The next week he received a form letter from Boeing stating that, while it appreciated his suggestion, the company for legal reasons does not accept “unsolicited ideas” and that his message was being disposed.

Well, Harry’s father, John Winsor, happens to be an advertising executive and influential blogger. He shared his son’s experience with his followers and the outcry, needless to say, was not favorable to Boeing. The “diss” went viral – and Boeing found itself looking like a faceless, insensitive, condescending monolith. All because of a standard reply letter.

Ten years ago it might have only been a blemish among chatty parents at a Boulder cocktail party. In 2010, however, social media took the issue and disseminated it around the world.

Managing one’s brand reputation and using social media successfully were two of the topics in a March 13 seminar of the Phoenix chapter of the American Marketing Association.

The session, at Jobing.com’s Phoenix headquarters, was led by Cathy Planchard, general manager of Allison & Partners’ local office, and colleague Brent Diggins.

To Boeing’s credit, Diggins noted, Corporate Communications Director Todd Blecher became aware of the situation and turned it into a positive. Blecher contacted Harry, tweeted about the situation and engaged the boy (and his father). A Boeing engineer followed up with a letter to Harry with the latest design trends and Blecher offered a plant tour and sent along some T-shirts and pencils.

In another twist, Alaska Airlines – whose logo appeared on Harry’s creation – capitalized on the situation and sent the boy a model airplane.

A company’s “crisis management” needs to include a specific plan with documented action items, like proactive engagement of critics and alternative web pages, Diggins said.

“A social media crisis can emanate from a small group of people and turn into a firestorm,” he said.

Motrin (parent: Johnson & Johnson) found this out the hard way. In a November 2008 ad campaign, the pain reliever released a video making fun of “babywearing,” implying it created strains on one’s back and neck. “Mommy bloggers” found it offensive and launched a blistering campaign of posts and emails. They leveraged Twitter with #motrinmoms tweets.

Within a few days Motrin had pulled any reference to the campaign and apologized.

Companies need to be afraid of mistreating customers, he said. “Anti” groups can pop up on Facebook in a matter of moments, and a carefully crafted brand can be diminished.

Diggins recommends companies initiate company blogs, which tend to be more human than official company announcements. He also said the days of ignoring a pesky critic are long gone. The smarter approach is to try to engage the individual; if things don’t work out, the company will at least appear to have been cordial.

Planchard said a mix of forces is changing how marketers do business.

Getting a message into the mainstream media is more difficult and less impactful. Newspapers have fewer readers and even TV shows like Oprah do not have the “pull” they once did.

Instead, Allison & Partners explores ways to get mention in prominent blogs.

“The approach now is, ‘Get me on Mashable and Pete Cashmore with two million followers,” she said.

Companies should still use journalists but they need to know where to find them and to let them find company spokesmen. She uses Muckrack, a website that follows journalists’ Twitter posts, to get an idea of who is involved in her clients’ fields.

“Seeing what is being reported on can provide an opportunity for a client,” she said. “You want to engage the reporter, and perhaps offer a different take on an issue.”

Allison & Partners also counsels clients on engaging customers directly. She cited a situation with P.F. Chang’s. The restaurant chain wanted to introduce a children’s menu.

Instead of going a traditional route, with a press release, the company identified 58 “Mommy bloggers” in Arizona and invited them – and their families – to eat at the restaurant. The guests then provided feedback directly to the company culinary director.

“They (the moms) really helped improve the process,” Planchard said. “The ROI was great, almost like an inexpensive focus group.”

She promotes the “three M’s”: Monitor, Mingle and Measure. Interaction is key.

“Once you’re engaged with a community, it is easy to go back and ask questions of them, like their likes and dislikes,” she said.

It is also important for companies to integrate its social media efforts into its other PR efforts, like advertising and marketing. Brand management is a team project.

Going forward, Planchard anticipates even greater use of social media. “Social search,” real-time information in Google on user-generated content, is coming. Ratings systems are also growing in popularity.

Hyperlocal news sites and location-based sites like FourSquare and Gowalla (an Allison & Partners client) could affect marketing strategies as well.

“What this seems to be coming down to is personalized customer service,” she said. “It’s about creating that ‘Oh, My God!” moment when someone says, ‘I can help you.’”

China Mist President and COO Rommie Flammer speaks to members of the American Marketing Association Phoenix Chapter at its April 28 luncheon at the Airport Marriott.

What’s sometimes lost in discussions about business is that virtually every enterprise started as a small operation in which an individual or partners took a risk.

For John Martinson and Dan Schweiker, their idea came after each had tried other endeavors and, admittedly, failed. So in 1982 the friends tried packaging tea from Martinson’s Scottsdale garage and selling it to restaurants across Phoenix. They mixed and tasted thousands of different tea and leaf combinations before striking what they believed would be the perfect combination for a black iced tea.

As Martinson, who had an office coffee distribution service, told an audience at the April 28 American Marketing Association Phoenix Chapter, they decided on the name China Mist. “We chose China Mist because all tea came from China,” he said. “And a mist is cooling, refreshing.”

For the next 15 years China Mist grew in popularity, as restaurants and hotels in Arizona and subsequently other states began promoting it as their iced-tea choice. What next?

