Social Listening: Pill Pack

I selected Pill Pack, your pharmacy needs made easy. All over Facebook, people are mentioning how aggravating it is to receive the correct prescription as well as complaining about the customer service. The company's value proposition is making your medication maintenance absolutely stress free. However, it does not seem like they are fulfilling this promise. 

Theresa Beach If they screw up your order and loose it. To bad for you you will start over and have to wait another month. Waited 6 weeks, no package and they won’t rush, or compensate. If you need any products in a timely fashion, DONT USE!!!

Although the Facebook page manager for Pill Pack responded to this cry for help, having to wait 6 weeks for any product (especially this important) is absurd. It seems that she did contact their basic customer service line, and they were not able to fulfill her request. Which I believe is unacceptable.

Anna Ambrose This is the worst pharmacy I’ve ever used. I finally got fed up with them sending medications too late and having to ask for refills they said they would send but never did. They rarely respond to messages in the app so that’s a useless feature. Now they’re holding my prescriptions hostage and won’t transfer them out to my new pharmacy, so I have to call my doctor and have her write new prescriptions for all of my medications that she JUST had to write because they “lost” my other ones that had refills on them still. What a hassle this has been. I’ll be warning everyone of this “pharmacy.”

This comment speaks for itself. Just like Theresa, Pill Pack's facebook manager responded with a comment addressing the issue, however, this issue should have never existed let alone the journey she had to take.

Jolene Tbi Cockey Your Pharmacy told me like $55 this month I was told each prescription would be $0.30 each or $0.60 and that's all over board and one of my prescriptions Tramadol you don't even mailed to me but you build me for it I am so upset of your company. And I want something done about it I want a refund and that's it and I'm done with your company so I'm not playing this game where I get billed more than I'm supposed to because I'm on a fixed income and every penny counts. And now I don't have money for my groceries. So upset if you guys I will file that the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General in Northern Indiana if this don't get fixed.

Yikes. Being billed the wrong amount is no fun at all. 

The service that Pill Pack is supplying is the transportation of medications straight to your front door, however, it seems that it may never reach it. One of the biggest challenges they face seems to be the most important one, making sure the service actually works. It seems that it is almost impossible to receive the medication let alone the correct one. If I were the brand manager, I would respond to every customer that posts a complaint on social media, which is actually what they are doing currently. What I learned from this assignment is no matter how poorly your product or service is performing, always put your customer first. They are what is most important. 

Case Study: High On Coca-Cola

The legal marijuana industry is booming, and Coca-Cola could be jumping in

In every popular city, there is bound to be a marijuana dispensary around the corner. Selling products from edibles to concentrates, if you can think of it, you can put marijuana in it. Now one of the biggest giants in business wants to take a stab at the market. 

This promotion from Coca-Cola actually took me by surprise. I view Coca-Cola as more of a family-friendly company, so seeing them take a step into something that isn't even federally legal raises my eyebrows. AdAge begins the article by explaining that Coca-Cola has not made a decision, rather that they are just eyeing the industry. AdAge continues to explain that the new drink will not be laced with any psychoactive ingredient, but infused with CBD the non-psychoactive compound. 

Coca-Cola's value proposition still stands as one of the most popular in the world, taste the feeling. The beverage is to be enjoyed with every meal, friend, and family. This marketing approach would be categorized under a new product launch, and most likely a successful one.

As of right now, I do not see any challenge that Coca-Cola would face. Other than a couple of Coca-Cola loving anti-drug persons becoming upset, I doubt there will be any public relation backlash. 

Now there are already many CBD infused drinks on the market so this product launch would not be anything new, however, a brand as big as Coca-Cola would easily dominate any competitor in their way.

If I were the brand/product manager for Coca-Cola, I would not move into this market. I think Coca-Cola should stay where they are as the perfect family-friendly drink. Although I imagine the sales would be spectacular, this is just too big of a step. It was smart however to use only a non-psychoactive ingredient because a drug-induced fatality from a Coca-Cola product would not look good for their public relation platform. From this article, I learned if there is a market that can be tapped into, chances are you should take a swing at it. 

Article Link: https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/coca-cola-eyeing-cannabis-market/314949/?CSAuthResp=1538773726353:0:2489268:0:24:success:6FDF34381A0CAA84BBC90F5C5205BD3C

Relevant Link: https://us.coca-cola.com/

Marketing In The News Week 1: Free Money?

Imagine a world where you are rewarded for an inconvenience a company/business has put on you. Well, you can stop imagining. ING Group, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation located in the Netherlands takes a bold yet confident step forward in customer service.

Waiting on hold for customer service is something that everyone tries to avoid. You become more and more uncertain for how long you will be glued to the phone for every passing minute of cliche jazz in your ear. However, ING Group has left me awe-struck with their new customer service based campaign. I found ING's tactic interesting because it shows the boundaries they are willing to break to keep you, the client, happy.

At the top of the article, it showcases a video for the celebration of the new campaign. In the video, a gas station clerk pranks customers by charging them a "waiting tax" for waiting in line. The reactions were hilarious and immediate. At the end of the video, ING explains that starting on September 28 they will be the first bank to pay customers for waiting on hold. The amount? 60 cents for every minute!

The purpose of this campaign is congruent with their value proposition, "the bank that invests in me."

ING is simply showing how much a customer's time is appreciated by not wanting to waste even a minute of it. This really raises the bar for customer service around the world, making it almost difficult to compete with. How will other banking companies in the area compete? Copying this strategy would be unoriginal, so I imagine other bank's marketing teams are scrambling for a solution. 

Sacha Lacroix, managing director at Rosapark explains that "Wait time has become as important an issue as money for people." So in turn, this unique marketing approach has killed two birds with one stone as well as "bring[ing] the brand's promise to life."

To be honest, if I were the brand manager for ING Group, I don't think I would have thought up this genius solution. It's very creative as well as a game-changing move that almost forces other brands to follow suit. From this article, I learned that there is no limit to customer service satisfaction, and a customer's time spent at your company is priceless. 

Article link: https://adage.com/creativity/work/ing-pay-your-wait/950871

ING Group "Who we are" page: https://www.ing.com/About-us/Profile/ING-at-a-glance.htm

About Me

About Me

I wanted to join this marketing class at LBCC for two reasons. Number one, I love cheap college. Spending a fraction of the price for classes compared to the neighboring college (OSU) makes both my wallet happy and my parents happy. Number two, I find marketing/business engaging. It is always interesting to learn how to sell anything the most efficient/effective way. 

As of right now I am currently a business/marketing major. I do not know the exact degree I will be chasing, but it will be in this field. 

Things that I am interested in marketing include: social media marketing, how to market products/services effectively, and careers that would interest me.

A couple things that I am passionate about are: soccer, video games, long boarding, and road trips to beaches with friends