Church of the Customer Blog

Create a 1-page strategic plan

2009-12-15T07:12:00-06:00

A strategic plan has a better chance of being successful when it's easy to understand, easy to find, and easy to share.

That's why after we create longer-form strategy documents for social media or customer evangelism planning, we convert them into 1-page infographics. The word-driven complexity of a strategic plan is easier to comprehend when it's displayed graphically. We've found the one-pager to be a convenient way to keep everyone in a group or a team on the same page -- literally and figuratively.

One-page strategic plans like this can be printed on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, tacked to a wall, put in the front pocket of a binder or sent easily via email. Each component is color-coded into a group, and every component has a parent component to guard against orphan tactics or strategies.

The plan above is for a fictitious company. Click on the graphic to see a larger version.

(For an explanation of how we define objectives, goals, strategies and tactics in a strategic plan, see my last blog post.)

70 things to think about (and do) in 2010

2009-12-14T04:00:00-06:00

Seth Godin challenged us and 69 others to come up with big or small ideas that will matter in 2010.

Along with ideas from Chip and Dan Heath, John Moore, Tony Hsieh, Dan Pink, Bill Taylor and Tom Peters, you will find our submission about the One Percenters in the new ebook, "What Matters Now."

It's a fun and provocative read, and you can and should download it here.

What Matters Now

Objectives, goals, strategies and tactics

2009-12-11T05:38:00-06:00

It's that time: time to create strategic plans for next year.

Most people use some form of objectives, goals, strategies and tactics for their plans, but get a group of 10 people into a room and you might have 10 different definitions of what those terms mean? That's why agreeing on their meaning is vital to your plan. Term agreement is a lubricant to productivity.

With that in mind, here's how we define the intention, purpose and usage of "objectives, goals, strategies and tactics" when assembling a strategic plan.

Objectives

An objective is a high-level achievement. The simpler the better, like "Improve customer loyalty" or "Grow our market share." They can also be mountain-tops of company success: "Make our brand a word of mouth success story." They could be trying to solve a nagging, systemic problem or doing something big, like entering a new market. Objectives are a rally point for leaders who manage day-to-day efforts: "Will the idea being pitched to me help us reduce our churn?" or "Will this project help us develop a new market?" For us, objectives sit at the top of the strategic plan, and an ideal plan has no more than a handful of them. Anything more can be overload -- for leaders and the people who work for them.

Goals

In our framework, a goal is anything that's measured. Goals can be revenue, profit margin, members in a community, certifications delivered, a Net Promoter Score number, etc. Goals determine how you fulfill an objective. Multiple goals can, and should, support a single objective. A goal of "Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 59" can support multiple objectives like "become a word of mouth success story" and "deliver best-in-class service." Just like in sports, a goal is based on numbers.

Strategies

A strategy is a way to describe a series of tactics, or very specific actions. In sports or war, strategy is often described as an action: Increase troop levels in a region. Do man-to-man coverage. The commonality is action performed by a team or group of people. Each strategy description begins with a verb to signify that something is being done. Example verbs include: create, hire, develop, launch, etc. Each strategy is supported, typically, by a series of specific tactics that may or may not be linear in execution or time. Every item in our strategic planning framework begins with a verb.

Tactics

A tactic is a very specific action, like creating a new program or improving an existing one. In our framework, a tactic might be "Launch a online listening program" or "Form a customer advisory board for the manufacturing group." Each tactic has an owner who may rely on the work of multiple people in direct or dotted-line reporting relationships to make the tactic work. Each tactic typically has its own plan, too, whether laid out in a spreadsheet or a Gantt chart. Tactics are best, too, when they are preceded with a verb. Specificity is the driver to improvement.

Later: Afterward, Beth Harte raised this point: Who should own the definition of terms like objectives, goals, strategies and tactics? If you believe language is a reflection of culture, and that culture is largely driven from the top, then I would suggest definitions come from office of the CEO and/or COO. It's from there that planning terminology, and even the planning process, should be taught clearly, succinctly and repeatedly. Beth thinks definitions could be owned by an outside association. If you have an opinion, hop into the comments.

Social Media 2010: it's time to get boring

2009-12-09T14:04:51-06:00

2009 is feeling a bit like 1999 when it comes to social media.

CNN, Ashton Kutcher and Oprah helped stir the hype for Twitter. Social media and Twitter conferences sprang up everywhere. Social media snake oil salesmen prowled Twitter. Lots of hype, but not a lot of process-driven action.

