I figure if I point out when brands blow it, then maybe my 6 readers (I’ve got more now!) might actually be learning what NOT to do. Similarly, If I point out GOOD and GREAT brands, then they might actually have something to aspire to.
In the GRAND SCHEME, these guys don’t suck as bad as these guys per se, but my own little personal experience forces me to put them in my new brand cartegory: SUCKBRAND
It’s taken me a while to post this… Too long in fact. But it’s relevant none the less. Christmas has come and gone, but it’s not over. Best Buy really screwed the pooch this year. As I tell this story, keep in mind they had a built in safety valve (They still suck though): Lucky for them, my daughter’s birthday was in late January.
So the first week in January, my wife and I are sitting on the sofa catching up on our precious “quiet time without kids” and she mentions that since my daughter’s Christmas gift didn’t show up on time, that I ought to check in with BB and see what happened…
Rewind to December 12th when I ordered the gift. SImple enough. We were headed to the in-laws for Xmas so rather than buy the item and schlep in on a plane, we sent it to the in-laws house. Now, by my estimation, the pony express could have gotten the product from their HQ in Minnesota or wherever one of their many logistical hubs are, to my in-laws house in the allotted time. Which if your keeping score at home, is 13 days. 12 if you don’t count Xmas day.
Well that didn’t happen. And they don’t even use horses and carts anymore, they have trucks and stuff now.
Well, you can see the problem. Right before the holidays (around Halloween) They put stuff on their site that claims they’ll deliver before Christmas if you order by such and such a date… Even right up to December 23rd for those slackers among us.
Now there could be a million reasons why it didn’t get there until after Christmas. Like an extra water stop for the horses. It doesn’t really matter. And it doesn’t personally matter to me, because ultimately, my kid is 2 and she doesn’t understand grand scale disappointment… YET.
And her Xmas gift became her birthday gift.
But what this shows, is that fairly often companies are missing the point. they miss the point that their big behemoth logistical coolness takes the human connection out of the equation. Customer Service matters. Let me say that again. CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTERS. NO WHERE ELSE IS YOUR BRAND MORE VIVIDLY APPARENT TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS THAN IN THE CLOUD CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE. That can mean a lot of things. From me walking in to a store and talking to a sales person to calling to cancel my credit card.
In the grand scheme of things 3M is a great company. Great product. Fairly good brand. Not flashy, but solid. So when they awkwardly
tried to get into to get into the viral business, the wheels of their “Jag” came off.
Melanie Phung’s article pretty much nails it. But I’ll add this: AUTHENTICITY.
I harp on authenticity with my clients all the time. Especially in today’s Web2.0 world. You can’t pull off all the subterfuge of old. 3M, if you’re going to do it, do it right. In 3M’s case, they could have taken advantage of the fact that this idea was somebody else’s and built upon it, embraced it, admitted it wasn’t theirs and celebrated it.
From Melanie Phung’s post: “If you’re a corporate marketer interested in getting into social media marketing, viral video promotion, link bait, etc., I suggest consulting with people who know the communities you’re targeting. Any of us could have told you that stealing photo ideas from the community and using them to pimp your office supplies is not a good move.”
Instead, you stomped on the little guy. Authentically acting like the insensitive billion dollar company that you are. What makes you think that anybody in cyberspace wants a piece of that?
Stomping on the little guy feels yucky. It’s the kind of thing people criticize you for in cyberspace where you have no control over what they say. Your behavior is in fact your brand. So if you really want to come across the way you did, then more power to you. Good luck in winning hearts and minds. If on the other hand your intentions were what I guess them to be (generate buz, seem hip and fun in an otherwise no nonsense category) then I estimate you missed the mark by a couple of light years.
Being authentic and headed in the right direction with your brand isn’t easy. It takes massive effort and vigilance. It’s a long haul to change someone’s mind, to build trust and loyalty. And with the transparency company’s face and the fickle audience and the saturated market space, the question really becomes: How many stupid 3M-type moves can you afford before it’s too late?
