The person who buys and places BMW’s regional ads should win a medal for tracking down all the Audi billboards and quickly getting up this BMW ad in response. As usual it shows that everyone is playing catchup to BMW.
More examples of the media buy can be found here.
Earlier this weekend, I received this email from Shutterfly.
Dear Shutterfly Customer,
You may have heard recently that an increasing number of online photo services including Kodak Gallery and HP Snapfish are forcing customers to make a purchase or they will delete their photos. I’m writing to remind you that your photos are safe with Shutterfly.
As a father of three boys, an avid photographer, and someone who knows the importance and the satisfaction of sharing life’s joy, I want to assure you we understand these are not just photos, but your treasured memories.
As a reminder, with Shutterfly you get:
The more than 500 people who work at Shutterfly are truly humbled that our loyal customers have made us the #1 online photo service. We are proud to provide innovative high quality products and services, an easy-to-use website, stylish designs, and customer-friendly policies.
Thank you again for choosing to create, share and preserve your memories with Shutterfly.
With warmest regards,
Jeffrey Housenbold
President & CEO
P.S. We always appreciate hearing from our customers. If you have suggestions for how we can make Shutterfly even better, please let us know at feedback@shutterfly.com.
Folks this is how it’s done. The message was timely (lots of folks will be taking Easter Photos), proactive, and it reinforces why Shutterfly is a better choice for the consumer.
I’ve been a long time Shutterfly customer and can tell you that they have always over delivered on customer service. This email is just another shining example of why I’ve made them my preferred choice for online photo storage, sharing, and development.
A few weeks ago I shared with you a list of 5 brands that were succeeding without an investment in social media. This week, I want to share with you a list of 5 brands that are doing poorly despite their investment in social media. The following is being written with sarcasm – please take it as such.
Delta Airlines
Let’s hope the merger with Northwest helps things. A recent Airline Quality Rating Report has Delta ranked 12th. Ouch. The stock price is hovering just over $7.00..sad when you compare it to the $20.00 + it was at 1.5 years ago. But, hey they’re on twitter, YouTube, and have a blog so that should ease the concerns of analysts and shareholders…right?
Target
Sales were down 6.3% in March…but that exceeded analyst expectations. When doing bad is perceived to be “good” you know things are bad. The 2008 holiday season didn’t pull them into the black and they recently had a few rounds of layoffs. But, don’t worry, they’re on Facebook.
Segway
A shining of example of hyperbole. Inventor Dean Kamen lauded Segway, “will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy.” Only 30,000 Segways were sold between 2001 and 2007. Considering Segway thought they’d sell between 50,000 and 100,000 in the first 13 months, that’s pretty bad. They still aren’t profitable, but they do have their own community network, a blog, Facebook page, and twitter account.
Starbucks
They have a site dedicated to consumer ideas and engage consumers on twitter, yet they continue to close stores left and right. 3 years ago the stock traded above $35, but today it sits at $12. New leadership, new decor, and a new menu haven’t helped. Maybe a blog could be the answer 
Home Depot
As you’d expect, a soft housing market and declining economy haven’t helped them grow. Their stock has decreased nearly 40% in the last 3 years which isn’t surprising when you consider that both revenue and profit are both down significantly. But, maybe their YouTube page will be the tactic that turns that tide.
The sarcasm above is with good reason. Social Media seems to be the recommended solution for all companies. The reality is it takes more than an investment into Social Media to make a business work. Social Media isn’t for every company and even the companies that it’s right for need more than a presence on twitter to be successful.
I hope this dose of reality was helpful.
Short Version
David Armano, widely considered to be a really smart guy has left Critical Mass to join a startup company called Dachis Corp. Some people are happy about the above and think this is great. Others are completely pissed.
Long Version
For the last 12 months there’s been a lot of discussion in the interactive space regarding “personal brands.” Not familiar with the concept of personal brands? Let me give you the down and dirty.
