Stellar Customer Service Is Possible

I often use this blog to highlight companies that just don't get it when it comes to customer service.  Every once in a while, though, I find a company that, in fact, really does get it - and can be an example for poor mortals. 

Amazon recently provided such an example and the experience was so stunning that I've already told people about it.  It certainly merits some space on this blog. 

Here's what happened.  I ordered a gift from Amazon.com for my daughter early in the season and since were going to be visiting her for the holidays, I had it shipped to her address so I wouldn't have to carry it in my luggage when traveling. 

In the afternoon of December 21, I asked my daughter for the package so that I could wrap it.  The horrifying answer:  What package?  The package hadn't arrived!  Uh oh.  I would have to make the dreaded call to customer service.  What were the odds that we would get this resolved before Christmas?  My guess:  nil.

I went to the Amazon website and found the number for customer service.  I called the number with great trepidation.  As expected, I got a recording.  The recording said: please leave your telephone number and a representative would call back.  "What were the odds of that?" I thought.  After I hung up the phone, it rang again about a minute later ... and a real person from Amazon was on the line.

She listened to my story attentively ... and APOLOGIZED.  She retrieved the record of the purchase WITHOUT NEEDING A TRACKING NUMBER.  She apologized again and said that she would have the gift delivered by Christmas.  What were the odds of that?  Well, Amazon beat the odds.  A FEDEX truck arrived at the door on December 23.  Problem solved.  Amazon proved that companies can be civil and deliver stellar customer service in an age of automated calls and bureaucratic rules.    

When Cause Related Marketing Goes Political ...

I'm a big fan of cause related marketing.  The first example I encountered was a campaign launched by American Express themed "Charge Against Hunger."  The idea was simple.  It begins with the premise that most people have multiple cards in their wallet and can usually make a choice about what card to use when dining out.  The program was also timed to run around the Christmas holidays when people are generally in a charitable mood.  The promotion suggested that consumers use their American Express Card when dining out around the holidays ... and a portion of the charge would go to programs that fight hunger.  Brilliant.  It made the consumer feel good.  It prompted the consumer to use the American Express card instead of Visa, MasterCard or Diners.  And hunger related charities benefited from donations that the American Express consumer funded.  AMEX got some great publicity as well as a bump in card use.

Using AMEX as an example, Hawaii Pizza Hut developed a cause related marketing program called "Carryout for Literacy."  When Little Caesars entered the Hawaii market with cheap (two-for-one) carryout pizza, Pizza Hut's carryout business took a big hit.  The strategic question was ... how to offer a deal on carryout pizza without lowering the price on their dine in and carryout business.  The solution was to require the consumer to qualify for a lower (buy-one-get-one-free) carryout offer by purchasing a $10 card.  The promotion morphed into a cause related marketing program when Hawaii Pizza Hut designated literacy programs as the recipients of the revenues from the card purchase.  The outcome was a competitive price for Pizza Hut's carryout pizza ... a wealth of positive publicity for the company ... and literacy programs which were the beneficiaries of about $300,000 in charitable gifts per year generated by the program.

Both of these promotions were models of the cause related marketing concept.  And both of them based their corporate philanthropy on non-controversial, "motherhood" causes:  hunger and literacy.

Recently, some cause related marketing programs have sprung up which are based on more controversial topics.  Chick Fil A, reported to be the tenth largest fast food operator in the US, made headlines when it was publicized that it provided substantial financial support to organizations opposed to gay marriage.  The company has long been known as an institution that operates in part on religious principles (its stores are closed on Sunday, for example ... and the annual Chick Fil A bowl game begins with an invocation because of a stipulation by the sponsor).  The publicity around the gay marriage issue touched a nerve, however, with results the reflect the polarity of the gay marriage debate.  Supporters of Chick Fil A's anti-gay-marriage stance formed long lines at the restaurant to show their support for the company and its stance.  At the same time, protesters appeared at company stores with protest signs.  Caught in the middle were Chick Fil A franchisees who didn't necessarily embrace the company's views on the subject.

More recently, the CEO of Starbucks entered into the political fray over the impending "fiscal cliff."  He encouraged Starbucks employees in the Washington DC area to write "Come Together" on customers' cups to prompt lawmakers to find a compromise on the Federal budget and taxation issue.  While this is not as controversial as the Chick Fil A stance on gay marriage, it does represent a change in which corporations are taking a public stance on a political issue. 

The first amendment guarantees the right of free speech - even to corporations.  This right was reinforced by the recent "Citizens United" case.

But apart from the issue of free speech and corporate rights, I have to wonder whether this trend is good marketing.

I'm a fan of cause related marketing, but I think it makes marketing sense to keep the causes broad-based and non-controversial to ensure maximum consumer buy-in.  It seems to me that motherhood makes good strategy.   

Responding to Current Events ...

When companies face rapidly changing conditions, it takes a great deal of skill to stay on the right side of public opinion. 

