This morning, a random Tweeter named Chris Menke had a really clever thought about Big Ass Fans (image above).  

He WOULD HAVE won the internet today (still gets the silver though), were it not for Big Ass Fans' response:

(On the off chance you don't get the Kardashian reference, here you go.)

This is brilliant on so many levels:

1. Big Ass Fans is really good at listening to the chatter about them.  Further proof of the power of social media for brands - you can hear what anyone in the world is saying about you and your industry... anywhere... all at once.  By the way, it's really easy too! Just make sure notifications are turned on!
2. They're even better at conversation. Interesting, engaging conversation too!
3. They're hilarious!  Oh and by the way, funny often = viral, if you're interested in that kind of thing.
4. They're clearly having fun.  That's one of the hidden benefits of social engagement - your employees love working at your company and can't wait to see what happens next.  Employee loyalty is a good thing, right?

Bravo Chris and Big Ass Fans!

LESSON FOR MARKETERS

Social is easy, effective, fun, and less time consuming than you might think.  Plus there are a multitude of lesser-known benefits, including employee satisfaction and loyalty.  Go have fun!

COMMENTS?  


P.S.: 
Click to follow Chris, Big Ass Fans and Share Of Marketing on Twitter.

P.P.S.:
This isn't the first brilliant thing Big Ass Fans has done. Read what I said about them back in March here.

To make a long story short, my sister booked flights through a rewards agent, only to discover that the flight was quite full, and since she has two children under 4, she wanted confirmation that she would be given the LAST set of three seats in a row (as opposed to three single seats scattered throughout the plane).  Air Canada's rule is that advance seat selection has to be done on the phone. 

You know where this is going, don't you.

After waiting on hold for 3.5 hours (that's not a typo), she finally gave up and went to sleep.  The next day she was able to confirm that she wouldn't be separated from her very young children, for a mere $150 extra.

During this ordeal, in an effort to help (and also as an experiment), I took to Twitter to see if that would be more helpful to her. You can click on the image for the conversation, but basically they said nothing helpful:  "...thank you for your patience..."; "...high volume of calls right now..."; "...that's our policy..."; blah blah.

On one hand, at least they were listening and apologetic.  On the other hand, they didn't help her at all, which arguably makes her angrier. 

What's worse; to answer but provide no assistance, reassurance or compassion? Or to not answer at all?

YOUR TURN:

Thoughts?