Nestle didn't phone this one in

Congratulations to Nestle for taking one of its most important consumer touchpoints and actually making it entertaining for the consumer by creatively crafting their new 800 hotline. Usually, this number is only used by moms with a dire chocolate emergency, but thanks to some Quick thinking, Nestle has cleverly turned it into a source of amusement that, with the help of Facebook and Twitter, people are finding and embracing.

It's sort of like the notion that it's best to meet your neighbors early on when things are good, rather than wait until their dog/children/music/hygiene has become a nuisance.

Here's the Facebook post:

Call the Nestle Crunch Hotline at 1-800-295-0051. When you are asked if you
want to continue in English or Spanish, WAIT QUIETLY for about 7 seconds and
you will smile. Promise! Keep going and press 4. Listen to the
options...then press 7.

We won't give away the gag, but it is worthwhile. And a good reminder of how social media can magnify even the smallest thing a brand can do.

Don't get blindsided by Sidewiki

With Google's release of Sidewiki, your web site is no longer in its own comfy cocoon, free from the slings and arrows of disgruntled consumers. Now anyone can put notes for all to see on any web page. No comments. No problem. Surfers and surfettes can see what people think of your site and your company on a public discussion board that, to date, will not be moderated.



Of course, it's Google, so algorithms based on unclear, yet surely infallible variables will determine which user comments are the most relevant and therefore deserving of the coveted top positions. Other users can vote on a comment's helpfulness or report it as spam/vulgar/tasteless.

Also, as it stands now, users or (more likely) webmasters who believe the comments step on their copyright are encouraged to file a DMCA copyright complaint. This appears to be an attempt by Google to head off the wave of public dismay that brought 1999 start-up Third Voice to its knees - one of the first attempts to incorporate this kind of discourse on the web.

Will Sidewiki be a consumer trump card? That is unclear, especially considering that the honeymoon period for this unmoderated intrusion on millions of web sites is surely going to be short. (We anticipate an opt-out or opt-in feature in the near future that can be placed in a site's code.) But for now, it looks like bad companies and disappointing products have less of a chance to hide. So for the rest of us, just keep on putting your best foot forward and don't suck.