Online Ad for Walmart featuring an "enhanced" rifle which ran on "Black Friday"

Walmart is one of the leading retailers of firearms.  How should they handle their reputation - and their bottom line - in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings?  Up until now, the company had no qualms about selling the "Bushmaster" ... the gun model that was involved in those horrific shootings. 

As recently as Black Friday (the big shopping day following Thanksgiving) Walmart featured the SIG M400 "enhanced carbine rifle" on its ecommerce site with a featured price of $867.  And what's wrong with that?  The product is perfectly legal.  And profitable.  So, why not? 

Following the Sandy Hook shootings, Walmart pulled the Bushmaster - the gun model that was used in the shootings - from its shelves.  But what about the other guns?  How should it handle its role as a leading gun retailer when public opinion was shifting rapidly about gun sales.  Part of the problem is that public opinion is not universal.  In fact, those who favor permissive gun laws were buying up guns at a rapid pace because they were concerned about possible new rules.  Here's an excerpt from a Huffington Post story from December 19:

Walmart has reportedly sold out of semi-automatic rifles in five states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg. The nation's largest retailer reintroduced guns to many of its stores in 2011, after a five-year period of limited availability. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg, and it said it was not willing to provide comment to HuffPost.

Note a couple of points that illustrate the challenge that faces Walmart.  1) It pulled back from gun sales for five years, but re-introduced them in 2011.  2) It pulled the Bushmaster, but not other guns, from its shelves following Sandy Hook.  3) It didn't respond to a request for comment from the media. 

Walmart is in a tough spot, but it needs to come to a logical point of view ... communicate it ... and be prepared for the fallout.  Waffling is not a good strategy when emotions run high.

Eternal Vigilence is the Price of Customer Service

I visited a Stew Leonard's store today ... with much anticipation.  Stew Leonard's has been consistently cited as a retailer with nearly perfect customer service.

Unfortunately, the reality wasn't quite the customer service heaven I was anticipating.  The store itself wasn't set up for customer service.  There was no customer service counter.  The clerks were busy stocking shelves (during prime shopping time) and couldn't seem to be bothered to look around to see what the customers might need. 

The check out experience wasn't any better.  The clerk was engaged in a conversation with a fellow worker about who was responsible for making coffee in the employee lounge.  So I wasn't greeted or acknowledged.  In fact, he never even looked at me. 

I guess it goes to show that, once on top, companies can't rest when it comes to customer service.  Today's laurels are tomorrow's compost.

Reposting: Why Don't Bad Ideas Ever Die?

I don't usually re-post ... but this is a terrific synopsis of the march of folly when it comes to economics.  Click here.

If Holidays Didn't Exist ... Retailers Would Invent Them

Holidays are wonderful retail opportunities.  Would you ever really think to get Aunt Matilda a gift if there wasn't an occasion that prompted your action?  Would you think to take your assistant out to lunch if there wasn't an "Administrative Assistants Day"?  Marketers have long understood the law of physics that says "a body at rest tends to stay at rest."  The same is true for good intentions.  Good intentions need a stimulus for action ... and that's where holidays often come in.

And that's why retailers have taken over holidays like Christmas and Valentines Day, which have their origins in religion or popular culture, but have become major retail events.  That's also why retailers have invented holidays like Administrative Assistant Day and Bosses Day. 

Of course, some retail events are more plausible than others.  Santa Claus has been associated with gifts for decades if not centuries.  And Valentine's Day is all about romance (and demonstrating romantic love has long been associated with gifts). 

The new genre of holidays and events actually have a proper name:  pseudo-events.  These are events that have been created and, incidentally, have become major retail occasions. 

I'm old enough to remember Super Bowl I.  It was an exciting event, but nothing like the Super Bowl is today.  Imagine what the Frito-Lay or Budweiser bottom line would look like without Super Bowl.  Those Super Bowl sales are really incremental ... and they are directly attributable to an event that has been created by the entertainment and advertising industries. 

So if you're looking to build sales, consider finding the trigger that will tip consumer dormancy into action.  It's best to build on a plausible platform (like Christmas or Valentines Day).  But you can create your own pseudo events as well.  In destination marketing, Festivals serve that purpose.  Aloha Week in Hawaii isn't something that Hawaiian natives developed - it was clearly created as a pseudo event.  However, it builds on an existing idea and makes an event out of it ... which, the destination hopes, will prompt people to travel and spend money.

The Changing Nature of Holidays

I haven't been posting lately because I've been so busy preparing for the holidays.  The college where I work essentially shuts down for the last two weeks of the year, which means all of the year end reports end up getting crammed into early December.  It seems that more and more businesses are closing for extended periods of time around the year end holidays.  And the holiday music is in the elevators earlier and earlier.  And retailers are becoming more and more dependent on holiday sales.  Which brings up an interesting question. 

