tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640Fri, 30 Aug 2024 01:10:53 +0000MarketingPsychologystrategyreading notesethicsuser experiencecustomer servicedesigncustomer experienceinnovationbrandconsumer behaviorSocial MediaeconomicsadvertisingcultureloyaltyTechnologyexperiencemotivationbad managementLeadershipmobileretailrelationship managementsatisfactionconsumer preferencesqualityMetricssalesmanshipsalesrelationshipbad ideasemotionimitationpersonnel managementdecision makingoperations managementreputationsustainabilityefficiencyengagementoptimizationprice vs qualityrelationshipsresearchbehaviorbankingchannelsusabilityCommunicationcreativitycustomeremployeeknowledgepricingpromotiontrustvaluebloggingcompetitive advantageconspicuous consumptionhuman resourcesneeds-basedtacticstask designGame Designcostcustomizationinternetorganizationprocess managementrelevanceresource managementsegmentationsociologystandardstrainingB2BFacebookWeb Metricsacquisitionadvocacyattentionchoiceconsistencyplanningproblem-solvingscientific managementweb traffic analysisworking relationshipsCRMITbad advicecognitioncommoditizationfashionfinancial managementhappinessidentityinventionluxurynegotiationprivacyprocess improvementprofitabilityproject managementrecruitingretentiontestingCrowdsourcingMediaautomationbusiness intelligencecareercollaborationconveniencecost-benefit analysiscredibilitycritical thinkingerrorsfadsfinancial servicesgamificationglobalismhard sellinginfluenceinteractioninvestmentjourneylifetime valuemerchandisingmoralenonprofitownershippackagingperceptionpraxeologyproduct life cyclerecoveryservice recoverystatisticssuggestive sellingtabletvirtual realityword of mouthwriting404 errorsERPPoliticsRewards ProgramsVirtual Communitiesaccountingartificial intelligenceauthoritative sourcesbudgetingbuyingbuying decisionschange managementcompetitionconsultantscontractorsconversioncreditcustomer experience managementdebit cardsdemographicsecommerceeffortespionageexpert systemsgenerational marketinggoalsinvestorjudgmentlaborlogolong-termmarketing life cyclemetaphorsmimesisneurologynotesperfectionismpersonal web publishingpersonalizationpolicypowerpredictionsprice discriminationpricing strategyprocedureproduct developmentproductionproductivityprofessionpublic relationspurchasingquality controlsearchsecurityself-serviceservice economyservicesshoppingtalent acquisitiontalent developmenttransactionsB2CC2CCensorshipGoogleHTMLInternet of ThingsMedia TheoryModerationPerlSMESocial TVSurveillanceVOCactionaestheticsaffiliationagenciesagile methodologyanonymityapathyattitudebad examplesbad researchbasic principlesbig databrowsersbrowsingbureaucracybuzzcapitalismcash managementcharismaclassificationcodecode snippetscollectivismcommentscompatibilitycompetitive intelligencecongestionconnectionsconservativismconsumerconsumptioncontrolcorrelationdeceptiondefinitiondiscountingeffectivenessequipmenteventfallaciesfilteringgoodsgroupthinkguerilla tacticsideas for solutionsindividualisminfrastructureinstructionintegrationinterestinterfaceinterrogationjavascriptjob designjob huntinglawsuitsleadsliabilitylisteningmanipulationmarket penetrationmaterialismmemorymissionmonetizationmonopolynet neutralitynew product developmentobservationoutsourcingpartnershippersonal financepersonasphilosophypopularityprocrastinationproduct designproduct reviewsproductsprospectpseudosciencepsychquackeryreboundregulationreliabilityrespectrisk managementritualssocial bookmarkingsoft sellingsoft skillssolutions-basedsponsorshipsubliminal advertisingsupply chainsurveyingtargetingtaxonomyteamstelevisiontext analysistheoryturnoverusefulnessuser testingvalue delivery systemvalue of timevendorviralvisionvoice messaging systemswealthworkforceThis is a collection of random notes and meditations on topics including user experience, customer service, marketing, strategy, economics, and whatever else is bouncing around in my scattered mind.http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Jim)Blogger676125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-7254045223336672166Tue, 01 Jan 2019 11:43:00 +00002019-01-01T05:43:05.911-06:00bloggingI'm going to take a one-year break from this blog to pursue other projects. New posts should resume in 2020. - Jhttp://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2019/01/on-hiatus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-4532962747573476862Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:02:00 +00002018-12-20T12:02:03.311-06:00brandpartnershipstrategytactics Partnerships among brands are seldom a pairing of equals: they are most often parasitic.   Large, successful, and established brands seldom seek out partnerships with small, unknown upstarts – and when they do, it tends to be a tactical maneuver that is ultimately recognized as a strategic mistake. While partnering with a start-up can enable rapid development of products or http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/12/six-perils-of-partnership.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-1136540258440149093Thu, 13 Dec 2018 18:19:00 +00002018-12-13T12:19:01.166-06:00commoditizationcultureMarketing Demand for products is culturally derived: while human beings have certain universal biological needs for consumption, the manner in which these needs has historically been influenced greatly by culture.  All humans need to eat, but exactly what foods are eaten has been dictated by culture.  In the consumption of non-essential goods, culture plays an even greater role in http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/12/globalization-of-demand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-8761525970036051254Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:31:00 +00002018-11-29T11:31:00.437-06:00advertisingethicsmanipulationPsychology It is suggested that the desire for a brand is a desire for identity – that a person (usually) chooses to consume a product to satisfy a functional need, but selects a brand based on a need to achieve or maintain a given social identity.   Internally, they wish to be the kind of person who uses that brand; externally, they wish to associate with the kind of people who use that http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/11/brand-and-social-identity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-4114736833424817582Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:44:00 +00002018-11-15T11:44:00.947-06:00advertisingethicsPsychology Any practical consideration of human behavior tends to lead to an ethical quagmire: when we attempt to influence a person to do something, we cannot be certain that what we are doing is truly in that person’s best interest.   