On August 30, 2007, YouTube user Levinator poked a little fun at game-maker EA for their “glitch” in PGA Tour ‘08:
One year later, in preparation for the launch of PGA Tour ‘09, EA responded:
EA just took a HUGE step up in my book. (Now someone prove me wrong and show me that EA was behind both videos.)
Remember that little anecdote about “word of mouth” we posted recently? Here’s another example…
Think about this: when consumers LOVE your brand or your product, if you’re lucky they’ll tell their friends about it. It’ll jump to mind when someone says, “hey, do you know where I can get XYZ around here?” If you’re really lucky, you might find a blogger who will share it on their site. Then, maybe, it’ll get picked up and spread. Maybe.
But when consumers are UPSET with your brand…you’d better watch out. They’re gonna tell the world through every outlet they can get their hands on. And they’re willing to work for it. They’ve got that little emotional fire burning in them and only some good, old fashioned retribution will put it out.
See what I mean?:
Need further convincing? How about the Fail Me Is More Like It site that an annoyed customer created during the MobileMe debacle?
2008 Beijing Olimpics - “the unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog” - has a great post displaying all of the Olympic logos since Athens 1896. Though their spelling of “Olympics” in the URL throws me off a little. It’s really interesting to see which logos have that classic design feel and which feel a little dated. Like the London 2012 logo (below) which probably would have felt dated in 1992.
“Word of Mouth” is one of those popular catch phrases these day. Everyone wants to know how to make it work for them. There’s not really a secret key to make it “work for you”. There is, however, a really, really easy way to make it work against you: piss off your customers. The notion that people will be vocal when they’re upset, but don’t say a word when they’re happy is pretty standard. You’ll always have a disproportionate number of complainers willing to bash you your product compared to the silent masses who happily go about their daily lives with your product in tow.
Case in point…
Sean Howard of CrapHammer fame tweeted this the other day:
The tweet links to this post on Bikeforums.net, a popular cycling message board. (As far as I know, Sean isn’t a cyclist, so how he stumbled into this post, I’m not sure, but it probably got passed to him by someone.) The post, by Bikeforums user ReachHigher, outlines her story of a recent visit to Wal-Mart via bicycle. Due to the lack of bike racks outside the store, she opted to walk her bike into the establishment (a practice that she’s apparently done before), only to be turned away by the “greeter”. The arguement that ensued involved a removal of clothing in protest to a policy that the store manager seemed too flustered to back up. We’ll let you read the rest here, since the story itself isn’t the prime purpose of this discussion…
The main purpose here is to point out just how quickly certain stories will spread across the web. The day that Sean tweeted this, I believe the discussion on Bikeforums was at about 2 pages. It now sits at 15 (at the time of this posting). A quick search reveals a number of other sites that have picked up on the story:
Bikeforums.net
The Consumerist
Fark
Digg
BNet Industries
Liberty Forum
The Outskirts
The Nerd
Unfortunately, the stories that spread like this are far more prevalent than the positive ones (which do happen though, check out the Zappos Story if you’re not familiar with it yet). Regardless of whether your story is positive or negative, though, this is a perfect demonstration of the power of the spoken word. Whether someone is touting your new business to their friends at work, or venting their frustrations about a major retailer, the word will spread.
Certain things can help that will help your word along. Here’s a few quick thoughts…
Finding the right people: who is going to “get” what you’re doing and who you are? Who’s going to enjoy and appreciate your efforts and be willing to spread the word? Those are you Brand Evangelists. Cater to them.
Tackle everything that comes at you, good or bad: What would you do right now if you were Wal-Mart? Ignore the situation? How about taking part in the conversation? Don’t make excuses, don’t throw money at the problem, but take an active role. Maybe install a bike rack?
Be honest: This is probably one of the most important things ANYONE can do. As soon as companies try to hide something or change the rules, people are quick to call BS. Honesty is always the best policy. Most people understand that businesses are around to make money. Do so in a responsible manner, and they’ll be more likely to work with you rather than against you.
Have some other ideas? Do share? What do you look for in a company that you find yourself telling friends about? What are you quick to bash someone for?
Not long ago, I stumbled onto the twitter feed of DesignSojourn (and started following him immediately). Also known as the Design Translator, Brian Ling is an industrial designer based in Singapore. He also writes an excellent design blog that also runs under the name Design Sojourn.
The other day, Brian posted a rather provocative statement/question on Twitter:
While we’re strong proponents of the value and power of marketing – or marketing done well – I’m just not ready to jump healong onto the bandwagon for this one Brian. Marketing certainly can make a huge difference. A good marketing effort can throw up a smokescreen that will make a poor product appear better than it is. But that marketing effort won’t make a bad product any better. Eventually it will be exposed for what it is.