When did "black Friday" sneak into consumer language?  Retailers have long referred to the day after Thanksgiving as "black Friday" among themselves because it is the day when the ink can turn from red to black.  But lately - in the last few years - "black Friday" has become part of the popular lexicon.  I checked newspaper and television ads around the end of November and many if not most of the ads used the term in communications aimed directly at consumers.  So, it seems the holidays have really turned the corner ... from a religious and family celebration to a massively retail event. 

I also remember in my early advertising career that it was an unspoken rule that Santa Claus was not a pitchman.  He could be seen enjoying a Coke.  Or he could be seen flying off in his sleigh.  But, overt selling was not something Santa did.  Those days are gone.  Santa is a shill and that's a shame.  I don't mind the retail aspects of the holidays at all, but retail shouldn't be the entire message.  There's something to be said for leaving at least a little of the magic in the holidays.

The Difficult Task of Focusing

I recently conducted a marketing training session.  Things went smoothly until we began the discussion of target selection.  There were different company stakeholders in the room and it seemed that each lobbied for a different marketing target that they wanted to add to the plan.

The problem, of course, is that by spreading yourself too thin ... well, you spread yourself too thin.  You risk taking limited resources and making the budgets even less effective.  I recall that when I was doing the marketing for Hawaii Pizza Hut, there were always store managers who wanted to spend money to attract sports teams ... or youth groups ... or other targets.  Don't get me wrong: these people eat pizza.  But, by adding them to the target list, we would have diminished the budget for our primary target: families with young children.

You can lose focus, too, by trying to promote too much of your product line.  I once had a contract with the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture.  They had a large budget - about $1 million - to promote the flower industry.  I suggested that we concentrate on one or two primary products which were well connected with Hawaii ... or promote the general idea of "flowers from Hawaii."  Instead, the department responded to pressure from the different grower groups.  They budgeted a little for anthuriums ... a little for protea ... a little for ginger ... a little for tropical foliage ... a little for ... well, you get the picture.  They took what was a meaningful budget and spread it way too thin.  Each of the stakeholders was happy because each got a little piece of the pie; but, the impact of the whole program was minimal.

Focus is one of those incredibly powerful ideas in business.  

   

Carpet Bombing as a Marketing Strategy

The 2012 election season is almost over - and you will hear a sigh of relief across the country on Wednesday November 7 when the pain of constant, negative messaging is finally over.

Because of changes in the regulations surrounding political advertising (particularly the "Citizens United" case), this year has been particularly obnoxious when it comes to political marketing.  By some accounts, the various groups supporting the presidential candidates will spend about a billion dollars on this election.  And that doesn't count the money spent on congressional and local races.

Carpet bombing destroys everything in its path

, sometimes even the target

Unfortunately, this flood of dollars has resulted in marketing that has adopted a "carpet bombing" strategy.  The advertising is reactive, disjointed, and anything-but-strategic.  The logic of carpet bombing is that if you throw enough explosives in the vicinity of the target, you might just get the target.  The problem is that there is tremendous waste and a lot of collateral damage.

The damage from this year's political carpet bombing is likely to be a loss of consumer interest in advertising messages.  The advertising for candidates could have been so much more effective - and palatable - if the campaign managers had followed the proven and effective tenets of marketing: develop a cohesive strategy that builds over time and presents the consumer with a clear and understandable benefit.

I believe good marketing could have provided the candidates with twice the impact for half the cost.

There's just not a lot of "bang for the buck" when it comes to carpet bombing. 

Customer Service Requires Critical Thinking

I've spent the last few days in a hotel in Asia where the prevailing low labor rates mean that the hotel has plenty of staff.  I know hotels in the US that would be astounded at the number of staff members deployed in the lobby, restaurants, and for housekeeping.  Even when I checked into the hotel at 3 a.m., there were three people at the front desk!

Hold on a second, though.  Don't be too envious of the ability to deploy squadrons of staffers to improve customer service.  It isn't just about the bodies - it's also about how the bodies are trained and about how they think about service. 

Here's what hit me. 

I was in the lobby waiting to meet some colleagues for breakfast.  One of the housekeeping staff was assigned the task of dry mopping the terrazzo floor.  He has super-task-oriented and focused on the job ... so much so that he didn't notice a McDonald's bag full of trash sitting in plain sight on one of the coffee tables. In fact, he carefully mopped under the table without noticing or disposing of the bag.

The lesson here is that customer service isn't just about completing set tasks with rote skills.  Like so many things in the service business it requires customer service training and critical thinking.    

Reading the Tea Leaves

I'm headed to Sri Lanka to do some seminars on tourism development.  That beautiful country is making a comeback after a brutal civil war that lasted more than two decades. 

In preparing for my talk, I was reflecting on tourism businesses that have been successful by reading their environment ... and developing products to respond to human needs just as they are bubbling up - not when everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. 

