That perfectly timed million dollar donation to ACLU was marketing genius. I can't imagine how you go about making a decision like that and quickly pull the trigger in such a fast paced volatile environment.
You signed up to ask me that? Maybe you're from Lyft or ACLU?
Today I'm interested in the gritty details of social media manipulation, political marketing and celebrities using their Twitter power to influence customer loyalty.
I was replying to guelo, who suggested the 1 million donation from Lyft was well-timed marketing genius.
I'm surprised so many people think that money is the answer to everything. Money and hashtags. The more money ACLU gets the more they can apparently fix all these nasty issues.
I'm fatigued by the moral high-ground of social media megaphone hissy fits. Viral wisdom for all to follow or else suffer more hashtags.
What happened to the business model of simply providing a good reliable service? Investing time and energy into consistency, reliability and the primary business mission? Instead we have companies setting up whiteboards, mapping out the risks vs rewards of viral stunts relating to issues completely removed from their purpose.
I don't like hearing that Susan Serandon tweets "delete Uber" and the media picks it up and it goes viral. Not cool. Uber didn't deserve that attack, nor its drivers.
I wasn't making a value judgement when I called it marketing genius. I see the donation as cynical manipulation. But there's no denying that as marketing it was extremely effective at generating app installs.
