What made this a spectacular PR event, which @apexmarketing indicates was worth $7.2M in free promotion for Bud Light, was not the power of an Astros home run hitting the stomach of a Bud Light and Nationals fan. It was the power of social media being harnessed by an empowered employee at the edge of the Bud Light organization.
See the full clip here: https://loom.bz/BudLight_Empowered_Employee
Such heads up play by a PR savvy social media hawk at Bud Light really turned this into the opportunity it was for Bud Light. Instantly upon seeing what had occurred, a tweet went out rallying social media to identify the person. The rest just flowed from there. I'm sure at Game #6, we'll see more of this Bud Light "hero".
Lesson to learn: Are your employees empowered to act so swiftly? Not the guy with the beer, but the person who sent the tweet.
Famed Excellence Executive, Horst Schulze, who lead Ritz Carlton and Capella Hotel Group to each of their pinnacles of hospitality excellence, indicates he empowered his individual hotel staff, down to the bell hop and housekeeping person, the ability to spend up to $2,000 to solve a customer problem on the spot. What leeway does your employees have?
Saying employees are empowered is cheap. Give them guidelines and resources. Ensure your employees can Dilly Dilly and not dilly dally when opportunities arise.