Shooting babies.

So you've got your products and are ready to sell them. All you need now is someone to buy them.
Right?
Kind of. First you need someone to be aware of your product and then, they can decide whether or not to buy them.

The power of word of mouth is not to be underestimated, in any business, but especially in the fashion industry. And of course in regard to consumers.

I think one of the best ways to build loyalty (and repeat purchases) is to give your customers a forum to voice their opinions about your products and service and then to l i s t e n.

Pampers' website for example, allows customers to post feedback on their products. One of their new nappy ranges is meant to provide dryness for longer while allowing increased freedom of movement for the toddler. More than 10 customers have raised the issue that the new products do not fulfill their function - that the nappies leak and that they suspect that the new range is just a ploy to get them to buy more nappies.

While reading these comments, I felt very sorry for the mothers describing the mishaps they had experienced due to Pampers' faulty new product, but could also tell how unhappy managers at Pampers would be if they read these comments.

It doesn't seem like anyone is reading them, though, as there is 0 reaction on the comments feed from any official Pampers representative.

This is a massive blunder.

It would be almost as bad, if they just removed the comments section, which surely would be the first reaction they would have, if anyone made the effort to read it in the first place.

What the Internet really enables us to do is interact with our customers. It is perhaps the most valuable tool ever invented for businesses. And I don't mean that just in a PR / Marketing capacity.

Imagine if Pampers read these comments, and REACTED.
Imagine if Pampers apologised.
Imagine if Pampers let their customers know that they had heard their complaints and were working on finding a solution.
Imagine if Pampers kept them posted on what they were doing to rectify the situation.
Imagine if Pampers offered those customers new products, their money back or a voucher for free shipping or a discount on their next purchase.
Imagine if Pampers then came up with a better product and let their customers know that this product was borne out of a reaction to their feedback.
Imagine if Pampers made it a collaborative process and gave their customers credit.
Imagine if Pampers became the brand that actively worked with parents.

Now that would be powerful stuff.

Pampers would become the brand REALLY trusted by parents, as they would have shown transparency, accountability, and as importantly, made a transaction that was purely financial (money for nappies) and elevated it to become a social relationship!

That would be brand building on a level that no advertising, celebrity endorsement or money could buy.

Anyway, I digress.
What this blog post is meant to concern, is the Baby Issa photo shoot.
I think I'll just start a new post... Sorry, as I said, I'm still new to this.

Slummy Mummy xx

PS: you can delve deeper into the whole financial transaction vs social relationship aspect of business in Behavioural Economist Dan Ariely's fabulously entertaining book Predictably Irrational.