The Home Depot's social media surprise: Oooh, That Smell
Posted by Dave Armon on Sun, Nov 22, 2009
Mix one part hot dog vendor steam with vapors from paint and lawn fertilizer, add the piney scent of freshly milled lumber and the sweat of thousands of contractors and you've just created a very unusual cologne.
The surprising part about Eau de Home Depot is that customers identify it with the brand just as much as their cheap prices and the beeping sound of forklifts in the aisles.
With nearly 2,200 stores and a market cap of $46 billion, the Atlanta-based home-improvement chain has tentacles into just about every community it serves. Yet it credits its relatively new Internet social media engagement program for delivering insights like the fact that customers like the way The Home Depot smells.
Sarah Molinari, corporate communications manager and the voice of @homedepot on Twitter, generously shared her social media experiences with attendees at PR Week's Next conference in New York.
She praised the immediacy of Twitter as a communications channel, saying it has proven invaluable when customers are trying to prepare for or recover from a hurricane and other crises.
Tweeting along with customer care reps Michael and Stephanie, Sarah has built the number of followers to 15,000 with folksy video about the arrival of the first Fraser Fir Christmas trees and polls on whether Thanksgiving turkeys are better deep fried, baked or smoked.
Social media efforts also include additional Twitter feeds for sale items and the company's charitable foundation, a Facebook page and a YouTube channel.
So far there are no scented candles, incense or cologne available. If The Home Depot makes good on delivering an olfactory experience, I recommend they license Lynryd Skynyrd's "That Smell."