For years employees have been cogs in a company’s machine. Employess were expected to live, breathe, and die for the greater good of the organization. But, the rapid evolution of interactive marketing towards “social media” started to change that concept. People mattered. Yes, people mattered. Frank Eliason from Comcast, the man Business Week called “the most famous customer service manager in the U.S., possibly in the world” is perhaps the best example of this evolution.
The people that are pissed about Armano’s decision to leave Critical Mass believe the following:
This comment from a reader of Brian Morrisey’s article on David’s departure captures the spirit and sentiment of those who are pissed at his decision to bail.
Critical Mistake
April 10, 2009
Armano is giving up the sweetest deal of all: Critical Mass paid him a salary to build his own brand at the expense of theirs. So today Armano is a social media rockstar and Critical Mass is still an unknown agency. He’s always feeding us some line about learning from people. Love for him to teach us how he managed to pull that one off.
It’s an interesting point and one I can understand. It’s similar to college basketball coaches that are given an opportunity by a school, paid well, and treated like rock stars – only to abandon that school for a more lucrative or better known school. The people in Memphis are saying this very thing about John Calipari’s decision to leave them for Kentucky.
Here’s the facts, as I see them:
To me it’s that simple. Companies cut employees all the time. Sometimes for good reasons. Sometimes for silly reasons. I’ve been there, I’ve seen it happen, and recently I was part of it. Whenever we leave an organization we hopefully do it on our own terms and for good reasons. I left Fallon in 2000 while I was working on BMW Films because the culture had changed too much. Publicis’ acquisition of the agency really altered the company and made it a place I no longer wanted to be at. I left Leo Burnett 3 years later for the same reason. I’ve seen people leave for a title, 5K a year more, and because the company stopped offering free beer on Thursdays. The point is, people leave a for a variety of reasons.
I’m happy for David. I wish him well. But, this situation definitely shows us the danger of companies investing in personal brands. David has clearly benefited from Critical Mass’ direct investment into his brand, and I’m sure on some level so has Critical Mass. How much we’ll never know. What we do know for sure is that Critical Mass invested a lot and now 2 years later they have a massive hole to fill.
I like Microsoft. I think Windows is a great operating system. The Office suite of products including Outlook, Project, and Visio are the tools I need to do my job on a day to day basis.
People, really smart people, continue to talk about Microsoft’s demise. They point to Microsoft’s decision to hire CP+B as an example of desperation. On some level, I agree. At the same time they’re shoveling dirt onto Microsoft’s grave, they’re placing Apple on a ridiculously high pedestal. On a lot of levels this is quite funny when you consider that Microsoft maintains more than 89% of the market share. But, I digress.
Microsoft’s problem as it relates to Apple has always been the same. Apple not only develops the software/operating system they’re also designing the hardware. They design the look and feel of the MacBook, iPhone, and iMac. They have 100% control over what the visual expression of the brand will be. That’s huge. Think about it. People don’t understand the nuts and bolts of an operating system. They can’t articulate memory leaks or poor coding. The options for hardware also confuse consumers. Does the consumer need 2gb of memory? 4gb? What about the video card? Oh and don’t forget do you need a 80gb or 200gb hard drive. There’s simply too many options.
But, what consumers do understand is the look of the actual hardware. The Macs are sexy. They’re sleek. They stand out. They’re light weight and have features their PC counterparts overlook; like the magnetic power cord. When you touch the Mac it feels good in your hands. When you consider that this concept is part of Apple’s culture it’s easy to see why the do such a great job with design. From the minute the consumer looks at the Mac and then subsequently touches it, an emotional connection is formed between Apple and the consumer. This is what allows them to leverage the Apple Store so well and why the newly announced Microsoft stores will fail.
Microsoft has little to no control over the actual hardware. Toshiba, HP, Dell, etc. all pick and choose different design options. Frankly, their design options are bland and lack a visual appeal. They just aren’t very sexy and because of that, it’s rare the consumer makes an emotional connection with a PC laptop or desktop. Now don’t get my wrong. You’re paying for this style, design, and emotional connection. Microsoft would have you believe you’re paying about $500.00 more.
