ComcastCares? Or Does Frank?

Posted on | January 22, 2009 | Comments

Interesting BusinessWeek article just came out, covering Frank Eliason of @ComcastCares fame. Highlight:

It’s not unusual for customers to address Frank or his team members by name. “Originally when I started to do this, I used the Comcast symbol instead of my picture,” says Frank. “Then I listened to some customer feedback, and one was: ‘Where’s your picture?’ Now when they think Comcast, they think Frank. Right now I have 5,700 followers. They know about my family Web site. It gives a face to Comcast.” Frank’s other Twitter team members go by the names ComcastBill and ComcastGeorge.

Here here, Frank. Such is the price of entry in Social Media, IMHO – to participate authentically and as a person rather than a faceless institution.

The other thing that struck me, though, was that Comcast better be both treating Frankie very well, and rooting quietly for “Bill” and “George” to build the kind of following Frank has. If I were Verizon FioS, for example, I might just arrange a peppermint foot massage for Frank. See if he’s happy. Open to new “opportunities.”

It strikes me that brands need to walk a fine line between putting real people out there, and not letting any one person take ownership of too many of the relationships. I’m not saying anonymize these folks, that won’t work either. I am saying that if you’re going to dip a toe into the brandtending pool, you should quickly decide if it’s worth the effort and, if so, put the whole foot in.

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