On the other hand, a great product – a truly remarkable product – will sell itself for the most part. Create something that solves a need and does it well, and people will hunt you down regardless of your marketing. Of course, a strong marketing effort on top of a remarkable product will be nearly unstoppable.
So, in short: The difference between good and great is not limited to marketing. Marketing can elevate a crappy product. A great product can get by without marketing (sometimes). Keep in mind, though, that a poor marketing effort can be damaging no matter how great your product.
Anyone have any differing thoughts?
We’re all for the little guy. You’ve seen our Wal-Mart post. We’re fans of the farmer’s markets. I opted to hold off on the purchase of a sorely needed new belt this weekend in favor of the guys at Tanner in Portland.
On that note, the local coffee shop, Think, that opened around the corner from the POKE office has been a regular stop for those moments where a quick jolt is a desperate necessity. Case in point: on a slow Monday morning, the need for a sip of iced, caffeinated goodness crept up and just wouldn’t go away.
sidebar: why IS iced coffee always more expensive than hot coffee??
I learned a while back, before my personal boycott, that Starbucks is nice enough to pour my medium iced coffee into a large cup on request. That works out perfectly for me because I can dump a bunch of milk in without feeling like I’m missing out on something. It also avoids the coffee-to-milk-ratio dilemma that inevitably ends with a very full cup followed by a puddle of coffee when I go to secure the lid.
Realizing that I always end up struggling to get the mix just-so, I asked the crew at Think this morning to do the same thing…only to find that they refused. I could have a medium coffee with “room for milk” or a large coffee with the same, but that was as far as they were willing to go. HUH?
Yeah, one could argue I was cutting into their margins by 10 cents or so…a couple for the extra cup size and a few more in milk. But really? Can any local coffee shop these days afford to alienate their customers? I just didn’t want to pour out 1/4 cup of coffee to add the milk.
As I’ve stewed about this during the day, it’s brought to light a couple of questions about little guy vs. big guy. Where should we, or do we, draw the line in support of the underdog? They tend to cost a little more, but that cost usually comes at the benefit of some added value. More service, better product, or even just a cordial smile and a “hey, how’s your day going?” Take any or all of that away, and you’re left with a more expensive version of exactly what it was you were trying not to support in the first place.
I’m not about to rush back to Starbucks because of this morning’s discovery. But I’m also not sure I’m going to rush back to Think either. Might be time to find a new coffee shop close to work. Or suck it up and drink the never-quite-satisfying cartridge coffee that we have in the kitchen.
You’ve probably noticed, from a number of places around the web - ourselves included, the closing statements from Portland-based clothier Nau. Widely respected for their responsible business practices and unique line of clothing, generally considered a mashup of Patagonia and a luxury manufacturer (take your pick, I’ve read Prada a few times among others), Nau’s closing was mourned by many. And rightfully so. Their open, transparent style of conducting business paired with what can only be described as a remarkable product line, along with an interest in sustainable and charitable practices, set an example that every company should strive to follow.
Amidst the outcry and lamentations, however, some good news has sprouted. Rather than tuck tail and hang heads, the crew at Nau has fought to overcome their hardships. Their words can certainly express more accurately than my own what they’ve accomplished:
When we announced in May that Nau, Inc was closing up shop, it triggered an enourmous outpouring of sentiment from you, our customers. Your response, coupled with a deep belief in what Nau represents, inspired a group of former Nau employees to see if we could pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and take another shot at this thing.
And they’ve managed to do just that. The Nau name, along with “the bulk of the company’s assets” were purchased by a fellow Portland company called Horny Toad who also produces a line of outdoor-inspired urban clothing. Horny Toad will not, however, simply eat Nau for lunch and take what they can. Nau (now called “version 2.0″) will continue to live on under the leadership of a number of former employees including founder Ian Yolles and head designer Mike Galbraith, free to learn from their previous mistakes and continue in the traditions that established such a devout following their first time round.
The folks over at Treehugger had a chance to talk to Ian about what changes would be implemented with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. It sounds like one of the biggest changes will be the company’s distribution model. This time, they’ll forego their branded stores, opting instead to sell in both outdoor oriented retailers as well as urban boutiques, “Stores that get functional and stylish” according to Yolles. Probably smart given what we can imagine their rent must have cost for a store in Beverly Hills.
Nau also has plans to continue its Partners for Change program, though they’ve explained that their philanthropic endeavors, while still “industry leading”, may dip below the 5% bar they’d set during the existence of Nau 1.0. In the meantime, Nau is continuing their open communications as they share their rebuilding process (along with pics from what looks like a stellar rafting trip) with the world via The Thought Kitchen, their company blog.
