Corporations may be getting social “online” but how are they doing offline? Anti-social behavior on the ground is the genesis of our not-so-coveted Social Caterpillar Award.
The Social Caterpillar Award goes to companies that have what it takes to become great social leaders and transformational community assets but who somehow fall short due to some management cocoon.
Blockbuster Goes Bust
Last week, I wrote about Blockbuster signing their own obituary. Today on the news, I hear they are filing for bankruptcy and blaming everyone but themselves – hmmm, maybe there is a correlation? As such, Blockbuster was the first recipient of the Ingenesist Project Social Caterpillar Award. Who’s next?
Home Depot: Living under a rock?
It would seem that Home Depot gets it with 30,000 Facebook Fans, 20,000 twitter followers, and 4000 Youtube members as well as some pretty slick instructional videos. The slogan “I Bleed Orange” is quite the graphic branding opportunity – I sort of wonder what exactly does such blood-letting involve.
But a company with almost 2200 stores, 210,000 employees and 100 Billion dollars in annual sales – this social media presence is hardly a blip. Even the employees don’t show up.
The Last Mile of Social Media
I went to Home Depot recently buy something for a project. I parked in the most reasonable spot and walked to the nearest of at least 5 sets of doors spaced across the entire building. The first door stated in fairly crude language “This is and Exit, Use Entrance North of here”. OK, so I did not bring my compass, and I proceed to the next door. The same sign appeared. So I went to the next – it was blocked for forklift activity. So I returned to the prior door and found that the door on the other side of a partition was actually an entrance with a tiny sign partially covered with something orange… etc. I think you can see where I’m trying to go with this.
Entering the store was no better.
I was corralled around a set of barriers past the full length of shopping carts and dumped on the side of the store that I did not want to go to. I asked a manager why they insisted on tormenting customers like rats in a maze and the response was to control shoplifting. I wondered how much plywood I could fit in my pocket. I certainly did not feel welcomed.
In other words, the customer is subsidizing the failures of the enterprise to control shoplifting – if that is the real problem. Like the age old tactic of government, blanket legislation makes all people suffer for the shortcomings of a few because management is too lazy to devise a method for actually solving problems.
So they plod along.
No competition from China, no Internet based Plywood stores, no power tool kiosks at the mall, all the small shops are driven out of business, and the economics of planned obsolescence driving product quality. Is this a recipe for obsolescence? Does this invite an innovation disruption? Will a competitor arise who can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?
And Now, The Social caterpillar Award Goes Tooooo…..
In Honor of Home Depot lack of imagination in solving their own problems with social media at the expense of their community, we proudly issue our Social Caterpillar award to Home Depot.
