Recently I have talked about how business can't afford to ignore this thing called social media. Some people reading this blog may have thought ‘that doesn't apply to me, it's for Americans'.

Here is something to consider though: When Cadbury changed the recipe of their dairy milk chocolate, many of their customers (me included) were not impressed and said so. There is a Facebook group about how they included palm oil in the recipe and why they should not. I ‘tweeted' along with other New Zealanders on why I did not like what they had done and provided links to Auckland Zoo. The word spread. People wrote and emailed. Cadbury could have ignored this and they may well have seen little initial decline in profits; as it was a cost saving exercise they may well have never seen a decline. But another company noticed the response and acted. Whitakers have made gains and will continue to do so. The consumers loved what they said in their ads and passed it on quickly. Whitakers made the good move of putting the ad on their front page; making it easy to pass around the web. And pass around it did.
Cadbury had decided to engage in social media prior to this event and during it, discovered just exactly how it works. It's about the conversation. Customers do have something to say, in the past they may not because it took time they did not have. Now it takes no time and they will say it. Cadbury have been smart and listened. Not only have they listened, they have understood and they have chosen to act. In so doing they have off-set some of the damage, but more than that they have proven to the consumer that they do have a voice and they can make it heard.
They will no longer tell one or two friends about poor customer service, they will tell a few hundred or more and it will take them a few seconds.
A lot of businesses and I expect local councils, think that social media is another means of broadcasting their message. It's not, it's a two way and the users don't like just listening, they like talking too.