Category: Marketing

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Kindling Success

Addendum: RIP Steve Jobs – You are this generation’s greatest innovator

Amazon recently introduced a new version of its trendsetting Kindle electronic reader. While the original ignited change in how books reach audiences, the latest intends to disrupt the momentum of Apple’s iPad. Kindle Fire has a bigger – color – screen, a faster browser the company believes will be as smooth as its Silk name and stores everything in the cloud. Since iPad hit the market 18 months ago – having sold more than 30 million units – competitors appeared and vanished quickly.

HP announced six weeks ago it is discontinuing TouchPad after determining it mistakenly tried to compete with Apple’s 83 percent market share. So what makes Amazon think it will succeed where others failed? Amazon is upfront that it’s not taking aim directly at iPad. Kindle Fire is WiFi only with no 3G access. There is no camera, nor can you create and edit documents. You can’t place a voice call. What you can do is access Amazon’s extensive digital library. As CEO Jeff Bezos noted in unveiling Fire: “What we’ve done is really integrate seamlessly all of our media offerings – video, movies, TV, apps, games, magazines and so on.’

Most importantly, you can buy Kindle Fire for $199. The entry-level iPad is $500. Amazon is betting the digital content it sells will make up for the low price. That’s an advantage other Apple competitors aren’t able to utilize.

Anytime there is innovation, copycats follow. The key to not ending up in the product graveyard is to provide enough differentiation that consumers have a viable choice. As someone who purchased the original Kindle several years ago and has read many books on it, I’m glad to see Amazon take the next step in improving its device. Someday – in our lifetimes, I’m guessing – hard copies of books will be collector’s items and nothing more.

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Delicious Result

My wife’s book club skipped this month’s meeting and attended the movie version of a novel they read: “The Help.” Afterwards, they wanted to go to a restaurant, have dessert and discuss the film. Kathy checked out a couple of nearby eateries’ websites and selected one that remained open late on a Wednesday night. Arriving just ahead of her group at 9:58, she went inside and the hostess said, “I’m sorry, we close at 10.” Kathy said, “But your website says you’re open until 11.” The hostess replied: “Oh, that’s our midtown location.”

Kathy asked to speak to the manager.  Although he arrived quickly, she had the website on her phone to show him. “I have seven women coming here to talk about a movie we just saw,” she said. “Your website says you close at 11. It doesn’t say that’s just your other location.” Without hesitating, he said: “Not a problem. We’ll be happy to stay open just for you.”

Of course, the easier, less expensive response – and more typical one – would have been: “Ma’am, I’m sorry for the confusion. The home office is responsible for the website, and I guess it is confusing. I’ll be sure to tell them to correct that.” Then gently escort my wife out the door to face her friends alone. Instead, this astute leader created a huge win for his company. Eight women had a happy ending to their evening, and I’m guessing told lots of people about the incredible service at this establishment.

How would your employees have handled a similar situation?

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Inconsistent Behavior

During a recent business trip the airplane scheduled for our outbound flight was delayed by bad weather. After arriving at the airport 90 minutes before our 8:30 a.m. departure, we suddenly had two additional hours on our hands. The five of us decided to relax and enjoy a sit-down breakfast at one of the franchise restaurants in the terminal. Service: Good. Food: Fine. Value: Excellent. One of our party commented, “I’d come here again.”

Three days later upon arriving at the airport for the early morning return flight home, we again faced an extended wait. As luck would have it, the same restaurant was right next to our gate. We decided if it worked in once, we should eat there again. How did things turn out the second time? Service: Weak. Food: Poor. Value: Minimal.

Our waitress had an attitude and didn’t want to be there. Since the choices were limited, each of us ordered the exact same thing. These portions were smaller and taste was missing. When the bill arrived I took out the receipt from the first meal and discovered there was a $15 difference in the amount. Turned out some of the things that came ‘standard’ in Houston were ‘extra’ in Louisville. That same traveling companion said, “I’ll never eat at this restaurant again.”

Customers have expectations with a franchise that it will deliver the same experience every time. That’s why McDonald’s french fries and Baskin-Robbins ice cream taste the same wherever you are in the world. When a rogue franchisee fails to fulfill those promises, it affects the entire brand. I flew again a few weeks later, and – walking by the location here – thought, “Your Louisville buddy ruined it for you.”

The result is the same in your organization, even if you’re not a franchise. You set the bar on how I expect to be treated. Fail to live up to those lofty goals – whether it’s quality or service or value – and chances are you’ll lose me forever.

