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David Meerman Scott

The trouble with Zappos

By David Meerman Scott | Dec 2, 2010

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The trouble with Zappos: The company is over-exposed as an example of social media excellence. This causes skeptics to believe that success is difficult because only one company has achieved it.

The trouble with Zappos: Hundreds of "social media experts" cite the company in their books, blogs, speeches, Webinars and the like. As a result, the marketing discipline is not moved forward because we don't learn about other companies and their success.

Zappos. Again?

I've been at conferences when multiple speakers prattle on about Zappos and witnessed many people completely tuning out and even leaving the hall.

I've been in meetings with senior people when Zappos is cited and watched the executives roll their eyes and start playing Blackberry.

Delivering Happiness

They've heard it already.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing Zappos.

Zappos has done some amazing things. If you want to learn about the company, read CEO Tony Hsieh’s book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. It's worth the read.

My issue is not with the company but with those who incessantly use this one example as "proof" new marketing works.

I've got news for you: Your CEO will not draw 1.75 million followers on Twitter like Tony Hsieh.

I've got news for you: Your brilliance in social media will not be cited 5.8 million times on the Web like Zappos.

Who should you look to as an example?

If your young daughter wants to be a singer, you can use Lady Gaga as an example of success. Sure, your daughter could get a major record deal, wear meat products on the red carpet, and be talked up in the tabloids. But isn't there a more appropriate example of success for your daughter look up to? Like that great folk singer at the coffeeshop in town?

You know what pisses me off?

Students in communications and MBA programs tell me that they still teach the Tylenol case of 1982 as an example of crisis communications success. How ridiculous! A crisis unfolds much faster today because of real-time media. The 1982 playbook used in 2010 will lead to disaster.

Nearly three decades ago a huge company, Johnson & Johnson, spent hundreds of millions to solve a crisis that mainly played out on three network television stations. What can you draw from that to use today? You'll learn as much about communications studying Mark Twain.

Business school professors still teaching Tylenol are too lazy to find examples from the real-time world of today. If you're a student, call out your boring old professor if he talks up Tylenol for the 28th year in a row. (You might also ask him if he still listens to Bachman Turner Overdrive on his 8-Track.)

The same is true of those who keep talking up Zappos.

Go ahead and study Zappos.

But when you’re done, here are some other examples of new marketing success to consider:

These are just a few examples from my blog since April 2010. You can check my blog's case study archive for a few hundred other examples over five years.

Say no to Zappos

If you're learning about new marketing and are sick of hearing about Zappos as an example, please push back on the "experts" and ask for another company and why they succeeded.

If you're an "expert" don't undermine your authority by going over this worn trail yet again. It's all been said better by Tony himself. Instead, as you write your blog and book, or shoot video, or take the stage, be bold. Tell us something we don't already know.

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About David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and the author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR, an award-winning BusinessWeek bestseller published in 24 languages. He is also the author of the hit book World Wide Rave and three other books. His Web Ink Now blog is ranked by AdAge Power 150 as a top worldwide marketing blog.

He is a recovering VP of marketing for two publicly traded technology companies and was also Asia marketing director for Knight-Ridder, at the time one of the world’s largest newspaper and electronic information companies.

David has lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, Boston, and Hong Kong and has presented at industry conferences and events in over twenty countries on four continents.

Satisfied audiences include: Cisco, HP, Microsoft, The New York Islanders, NASDAQ Stock Market, the Government of Ontario, McKesson, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, SAP, Google, Digital River, Hill & Knowlton, Hanley Wood, Dow Jones, National Investor Relations Institute, Milken Institute Global Conference, America Credit Union Conference, TS2, Giant Screen Theater Association, Realtors® Conference, and many, many more…

Books by David Meerman Scott

Real Time Marketing and PR David Meerman Scott

New Rules of Marketing and PR David Meerman Scott

World Wide Rave David Meerman Scott

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