As many of you know, especially you wine afficiandos out there, Robert Mondavi passed away a couple
weeks ago on May 16. he was a revered man and truly left a lasting legacy in the wine industry.
Not surprisingly, there were hundreds of posts on message boards, forums and blogs from people lamenting the loss and offering best wishes to the family. But the next part is surprising:
The Robert Mondavi Family actually sent an email to everyone who had published or posted about Robert, thanking them for their thoughts and wishes.
How'd they do it? They monitored everyone that talked about them (using Andiamo Systems, but that's not the point of this article), recorded the information and email addresses and sent it out.
Why'd they do it? Out of sheer gratitude for the outpouring of emotions and kind wishes. But an unplanned side benefit of the family's response to all the well-wishers has been brand equity-building as many of the posters were shocked and thrilled that they took the time to read and respond in such a timely, kind way. This post is from the blog WINExpression: 
The lesson, even as it pertains to this very sad event: 1) Listen to what your customers are discussing in social media 2) Always learn from it 3) And when appropriate, respond. Whether it is in response to a product or service issue, or as in this case thanking them for a kind gesture. It puts a human face to a corporate entity. And people like that!
Comments