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Unsolicited Generosity

Asking for donations may be one of the ‘least favorite’ things on my list. There’s just something about reaching out to people and requesting they make a contribution to one of my kids’ extracurricular activities that doesn’t inspire me. Yet, it’s one of those necessary evils… whether it was selling Girl Scout Cookies or wrapping paper when our kids were younger, I always had a ‘not another one’ attitude about the approach.

That’s why when we attended a meeting about a summer league team for my varsity basketball playing son – and the mom organizing everything said, “We’ll need to ask for donations or raise money for uniforms” – I cringed with anxiety and thought, ‘I kinda hoped we were past that phase.’

Yet being a good rules follower and helper guy, I suggested to my wife that we needed to reach out to establishments where we spend a lot of money and ask for their help. So through email and in-person visits, we requested donations from our dentist of 12 years, car repair place where we’ve been loyal customers for a decade and favorite two restaurants (one fast-casual and the other upscale).

What were the results? I’m thrilled to report four-for-four. These small business owners made a nice contribution – even knowing the reach for their advertising dollars would be minimal. One followed up with an email to Kathy that said, “Thank you for thinking of me.” I was so surprised by their responses that I decided Success Handler, LLC also needed to write a check.

There are two lessons here: 1) Never shy away from asking… you never know how much someone might want to help; and, 2) When a parent or organization makes a request of your business, catch them off guard by saying ‘Yes!’ They already have enough folks who will decline.

One other thing is certain: we’ll remain loyal customers of those four service providers for years. So they’ll end up way ahead regardless of whether anyone else becomes a customer after seeing their names on the back of our warm-up jerseys.

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Ho Hum

You would think a Super Bowl that came down to the final minute before the Packers were assured of victory over the Steelers would be memorable; however, last night’s game didn’t seem as suspense-filled as the past three close contests.

The halftime show with the Black Eyed Peas disappointed, thanks to poor audio and over-production. Going forward, maybe it would be better to stick to the normal 12 minutes and skip the entertainment.

As for the commercials… well, it’s clear the golden age of ‘Did you see that one?’ spots is past. Most these days are average, a few are entertaining and some are obvious examples of ad agencies wasting clients’ money. Note to E-Trade: Time to retire the talking baby.

The best ad of Super Bowl XLV was a freebie: the NFL spot in which all the sit com stars of old were outfitted in team gear. (No, they didn’t really wear those back in the day. It was, as my father used to say, ‘trick photography’ thanks to computer animation.)

Here is my analysis, based on the reactions of those around me:

Best

“Hack Job” – The game’s first spot about a kitchen remodeling that consists solely of placing a six-pack of Bud Light on the counter tops the list. Simplicity at its finest.

“Young Darth Vader” – Everyone loved the little kid trying to find his ‘force.’ The shock on his face when dad remotely starts the VW was a terrific finish.

“Detroit” – The teenagers at our party unanimously felt Eminem’s third quarter Chrysler spot was the highlight of the game.

“You Gonna Finish Those?” – There was great laughter when the Doritos lover licks the fingers of his co-worker. Pulling off another’s pants and smelling them… not so much.

“Dog Party” – There weren’t a lot of animal spots, so this Bud Light commercial where canines put on a blowout while master is out of town stood out.

Worst

“Godzilla” – Outstanding animation in this Coke spot but it left our room saying, “What was the point of that exactly?”

“Compact” – After much build-up in the playoff teaser commercials, the multiple Hyundai spots were big letdowns.

“Cram It in the Boot” – I have no idea what Mini was trying to accomplish with this ad.

“Shape Up” – The night’s last spot in which a beautiful woman tantalizes her hunky trainer missed the mark. Oh, that’s Kim Kardashian?

“Tibet” – Something tells me a few folks are getting fired this morning at Groupon for making light of a serious situation. Timothy Hutton should look for a new agent.

Noteworthy

“1984 Redux” – Thought Apple had hit a home run with this sequel to their legendary Super Bowl XVIII ad. Then it turned out to be Motorola Zoom. Talk about stealing your competitor’s thunder. Nice surprise.

“Product Placement” – This Bud Light spot spoofing how filmmakers allow advertisers to impact storylines was a hit. Everyone should take a lesson from Bud Light: terrific ads throughout the game.

“Just Send” – Faith Hill is always worth watching, although a few executives at TeleFlora are asking right now, “Who approved that?”

“Reply All” – Good comment by Bridgestone on the perils of e-mail. I also liked their commercial where the beaver pays back a driver six months later.

“Joan Rivers” – I thought it was hilarious when the new Go Daddy celebrity turns out to be the face-lift queen. Then one of the teenage boys near me said, “We were getting all excited until she showed up. Then we were just grossed out.”

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