Marketers Beware. This web2.0 thing is messy. It’s a bee hive meets a wild west frontier town. Stick your hand in, you’re gonna get stung and run outta town by a posse you never saw coming. The flip side of course is that if you’re not a bee already, you better bust-ass to think like a bee… and make sure and strap a six-shooter on.
When posting new stuff. I figure this is a good way to start back after vacation. After all, coming back from vacation reminds me of a joke:
A not so nice guy dies and goes to hell. The devil meets him at the gate and says, “Alright, you have died and come to hell. You will spend eternity here, but you get to choose how to spend it. You may choose one of these three doorways. Once you choose a door, you may not change it. So let’s get started.”
The devil opens Door One. The guy looks in and sees a couple of people standing in cow manure up to their waist. The guy says, “No way, let’s move on.”
The devil opens Door Two. The guy sees a few more people standing neck-deep in cow manure. The guy says, “No way, let’s move on.”
The devil opens Door Three. The guy sees a bunch of people standing knee-deep in cow manure drinking coffee. The guy says, “Great, this is the one I will chose.” The devil says, “OK, wait right here, I will get you some coffee.”
The guy settles in with his coffee thinking that this isn’t so bad. What’s the big deal?
After a few minutes the Devil’s voice booms over the loud speaker: “Coffee break’s over. Back on your heads!”
At what point did anyone in that story ever stop consider the larger picture? Brand damage ring a bell? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Where are you when we need you Ferris?
First of all, if you’re Yelp and you let this kind of a suit take place without trying VERY HARD to nip it in the bud, ultimately, your ability to be trusted by your users is crushed. It may not happen overnight, but it will. As an example, I WAS a user (admittedly infrequent) and now I’m NOT. Sorry, but I can’t trust that you won’t let the restaurant I pan sue me. Or you, after I post this. Just remember: FIRST AMENDMENT….
Second, if you’re the backcracker or any business who can be reviewed online (and that’s FREEKIN’ EVERYBODY), how bad do you look for suing some guy over what amounts to $375.00? Write it off and move on. One guy’s opinion does less to hurt your reputation than your abuse (in my opinion) of the court system to “make a point” and the ensuing press. Mr. Chiropractor, who’s gonna trust you now? And if you want help trying to figure out how to fix these kinds of issues in the future, call me. I’ll be happy to recommend an anger management therapist to you and turn your business away, even in this economy… Okay, can’t stand it, I wouldn’t take your money but I would give you some advice.
You may have already done this, but since I didn’t follow this story like an afternoon soap opera, here’s what I’d tell you: For (insert your deity here)’s sake be proactive. If you genuinely arewere a good guy and made a mistake, let the guy you sued and the world know what you did or tried to do to make it right. Use the internet and maybe even Yelp as a forum. It’s that simple. Net net, don’t look like an asshole. Oh, and don’t use that whole bait and switch gimmick anymore, nobody likes that. Even if you make good in the long run, it always leaves a bad taste.
Okay so what did we learn class? Only this: First you gotta be REAL. Nobody likes a phony. Second, provide POSITIVE EXPERIENCES. Otherwise, people give you bad reviews on the internet and a law suit ensues. Third you gotta be CONSISTENT. Don’t charge me one thing one day and something different the next. Don’t even tell me you’ll charge me one thing and charge me something else. If you KEEP ON providing real, positive experiences day after day, then you build TRUST. The trust leads to LOYALTY and presto…. ASPIREBRAND!!!!
Or you could be a chiropractor who sues a patient over a bad review and ends up with a SUCKBRAND.
Sorry dude, if you don’t have one now, it’s where you’re headed. Don’t blame me, you did it to yourself. I’m just pointing out what everybody that has an ounce of common sense already knows.
So? For the rest of you, which one do you WANT to be? And which one are you GOING TO be?
Today is a good day to get started.