My prediction for 2010: social gets integrated into business functions. That means: social media policies, aligning social media strategies and tactics with overall business objectives and revenue goals, and realigning functional teams. Yeah, not as exciting as another viral video but those are as reliable as a Vegas roulette table. Social media process is hard work, so it's time for social media to get boring! For process geeks like me, that's pretty exciting.

What was hot in 2009 is out in 2010.

OUT	IN
Influencers	Fans
Turning your homepage into a Twitter search for your brand name	Turning your employees loose on Twitter for customer service
Return on conversations	Return on investment (always in style)
Email threads	Yammer
Advertising on Twitter	Insights from Twitter
Taking feedback	Taking action*
Interns in charge of posting in social media	The CMO participating in social media**

Showing off	Showing up
Focused on yourself	Focused on your customer
Number of followers	Net number of promoters
Blocking employees from using social media	Incenting employees to use social media
The Audience Conference	The MIMA Summit
Billy Mays	Ramon de Leon
Corp Communications Department	Evangelism Department
Cupcakes	Cake balls

Ok, that last one has nothing to do with social media. I just like saying and eating cake balls : )

* Via Sean O'Driscoll

** An Ant's Eye View client.

New company, new history

2009-11-18T03:14:00-06:00

When Jackie Huba and I decided eight years ago to start a company, we envisioned it as a consulting firm that would help clients create customer evangelists.

It was March 2001. We'd both just left the web development company we had worked at for three years. Online advertising was king then, but we wanted to explore why some brands experienced strong word of mouth while others didn't. We wanted to understand what fueled the evangelism, how it happened, and how could we help others do the same.

We started with a website and an email newsletter in an era that could only be described as Before Blogs. A few months later, Fast Company did a short write-up on us, which led to a call from a publisher, which led to a book contract, which led to a year's worth of work, which led to the book "Creating Customer Evangelists" and a regular schedule of speaking engagements and workshops. Instead of focusing on building a company, we focused on spreading a philosophy.

Eight years later, there's a wide range of belief systems to choose from: evangelists, influencers, agents, advocates, mavens or sneezers. Social media fuels all of them at remarkable speed; some companies have adapted well while many others do nothing -- not because they're resistant to change, but because they're unsure of what to do. We think it's a good time to help with that.

So today we're announcing that Ant's Eye View, a management consulting company led by our friends Sean O'Driscoll and Jake McKee, is acquiring us and our company that's home to all of our work. We're very excited to be part of a group that helps business get smart about being social. We'll keep blogging here, and we'll continue to speak at conferences like we have for years, but we'll do that while helping grow a management consulting firm.

Ant's Eye View isn't even a year old yet, but it's already growing like some freaky kid prodigy. Sean was the guy behind Microsoft's MVP program, a community that brings knowledgeable Microsoft product users together with others who have questions or problems to solve. Jake was the guy at LEGO who changed the way that company thought about and engaged with loyal fans and customers through community relations (the subject of a Wired cover story in 2006).

Sean and Jake joined forces early in 2009 to launch Ant's Eye View. After that, they brought in Sean McDonald; he'd led the social media efforts at Dell to rebuild the company's image after "Dell Hell" scorched it. That included the company’s first corporate blog and pioneering efforts like Ideastorm.com.

We like Ant's Eye View because its people have led complex, customer-driven projects at big brands. They understand and believe in customer participation -- the fifth P of marketing -- our core marketing philosophy. They're focused, too; in less time than it takes some companies to decide on a name and a logo, Ant's Eye View has built an impressive roster of clients like Cisco, Apple, Intuit and a bunch of others. Word is just beginning to spread.

It's fitting that our announcement happens on the first day of the 2009 WOMMA Summit in Las Vegas. Five years ago, myself, Jackie and a handful of others met with Pete Blackshaw, Dave Balter and Jonathan Carson to hear their idea for an association focused on word of mouth. We're glad they eventually founded the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, which promotes the importance of word of mouth among all industries; Jackie was even named a founding board member. A bit rocky at times in its early years, WOMMA has filled its shoes well lately, especially by partnering with smarties like John Moore.

In fact, tonight at 7:30 pm (Wednesday), Ant's Eye View is throwing a celebration party at WOMMA. We'll be at the Risque club inside the Paris hotel, and the drinks are on us.

Advertising without advertising

2009-11-12T14:16:19-06:00

Sometimes a movie quote is the best way to capture what you're all about.

Kicking out unwanted customers

2009-10-30T12:35:03-05:00

"Don't talk during the movie or we will take your ass out."

