In its most expensive purchase to date, Amazon snaps up rising rival Zappos for more than $900 million. This came as a surprise to those expecting the shoe e-tailer to hold out for an IPO, but what’s even more surprising was how Amazon announced the merger: CEO Jeff Bezos posted a video on YouTube, a move more characteristic of Zappos and its CEO Tony Hsieh, who himself broke the news on his company blog and Twitter account.
Indeed, Amazon may have the resources, technology and operational experience of an e-commerce giant, but it has long been criticized for not “getting” social media. A recent example is AmazonFail, where Tweeters lashed out at the company after it removed sales ranking of books with "adult content,” including LGBT-themed books. Amazon took a day to respond, and when it did, sent the statement to the Associated Press first, instead of fighting the fire where it started — at Twitter.
Zappos, on the other hand, has mastered Web 2.0 branding. In a recent survey by Abrams Research, the company was voted as having done the best job of using social media. Hsieh himself now has more than one million followers on Twitter, and encourages his employees to tweet, use Facebook and Multiply, or upload videos online to let customers get to know them personally.
“I think people worry too much about bringing their personal selves into business, when I think the way to succeed in today’s world is to make your business more personal,” says Hsieh in an interview for Mashable.com. That “personal touch” also means Zappos makes sure every customer leaves with a positive experience — whether through super-fast shipping, long phone conversations or 365-day refunds.
Will the Zappos culture be zapped, or will it be tolerated, if not emulated, by Amazon? That remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: social media know-how is becoming an indispensable tool in business success. As Hsieh concludes at Mashable.com, “Today anyone, whether it is an employee or a customer, if they have a good or bad experience with your company they can blog about it or Twitter about it and it can be seen by millions of people. It’s what they say now that is your brand.”