One example I'm using in the talk is Sandals Resorts and their development of destination weddings.  Astute observers of society would have noticed that since the 1960s societal values have changed when it comes to getting married.  There is cohabitation before marriage (largely unheard of in the 50s).  So the bride and groom, when they arrive at the ceremony, already have a lot of their household items.  Both the bride and groom are working now (not so in the 50s) so there's more income.  There's been a decline in the importance of religion in American life, so there's less of a need to be married in the family church or synagog.  Families are scattered, too so often there is no "central place" that is a logical wedding site. 

Sandals processed all this and started promoting "destination weddings" in its Caribbean Resorts.  They provide the romantic setting and the resort amenities.  And since there is more discretionary income with a late-marrying working couple, the costs can be covered.  And since the couple already has a lot of household items, money can be spent on travel. 

Sandals has even branded its product as "Weddingmoons."  The package includes all of the elements necessary for the couples' wedding and honeymoon ... and also the necessary travel and arrangements for the guests.   Amazingly, one recent statistic indicates that about 10% of all US weddings are now destination weddings.

Promoting destination weddings is a great way to reach a high spending customer with a product that reflects current social conditions. 

I wonder what other emerging social trends are out there that can be the basis for successful marketing solutions?

The Care and Feeding of Clients

Today's is a guest posting from Howard Wolff ... a marketing consultant with timeless advice on client service.

Click here for his column "Where Have All Your Clients Gone."

Election Promotions: Are there no limits?

You may have already heard about this Pizza Hut promotion: as part of its election year "Pizza Party" campaign, Pizza Hut is offering free pizza for life (actually 30 years) if anyone in the audience at the town-hall style presidential debate had the audacity to ask the candidates: "Sausage or Pepperoni?"

There has been a torrent of negative publicity around this stunt - and rightly so, in my opinion.  I've never believed the saying that "there is no such thing as bad publicity."  Companies - especially big established companies - need to act responsibly, even if they're trying to be creative.  Pizza Hut has done some non-rational advertising and PR stunts before.  Perhaps you remember when they paid (a lot of money) to put the logo on the side of a Russian Proton rocket in 2001.  I wonder how they measured the return on that investment.  I can just imagine the creative team coming in to pitch the debate idea - and congratulating themselves on how "creative" they could be. 

I remember seeing a bumper sticker once that read:  Bizarre is Easy.  Creative is Hard.

Amen.  

Hey, Starbucks! There are 50 States!

Here we go again.  Starbucks is a national brand with a national cause related marketing program.  The only problem is that the iconic image that Starbucks is using for its "Let's Create Jobs" program is a map outline of forty eight of the fifty states.

Starbucks marketing folks, listen up!  That image has been wrong for more than 53 years.  News flash:  Alaska and Hawaii have joined the union. 

Starbucks store managers and district managers in Hawaii ... give your corporate office a call and let them know that you exist.  And let them know that the jobs program is a good cause here, too.  And tell them that these cause related programs - which are meant to build the brand's reputation - look silly when you lop off two of the fifty states.  And you can suggest that if they want to eliminate two states, maybe they should drop Nebraska and Maine.  That would make as much sense.

Hrumph. 

Creating Cult Brands

I used to tell my students that the ultimate loyal customer was the one who would get your logo as a tattoo.  In fact, in presentations, I used the specific example of Harley Davidson riders who probably are those customers most likely to sport a branded as a tattoo. 

Harley may be an extreme example.  They have clubs, activities and long distance rides.  But Harley also spawned a real life line of accessories that went beyond the bad-boy biker image. 

Saturn cars in its heyday (before the corporate types ruined the brand) had a cult of loyal customers who actually traveled to Spring Hill Tennessee (often as part of a vacation) to revel in the Saturn experience. 

When I was in college near Chicago, Coors was a cult product.  Coors wasn't distributed in the Chicago area and students coming back to campus from the Rockies after break would always bring Coors back with them ... and it was always greeted with appropriate awe.

Apple is the latest cult brand ... though it is much bigger than any of those other examples.  Cultists camp out to be first in line for a new Apple product. 

What does it take to bring a brand to cult status?  Looking at just these few examples, there is no one single successful strategy. 

Harley caters to a unique psychographic group.  They became a tribe ... and Harley is their idol.  It is the brand that identifies them as part of the tribe. 

Saturn created an off-beat brand:  A different kind of car from a different kind of car company.  The brand positioning set Saturn apart from other car brands and created a reason for Saturn owners to bond with the company. 

Coors enjoyed the classic condition of a well crafted product that was hard to get.  It's limited distribution made it a sought-after brand. 

Apple built its cult around the image and reputation of its founder ... and the very real innovation and iconoclastic design it built into Apple products. 

If there's a common thread, building a cult brand means giving a well-defined set of customers reasons to rally together with the brand acting as the glue. 

Good Intentions - and Unintended Consequences

There's actually a law of unintended consequences:

 “The Law of unintended consequences holds that almost all human actions have at least one unintended consequence. Unintended consequences are a common phenomenon, due to the complexity of the world and human over-confidence.” – Author Unknown

Ah, overconfidence.  We are so often so entranced by our latest great idea or the newest shiny new thing that we don't spend enough time thinking through the possible negative consequences.