Even when it can be objectively and mathematically demonstrated that the person is better off for taking the action that we have persuaded him to undertake, http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-desire-for-autonomy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-6049355794525474867Thu, 08 Nov 2018 18:02:00 +00002018-11-08T12:02:01.728-06:00ethicsPsychologytraining Most of the “skills” we possess are merely patterns of behavior to which we have intentionally conditioned ourselves.   We learn that a given behavior is connected to a given outcome, and this becomes part of our mental programming.  It is not always intentional: connections are formed based on experiences, whether or not we mean to make associations, they are made. There was http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-conditioning-of-man.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-1312903043751275208Thu, 01 Nov 2018 16:51:00 +00002018-11-01T11:51:04.361-05:00happinessmaterialismPsychologywealth Anyone who truly believes that money cannot buy happiness has led a charmed life, or is conveniently forgetting a time in which they suffered for the lack of something that money could easily obtain.    Most people can recall a time when they went hungry for a few days for lack of money to buy food, or nights when they worried about being evicted or having the utilities shut http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/11/happiness-and-materialism.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-1483888815397533557Thu, 25 Oct 2018 16:51:00 +00002018-10-25T11:51:13.616-05:00ethicsrecoverystrategy Ethical dilemmas are often posed in the scenario of a crisis situation.  If there are only so many seats on a lifeboat, or so much space in a bomb shelter, whom do you take in and whom do you turn away?  It is presumed that the choices people make in a difficult situation reveal their true values. The same is said of companies who face a crisis, and people watch to see “http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/10/who-comes-first.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-9154062062435099869Thu, 18 Oct 2018 16:40:00 +00002018-10-18T11:40:01.200-05:00bad managementemployeetrainingturnover The unfortunate truth is that practices in teaching workmen skills is very haphazard.   Schools teach students the skills they might need in an abstract form, often buy rote and with little to no practical application.   When a new employee is hired he is sent to the shop with little instruction, expected to observe and figure out the job with little guidance. http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/10/haphazard-training.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-7111776230818337666Thu, 11 Oct 2018 16:47:00 +00002018-10-11T11:47:02.923-05:00advertisingPsychology Physiology tells us that the human brain is largely identical from one person to the next, buy psychology clearly demonstrates that this organ is used in different ways by different people.   There is some argument over whether slight differences in the biological organ cause some to behave differently from others, or whether this is merely a matter of their upbringing and http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/10/advertising-and-natural-capacity-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-2494751056118939562Thu, 04 Oct 2018 16:27:00 +00002018-10-04T11:27:00.332-05:00retailsegmentationstrategy Not every customer expects the best – they know they can’t afford it, and sometimes they just want a basic solution at a cheap price for something that is not that important.  They have reasonable expectations – some might go so far as to say they have low expectations – and delivering something beyond those expectations is not going to impress them. Moreover, delivering http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/10/reasonable-expectations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-4782618134109917713Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:33:00 +00002018-09-27T11:33:00.520-05:00bad managementemployeesustainability It is a common failing of employers to be entirely self-centered: to seek to accomplish what they want with indifference to the welfare of their employees.    Performance appraisal systems are similarly aligned: employees are given goals based on the needs of the organization and expected to meet them, with no consideration of the employee’s personal motivation. http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/09/employees-as-stakeholders.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-2861758856004726686Thu, 20 Sep 2018 16:18:00 +00002018-09-20T11:18:08.468-05:00customer experiencedesignexperiencePsychology If you seek information about design from professional educators, or read the blogs of the unemployed, you will quickly get the sense that design is about art and experience.  A designer crafts objects that give pleasure to those who use them, either through the aesthetic experience of through ease of use and ideally a combination of both.    None of this is wrong – http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/09/design-and-experience.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-6256351640793853714Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:51:00 +00002018-09-13T11:51:18.399-05:00brandconspicuous consumptionPsychology A generic product is usually consumed for its functional value – it is a means to an end, and the consumption experience is evaluated according to the effectiveness of the product in achieving the desired end.   A branded product, however, is usually consumed for a non-functional reason: the consumer seeks the product for its functional value, but any brand of that product would http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-consumption-value-of-esteem.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-5468467272674217888Thu, 06 Sep 2018 16:24:00 +00002018-09-06T11:24:14.262-05:00culturenew product developmentstrategy While perseverance and tenacity are generally admirable qualities, they can be taken to far – to the point that they become dysfunctional.   In individuals, we can quickly recognize those who have a pathological need to spin their histories to make even their most dismal failures sound like success stories.   