We’re thoroughly excited to see that Nau is back and we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on their progress as they work to rebuild themselves. Until they relaunch with version 2.0, probably sometime in August, you can still buy some of their previous line at half off on their website.
Ok, I know that Apple is a favorite point of discussion amongst blogs like this. Someone is always standing at the ready to either praise or blast them for their newest…whatever. And I usually try to keep out of the fray. You’ll notice that we didn’t post yet another “ZOMFG, Apple released the 3G iPhone, let’s go stand in line for six hours!!!!!” post. But now that a few days have passed, and the initial shock is wearing down a little bit, I’m going to pick up my tradition of stepping back for a moment and trying to take a look at what’s really going on behind the excitement. Last September, it was the Starbucks partnership that prompted my musings…
This time it’s AT&T. Or is it just Apple? The web has been absolutely on fire with discussions of the newly released iPhone 3G. Most of that discussion, however, has been the usual fanboy discussion and the incredible lengths to which people have gone to acquire the device. Apple has reportedly sold more than 1 million devices since launch. According to Fortune, twenty one states are completely sold out. Sounds like heaven, right?
Maybe not so much. Reports from users are coming in every second, and the outlook is a little grim. A thread on Howard Forums has caught some attention and spurred a number of other discussions regarding both AT&T’s preparedness for the massive influx of new 3G capable devices, as well as questioning Apple’s hardware build. That led to further complaints on Macrumors.com, which in turn pointed [me] toward a similar discussion on Apple’s support forums.
General consensus: something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Complaints from 3G users around the world are coming in, reporting a variety of problems all pointing to either a major issue in AT&T’s 3G network - a reasonable deduction for US users - or in the new iPhone’s hardware itself - a more reasonable explanation given the worldwide issues. 3G-ers everywhere are complaining of slow connection speeds (the supposed benefit of the new 3G network), dropped calls, lack of signal, etc. - all in areas supposedly covered by their service provider’s network.
I’ll readily admit that I’ve pretty much caved and plan to do something that I vowed I wouldn’t - purchase an iPhone under AT&T. In fact, I’ve already made the call to Verizon to find out the exact date on which my contract is up (August 11 for anyone interested). But this is definitely enough to make me think twice about that decision. We can only hope that the issues will be fixed quickly, either via a firmware update from Apple (assuming that a software update can fix the issue) or some attention from the various service providers around the world. I realize that 3G is a newer technology that’s still being rolled out in many places, but if the reality of the system is that 3G speeds are slower than EDGE then maybe we’ve jumped the gun in the interest of “getting it out there”?
I’m sure that just the title will spur thoughts of a few brands that fit the mold…McDonald’s and Starbucks come to mind quickly. And lets not forget the mother-ship, the one that’s putting all the mom-and-pops out of business (quite happily): Wal-Mart. In fact, the brand has become such a popular point of discussion - I remember reading case studies on Mr. Walton in *shiver* business school - that a number of visualizations are popping up around it’s growth.
Toby Segaran put together a great video on his blog Kiwitobes.com back in March. Can’t seem to borrow it, but its on his site and worth a watch. More recently, Nathan over at the Flowing Data blog mapped a similar visualization using modest maps.
Both tell a similar story, plotting a time lapse of Wal-Mart store openings from the 1960’s till 2007. My immediate reaction - as well as many other commenters - was that it looks like a foreign attack on the human body. A quick scan through the comments reveals terms like “virus”, “infection”, and “cancer”. Of course, those have to be balanced out with “Looks like a successful company expanding to meet consumer demand.”
So…which is it? Is it both? Can a viral, cancerous brand really be the ultimate measuring stick for success? One of the most interesting parts of this exercise, to me, is the fact that all these videos show is factual information. No opinion passed, no judgement made by the creators, and yet the reaction amongst viewers is so visceral and the terminology comparing the spread of Wal-Mart to things that attack us as people is so common.
Wal-Mart certainly can’t be much blamed for social responsibility. They can, however, be granted an incredible saavy at making money. Once again, we’re dancing that fine line between the two. Can’t say I’m a huge fan, but then I try to keep away from Starbucks as well.
Fantastic list with an awesome story behind it to boot…
How to Work Better by Fischli/Weiss (1991)
“Taped to the wall of my studio is an A4 photocopy of a short ten-point manifesto by Fischli/Weiss entitled “How to work better”. I don’t know who put it there, but it has been in place for at least three years. It’s a tongue-in-cheek work using a motivational statement, which is a piece of found text they subsequently enlarged and had painted on the exterior of a building as part of a public commission. I sometimes show it to students at the beginning of slide lectures, and always point it out to assistants who come to the studio. I like it quite simply because it acknowledges their awareness of the idea of practice rather than production”.
via ego technique
