1-800-Flowers.com shows how NOT to do it!
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Courtesy of my ol’ mate Paull “I’ve got a jar of vegemite and I’m not afraid to use it!” Young comes word that, despite the hype about Second Life, there are still retailers who just don’t understand the new dynamics of business communication, especially when it comes to new media that is a bit ‘out there’ still, like Second Life.
Says Paull,
“1-800-Flowers.com launched in Second Life today. Oh, you haven’t heard about it? That’s not surprising - as far as I can tell, this is the first blog post about it.
“I learned about their initiative at the Internet Retailer Conference in San Jose during this morning’s opening keynote from their CEO and Founder, Jim McCann. He’s an entertaining speaker and it is really refreshing seeing someone at his level so enthusiastic about social media.”
Which is fantastic! Paull goes on to elaborate about what 1-800-Flowers.com were trying to achieve with their Second Life site, including
- populating their SL space with representatives who really understand flowers and the history and semiotics behind them (”flowers ain’t just flowers, Sol”)
- offering floral arrangements for SL residents to carry around with them
- offering residents a space within which to host genteel parties and intimate rendezvous
So far, so brilliant.
But then Paull goes on to note that they forgot to tell the blogosphere about their launch/initiative.
What????
The world’s biggest group of influencers who could spread word of their initiative far and wide and they forgot to let them know? As Paull quite rightly points out,
“Second Life residents are influencers. If you’re tech savvy enough to be in SL, odds are you’re blogging, twittering and podcasting like crazy. It’s not hard to find Second Life bloggers. It’s not hard to talk to them in-world. In my experience, they are very receptive to personal contact and invitations to view your build.”
WTF???
Paull does, however, note that he had “met a few of the 1-800-Flowers.com marketing and web guys on Monday. We didn’t talk about this project at all, but we did talk social media and Second Life in general. They’re keen and interested, they seem to get it, and clearly their leadership is right behind it. Which makes this clumsy launch all the more surprising…”
Please please please Aussie sites thinking of starting a Second Life presence: contact the blogosphere before you are ready to launch!
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