By the time you read this, there will be a DISPUTED Champion of College Football. I’m writing this mere hours before the big kick-off to the supposed National Championship game. Riiiiight….
To illustrate what a sham this is, I offer a quote from our sad local paper about the Utah Utes: “We’re 13-0, what do you got?”… And I’m a Texas fan?!?! Go figure.
Any HOOOO, without getting too much into HOW “it” actually works right now, I’d like to point out that part of “it’s” problem is branding.
May we approach the bench your honor?
You COULD argue that the BCS is not a brand. BUT I’d win the argument handily, here’s how: Just about everybody has an emotional reaction to it, they make money (hand over fist) and they have a product (football). DING!
Oh I’m sorry…Thanks for playing; your consolation prize is the board game, Branding 101-Home edition.
Back to it – Nobody is really “bought” in except ALL the people and institutions that make said gobs of money. All the fans (ahem, isn’t that who the game is really for anyway?) Haven’t liked it for years. So to this I offer my branding eye to what’s wrong with college football:
Let’s first start by dissecting the name and move on from there. BCS…. bowl championship series; deliberately in lower case letters too BTW.
BOWL: I can buy this. It’s a bowl game. Everybody loves a bowl game period. Good tradition here too. Heck the Rose Bowl (and parade) is 111 years old.
CHAMPIONSHIP: (SFX: Squealing tires, cars crashing into each other) Seriously? I thought a championship was earned, not calculated. If it wants to use the word championship, then it needs to look and act like a championship. Otherwise, the savvy NEW CONSUMER will call BULLSHIT. Oh wait, they already have for years now.
SERIES: Really? Who’s this word for anyway? The fans? Riiiiiight. A series is like poker. Or baseball. Or hockey or… you get the point. There are a number of games at the end of which THERE IS ONE WINNER. Oh, and generally there isn’t a computer or fat fuck cat coaches and people who get paid to have an opinion sports writers deciding who wins the World Series…. It’s PLAYERS. ON THE FIELD. PLAYING the game. Geeze, I’m wound up about this.
So if we look further at how this brand sucks… I mean needs lots and lots of help, there’s the whole computational aspect of the “bcs.” To this I simply say WTF?
Try pulling that shit on Gonzaga, Appalachian State or the 1980 US Hockey Team. “Sorry boys, you’re really not even supposed to be here. The Russians played a much harder schedule and are a much better team so we the sportswriters and members of the world hockey coaches award the gold to the Russians even though…”
Net net, what’s missing from the “bcs” is the reason, the ethos, the core spirit of the game. Nobody watches college football or any sports for that matter to be told that some incomprehensibly complex amalgamation of opinions and performance-based computation decides it. We watch to see them play. To see if the Cinderella comes to the dance strapped with a pair of Air Jordans and bringin her A-Game. We watch it to see an amazing catch, an inconceivable impossibility on the field, To Celebrate human achievement, physical prowess and the limits of endurance. I could go on and on.
Basically it comes down to this: Money. I get that. But that has grossly deformed what could be and should be a beautiful thing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for making money. Heck, I’ll even say that somebody SHOULD make money at it. The champion should stack some serious jing. But make it, stack it, count it and spend it for the right reason.
If you do, I submit, your skeptical audience will return and love you, and admire you. And every dime you thought you weren’t gonna make, because you were keeping it real, will actually (to your surprise) be there. Because, you will have given them what they want, just like Ray Kinsella.
A blog I follow (for VERY personal reasons) recently put up a post about how awesome it is to watch children grow and figure out the world. The Cliff notes are: She asked an almost 2 year-old how her day was… her response proved comprehension and memory! Awesome!
My bone to pick comes from a book I’m reading. The lovable but as-of-yet uniformed blogger mentioned above makes a proud declaration about SAT’s. I argue that little piece of testing by which ALL kids are judged will be obsolete and not in use by the time my kid (Okay so the blog is my wife’s) is in college. The fact is, I think EQ will matter more than IQ and the SAT will be replaced by something like the The Rainbow Project. Also mentioned in the book. Don’t believe me? Then believe this guy. He wrote the book I referenced earlier. And as a firmly R-Directed Thinker, My daughter and I agree with him whole-heartedly.