When I was doing the marketing for Hawaii Pizza Hut, we introduced and advertised a pizza buffet for lunch and for certain nights for dinner.  The program was doing well in general, but some of the restaurants were doing better than others ... and some didn't do so well at all.  So, after analyzing restaurant-by-restaurant sales, management decided that some of the restaurants would have buffet at lunch - and some wouldn't.  And some would have buffet on certain evening nights - and some wouldn't.  The unintended consequence was that we could no longer advertise pizza buffet on television and, as a result, the whole concept of buffet declined.  Unintended consequence coming from well intentioned business analysis.

There have been recent news reports that a low cost air carrier (LCC) may be starting service to Hawaii.  The industry and the media are all excited about the prospect of new airlift.  There may be an unintended consequence, though.   If a carrier like JetBlue comes into the market and changes price expectations, we may see the large "legacy" carriers like United, American and Delta cut way back on their service.  So the net result may be negative. 

I think we're seeing an impending case of unintended consequences when it comes to voting.  Governments are starting to push for the idea of online voting.  On the surface, it addresses some shortcomings of in person voting:  low voter turnout and high cost for managing a voting site in each precinct.  Here's my "unintended consequence" worry.  While it introduces convenience and cost savings, it takes away some of the benefits of in-person voting, notably the privacy of the voting booth.  Once voting can happen on line, what's to prevent someone (your boss, your religious adviser, your union rep, your cult master ... or whoever) from standing over your shoulder and "helping" you make your choices.  I can imagine organizations inviting senior citizens or those without transportation to centrally located computer banks where they could get "assistance" in voting.  Currently, regulations restrict campaigning within a certain distance from the voting site.  How do you enforce this when any computer can be a site?  Maybe there are some safeguards that can be put in place ... but this and other possible unintended consequences should make us think long and hard before making a fundamental change.

Someone once called me "Dr. Doom" because I would probe and ask hard questions when evaluating new ideas.  I don't mean to be negative, but I do want to pursue new ideas with my eyes wide open and an understanding of what might lurk in the world of unintended consequences.  

One of the many challenges in marketing is that there are so many ideas floated around.  The trick is to evaluate them carefully and work hard to imagine the possible negative connotations to a seemingly great idea.  

Guest Posting - 'Cause I'm Not a "Twitter-ite"

4 Practical Ways to Build Your Influence on Twitter

According to an Adobe/Econsultancy Digital Intelligence Briefing released this month (September 2012), 86% of 650 marketing professionals have an active presence on Twitter.

The ROI of Twitter is associated to larger brand mindshare and better customer service for the hyper-connected consumer.

In Hawaii, surveys have confirmed that a growing number of marketers are using Twitter to promote their business. Of those using Twitter, 27% said it had helped generate new business leads and 33% said Twitter had helped them close new business.

To start using Twitter for your business, start by identifying the reporters and top-tier editors of the publications that write about your industry. A freelance PR consultant can help you if you don’t have the time to do this yourself. But once you have your list, don’t start tweeting high-profile reporters right away. Your Tweets might look like spam. Instead, look for ways to insert yourself into the stream of conversation. Here's how:

Use these 4 Steps to Build Your Influence on Twitter

1. Regularly interact with 15 people that are already connected to someone who influences your industry, but have small or medium-sized followings of their own. Look for 10 or 20 people with a few hundred followers and see who Retweets and Replies to their message. This tip works because it’s easier to get noticed when you’re one of a few dozen rather than one out of a few thousand.

2. Create an “influence map” for your business—the 10 or 20 people that the leaders in your industry pay attention to. You can find these people by looking at Twitter streams and Klout topic lists. If the person you’re trying to engage with regularly Retweets or Replies to the same group of people over and over again, then see if you can establish relationships with those people first. Soon, you might be included in the conversation! As your influence grows, you will eventually become part of a “ladder of trust”—as long as you regularly create and share valuable, compelling content for your followers.

3. Once you’ve identified your “ladder of trust,” ask, “How can I give something of value back to the people I want to engage with?” Look at your own research, industry reports and always be on the lookout for ways you can be helpful. Share their content, but add extra value. For example, ask questions of your followers, then use that feedback to write an article about that subject. Then share that article with the person who originally tweeted the inspiration for your idea. They will likely share your content to their entire network!

4. Be supportive and go the extra mile whenever you can. Always be looking for ways to help and give back. Over time, your extra effort will help you get noticed, while showing the type of value you can bring to a relationship. Be unique and worthwhile. Plan to build relationships for as long as a year or more before asking for something in return. What are other ways that you can think of to help build your influence on Twitter? Start the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.

