Keeping up? Here's 5 more
How much fun can you have at an Apple Store?
Real life "Where's Waldo?" - win $5000 by finding a Wired writer.
A Qik view from a sushi conveyor.
Palm Pre phones home.
...but is it outdone by the iPhone?
PSA on Facebook privacy
Facebook is a great platform to connect. In fact, I have them to thank for last night's dinner with some old friends. The subject of privacy came up and it's no secret that Facebook has made a few blunders on its path to success.
A few weeks ago, under the advice of another friend, I turned off the Facebook Ads setting that would use my pictures in ads to my friends. It's pretty atrocious that something like this isn't an opt-in feature, but it's likely because they know nobody would want such a thing (not without incentive, anyway). Imagine my surprise when, I go back to my privacy settings and see the following:
While the message does sound pretty comforting, it hardly addresses the issues. Don't fall for this self-absolving fluff. Of course they don't want you to believe any "misleading rumors" - regardless of what they might be. We simply need to take the time to do some reading to protect ourselves. The below text appears on the "Facebook Ads" privacy settings page after closing the above dialog:
See what they did here? Facebook added a second on/off switch, again enabled by default, that you must turn off if you don't want your photos used in ads. Even if it's just my profile photo, why would I let Facebook use me in an ad if I didn't let third-party applications do it? It doesn't make any sense. While users technically have control over these settings, this approach to privacy seems like it's taking advantage of users' ignorance and hoping that people just don't know better.
Moral of the story: if you don't want to unknowingly sell out to your friends on Facebook...always be on the lookout!
It's not real, butt who cares?
In an alternatively flavored move, MSI shows us one of the first lessons of marketing - perception over reality.
Regardless of whether you believe this video (or the evolutionary need for precision glute clamping) is real, you probably got the idea that this laptop is very thin. That's a success in terms of getting the message across. On a good day, you might be able to consider something like this "branded entertainment," and on a not-so-good day this could just be simply offensive.
Likely unacceptable for broadcast television yet perfectly at home on YouTube, this video also demonstrates that jackassery and poor taste can be easily compounded into what we call online marketing. Even though I'm not one to argue with the millions of views it looks like this video may get (measurable results, right?), this is what happens when marketers stop thinking about sales. I'm sure the production of the video was a blast for some, though I can't help but wonder if the price for eyeballs is perhaps too high. As a brand, do you think twice about being known as the guys who make the butt laptops? I get that this could be a play for MSI to be "top of mind," or even "relevant with today's youth," but is it too outrageous to consider the fact that this video may actually be hampering - not helping - sales of the product?
All things considered - there's probably a very good reason you don't see Apple do this with the Macbook Air.
Slap chop rap
From the "I'm late to the party again" files - it's the slap chop rap!
Without having seen the original before, this is a darn good advertisement all on its own. With over 4 million views, this video shows that good parodies not only have great replay value, but also lend substantial attention back to the original. If you ask me, there's just no way the original infomercial managed to get 2 million views all on its own.
The art of the graceful loss
One of the most valuable skills in life is learning how to make the most of any situation.
A few months ago, ThinkGeek experienced a server glitch that caused orders to shipped to customers free of charge. An unfortunate incident by any stretch of the imagination (for the site, not its customers), this may have foreseeably played out as anything from retroactive charges to a legal circus.
Instead, the site gracefully attributed the incident to the swine flu, declaring that this was the "first-ever biological virus to make the leap to computer hardware." Despite not having paid for them, customers were allowed to keep the orders. With some good humor and forward-looking leadership, the site averted a PR disaster and the unimaginable enforcement costs had they tried to recuperate their losses.
Even if ThinkGeek would have preferred for the glitch to never have happened, they successfully made the most of the loss by delighting their customers. Good for them, and a good lesson for businesses everywhere.
via Consumerist
For every hardship, there's an appropriate serving of ice cream.
Fear of failure is the worst excuse for not pursuing something.
Sometimes we just need a reminder that old friends and ice cream can get us over anything.
Know the source of your customer experience
Consumers are often misguided on dealing with businesses.
While businesses are legal entities, we are always first and foremost dealing with individuals. It's rare that you will have nothing but good (or bad) experiences with any company given the variety of channels to engage. While company policy certainly is a factor, I'd like to think the human aspect is of greater importance.