If you've been to an Alamo Drafthouse, the movie theater chain in Austin, Texas, then you've seen that semi-serious warning couched in a fun "public service announcement" before a movie showing. Theater founder Tim League knows that talkers mar the movie-watching experience for everyone else, and he does not tolerate them -- even if they punch the windshield of his car.

See, Tim was a customer recently at one of his theaters. A nearby loud-talker was asked by a theater waiter to keep it down. The customer protested, loudly, demanding to know who was offended by his talking. The waiter pointed to Tim.

Then it gets better... OK, worse.

After the the movie, the incensed customer followed Tim to his car, badgering him with anger. It climaxed with the customer punching the windshield of Tim's car, vowing never to return to an Alamo theater again.

To which Tim wrote on his blog:

"Fabulous.You sir are exactly the type of patron that I never want to see at an Alamo Drafthouse ever again. People who continue to talk when the movie has started are impolite, self-absorbed losers who were never taught common decency by their parents. WE DON’T EVER WANT YOU AT THE ALAMO. Please take your business elsewhere for the rest of your life....To our friendly customers, stay vigilant, report talkers and keep our theater safe from the raging hemorrhoids of cinematic society."

This happens all the time inside stores, movie theaters, sporting events, airline flights; an obnoxious customer makes everyone uncomfortable, and everyone in charge is oblivious.

Commenters on Tim's blog post love that he is standing up for them. If you stand with your best customers at the expense of the bad ones, you'll win bigger. The customer is always right -- if it's the right customer.

BONUS: Here's a years-ago example of an Alamo no talking "public service" video. This one stars the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Twitter: the killer app for customer service

2009-10-22T12:31:07-05:00

"Hello, this is Sam Kaufman from the AT&T Internet Executive Office, and I am calling about your tweets."

That's what I heard yesterday after posting a few tweets about my less-than-stellar customer service experience with an AT&T DSL technical support rep. The rep was trying to diagnose my DSL problems and after telling me to stay on the line for 10 minutes, he never returned after 30 minutes. I hung up. He never called back.

With a few hours of my AT&T tweet, @ATTJohnathon, a customer care rep on Twitter contacted me, asking if he could help. I DM'ed him my account number as he requested and he passed it on to Sam. Turns out Sam is part of the Customer Advocacy Center, where escalated customer complaints are sent. Sam says he has recently started receiving tweets from the AT&T Twitter team for follow-up.

AT&T is on board with social media for customer service. In addition to the five customer care reps on Twitter, the company has 23 social media channels on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Posterous and blogs.

Comcast may have been the first high-profile company to use Twitter for customer service, but now others are seeing the benefits as well, such as DirectTV, Wells Fargo, Alaska Airlines and FourSquare.

Twitter is the killer app for customer service. Companies can discover aggravating service problems by using a variety of tools to listen on tweets mentioning their name. A response can be nearly immediate.

It's good word of mouth, too. Mediocre service is such a standard that any form of pro-active Twitter customer service is worth talking about.

Fees are penalties. Always.

2009-10-19T15:24:31-05:00

It's a wonder why some businesses can't grasp this. Consider the U.S. airlines last month:

Southwest reported an 8.8% increase in revenue passenger miles. Its load factor, the percentage of seats that were filled, increased 11% from a year ago, to 74.7% — a big increase for a month in which schools reopen and summer vacation travels stop.
JetBlue saw a 9.8% jump in passenger miles. Its load factor rose about 1% from the prior year, to 77.6%.

Compare those numbers to other airlines.

Delta: Down 5% on its mainline operation. It also cut capacity by 5%.
American: Down 2.6% domestically. It cut capacity by 6.9%.
US Airways: Down 6.8% domestically. It cut capacity by 5.9%.
United: Down 6.1% domestically. It cut capacity by 8%.

What's a key difference between Southwest and JetBlue vs. the others? No bag fee charges.

Before you say, "You can't correlate those two things, Jackie!" let it be noted that Southwest has commissioned several studies that show the traveling public hates bag fees.

Southwest seems to be doing pretty well as angry passengers migrate away from the bag-fee chargers. Southwest is even running an ad campaign with this message, called "Why do they hate your bags?"

Those nickle and dime fees add up, the airlines will say, but really, they do little more than penalize customers with complexity and disguise the end price. It's no different when a phone or cable company charges activation fees. May as well call them aggravation fees, as in "It's aggravating to have a new customer."

Little wonder passenger satisfaction with the airline industry has declined for a third consecutive year to a four-year low.