Originally posted by Ed Cotton over on influxinsights, I read about his take on Taxi. His snippet referred me to this story.
Ed has his reasons…. I have mine (they might sound a little like his):
1. If I were a New Yorker, I’d say the following: “Market Research? I got yo Market Research RIGHT HERE!!!!”
2. It’s a successful siege on the ivory tower of our industry. (that being marketing shysters… at least I admit it) It tears down the wall between what we think we know and what we really know about the people we tell our clients we know. Ya know?
3. I like it because it’s real. It’s authentic. It’s people interacting with people.
3. I know this is completely capitalistic of me but did someone say revenue stream?
4. It reminds me of my favorite rum, Sailor Jerry. Check out the back story there.
5. It continues to prove that the scales are getting tipped. My Orwellian prediction is soon the blurry line will become no-line between content, entertainment, and what we refer to today as advertising.
I probably could go on and on…. But I think you get the idea. Now If I could just get out of my lease and find a bowling alley.
I have to admit…. What I’m about to say, sounds like man-love.
David Armano gets it. He’s right on the money. All the time. If every company in the Fortune 500 doesn’t listen to him, it’s their loss.
He doesn’t know it, but I’ve been silently stalking him for 8 months. Only online. On his blog… on twitter….So that’s not weird right? I’ve even started to follow the people he follows.
I’m likely late in the game and definitely not the first to point this out. So, you ask… What’s my point other than just flat out admiration? (which if you’re reading this David, I’ll say it again, you RAWK.)
Well, it’s this:
There are really smart people out there that are generous with their knowledge. (yes, you, David. Thanks dude.) There are vast amounts of thinking and sharing out there that is available to everyone, 24/7/365. It’s like having a free think tank at your fingertips instead of and expensive one just inside the Beltway.
Because of guys like David and thousands of others like him, I become inspired to higher levels of thinking on a daily basis. I become smarter. I become better at my job. And not only do I benefit, but my circle of coworkers, partners, clients and even friends benefit. They are influenced in a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way.
This is such a departure from the old way of doing things. Used to be that you’d gather smart people in a room and from that closed loop, you got what you got. You emerged and what you came up with might have even been called “proprietary.” Well, now that room is the size of the world. (assuming you’re good at reading and writing in stuff like… say, swahili) Extrapolate it out so each individual who understands and embraces this concept, brings to bear thinking and solutions that wouldn’t have otherwise existed. That becomes quantum leaps in thinking and solutions be it in branding, design, technology industry. Ahhh, the power of Web 2.0.
Now, if you take that to the next level, a person could theoretically tap thinking, ideas and methodology well outside of their industry or sphere of influence and bring that to bear in a totally unexpected way. Great Googly Moogly!
Now I’m going to get all blue sky on your asses….Gone should be awkward, uniformed, naive, partisan thinking. Brands should stop sucking. Money should flow. Economies become ridiculously healthy. Peace should reign… Everybody should be well fed and rich. Okay, I took it too far….
In reality, this “new awakening” can and should give rise to an Industrial Revolution-like shift in the world order. We should embrace open-source ideation and not let petty things like ego get in the way. That’s hard I know. But possible.
In effect, my nothing-wrong-with-that obsession with Armano has made me aware that I don’t know everything. He does.
Seriously though, it enlightened me to the concept of “Best Idea Wins.” There are people out there doing their thinking and sharing in a open source way that allows for ideas to begat ideas, to inspire, inform and enhance.
Truth is, the best idea isn’t always yours. It isn’t always mine. The best idea could come from some guy in Finland. The trick is to be smart enough, humble enough and opportunistic enough to recognize that concept we were supposed to take away from kindergarten all those years ago….SHARING is good for you. SHARING is good for everybody.
Thanks David.