As consumers, we expect nothing but the best in customer service with any business. Unfortunately for us, businesses often employ many reps at the bottom of the totem pole who can't make any decisions. People who, even if they could bend a few rules to help you, aren't really in a position to take charge and are probably worrying about keeping their jobs more than how good your experience was. To them, an unhappy customer is better than an unhappy boss (or no boss at all). If I could sum up their responsibilities in one line it would be to make you go away. This is why we should learn the art of escalation and always ask for a supervisor or manager - politely, of course.
On the other hand, when we do have good experiences, it's often to the credit of individuals as well. I'm a big fan of Apple products, but I've certainly had mixed experiences at many of the Apple Stores that I've been to (luckily, there are lots in southern California). It seems that the company's success has ensured the flow of traffic to the retail stores is steadily overwhelming, and even with all the brand loyalty in the world it could still be difficult to get good customer service at times. Though I'm sure Apple does its best to train its employees, there's still a painfully visible difference between someone who holds customer service as a personal philosophy and someone who is just trying to get through the day. If you have a good experience anywhere, why wouldn't you want to go back and ask for someone by name?
Go see Adam at the Century City Apple Store and you'll know what I mean. (Just not all at once, he says.)
A tale of two cable companies
After several days of sleeping on the floor and unsuccessfully relying on scattered Wi-Fi, I'm thrilled to be back on a steady connection - in a new apartment, no less! Though I wasn't completely disconnected from everything (my iPhone keeps email/Twitter withdrawal at bay), there's no imagining how bad a full disconnect would have been. While I agree we all need to "recharge" every now and then, my tolerance for being offline is probably well within 24 hours.
At any rate, I'd like to share some of my encounters with cable companies over the last few days:
Charter Communications (Long Beach, CA)
1. About $30 per month for the first 6 months, then $60 thereafter for a 10Mbps connection.
2. Real-world performance consistently higher than advertised speed (paid for 10Mbps, received up to 11Mbps download speed)
3. Processed my disconnection courteously.
4. Misheard my new address over the phone (Las Angels vs Los Angeles), but called to rectify.
5. Customer service reps trained to make small talk when you walk in their office
Time Warner Cable (Los Angeles, CA)
1. Cheaper rates. $30 per month buys a 7Mbps connection, and is an ongoing rate.
2. Real world performance consistently lower than advertised speed (paid for 7Mbps, receiving only 5.7Mbps download speed)
3. Called me AFTER I CONFIRMED MY ORDER to upsell a bundle that I don't need.
4. Tried to make me feel like an idiot for not falling over the "awesome deal" and all the features that I would be getting for "only" 20 more dollars a month.
5. Install availability was one week after my order date.
Given the choice, which would you pick? Even with cheaper rates on Time Warner's side, I'd switch back to Charter in a heartbeat for the better connection and better service. I'd even go back for a lower-tiered plan. Not to say Charter is perfect (all of these corporations are evil, right?), but sometimes you luck out with a branch office employing respectable human beings, as well as getting close to the advertised "up to" speed.
This industry sorely needs to stop hiding behind territorial monopolies and learn to live with real competition. That would surely be a victorious day for both the better companies and the customers they serve.
Say it before you name it
Wendy's attempt at Daft Punk was a solid effort. The spot had energy, enthusiasm, and a swell PC cast. It was, dare I say, enjoyable. It's a shame they named the product something that makes customers cringe ordering aloud. The spot serves the name just fine, though I wonder what product manager came up with this 4 word, 8 syllable rhyme-happy abomination.
Vendor-client relationship
Too good not to post.
As ridiculous as it may be, it's true that some vendors are willing to bend over backwards for the business. Unfortunately, a handful of these vendors could potentially ruin it for others and clients are often spoiled in this regard.
As a business owner though, I say sticker price is for suckers.
via AdPulp
Allen Hong
Hi, my name is Allen and I'm a casual blogger.
Some time ago I hung up my media planner hat and became an entrepreneur. I recently launched Sliqr, a new web app that tracks the engagement and growth of your web presences and personal brand.
You can go straight to sliqr.com to check it out, or read more over at the Sliqr official blog. We're currently in private alpha, but I'm happy to hook you up with an invite!
You can connect with me at connect.sliqr.com/allen or by the links below.
Thanks for stopping by!