The problem with this campaign and these ads are that Microsoft isn’t selling Microsoft – they’re selling HP or whatever computer manufacturer they feature. That’s a major disconnect, don’t you think? So long as Microsoft is at the mercy of their hardware partners they will continue to have this problem and all the advertising in the world won’t fix fix it.
They need a product that people want to touch, feel, and pick-up. They don’t have one. Not one consumer product (Microsoft Surface isn’t a consumer product) from the Zune to the Smart Phones is desirable.
Microsoft may be the only company where the standard advertising agency recommendation or “you need to evolve from a reason to believe to a reason to care…and establish an emotional connection with your consumer” – is 100% true.
Cora officially turns 2 on Monday, April 13th, but getting together people on a Monday night for a birthday part is a bit tough. So we decided to celebrate Cora’s 2nd birthday on Saturday instead. Friends and family from near and far helped Cora officially cross into the terrible twos. This is just one of the many awesome photos.
Our guests were generous and to say she has a treasure chest of presents to enjoy would be an understatement. Cheryl and I gave her a Radio Flyer tricycle.
I was dead set on this being her big gift. There’s just something about the idea of her riding this thing down the street.
You can see all the other photos here.
I’ve belonged to 4 banks over the years: PNC, TCF, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. My Wells Fargo relationship has been in place for about 6 years. During those 6 years one thing has continued to bother me about my banking experience with Wells Fargo: the check deposit process.
This morning I got in the car and headed to the drive thru option at my local Wells Fargo. I had a check (signed by me), my Wells Fargo banking card, and my license. I placed all three of those items into the canister and sent it through the vacuum tube system to the banker. The banker asked me if I wanted to cash the check, I replied, “no, I’d like to deposit it into checking.” The banker then explained I would need to fill out a deposit slip. I don’t understand how it is in today’s day and age of digital banking that I still need to fill out a piece of paper. The information that needed to be filled in was information they already have: name, address, date, and deposit amount. Huh? Anyhow, I fill out the slip, drop it into the canister, and send it back to the banker.
Look, I should know better. This experience is the same every time I go to deposit a check. I guess I keep hoping that one day they’ll have it fixed and surprise me. The kicker in all of this, was after making me waste an additional 5 minutes, the banker thought I’d like to come in (at the very moment) to meet with someone about upgrading to a “better” savings account. Really? You some how thought that the guy who took the drive thru and who was irritated at filling out paper (aka wasting time) would now be jazzed about spending more time with you?
In full disclosure, this same problem has existed with PNC ad TCF. It never happened to me at Citibank. At Citibank you simply provided 2 forms of ID (eg check card and license) and they took care of the rest. If you wanted cash back all you had to do was enter in your pin. It was that simple.
Bob Gilbreath has a blog called Marketing With Meaning. It’s a great blog that grounded in a simple concept: your marketing should have meaning. Meaning to me is about value and marketing is more than the ad campaign a company runs. Value and meaning come from the day to day interactions you have with a brand. If Wells Fargo really wanted to provide me value they’d focus on making my life easier. Not just my life, but all customers. I’m telling you, the check deposit process should be better. Isn’t it in their benefit to make it easier? The more funds they have on hand the more they can lend out. The more they can lend out the more money they make.
There has to be a better way, right?
I loved this post from Beth Harte. She asked the tough question, rolled up her sleeves, got involved with people, and was open to different points of view. That’s rare. Rare? Yes, rare, because lately it seems like “leaders” and “experts” are stifling dialog to ensure only their POV is the one that’s heard and deemed “right.”
I want to get your thoughts on the comment I posted in response to her post:
There’s a great section in the book 4 Hour Work Week where the Tim Ferris discusses how easy it is to become an expert. For example join a few associations, offer to speak at a few institutions for free, etc. Essentially, you can easily manufacture the perception you are an expert.
