Experience Manifesto

T-Mobile 411 Service

I dialed 411 from my phone today and they added a new service that I thought was great. The fact that they connect you has been great, but it means that if you're not in a place to write down the number, you have to call 411 again if you need to call the person back. Now T-Mobile has added a service where you can have the information sent to you as a text message! Great idea and really simple. Now I have the number for future reference and I didn't have to scramble for a pen. 2 thumbs up!

Chocolates on the Pillow...

Just received my copy of Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough and I've had a chance to read the first five chapters already. The book is full of great examples, both from big companies and small ones, so it should be easy for companies to see that everyone should be thinking this way.

There are two big reasons to like this book:

I like how he ends each chapter with Your Big Aha's, which gives you very simple action items. Some of them include:

Your business isn't about products and features, it's about the customer experience. (You can guess that was one of my favorites!)

Benchmark your organization against those you don't compete with. (This is at the heart of our Experience Audit. To say that you're as good as everyone else in your field isn't usually saying much!)

Rules should serve the business, not vice versa

Don't be afraid to learn from seemingly unrelated businesses.

I like that it's written by someone who's well known for running excellent companies. I think too frequently, these books are written by people who may have great knowledge, but haven't actually run successful businesses. It's too easy for people to ignore the advice. But, when it comes from someone who's run real businesses based on these rules and who gives examples of other successful companies.

When I started talking about experience in the early 90's, no one had any clue what to do with me. And since I was coming from a theatre & Disney background, it was very easy to ignore the message as not being relevant to business.

As more professionals come to the experience table, I think you'll start to see it being discussed as the essential business tool that it is.

We're working to see if we can schedule Mr. Tisch for a blog book tour and I know that he would certainly try to answer any reader questions, so leave a comment if you'd like me to send him a question for discussion here!

I'll write more as I read more!

MediaPost Publications - 'Integration,' Consumer 'Control' Ascend As Top Marketer Issues - 03/27/2007

THE ANA CONFIRMS WHAT ADVERTISING headlines have been blaring about for some time--the biggest issues on marketers' minds are integrated marketing and ROI.

In its annual survey, the Association of National Advertisers asked 100 senior marketing executives to list the most important issues they confront. The changes from 2006 to 2007 were slight. Marketing accountability or ROI (return on investment) had topped the list for the previous three annual surveys. Integrated marketing communications was in fourth place a year ago. This year, integrated marketing was top of mind--getting 116 votes--while accountability got 114.

In third place was what the ANA calls "aligning the marketing organization with innovation." (Emphasis mine. Naturally, we see this as a pretty important piece of the marketing mix.) That was farther down the priority list with 89 votes. After that, the big issue is "building strong brands," which garnered a 75 score. "Media proliferation" was in fifth place with 49 votes.

Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA, wasn't surprised by the results, noting: "Marketing mix allocations have become paramount in the overall accountability and brand-building equations."

The next group of issues--in order--were "consumer control over what and how they view advertising," (I think that this is one of the biggest challenges facing our business. That the consumer control, not consumer generated media, is so far down on the list shows that we just don't really get it yet. When you combine this with media proliferation, there should be some real concern and this should've been higher up in the rankings. Creating a positive advertising experience for the consumer should be much higher on the list! DBP), "globalization of marketing efforts," "growth of multicultural consumer segments," "advertising creative that achieves business results" and "attracting and retaining top talent."

The ANA has 375 companies as members, which it says spends more than $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising a year.

Link: MediaPost Publications - 'Integration,' Consumer 'Control' Ascend As Top Marketer Issues - 03/27/2007.

Consumer Power in a Flash

On the January 2, 2007, something unusual happened in the small German city of Braunschweig. Nine hundred thirty-one of its 245,500 inhabitants arranged a raid on the local McDonald's restaurant. It wasn't the type of raid that ends in violence. It was the type of raid known a flashmob. Coordinated via cell phones, the flashmob is a gathering of people for a specific purpose. In this case, it was to storm a McDonald's and order some 2,211 burgers all at once -- to go!

Naturally, the incident made headlines in the local press. News of this event may not have gone any further, if it weren't for YouTube. A young guy, nicknamed churchill225, was the first to capture the flashmob raid on video and upload it to the file-sharing site. Soon, thousands of people began downloading the video and sharing rumors about making another surprise mass visit to another McDonald's. As I write, 10 more German McDonald's restaurants are on the hot list. The phenomenon has become a game between McDonald's and its customers. It's a game because both sides love the sport. Never before has McDonald's secured this much positive attention in the press. And never before have sales skyrocketed like this. McDonald's didn't have to do a thing. I interviewed the CEO of McDonald's Germany about the flashmob phenomenon in my video blog.

Link: Consumer Power in a Flash.

Are Marketers Dying on Second Life?

More stats backing up the fact that if you're a) just using new technologies as a tactic instead of making it part of your strategy and b) using new technologies in the same way you've used all of the old tools, then you're not going to do well with them. If you're going to hop into Second Life, you need to so something that enhances their experience, not just delivers your message.

Thanks in large part to media hype, marketers continue to rush to the virtual world of Second Life despite increasing evidence they don’t really know what to do when they get there. Last week Coldwell Banker hung out a shingle on the site as “the first national real estate company to sell homes within the community.” The real estate firm is in good company. H&R Block, adidas, IBM, Reebok, American Apparel, Toyota, Leo Burnett and Bartle Bogle Hegarty are among the dozens of firms already there.

So far all this collective marketing savvy hasn’t much impressed the actual Second Lifers. More than 70% of the site’s users say they are disappointed with the marketing that goes on in SL, according to a new survey by Komjuniti, a Hamburg, Germany, research firm. This could be because companies are approaching the site like a traditional marketing channel.

