The MGH Modern Marketing Blog
A service of MGH, Inc., the MGH Modern Marketing blog provides readers with an inside look at the in's and out's of word of mouth and social media marketing.
The MGH Modern Marketing Blog
A service of MGH, Inc., the MGH Modern Marketing blog provides readers with an inside look at the in's and out's of word of mouth and social media marketing.
AFTER B OF A, IS BLACK FRIDAY NEXT?
by Dave Spivey, Senior Copywriter on Nov 17, 2011 in Advertising trends, Commentary, Marketing trends, Social Media Marketing
Question: is Anthony Hardwick of Omaha, Nebraska, the next Molly Katchpole?
Katchpole is the Washington, D.C., graduate student whose angry social media petition sparked a nationwide revolt against Bank of America’s plan to charge customers $5 per month for their debit cards. After losing thousands of accounts, B of A backed off.
The target of Hardwick’s online petition is his employer: Target. His ire was sparked by Target’s decision to fling open its doors to Black Friday bargain-hunters at midnight on Thanksgiving. “All Americans,” Hardwick declares, “should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night’s rest on Thanksgiving!” With a little more than a week to go before Thanksgiving, Hardwick’s petition had already racked up more than 154,000 signatures, many from fellow Target employees.
And Hardwick isn’t the only one facing an early wake-up call. Macy’s, Kohl’s and Best Buy are also opening at midnight. Wal-Mart, which had hoped to steal a march by opening at 10 p.m. Thursday, has since been one-upped by Toys “R” Us, which announced a 9 p.m. start.
It’s not just employees who are angry, though. There are growing signs that even the most hardened shoppers are fed up. The New York Times recently reported that outraged Black Friday veterans are flocking to the social media barricades, declaring that they’re not going to cut short or eliminate family gatherings just to save a few bucks at the nearest big box store.
Battered by the Great Recession, retailers are understandably desperate to boost sales any way they can. But there’s an intriguing question here. Will a grassroots social media drive again thwart the plans of big business? Are customers really ticked off enough that they’ll gravitate to stores like J.C. Penney – which says it won’t open until 4 a.m. Friday to allow its employees to spend Thursday with their families?
Or will finance trump family, with value-seeking consumers blearily charging through the doors at midnight because they need to save money any way they can?
The answer is coming soon to a Twitter feed, a Facebook page and a shopping center parking lot near you.