In organizations, we can also witness those who insist onhttp://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/09/failing-to-accept-failure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-7480884979330428695Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:38:00 +00002018-08-30T11:38:06.429-05:00ethicshard sellingsalessalesmanshipsoft selling In a conference session about marketing, there was rather a long digression on the difference between selling and offering that seemed to be belaboring the difference in the hard-sell and soft-sell approaches, in favor of the latter.   In the presenter’s mind, the days of hard selling are over and it’s time that all industries switch to a soft sales process.   &nbsphttp://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-need-for-hard-sell.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-1834625214852532564Thu, 23 Aug 2018 17:18:00 +00002018-08-23T12:18:03.866-05:00innovationmobileTechnology Something I recently read stuck in my mind: that the pace of technology has slowed considerably in recent years.  The author pointed out that the twenty-year period from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s brought a whirlwind of change, and every couple of years there was some revolutionary new capability: the personal computer, networked computing, the Internet, cellular phones, mobile http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-slow-pace-of-technology-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-6987059801407314780Thu, 16 Aug 2018 16:43:00 +00002018-08-16T11:43:14.930-05:00B2Bbrandsupply chain A fellow shopping for auto insurance asked an unusual question: what repair shop would we use in his location for body work.   Some years ago, he had an accident and was sent to a shop that did rather a poor job, leaving him so displeased that he changed insurance companies.   And then, when he had another claim, the new insurance company sent his car to the very http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/08/brand-unawareness.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-4259180723679113118Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:21:00 +00002018-08-02T11:21:26.252-05:00bad ideasbrandmarket penetrationstrategytrust A brand is trusted by its existing customers because of its past behavior: if the brand kept the promises it made, then it is trusted to repeat the same behavior in the future, and this trust extends to any new promises that the brand makes to the customer that has already experienced its reliability.  But when approaching a prospect, who has not interacted with the brand, earning http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/08/targeting-gullible-market.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-1633157469689990790Thu, 26 Jul 2018 16:40:00 +00002018-07-26T11:40:32.658-05:00bad advicebad researchgenerational marketing Being as it’s about halfway through 2018, it seems that market researchers have suddenly become aware that the next generation is entering their adulthood.  They haven’t figured out what to call them yet (centennials, generation Z, iGen or whatnot) and there’s not a lot of agreement on when, exactly, the generation began (somewhere between 1990 and 2000, depending on what they’re http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/07/generational-marketing-mistakes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-4542754221719589805Thu, 19 Jul 2018 17:28:00 +00002018-07-19T12:28:22.140-05:00bad examplescustomer experiencerecovery Recently, a colleague of mine had an issue with an online pet store – which would be one of those unremarkable “yeah, these things happen” incidents except for how poorly the company handled the attempted service recovery.   A bit of background: the colleague in question adopted a shelter dog that had a number of serious health issues – it’s an ongoing saga – and she ordered some http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/07/chewy-pooching-customer-recovery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-2995225270383216440Thu, 12 Jul 2018 17:01:00 +00002018-07-12T12:01:05.415-05:00brandMarketingsociologystrategy The desire of brands to win advocacy is a generally good thing – it causes firms to think beyond the one-time sale, to providing a product that leaves customers so satisfied that they will not only repurchase but also advocate to other prospects in favor of the brand.   However, like any good thing, it can be done to excess – and at some point pursuing advocacy for the sake of http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/07/bad-ambassadors.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-2642308175998851899Thu, 05 Jul 2018 16:15:00 +00002018-07-09T07:00:47.481-05:00bad managementcustomerprofitabilitystatistics At a recent event, one of the attendees stood up and proudly shared a very dubious success story:  he had been listening in on a phone call in which one of his company’s service representatives was dealing with a customer who was closing an account, and the rep spent about fifteen minutes with the customer to talk them into keeping the account open with a one-dollar balance in case it http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/07/putting-people-before-profit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-7359892165409889416Thu, 28 Jun 2018 16:44:00 +00002018-06-28T11:44:19.203-05:00MarketingPsychology Everyday life is boring and uneventful: people follow their well-worn paths and make little progress through small and safe steps, avoiding risks and anything that is out of the ordinary for them.   And as dull and boring as it seems, we are creatures of habit – and like being creatures of habit.  We will defend our humdrum lives against the incursion of anything that http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/06/defending-routine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1802451563679549640.post-3420799055332899962Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:55:00 +00002018-06-21T11:55:27.769-05:00apathyloyaltyMarketingretention In my research into customer loyalty, I’ve come across an interesting paradox: that customers who state that they are not loyal to a brand and even those who feel dissatisfied with its products intend to purchase the same brand the next time they have a need.    It’s not just an unusual few who respond this way: the majority of those who are dissatisfied intend to repurchase http://jimshamlin.blogspot.com/2018/06/customer-loyalty-or-customer-apathy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jim)0