Wall Street analysts don't like Southwest's position on bag fees. They say the company is potentially losing $500 million per year in revenue. That's OK. No one likes greedy, short-sighted Wall Street analysts, either.

Kevin Krone, Southwest's VP of marketing, said it best : "If we're trying to get people to travel, we should probably let people take their suitcase."

Gotta love any company that keeps the obvious in perspective.

4 questions with author Jeanne Bliss

2009-10-16T15:30:45-05:00

What makes the difference between having customers who like you and customers who love you?

Many businesses are admired, but only an elite few have passionate, loyal, vocal fans. The kind of customers who not only come back time and time again, but rave to friends, family, and even strangers.

Jeanne Bliss has been the Chief Customer Officer for Lands End, Coldwell Banker, and Allstate, to name a few. Her new book, "I Love You More Than My Dog": Five Decisions That Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad, is her take on how companies create beloved brands.

Q: You describe five types of decisions companies make; is one more difficult or easier than the rest, and how do they happen?

A: The foundation of every beloved company is their purposeful decision to believe. They believe in their employees. This frees them from rules, regulations and processes that take away ingenuity and inventiveness and spirit. And they believe their customers. This creates a level playing field between company and customer, where no one has the upper hand. By believing customers, companies remove the fine print, the unpublished rules and the just plain old stupid rules that make customers struggle to do business with them. This belief fuels the prosperity of human spirit common to all of the beloved companies. It is the underpinning of what draws customers to them and makes employees want to stay. There's no sequence to how companies become proficient at deciding to be there. It’s a funny way of saying this, but the act of believing is an essential core competency of beloved companies.

Q: Online communities and social media have helped create a sense of transparency. Have these been the drivers of a customer driven community or are they merely the byproduct?

A: What’s different about companies that people are drawn to is that they aren’t afraid to show up as who they are, foibles and all. This means earning the rave when they do things well. But it also means fessing up when things go wrong. These businesses allow people to bring the best version of themselves to work with them. They are nurtured and encouraged to apply their personal business decision making in their business decision making. It’s what enables companies such as Lush Cosmetics to have the open volley and exchange of ideas with employees and customers who debate and defend decisions on which 100 products they cut out each year. They enjoy family talk, not corporate talk. Griffin Hospital, for example, saw a 40% reduction in malpractice lawsuits when they decided to suspend the cynicism and trust families and patients by opening up complete records to them. A lot of companies want to “get” the rave. My take is that they’ve got that backwards. Companies need to earn the right to have customers tell their story.

Q: Do companies need to be customer-driven to grow?

A: Companies forget that customers keep them in business. Customers who love companies grow them. To understand this, think of customer math -- a rigorous way to track incoming customers by volume and value and then reconcile that number with the lost customers in that same period, comparing incoming and outgoing customer volume and value. The ‘aha moment’ comes when the math reveals that company marketing dollars are spent replacing customers lost rather than growing the business with the addition of new customers. In essence, many companies are running in place. I believe in elevating customers as the asset of the business. That means creating a competency for rigor around a) identifying and getting rid of those things driving customers away; and then b) getting really great at specific things that create a distinct memory and impression about a company and its people. We forget the fact that it’s the creation of those memories that we make on purpose or accidentally through our operations decisions or policy choices that connect or repel us from customers.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle companies face in making them beloved?

A: Always looking at what each decision will get them. In a world where products and services are available in a hundred variations, these companies get a disproportionate piece of the pie because of how they treat their customers and employees. Acutely aware of how their every action impacts how customers feel and respond to them, they take the time to make purposeful decisions about the contacts they have with customers. So I’d say that the two biggest things in the way of companies adopting these decisions, is first, time: The rush of the deadline, of the quarter, and of making the quarterly sales goals. The second is silos. The inability of coming together as a unified operation to work together, fail and learn together and win together.

A social media truism

2009-10-13T10:01:12-05:00

When times are good, participate.

When times are tough, participate more.

(Doesn't that read better than "advertise" in that old saying?)

How to create a killer conference

2009-10-09T14:20:20-05:00

At the start of 2009, 7% of business meetings scheduled for the year had already been canceled. As the year wore on, it seems as if things only got worse for the conference industry. Thanks, Great Recession!

So how in the world did the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association nearly double the attendance of its annual summit from 600 in 2008 to 1,100 this year?

