Comcast spends to rebrand as XFINITY. Let me explain . . .
A brilliant move by Comcast.Â
Instead of focusing attention (money) on really improving customer service, or perhaps doing something valuable for the consumer like NOT playing games with pricing, Comcast has instead decided to “re-brand” itself as XFINITY.Â
I’m sure the millions they paid to branding consultants brought back a wonderful report showing that the XFINITY brand will resonate with consumers and remind them of the INFINITE choices that XFINITY Voice, XFINITY TV, and XFINITY Internet will deliver (even though they have begun to limit the amount of broadband its customers consume) .
In a blog post announcing XFINITY, Comcast Executive VP David Watson writes,
XFINITY is the culmination of years of work to transition Comcast’s network and products to a platform that will now offer 100+ HD channels, 50 to 70 foreign-language channels, approaching 20,000+ VOD choices, incredibly fast Internet speeds (50 Mbps growing to 100+ Mbps) and thousands of TV shows and movies online for our customers to watch whenever and wherever they want.
Wouldn’t it have cost a lot less to just say “look at what Comcast is doing?”
And  just think how much more bang for the buck Comcast could have gotten through Social Media by focusing attention on the customer and what she/he really wants. Instead of “branding” why not focus attention instead on transparency, honesty and customer service?Â
And putting an end to their annoying pricing games, which are so well documented that Consumer Reports Magazine last month offered step by step instructions for lowering your Comcast bill?
Because that would be way to hard for a large corporation to handle.Â
It’s easier to just find a new name. One that doesn’t rhyme with “COMCRAP”.
Steve,
I agree with the premise of the post, but Comcast is doing a good job with social media for customer service. Comcast Cares, is a case study all other companies should look at.
They just need to apply what Frank does to the rest of the company.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your input. It’s truly appreciated! I agree that Comcast Cares is a perfect case study for integrating Social Media with CRM and also agree that Comcast needs to apply proven Social Media principles throughout their organization.
When Consumer Reports dedicates precious space in their magazine to counsel consumers in dealing with Comcast, you know that Comcast has a problem that has to be undermining their Social Media strategy. Before a Social Media strategy will work companies need to be sure that marketing and operations are on the same page.
Yeah getting the whole crew on board is the right way to go, but I’ll take customer service. At least marketing isn’t in charge of it.