We recently had the pleasure of listening to Jeremy Epstein of Never Stop Marketing speak at the latest Milwaukee AMA event. In his enthusiastic presentation he talked about the importance of finding and supporting your “raving fans.” Rather than trying to throw matches at potential fans/customers, hoping they catch fire and become an evangelist of your brand, why not find those who are already singing your praises and add some gasoline to the blaze they’ve already started. He gave some great examples but the one that stuck with me was a scenario that could leave a company scratching their head.
The example he gave involved Kendra Wilkinson (Playboy model and star ofThe Girls Next Door) and the Olive Garden. Kendra is a huge fan of the Olive Garden and at one point, after returning from a trip to Italy, claimed that the food at the Olive Garden is better than in Italy – a bold statement indeed. There are other examples of her love for the Olive Garden and with 328,888 followers on Twitter (as of this posting) you can see the reach her message has. The family-friendly restaurant has shied away from her rogue endorsements saying it’s a “complicated issue.”
A complicated issue indeed! Most companies would love to have a celebrity of this magnitude promoting their brand for free, but you can see the obvious dilemma the Olive Garden faces. This scenario is a great lesson for companies who may find themselves in a situation where their strongest promoters may not align perfectly with their company image. I think the Olive Garden handled this scenario perfectly. They made it very clear that they are a wholesome, family-friendly establishment and left it at that – declining to discuss the issue much further.
I’m quite certain that the folks at Olive Garden understand the benefits of Kendra’s endorsements, so why silence their most vocal supporter. By walking a fine line, they are able to maintain their family-friendly image without alienating potential customers – specifically those customers who are raving fans of Kendra. Had they handled this differently, possibly attacking Kendra’s character, family values, etc., they may have turned thisraving fan into a ranting one – which could’ve been a PR nightmare!
So, what’s the takeaway for companies? I think one of the points made by Jeremy Epstein in his presentation explains it best. He showed a picture of some raving basketball fans with their chests painted in team colors and the university logo. Jeremy goes on to explain that the logo is clearly not the correct font or the correct pantone color, but the university didn’t make these fans wash it off and then hand them a logo guidelines book – that would be ridiculous!
The same is true with your raving fans – if you’re so lucky to have them. Monitor their conversations, participate and genuinely support them whenever possible, respond to major issues but don’t police everything they do. If their overall message is positive, don’t stomp our their fire, rather find ways to pour gasoline on it and roast marshmallows over the embers.