly fun, engaging, fresh, and sometimes silly social media content. Whether it’s through some wacky news they’re sharing on Twitter or asking interesting questions on Facebook, they make it easy for people to follow and engage with them. If you look at their Facebook page they get comments from people for each post on a regular basis.
If you tweet them, they actually take the time to respond back to you and do it in a fun and light way (Unlike many companies).
I remember when I tweeted them on behalf of a client and told them that we would give them free pizza if they could show us evidence of them running over a gorilla on a road (I think that’s how it started), they ended up searching for a photo of Mario running over a Donkey Kong with a little bit of Photoshop magic. I thought it was funny,and quite engaging. The best part, they were classy enough not to take the free pizza. They just wanted to have fun.
Daryl later told me that the 3 or 4 tweets we had back and forth was able to grab the attention of 100 tweeters. That’s pretty amazing. Especially the photo of Donkey Kong.
Playboy represents a brand that’s about fun, relaxation, and of course beautiful women. And they’re doing a beautiful job with their social media marketing. You know that initial photo up top, that received 310 likes as of this writing. Not to mention they just hit their 50,000 fan mark.
In Conclusion…
You can’t find their product in most stores yet, but they do have a cool e-commerce site that lets you drag pictures into the shopping cart. Who ever thought of that was bloody brilliant. Even Amazon doesn’t allow you to drag photos into the shopping cart.
What they did right:
1) They responded to a customer inquiry within 24 hours
2) They made it as easy as possible for me to get a hold of the right person.
3) They make their social media, fun, engaging, and light hearted, but still staying true to what their brand represents.
4) They hired people that represent the brand well in real life.
5) They hired people that love their product and talk about it with a passion.
From one marketing agency to another, I respect the work that they’ve done and do. I sincerely tip my hat for their campaigns and look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post, just wanted to share what good business practice is all about.