In 1999 the company acquired Leaves Pure Teas Hot Teas, variety of whole-leaf loose, loose leaf sachet and tea bag hot teas in a variety of tea blends and flavors from around the world.

In 2005 China Mist began selling its iced-tea bags in groceries like Whole Foods. This was the company’s first venture into direct B to C — business to consumer — business (not B to B).

As President Rommie Flammer explained, after years of discussion the company in 2008 launched a line of ready-to-drink tea in bottles through retail shops and restaurants. China Mist Pure is now being sold in the United States, Canada and Dubai.

The development of the new line was the focus of Flammer’s talk.

The company had been working on the product for 10 years, continuously honing it until they felt it was ready. That meant experimenting with the water that would be used.

“We treat the water differently,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the best water for something else but it is for our tea.”

Then came the decision about the container.

They looked into using plastic but glass was better at retaining the tea’s flavor, she said. In the increasingly competitive fight for shelf space, the company knew it wanted to be different.

“There was a ‘sea of sameness’ in the grocery,” she said. “So we wanted to come up with a unique bottle.”

They came up with a slim hourglass design with a smaller mouth. Potential suppliers questioned the sharpness of its lines and its unconventional opening.

“But we thought, ‘This is all about being different,’” she said.

Five of China Mist’s six Pure bottled iced tea flavors.

Flammer, who joined the company in 1984 as a 16-year-old receptionist, then set out to update China Mist’s brand. She solicited new logo ideas but wasn’t happy with the submissions.

Finally, one artist came along and simply modernized the China Mist logo with a similar font and new colors, retaining its Asian flavor.

China Mist actually gets its teas from Shanghai, China, Martinson said, although he noted that “iced tea” is an American product. The company is broadening its reach by making its iced tea available in Asian and Middle East.

“It’s a great product where it’s hot and dry,” he said.

China Mist, which has 26 employees, still gets 90 percent of its revenues from its food-service sales but the entry into a retail environment supports brand awareness, she said.

The AMA crowd included a number of business students from Arizona State’s Carey School and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale. Flammer had this advice:

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” she said. “You don’t make mistakes unless you’re reaching, and you have to reach to grow.”

Participating on the panel for the AMA Phoenix chapter’s “Innovation and RIO” discussion were, from left, Jos Anshell, CEO of Moses Anshell; Chris Hewitt of Lumension; Greg Ensell of Cox Communications; and Andy Parnell, COO of DeferoUsa.

Social media, “hard” ROI and “soft” ROI, and connecting with customers were some of the topics addressed at the March 24 luncheon of the American Marketing Association Phoenix chapter at the Phoenix Airport Marriott.

A four-person panel explained how to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to manage relationships, as part of a company’s overall marketing strategy. It was noted that Twitter is now perceived to be like a company’s 1-800 number of customer comments and complaints, with representatives monitoring mentions and following up when necessary as a form of “brand preservation.”

A company’s return on investment for new media can be difficult to assess. There could be a “hard” ROI figure, with data like coupons redeemed, visits to a store recorded through AIDC methods, or click-throughs on a website. Or “soft” results like the number of fans or followers, news-clip results or perceived “buzz.”

Panelist Andy Parnell, chief operating officer for DeferoUSA, noted that the firm did a national campaign with Cold Stone Creamery that was titled “iMix America” and incorporated an online and in-store contest. Youths were invited to visit stores and create a unique ice-cream mix, which their friends could then vote on.

The campaign generated a lot of “hard” ROI analytics to justify the company’s expenditure, he said.

“The ‘soft’ ROI was 7 million clipping reports,” Parnell said. “In that case, I probably preferred the ‘soft’ return to the ‘hard’ data.”

The panelists were asked to choose one area for investment in digital marketing for their company or a client.

Parnell noted the wide array of choices before settling on email marketing. “Our clients are always happy with the results,” he said.

Greg Ensell, manager of Government and Public Affairs for Cox Communications, said the company has found success using Facebook ads.

“They are well-constructed and they deliver results to our target audience,” he said.

Chris Hewitt, of Lumension, a provider of network security solutions, said that an interesting tool gaining in popularity is the Ning community platform.

“It’s open source, there’s a free level, and its functionality includes discussion forums, blogs and chatrooms to connect with customers and prospects,” he said.

Jos Anshell, CEO of Moses Anshell, reminded the 70 people in attendance that before diving into new media, you have to ask, “What’s the objective? Who am I trying to reach? What do I want to accomplish?”

“You still have to build a brand to stand for something,” he said. “Then combine it with a call to action.”

Hewitt said it’s easy to get swept away by “trendy” new programs.

“I recommend focusing on one thing, doing it well, and analyzing your results,” he said.

Ensell reiterated that social media is about building a community, being responsive to inquiries and holding two-way conversations.

“It’s not just a new freeway to people to shout from,” he said.

Parnell believes you need to think before you jump.

“Don’t just do it for the ‘social’ stake,” he said. “Look into if your customers want you to use Facebook or Twitter.”

The next AMA Phoenix luncheon will take place April 28 and have a focus on professional development.