About the Author:

Laura Kinoshita is founder of a hybrid marketing, PR, social media, SEO and advertising web firm established in 2007. Her online marketing campaigns earned two awards this year, a PRSA Koa award for Bite Me Sportfishing of Kailua-Kona and a Hermes Creative Gold Award for The Shops at Mauna Lani on the Kohala Coast. She is the also the author of a 25-page, step-by-step guide for how to incorporate Facebook & Twitter into a marketing plan. Get your copy at: http://bit.ly/LK-tips

How Do You Deal With a Juggernaut? Plant a Seed of Doubt

SamSung Takes On IPhone 5

There's no doubt about Apple's ability to generate buzz.  Weeks before the launch of IPhone 5, there were teaser stories across all media and lots of speculation about what wonders the new phone would introduce to the market.

If you're a competitor, I'm sure there would be a great temptation to lie low and wait until the pre-launch hype and the launch advertising subsides before responding to the juggernaut.

SamSung took a different approach and launched an advertising campaign touting the Galaxy 3's features, but also planting a seed of doubt about how cool the IPhone really is.

Now, SamSung is not going to sway hard core Apple customers.  They "drank the Kool Aid" and they'll buy anything that Apple puts out - standing in line for hours to do it.  That's a sign of a power brand.  But for those undecided's out there, SamSung's commercial provokes some doubt about just how cool the IPhone really is.

First, the commercial reiterates some existing doubts and issues about the IPhone (like the new adapter).  Then it makes comparisons, pitting the Galaxy 3 against the IPhone.

But the coup de grace is at the end of the commercial when SamSung questions the coolness of Apple users.  The SamSung hero in the commercial has been standing in line,demonstrating the wonders of his Galaxy 3.  When asked if he's giving up on Galaxy to get a new IPhone he responds by saying he's just holding a place in line - for his totally uncool parents.  It's a great deflater for Apple's cool demographic.

Here's a link to the commercial.  SamSung Galaxy S3 Ad

I've often used Apple ads in class to demonstrate how you can be creative and effective at the same time.  I'm delighted to see that SamSung can dish it out, too.

Let the competition continue. 

18th Centrury Customer Service in the 21st Century

18th Century Customer Service for the 21st Century

Sometimes when I think I’m running out of ideas for this blog, fate intervenes and hands me an especially poignant story of excellence or craziness in marketing.  

What follows is a dramatic reconstruction of a customer service experience at its worst.  The perpetrator is John Hancock Insurance.  I was calling to get information on an annuity that was rolled over from a pension plan of a company that I worked for.  

Agent 1 (male)	May I have your name and social security number?
Me	Provides the information
Agent	How can I help you?
Me	I was on your website trying to register to get information about my John Hancock annuity … and it wouldn’t let me register.
Agent	Give me your name and social security number (AGAIN!)
Me	Provides the information
Agent	Give me a minute (pause for several minutes)
Agent	Your name isn’t in the system.
Me	But I have an account …
Agent	It’s not showing up …
Me	But I have an account
Agent	Give me a minute (pause for several minutes)
Agent 2 (female)	How can I help you?
Me	I was speaking to a different agent … I was on your website trying to register to get information about my John Hancock annuity … and it wouldn’t let me register.
Agent 2	May I have your name and social security number (AGAIN!)
Me	Gives information
Agent 2	You can’t register on this site.
Me	But, I have a John Hancock annuity and this is the John Hancock annuity site.
Agent 2	Yes, but you can’t register this particular annuity.
Me	Why?
Agent 2	We’re just managing this annuity.
Me	But, it’s a John Hancock annuity …
Agent 2	I don’t make the rules, sir.
Me	What I want to know is what my benefit is …
Agent 2	You’ll have to send us a letter with the information we need to process your request.
Me	Don’t you have a form online?
Agent 2	No.
Me	Can you email me a form?
Agent 2	No.
Me	Can you send me the information I need to provide by email?
Agent 2	No, we can only give you the information by telephone.
Me	The year is 2012 … you can’t email me??
Agent 2	I don’t make the rules sir.
Me	Ok … give me the information that I need to provide …
Agent 2	((Begins to rattle off a list of requirements))
Me	Slow down … I have to write this down.
Agent 2	You’ll have to provide all of this in writing …
Me	I just can’t believe that in 2012, there’s not a better way to handle this …
Agent 2	I don’t make the rules, sir. Cardinal sin # 1 - ask the customer for information you've already gotten.  Systems should be designed so that customer information stays available for all customer service staff involved in the call.  Cardinal sin #2 - handing off the customer to another rep.  Customer service should be one-stop-service.  In this case agent one handed me off to agent 2 without an explanation.  With agent 2 I had to start all over again.   Cardinal sin #3 - no apology.  When the customer is unhappy - even if there is nothing you can do about it - apologize for the inconvenience.  When I found I couldn't use the website to register, someone should have said "I'm sorry."  When they couldn't send information by email, say "I'm sorry, but ... I can't send that by email." Cardinal sin #4 - the blame game.  "I don't make the rules" is a statement that will not make anyone happy.

