This past Monday marked a milestone for Tim Hortons as they started yet another Roll Up The Rim event. This year was different though, the company was determined to change things and this sudden reaction came from a serious backlash through social media platforms in 2010. There were blogs simply dedicated to keeping track of how many coffees were winners, there were angry social media status updates and countdowns which undermined the company by stating that the odds were horrible and the contest simply wasn’t worth it anymore. With people all over the country getting fed up with Tim Hortons, the company knew they had to make changes fast for the next Roll Up The Rim event; and that’s exactly what they did.

As of 2010, Tim Hortons claimed that the odds of winning a prize were 1-in-9 and that these odds are audited daily when producing new cups for the contest. The number of available food prizes are part of the changes Tim Hortons made to the Roll Up The Rim contest this year. Last year there were 31 million food prizes and this year that number has been bumped up to 47 million to increase the overall odds to 1-in-6 and boost the number of winning cups by about 50%.

Tim Hortons has also decided to offer social media users something extra in hopes of drowning out the complaints. They created a photo builder on their Roll Up The Rim page that allows users to upload a photo of their choice with a frame and multiple statement options such as “I ♥ RRRoll Up!” They’ve even added a RRRoll up the Rim Roulette game on their website that gives registered users an extra chance to win every day by spinning the wheel for a $25 Tims card or the grand prize of free coffee for a year. If you’re a big fan, don’t forget to enter into the Longest Rolling RRR contest. All you have to do is record your longest rolling RRR right on the Time Hortons website and upload it with a photo. Your entry is automatically entered and posted to Facebook for fans to view. Who knew coffee could be so interactive?

It seems like the coffee giant has really taken a lot of things into consideration. I’d like to congratulate them on being so proactive by taking the time to listen to their customer complaints, researching their online brand reputation and using this information to move their business forward. This is a great case study for businesses of all sizes! Sometimes it’s difficult to research all the negative comments and feedback, but in the end, the more you know the more changes you can make to improve customer experiences and repair any damages your brand may have encountered online and offline.