Since I was invited to keynote at the conference, I found out first-hand:

Provide killer content. This one-day event had 5 tracks with enough variety for everyone: Fundamentals, Strategy, Tactical, Trends and Technical tracks. Sessions tackled key issues such as legal problems in online marketing, diversity in the interactive industry, and job strategies for a sucky economy.
Its members are fiercely loyal. Five years ago, MIMA had 200 members. Two years ago, it had 700. Now it has 1,200. By focusing on a long-term loyalty strategy of membership growth, plus great content, attending the annual conference was a no-brainer for many members.
Technology was everywhere. MIMA set up home bases on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube. They live-streamed the conference over the web. They created an iPhone app for attendees to browse the schedule and manage their conference experience. They encouraged attendees to download Bump, an iPhone app that allows people to exchange contact info by "bumping" their phones together.
Best customer service ever. Whacked out customer service isn't usually part of most conferences, but it was here. Masseuses gave neck massages in the speaker green room and in the press room. A hospitality station offered laptop and phone charging. There was hand sanitizer galore to combat H1N1 flu fears. There were private breast pump rooms for moms. My favorite: Snuggies for those who were too cold (why are conferences forever freezing cold?)
An event coordinator brimming with imagination. MIMA smartly put Jennifer Kane from Kane Consulting in charge of event management. Brimming with energy. Always smiling, even under stress. Always focused on the attendee's experience. It was her idea to do the hospitality station. The conference was managed like a fun, bustling restaurant with great service. There was even an official MIMA cupcake in conference bags.
They were bold. In tough times, it's tempting to be conservative. Bare-bones everything. MIMA wasn't. It secured Seth Godin as the luncheon keynote speaker to drive attendance. They were right. The conference sold out 2 weeks before it happened.
Humor. Maybe it's Minnesota, but humor was rich in its abundance at the conference. Weeks earlier, MIMA showed how by using the Seth Godin action figure to create a YouTube video called "Little Seth Godin at the Minnesota State Fair." In it, Little Seth gets rolled into a lefse. (It's a Scandinavian Minnesota thing.)
Absolutely nutty creative. I asked Jen Kane if a TV would be at the reception party on Sunday, the night before the event, because my Steelers were playing the Chargers. (Yeah, I'm a fanatic.) Sure enough, they had a TV and, to my utter shock, they assembled a "Steelers lounge" just for me. They called it Jackie's Joint, and it came with VIP Reserved Chair, popcorn machine, gold pom poms and large screen TV. It was sick, and I loved it. (More pics here.)

Facebook fan pages are the future

2009-10-08T10:53:49-05:00

Facebook fan pages are the future for three reasons: They're free, easy to create and build a nearly instantaneous pathway to evangelists, prospects or the curious.

When fans interact with a fan page on Facebook, that interaction is sent through the fan's news feed, which goes to all their friends, practically daring a chunk of them to see what the page is about.

Compared to Twitter, Facebook fan pages rule. You're not limited by Twitter's 140-character posts, plus it's far easier for fan page members to preview a photo, video or weblink than what Twitter offers.

What more could a brand manager want?

Finally, a Facebook fan page can be a strong leading indicator of how well a brand is doing at any one time with buzz-spreaders, some of whom could represent connected, influential customers. Its feedback is all qualitative, but a Facebook fan page could help guide a brand in 3 ways:

It immediately surfaces questions, problems or issues. A fan page can create an immediate fix-it list.
It tells you how well you're connecting with fans through Facebook's free "Insights" feature that graphs subscribes, unsubscribes, post quality and total interactions. Plus, you get some tasty demographic stats about your fans -- won't get that from Google Analytics or Twitter.
It tells you what resonates with fans by the number of comments and "likes" people give each post.

With a little bit of imagination, it shouldn't be too hard for a brand manager to devise a spreadsheet filled with marketing tactics that emerge from a vibrant Facebook fan page.

P.S. Not giving up my Twitter account though, even if Miley Cyrus has.

P.P.S. You should friend me on Facebook here.

David Letterman, part 2

2009-10-07T16:46:05-05:00

Continuing to show the rest of us what to do when we screw up, David Letterman spent 3 minutes and 20 seconds apologizing on last night's show after revealing last week he'd been part of an extortion plot.

The alleged plot was based on Letterman's relationships with women on his staff.

With a bit of humor and obvious emotion, Letterman is forthright and honest. He states the obvious without going into maudlin detail.

It's all forthright authenticity any company or person can learn from, even if you consider what Letterman did to be a sign of poor judgment.

The social media ban

2009-10-07T12:31:19-05:00

A survey of 1,400 companies has found that 54% of them completely prohibit social media at work.

The companies that do allow their employees access to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or a host of other social networks do so in varying levels.

Just 10% allow employees access to social media for any type of use.

