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by Julian Cole

on May 27

Dear Connex, We hate you (Ignorance is NOT Bliss! - An Open Letter)

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Dear Connex Melbourne Marketing Department, Leo Burnett Melbourne (Advertising Agency), Starcom (Media Agency) and the Public Relations company,

It is time for answers.

Why is it that companies are still ignoring online?

Fare Evasion Day May 1st started off as a Facebook Event. It was embraced by 1,700 people. It was not until Andrew Ranger the creator of the event was featured in the Herald Sun that Connex decided to respond to the Fare Evasion Day.

Two commuters set up the Facebook group ‘I hate Connex’ – it now has 5,000 members! Please explain why you haven’t tried to answer the problems of these customers.

What about the unanswered voice of Peter Wagstaff’s from the Marketing Today podcast? He has repeatedly put down the Connex brand on the show.

Why haven’t you approached him for a conversation? 1,000 people listen to him rubbish your brand every week; is that not enough potential customers to warrant a response?

Starcom, when post analysis time comes around every month how come you haven’t brought up the emerging channels of social media?

Public Relations Company, for any of your clients have you monitored what has been said about their brands online? Did you know the top 10 Australian bloggers have an estimated 19,000 readers of their blogs per day?

Leo Burnett, have you thought about two-way communication channels when you crack your communication ideas? You do have a strategy for social media, right?

Connex Melbourne Marketing Department, does this backlash online not worry you?

Do you not value social media? What is the difference between people reading a negative communication message online and offline?

If I were to come down to Flinders St Station 8:30AM Monday 16th June 2008, would I be able to spread this hate message to your customers then?

Julian Cole

(This is an open letter to the addressed, if anyone has a contact from these companies please forward this on.)

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8 Comments

David Gillespie
  • Wrote on 27 May, at 05:13PM
I wrote a similar open letter to Vodafone earlier this year on my blog. Amazingly when I woke up the following morning I had a response from a Vodafone employee eager to help.

Of course, that employee was in the UK...
dkissraggamuffin
  • Wrote on 28 May, at 09:18AM
Online marketers and street level social marketers have barely got their heads around how to get past the friends and to the right targets thru SM channels. How do you expect ad corporates to stand a chance in hell?
Julian Cole
  • Wrote on 28 May, at 11:18AM
Dkissraggamuffin; Ad Corporates don’t have to do battle in hell. The CEO of BHP doesn’t know how to extract Copper from mines in PNG but he does know where to find engineering experts who can tell him how to do this. Social Media is no different.

You need to find the people who understand this space and get them on board. The days of ignoring this growing channel are limited. It is now the job of online marketers in this area to prove their worth and educate Corporates about this space.

David, I can only hope that I get a similar response from one of the four groups that I am trying to write too.
Stan Lee
  • Wrote on 28 May, at 11:19AM
No disrespect Julian, but enough of the collective power of online whinging already.

Start a Facebook group?

Get real!

Do you think we would remember Tianenam Square if that lone student had decided to start a Facebook group rather than stand in front of a tank?

Doubt it.

Dont get me wrong, Im a vocal advocate for social media, as you well know. But enough already.

As for Connex. Why should they care. They are a monopoly. Its not like you can catch the competitors product, now is it?
FRANk
  • Wrote on 28 May, at 12:11PM
nice.
Social communications do not have to be limited to online however. Here are a couple of thoughts which might endear Connex to the people through community initiatives.

1. The first one is an issue we mentioned on our blog last month.

"Not sure where this idea leaves the funding for public transport but it has merit. In Melbourne the train/tram/bus ticketing system works off the premise that having bought a ticket you then have to ‘validate’ it. So, for example, having paid $3.50 for a 2-hour ticket at 10am you validate it and printed along the top it will say ‘expires at midday.’ All good, however the majority of time i’ll only use approx. 20 mins of the two hours. So on exiting the railway station i always leave my ticket, with unused credit, on the shelf of the ticket machine where the coins have to be fed in, as above. I have since discovered that i’m not the only one thinking along these lines with people leaving their tickets in other convenient-benevolent places. www.frankmedia.com.au/blog/2008/04/21/travel-community/#comments. Where there’s smoke.

Maybe a "finished with your ticket" receptacle would work.....

2. Have you been to a rail station at about 6.30pm recently?

Most of the rubbish bins, particularly the ones near the exit are heaped to overflowing with mx newspapers. Would a recycle bin make us look more favourably upon Connex? A cursory glance at Connex's site suggests there is no user feedback/forum/blog dynamic.www.connexmelbourne.com.au/

Why not? It doesn't mean they have to do something about every idea but they could at least demonstrate that someone at Connex might care.

Nuff
Julian Cole
  • Wrote on 28 May, at 01:00PM
To Stan

When did I mention to create a Facebook group? I think you lost me on this one. I have not recommended that Connex create a Facebook group.

If your customers are going to use this channel of communication why shouldn’t you be responding in this channel. You cannot sit back and ignore the power of facebook. If people are using this channel to communicate you must respect that and interact with them through it.

Stan: Do you think we would remember Tianemen Square if that lone student had decided to start a Facebook group rather than stand in front of a tank?

What a great example to use to see the power of Facebook. In terms of Tianemen Square massacre you will probably remember that the lone student was not the only form of protest but you will probably remember the 100,000 students who marched on May 4th for free media reform.

How did all these students hear about the protest? Through student newspapers, universities posters and friends.

Fast forward to today. Student Newspapers have small readerships, University posters are still strong as ever and friends communicate in many more channels of communication (Mobile Phone, Facebook and Instant Messenger) than just face to face. The number 1 way to communicate with your weak ties (large circle of friends) is through Facebook (this was one of my major findings of my thesis). Facebook is seen as the best form of communicating on mass.

If you do not believe me, then have a look at the 2AM lockout protest this Friday which were organized and started on Facebook through a group. So yes I do think they would of used Facebook to communicate their protest if it occurred today. I guess we will see on Friday the result?

Stan: As for Connex. Why should they care. They are a monopoly. Its not like you can catch the competitors product, now is it?

Would you not say using a car as a competitor? I think for the people who have this choice until Connex can produce a better service and communicate this then they are not going to win these customers back.

To Frank: I remember reading this on your blog a few weeks ago and I love the idea of customers helping customers out. Zac Martin wrote a similar post on Flashing when there is a Police Camera .
Editor | Scotland
  • Wrote on 29 May, at 09:39PM
To Frank and Julian: I cant remember where I read this exactly, but Im going to go with the prolific Tweet-aficionado craigchilds. Users of location-based social network Brightkite have been letting each other know all about where the parking wardens are lurking in Melbourne. Great use of this technology and another reason to believe that left up to our own devices, we aren't all that bad :-)
FRANk
  • Wrote on 18 Jun, at 01:01PM
By the way i contacted Connexs customer hot line about the recycling idea for mx newspapers and within a few days a very helpful fellow called me to let me know they had been trialling mx recycle bins on the werribee line and would be rolling the idea out across their network over the next few months. Great.

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