To me this is exactly the problem in the wild wild west that is the social media space.
#1. anyone who tells you they’re an expert is not an expert
#2. having a blog and being active on twitter does not mean you are an expert
#3. written a book does not make you an expert
#4. if you can’t show tangible real business results you aren’t an expert
This space is filled with a bunch of hot air blow hards who talk, talk, talk, but couldn’t put together a basic marketing plan for a client. I know, because I’ve seen it time and time again.
You need only look at the so-called list of experts and their “body of work” or lack there of to see the proof. Tell me what has Laura Fitton actually produced? Why is iJustine considered a social expert?
I can sum up for you the talking points for every so called social media expert: the consumer is control, don’t focus on ROI, it’s about a conversation…a dialog, embrace change, engage, etc. Ok – if it were that easy, everyone could do it.
When I think of a social media expert, I think of Chris Hughes. Here’s a guy that has the credentials to back up the rhetoric: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/134/boy-wonder.html
Don’t show me fancy presentations on slideshare or the number of followers you have on twitter. Show me your real results, show me you understand my business, and show me you can help me grow that business. If you can’t – you aren’t an expert.
Adam
Am I wrong? Am I right? Off base? Spot on? I welcome your feedback.
For years marketers have focused on who the consumer is. Are they male? Female? 18 – 24? Making more than 35K? And the list goes and on and on. Marketing mix models are based on and rooted in demographic data about consumers. Inevitably, this leads to a conversation where a brand manager says ”we need to target the right consumer segments.” After all we don’t want any other segment buying our product.
This has always bothered me. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone bought our product, independent of their demographic information? Look at the iPod. Do you think Apple cares that both 60 year old men and 14 year old women buy the iPod? Of course not; a sale is a sale. There even going to start selling iPhones in Wal*Mart. I’d venture to guess if they focused only on “who” Wal*Mart would not have been a distribution option.
Loopt Screen Shot
Lately, it seems people are catching religion and evolving beyond pure demographics. My feeling is that we’re just about ready to jump on the “where are consumers” band wagon. Tools like Loopt and BrightKite cater specifically this concept. They allow users to see where are other users are. The new version of AOL Instant Messenger and Tweetie apps for the iPhone both offer the ability to see where other users of that app are. The applications and tools are nice, but it’s the sophistication of mobile devices and their adoption by consumers that are enabling this shift to happen. Hell, the iPhone has built in GPS so that you always know exactly where you are.
So why does this even matter? Simple – the demographics become irrelevant on some level. This is a huge win for the consumer. The offers they’ll receive will be high value and designed to generate a sale immediately. Offers won’t be tiered because everyone is in play.
Think about the following scenario.
We’re not too far away from this happening. Coupons Inc. is already serving up coupons inside of Google Maps. That’s a step in the right direction because Coupons Inc. and Google Maps don’t care who you are – they only care about where you’re going.
We already are operating in a world of RIGHT NOW. It’s the reason that interactive marketers are so excited about twitter. It’s about the here and now. Well where you are is the here and now. How fast will we move in this direction? Are marketers ready? Are consumers ready?
This is exciting.
With all the talk lately about experts and gurus I thought this was worth a chuckle.
It’s an overlooked and understated point, but the above graphic is completely true. If you walk into a room of 4th graders and you’re an adult, you have instant credibility. They don’t know enough to challenge what you say. So if you say that babies come from the stork, it’s gospel.
However, if you were to present that statement to a group of OB/GYN doctors they’d kick you out on your head. They know better. In fact, they know more than you do.
So, when I hear that someone attended a keynote or panel and was blown away by the presenter, I ask:
Those 3 pieces of information help me figure out if the presenter was really an expert. Remember it’s all about context. Don’t be afraid to question someone that’s being positioned as a expert. Frankly, it’s your responsibility. Your questioning keeps them honest and helps provide context for others.