The story here isn't a preponderance of companies clueless about social media. The real story is the gift the those prohibitive companies have given to their competitors or a start-up in the 10% that have opened the social media doors.

The 10 percenters can set up company Facebook fan pages, add more people to the company Twitter account, set up a YouTube channel, a Squidoo account, a LinkedIn group, a Yammer account or a Ning network for employees who can tell their Facebook friends about the cool things they're doing at work. Plus they'll hear about any problems fans or customers encounter and have a front-line response ready to tackle them.

For the 10 percenters, this gift may not last long, but they have the chance to spread word of mouth about their work through network after network while their locked-down competitors futz over print brochures.

Yes on the FTC's disclosure rule for bloggers

2009-10-05T17:11:58-05:00

The FTC says if bloggers write about products, they must disclose if they received payments and/or freebies from a company for the write-up. If not, it's an $11,000 fine per violation. (The FTC's note about disclosure is here.)

This is a good thing.

With just about every survey in the world finding that the majority of people today trust what's said online forums more so than any other marketing platform, then it's in the best interest of the public to ensure that the system isn't rigged for positive or negative reviews. Anything else is just a form of fraud. Trust is the bloodstream of commerce, and online trust has become a central component to how billions of dollars are spent by millions of people every day.

The vast majority of people don't run stop signs, yet we still have laws against it. Every infraction isn't caught or punished, but STOP isn't a guideline or an industry-developed suggestion. This is a good example of protecting the many from the reckless few, just as the FTC's blogger rule is.

Teaching every blogger that it's against the law to accept payments or freebies for writing about products will help maintain a measure of trust in the online marketplace. It won't stop some bloggers from acting recklessly or fraudulently, but it will remove any ambivalence or doubt about its legality. That's a start.

John Moore notes the top-line takeaways on the WOMMA blog.
Brian says on TechCrunch that disclosure "can only help brands and bloggers."
Kate at ClickZ has a good write-up, including how a fine might be levied.
Jeff Jarvis makes a First Amendment, let-the-marketplace-decide argument.

David Letterman on how to frame a story

2009-10-02T10:50:08-05:00

The David Letterman extortion story is a textbook case of how to get in front of bad buzz.

Letterman used Thursday night's show to tell the story of how a "48 Hours" producer allegedly demanded $2 million to not write a book and screenplay about Letterman's sexual exploits with women on his staff. Letterman informed authorities of the demand, and the producer was arrested.

For nearly 10 minutes on national TV, Letterman told the story with humor and pathos. It was a fairly hypnotic story, even if it was a bit tawdry. (That's television for ya.)

The story of the plot, the arrest and the motive would certainly have gotten out, all of which Letterman called "embarrassing." What's instructive here is that Letterman himself set the frame of the story. "Yes, I had sex with women," he says, which got a big laugh from the audience. Even if you think less of him, there's no denying it was a moment of refreshing authenticity.

How the conversation goes now in this Twitter-driven world now is all part of natural selection, but Letterman certainly neutralized far worse rumor-mongering that could have quickly spiraled, jeopardizing his reputation, maybe even his job.

By getting in front of the story, especially with self-effacing humor, Letterman saved a lot more face than he lost. It's a pretty good way to go for anyone or any company about to be in the hot seat.

Update: CBS removed the Letterman clip from its online site that I had embedded originally with this post, and it usually sends takedown notices to anyone who posts the clip on YouTube. It's increasingly difficult to find an online clip that isn't gone after a day or two.

There's a Ferrari in here somewhere

2009-09-21T18:00:26-05:00

If only the message on this billboard outside my window at home in Austin were true.

The traditional ways marketers have driven sales and profit are accelerating in their obsolescene. New data from Nielsen shows that not only is word of mouth more important than ever, the opinions of strangers posted online is more effective than TV, radio and yes, even billboards.

Billboard advertising is easy. Banner ads are easy. Entire industries have been created to make them easy.

Creating a product or service worth talking about is hard. Done well, the ROI of excellent word of mouth makes traditional advertising look downright buggy-whippish.

A CIA factbook on Facebook

2009-09-14T14:45:37-05:00

What's the most-represented country on Facebook?

Easy answer: The United States.

Second?

The U.K., another fairly easy answer.

But which country is the third-most represented?

Turkey.

Yes, Turkey, with (currently) 13 million of its 76 million residents on Facebook. Turkey beats out Canada for resident representation. I wouldn't have guessed.

It's real-time stats like these that make Nick's work on CheckFacebook.com valuable to anyone who needs data to make sense of the impact Facebook is having on business and culture.