Semper Paratus - Preparation is the Foundation for Effective Communication

I attended a meeting this week that was a case study in poor communications.  There were eighteen people attending - four of whom flew in for the occasion.  During one agenda item I noted that fourteen of the eighteen attendees were doing email, on their smart phones or surfing the net.  That's almost 80% of the audience not paying attention.

The subject was important enough to be on the agenda but I can hardly blame the audience for tuning out.  The speaker was awful.  She mumbled, she rambled, she looked down at her folder,  and she simply wasn't prepared to sell her ideas.

Ms. Dorothy Sarnoff

When I went through training on presentations (many years ago in the days of Mad Men) at Ogilvy & Mather advertising, the training was conducted by Dorothy Sarnoff.  Dorothy Sarnoff was a Broadway actress, most famous for her starring role as Anna in "The King and I."  I thought it was odd that a Broadway actress would be training advertising executives, but O&M thought otherwise.  The central point that she made was that when you are presenting you are on stage.  She taught us to engage in intra-communications (mentally speaking to yourself) before beginning a presentation by repeating the mantra: "I'm glad I'm here; I know what I know."  If you are glad to be at the presentation, you will look and feel engaged.  The presenter in the dreadful meeting that I just attended looked like she was attending a funeral.  To confirm that "I know what I know" gives the speaker confidence about the presentation and promotes the ability to sell ideas.  Our mumbling presenter at the recent meeting was anything but confident.  Ms. Sarnoff had many other tips, notably on how to project so that everyone in the room could hear the presentation ... and she insisted that we make eye contact with as many in the room as possible.

Another great teacher in my career was a Management Supervisor at Leo Burnett advertising.  He insisted on preparation as the foundation for good communication.  In fact, he insisted that all of his colleagues write out talking points complete with a recommendation whenever we met - even on relatively unimportant subjects.  There was no such thing as dropping in to chat or having a hallway conversation with him.  As a result, meetings were very focused and there was always an outcome.  I so wish that more people prepared for meetings.  The workplace would be so much more productive.

The motto of the US Coast Guard is "Semper Paratus:" always prepared.  It isn't a bad idea for communicators. 

The Changing Traveler - Experience is the New Luxury

((This long post is actually an article that I wrote for a Sri Lankan tourism magazine))

Anyone working in travel and tourism knows that the industry is in a constant state of change and evolution.  Changing demographics, technology, cultural values, and products all contribute to a dynamic industry.  While change has been a constant, the rate of change has been accelerating.  Most recently, changing consumer values coupled with the increasing importance of the internet and social media have contributed to the growing importance of the “experiential” traveler.  

There are various definitions of experiential travel, but this one from the Canadian Tourism Commission provides a good summary of the concept:

Experiential Travel engages visitors in a series of memorable activities, revealed over a duration of time, that are inherently personal, engage the senses and makes connections on an emotional, physical, spiritual, or intellectual level.”   (Canadian Tourism Commission Research Report 2004-7)

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Changing consumer characteristics and values are two important foundations for this trend.  Travelers are becoming more sophisticated and, therefore, are seeking more sophisticated travel experiences.  Higher levels of education have created a group of travelers who are more confident than ever in seeking out travel experiences that suit their personal interests.  These travelers are independent and are motivated to enjoy experiences in their travels that they can share with colleagues, friends and family when they return home. 

Contributing to the increasing importance of experiential behaviours is the simultaneous decrease in the importance of physical luxury items as badges of wealth and sophistication.  As a New York Times article observed: conspicuous consumption is a casualty of the recent recession.  (NYT, March 10, 2009).  Rather than rewarding themselves with luxury cars, jewelry and furnishings, consumers are becoming more prone to rewarding themselves with experiences such as spa treatments, cultural activities, performances, festivals, and gourmet cuisine.  

The trend toward experiential travel is also made possible by the growing power of the internet and social media.  In the past, it was difficult for visitors to find festivals, cultural attractions, local cuisines or other activities that could be part of an experiential visit.  Back then, visitors were more likely to “stand back and gaze” rather than “experience and learn.”   Without tools like the internet, visitors relied upon printed guidebooks and brochures which simply couldn’t provide the comprehensive or dynamic compendium of activities and experiences for a place that can now be obtained online.  As a result, visitors tended to go to a place to enjoy a resort or to simply “see the sights” recommended by printed guidebooks because authentic or intriguing experiences were just too hard to find.  

That all changed with the internet.  Now, review sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp can provide peer reviews for even the most obscure attractions, restaurants and activities.  Moreover, booking sites can assemble a personalized travel itinerary using “dynamic packaging” so that the visitor can arrange for a custom tailored travel product.   The internet and social media also provide the means for experiential visitors to share their experiences with friends and family when they return home – or even during their travels.  Social networking sites like FaceBook and Twitter along with sites like Flickr and YouTube allow travelers to publicly display their travel badges, confirming their sophistication and worldliness for all to see. 