Link: Are Marketers Dying on Second Life?.

Circuit City to Lay Off 3,400 Employees

Why is it, that despite numerous studies by people like McKinsey that show when companies continue to cut their staff and their services, they're generally on the slippery slope to being out of business, that companies continue to cut their staff and their services? Let's see, you're in a commodity business, selling commodity products and you're surprised that you're not making as much money as you'd like. So, the brilliant plan, make yourself more of a commodity. Yea, fire all of your employees and higher lower paid people who can't service your customers.

Then, as I heard on a news report on NPR, give those fired employees a chance to reapply for their old jobs as lower wages, so you have a really happy and enthusiastic work force. Why don’t you just close the business now and move on. Oh, that’s right, while you’re laying off all of those messy store employees, you still get you big paycheck. So sure, the company may be run into the ground , but you’ll probably make a couple of million before the lights go out. Yep, another smart, management move that won’t actually solve the problem.

Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City Stores Inc. announced plans to lay off 3,400 store associates after completing a wage management initiative. The lay-offs will focus on employees who "were paid well above the market-based salary range for their role," the company said, adding that new associates will be hired for these positions and compensated at the current market range for the job. "We are taking a number of aggressive actions to improve our cost and expense structure, which will better position us for improved and sustainable returns in today's marketplace," said Philip J. Schoonover, chairman, president and CEO of Circuit City. The company also is trimming about 130 corporate information-technology (IT) jobs and has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic options for a possible unit sale of InterTAN Inc., the Canadian retailer it acquired in 2004. Circuit City will outsource its IT infrastructure operations to IBM. About 50 of Circuit City's 130 internal IT infrastructure workers will join IBM and remain on site, while the other 80 will eventually be cut. Additionally, the company's international segment closed 55 stores in February 2007 and expects to close approximately 10 more stores in the first half of fiscal 2008.

Link: Circuit City to Lay Off 3,400 Employees.

Teletubbies in NY

You know, no one is a bigger fan of pop-up retail them I am. Long before it was hip & cool, I was running a company called Location Based Branding, where I worked with companies like the WWE, Sports Illustrated and Baywatch to help bring the power of the themed entertainment experience to corporate America. I started the Northeast chapter of the Themed Entertainment Association because I thought brands represented the next frontier for the creative folks who built theme parks. So I get the whole idea of creating pop-up experiences and I really believe that they will continue to help brands of all kinds engage their audiences.

But this one, I haven't really liked since I first heard about it. Not because I don't think the Teletubbies could be the basis for a cool experience, but because I didn't think they had the right strategy behind it. As I've written about before, Teletubbies just doesn't seem to have the cult status that other kids shows have (like SpongeBob) nor is it kitschy enough like the sing-along Sound of Music. In fact, while I know that it's wildly popular with its toddler audience, most adults I know can't stand it. Kinda' like Barney.

And I've thought that creating an experience for Teletubbies and aiming it at older folks just didn't seem to be right. Kids love them, so why not creating a really engaging experience for toddlers and let the parents be there for their kids. I've done children's theatre for years and I know you can create content for the kids that the adults will enjoy as well.

But this space didn't seem to really look appealing for either audience. It didn't seem to be a cool place for kids to play. I didn't really see any activities for kids at all. And, it didn't grab me as an adult either. And yea, I know that I'm way old. But I act a lot like a kid -- just ask my wife.

Now, I was there at 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon, but I didn't move people out of the way to take these pictures. Outside of three staff people, there was only one other person there, although she did make a purchase. I'll try to go back at least one more time to see if it picks up at all.

And, I do have to comment on the location. Sure, they probably had a good laugh thinking about it being in the West Village after Jerry Falwell complained about one of the Teletubbies being gay, but really, not the right location. I think it's too much of an inside joke, a little too wink, wink.

I thought the space looked great and the staff was excellent. I just think that they got too off target, trying to be all hip & cool. They should've really had faith in their ability to attract their real audience. I think it should've been on the West Side, where they have lots of kids just waiting to be entertained by the Teletubbies.

If anyone else has been to the store, let me know your thoughts. I'm especially interested in an opposing opinion, so please leave your comments.

It's What We Call the News

Gotta' love the folks at JibJab! This is their latest, a take on news coverage in the US.

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

The McKinsey Quarterly Chart Focus Newsletter

I thought that it was a really good & quick piece about what companies are doing to sell more successfully. It's good advice for many of the brands that are looking to work with retailers to create better in-store experiences. I'll post more as I read through the entire article.

Although the vast majority of North American consumer goods makers have restructured their sales forces since 2002, few raised their market share and cut their costs. Yet a handful of winners did. A McKinsey survey found that they focus more resources on fewer key customers and populate their key-account teams not only with salespeople but also with experts in category management, marketing, finance, and supply chains.

What's more, top companies customize to meet the needs of retailers—they all, for example, hold planning sessions between their top executives and those of key customers. This kind of collaboration dramatically increases the likelihood that a manufacturer will succeed in creating the differentiated service offerings retailers now demand. Finally, winners regularly review their salespeople. The others are far less diligent; one-third conduct no reviews whatever.

Link: The McKinsey Quarterly Chart Focus Newsletter.

CSI: Miami -- David Caruso Oneliners

Have you ever watched CSI: Miami and seen David Caruso do one of those lines where he says something serious while putting on/taking off his glasses and just said to yourself "Doesn't he know he sounds dumb when he does that? Well, thanks to stewmurray47, you can see them all in one place! It's about 7 minutes long, but it's a hoot!

Edited clips showing loads of the corny one-liners used by David Caruso just before the Who song starts on CSI Miami.