One other real-time stat: A staggering 274 million people have registered themselves on Facebook, a number which could reach 300 million by the end of 2009 with no signs of letting up. When a company has 300 million customers, it creates a dynamic wake.

Where's the CIA World Factbook equivalent for social networks?

Bonus: Top 10 countries on Facebook, as measured by users:

1.	United States	84,104,460
2.	United Kingdom	19,801,120
3.	Turkey	13,020,000
4.	Canada	12,367,320
5.	France	12,005,320
6.	Italy	11,174,000
7.	Indonesia	8,932,160
8.	Australia	6,481,900
9.	Spain	6,443,940
10.	Colombia	6,109,400

AT&T and the 2 most important words

2009-09-05T06:14:00-05:00

"We're sorry."

That's what you say when a large number of your customers are upset with you. AT&T customers have been complaining for months about dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and slow download speeds for the iPhone.

So, AT&T released this video on YouTube.

In it, "Seth the Blogger" (no, not that Seth) says AT&T has heard all the complaints but then congratulates his company for pioneering the smart phone industry. He also explains how cell networks operate with snoozingly detailed graphics and finally tries to explain how the company is spending money to fix the network.

But never he says what customers really want to hear: "We're sorry."

IKEA's font fury

2009-09-01T13:50:42-05:00

Is IKEA, the global Swedish furniture chain, having a New Coke moment?

After 50 years of using the iconic Futura font for its catalog design, it has switched to Verdana. Hard-core IKEA fans, who love the brand for its design sensibility are upset. Their rallying cry: Verdana was invented by Microsoft for the computer screen, not paper. Verdana is just plain ugly. See the difference here:

Twitter is filled with angry comments extolling the company to "stop the Verdana madness." An online petition has 4,000 signatures.

IKEA made the switch because it's cheaper to use one font that works in digital and print media. They didn't anticipate a backlash; a spokeswoman for the company said:

"We're surprised. But I think it's mainly experts who have expressed their views, people who are interested in fonts. I don't think the broad public is that interested."

The uprising may have begun with people who know fonts but thanks to Facebook and Twitter, a broader audience knows, especially if you include the 300+ articles in the mainstream media.

Ultimately, is this important to IKEA? It depends on scale, of course, but also something that's not quantifiable: the depth of emotional attachment.

When a company has evangelists, it's often because it has core values. For IKEA, core values are style, chic design, and affordability. In that context, a typeface isn't just a typeface: it's an emotional catalyst. When Walmart changed its logo recently, no one complained. Walmart had nowhere to go but up since its core value is low prices, not reflect contemporary style or design. When Coke changed its formula in 1985, the outrage wasn't about its sugared water tasting worse, it was about the betrayal of an established core value. A psychologist who listened to complaints in the call center described the calls as the equivalent of the death of a family member.

For IKEA, the Futura font is (or was) the emotional subtext to IKEA's contemporary yet familiar vibe. For the purists and evangelists, switching to Verdana is a sign of something worse than a new font.

IKEA's next move is a big one. What do you think it should do?

(Image courtesy of the isdgn blog)

Meet "Little Seth Godin"

2009-09-01T13:33:07-05:00

Did you know that world-renowned marketer and blogger Seth Godin has a Mini-Me? "Little Seth Godin" visits the Minnesota State Fair to promote his keynote speech at the October 5 Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association's Annual Summit.

I will also be keynoting this event. I do not have an action figure.

Tickets and information for the event are here.

Turning bad buzz around for Best Buy

2009-08-13T17:10:14-05:00

Best Buy was in the news the other day for an oops. It offered a 52-inch HDTV that normally sells for $1,600 on its web site for $9.99. Eager web surfers gleefully pulled out their credit cards and placed orders.

As word of the deal spread, Best Buy realized the mistake, quickly pulled the offer from the site and announced it would not honor the purchases. The company cited its web site terms and conditions, which reserve the right to "revoke offers or correct errors" even if a credit card has already been charged. Upset tweeters took over, and Best Buy came out with a black eye.

Few people would expect Best Buy to honor what surely seems like human error but the bigger idea here is that every misstep, even embarrassing public ones, are an opportunity to turn bad buzz into good. Years ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told a newspaper he wouldn't hire the chief referee of the NBA "to manage a Dairy Queen." Ouch. Within days, Cuban accepted an offer to manage a DQ store in Dallas. While TV cameras and reporters captured the scene, Cuban was behind the counter, in DQ garb, serving customers -- and that was BT: Before Twitter. DQ was happy, Cuban was happy, and the media were happy they had a happy ending to a story.