These emerging experiential travelers are good news for the visitor industry, although to be successful, the industry must rethink its conventional views of the travel product.  

Experiential travelers provide a range of benefits for destinations and private sector travel industry organizations:  

• Experiences, especially those closely related to the destination, are hard to copy.  The islands of Hawai‘i have four and five star resorts; however, they tend to have higher prices and its resorts and hotels are somewhat older than similarly rated accommodations in competitive destinations.  So, why would anyone come to Hawai‘i when they could have a similar or superior resort experience in a competitive destination for a lower price?  The answer must lie in the visitor experience in Hawai‘i.  The destination promotes its spirit of “aloha” which, by its definition, is unique to Hawai‘i.  Additionally, apart from the resorts, the destination promotes cultural activities and attractions, a unique regional cuisine, festivals and other activities that can only be found in Hawai‘i.  Unlike “brick and mortar” resort structures, these experiences cannot be easily copied.  Even when designing resorts, experiences can be built into the product.  Many Las Vegas hotels and resorts, for example, are built around fantasy themes. 

• Experiential visitors are frequent travelers.  In a U.S. study conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America, researchers found that experiential visitors took 38.5% more trips annually than the average person.  When researchers measured the number of annual pleasure trips, experiential travelers took 27.9% more trips than average. 

• Experiential travelers are higher-than-average spenders when they travel.  It is logical that travelers who are visiting attractions, attending festivals and indulging in spa treatments and regional cuisine would spend more than average.  This logic is borne out by research (once again in the U.S.) indicating that, apart from transportation costs to the destination, visitors who are seeking cultural experiences spend 36.3% more than conventional travelers per trip. 

•  Experiential travelers often stay longer to enjoy the activities and attractions of a destination.  In the U.S. study, researchers found that “many travelers extend the duration of their trip specifically to participate in cultural or historic activities and events.”  Specifically, the study found that 40% of historic/cultural travelers added at least some extra time to their trip to enjoy these activities.  

•  Experiential travelers are seeking authentic attractions, products, and activities that can provide quality employment for local and indigenous people.  Visitors who are attracted to a destination for its people and culture will seek out those things that are unique and authentic.  Often, locals and indigenous people are suspicious of the travel industry, believing that it both ignores and trivializes the culture or, perhaps worse, that revenues are exported to offshore corporations.  Cultural tourism, on the other hand, supports trained guides, expert craftsmen and artisans, culinary professionals and others who can deliver quality experiences while earning good wages. 

• Experiential travel can offset traditional seasonality.  Visitors traveling to a destination for conventional attractions such as sun, sand and surf will naturally tend to travel when conditions are ideal, creating a situation with peak seasons when conditions are right and off seasons (or “shoulder” seasons) when conditions are less than perfect.  Visitors traveling to experience cultural attractions, festivals or other events and activities are less likely to adhere to these conventional travel patterns.  Festivals, in particular, are one way for destinations to drive counter-seasonal travel.  In Hawai‘i, the longstanding “Aloha Festivals” are held annually in September and October, a typically slow travel season for the islands.  Montréal Canada’s website lists sixteen different festivals scheduled throughout the year, providing visitors with a variety of reasons to travel there even during the city’s very cold winters.

•  Activities that provide one-of-a-kind experiences provide high levels of value and can command a premium price.  With increasing consumer sophistication and changing consumer values, experiences are becoming a driving motivational force.  As one observer put it: Experience is the new luxury.

To embrace experiential travelers, the industry must rethink its product, because experiential travel is the opposite of mass tourism.  To create a value proposition for experiential travelers, the industry must design ways for the visitor to actively engage and participate in the destination on a personal level.  Cultural tourism, agri-tourism, eco-tourism, historical tourism, nature tourism, and many other hyphenated tourism categories can all fit under the umbrella of experiential tourism – because they all deliver value to the consumer through the travel experience.  

Destinations and tourism companies have begun to shift their marketing communications and product development to embrace experiential tourism.  For many years Canada promoted its wild and scenic beauty.  More recently, however, Canada has established a marketing position built around the idea “Explore Canada.”  

Disney, which has long been skilled at manufacturing resorts and theme parks built on fantasy has taken a different approach in its new Aulani Resort and Spa in Hawai‘i.  Certainly, the resort continues to feature costumed Disney characters (albeit decked out in Hawaiian garb); but, the resort has added features that complement its traditional products with more experiential ones.  At the resort, the main building is designed to mimic a traditional Hawaiian canoe house.  The ‘Ōlelo bar in the hotel has Hawaiian words and definitions mounted on the walls and the bartenders and waiters speak Hawaiian.  At night, guests are invited to sit around a fire pit while a member of the resort staff tells stories about Hawaiian legends. 

While change is a fact of life in the travel industry, riding the wave of change can improve profitability.  The rise of experiential travelers can be a welcome development for those organizations that understand them and who can develop products and services that serve their needs, deliver value, and command a strong and profitable position in a competitive marketplace.