Turning bad buzz into good takes fast, creative thinking, a sense of humor, and a willingness to happily eat virtual crow. Best Buy could put everyone who ordered the TV into a drawing then give away 10 of them. Or 100. Then they could even deliver the sets, with TV cameras rolling, and have their Geek Squad members install them for free.

You can either point to the rules when you screw up, or you can go beyond the obvious and do something worth talking about.

The twouble with Twitter

2009-08-06T10:42:57-05:00

As of 10 am CST this morning, Twitter is down. While you are waiting for it come back up, perhaps this video will give us all some perspective : )

SEC complaint against Cuban dismissed

2009-07-17T12:10:16-05:00

Last year, we blogged about the SEC going after one of our favorite marketing-driven entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban, and the selling of his interest in Mamma.com.

Today, a federal judge dismissed the complaint, giving the SEC 30 days to file an amended version, but overall striking a blow to the SEC's action. The judge also rejected some of Cuban's claims about his fiduciary relationship with the company.

Cuban hates to lose, and the judge's decision is definitely one for Cuban's win column.

Hype vs. excitement: expanded

2009-07-14T12:49:58-05:00

We had nifty comments to the original hype vs. excitement post, so here's an enhanced version of the chart featuring them.

Hype is:	Excitement is:
An impossible promise	A realistic promise
Sales-driven	Value-driven
Exclamation points	Passion
Obnoxious	Contagious
Cause for mistrust	Cause for belief
Overuse of adverbs	Adverb-free
Narcissistic	Optimistic
Segway	Bike Friday
Contrived	Authentic
Unsustainable	Fuel for the future
From COTC readers:
Bound to burn out quickly	Bound to improve ROI (Zoltan Devai)
Overpromising	Overdelivering (Dan Limbach)
"Some restrictions apply"	Free (Bob Poole)
Mob mentality	Individual thrill (Jeannie Walters)
Artificially colored cornstarch	Top sirloin steak, medium-well (Jon Nichols)
Showing off	Showing up (Maria Reyes-McDavis)
Focused on yourself	Focused on your customer (Bruce Kaechele)

Money vs. gold

2009-07-07T13:27:14-05:00

The hubbub surrounding Moonfruit giving away 10 Macs over 10 days on Twitter is a good lesson for marketers on money vs. gold.

Give away money and people will question your motives or simply yawn with boredom.

Give away gold -- like a pallet of Macbook Pros, or tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial service -- and they'll line up for blocks.

WOM won't wait 'til Monday

2009-07-01T13:27:46-05:00

Buzz isn't scheduled, especially bad buzz.

Thanks to Twitter, it can snowball into an avalanche of angry buzz after hours or during a weekend, just in time for the Monday morning news, as Amazon and Motrin recently learned. (Recent bad buzz for Domino's began on a Monday evening.)

The bigger the company, the more likely the inevitable unhappy Tweet that could begin Saturday morning. Then what? Who's monitoring your brand Friday night to Monday morning? Your social media manager? PR agency? Ad agency? Your social media intern?

Do you have a process to monitor and respond to weekend online word of mouth?

Let us know in the comments.

Hype vs. excitement

2009-07-01T08:48:05-05:00

Hype is:	Excitement is:
An impossible promise	A realistic promise
Sales-driven	Value-driven
Exclamation points	Passion
Obnoxious	Contagious
Cause for mistrust	Cause for belief
Overuse of adverbs	Adverb-free
Narcissistic	Optimistic
Segway	Bike Friday
Contrived	Authentic
Unsustainable	Fuel for the future

How would you describe hype vs. excitement?

The secrecy tax

2009-06-23T13:15:24-05:00

Apple apparently goes to great, almost CIA-like lengths to maintain secrecy.

It includes mazes of security doors, numeric codes to enter one's office, which is constantly monitored by security cameras, red warning lights when secret devices are unmasked, and the deliberate spread of misinformation inside the company, according to the Times.

Secrecy isn't a communications strategy at Apple. It's part of the company's cultural DNA, and it generates staggering levels of free press and PR.

That makes many companies want to emulate Apple's culture of secrecy, but the company is and always will be an anomaly. It has spent 30 years refining its secrecy culture. The physical and mental costs must be enormous, creating what surely must be a secrecy tax on its products.

So unless you have the world's most gifted engineers, designers and marketers with a track record of creating products that will sell a million units a year along with a gifted, messianic founder, then a culture based on transparency, truth and openness are a lot easier, and less expensive, to manage.