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Digital Loyalty Data for CPG

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

Lumping CPG companies together, across different categories, can blur a lot of what makes each category unique. The difference between Baby Care and Ready-to-Eat cereal is staggering-- when you're deep into it, but from the surface, these are all categories that are getting tossed in the same baskets at the same retailers by roughly the same customers.

So how do you leverage Data and Customer Experience to drive loyalty?

First you have to understand that everyone is different. From the moment that mom discovers she's having a baby, until junior goes off to University, she is on a journey along a unique path of the customer life cycle. She'll be exposed to many things that others go through, but she'll go through them at her own pace. Her basket's product mix will shift slightly with each passing week as the baby grows and develops different tastes, habits, visits new places, goes to the beach and take their first fall.

There's only so much data you can infer from a postal code. CPG manufacturers need to understand their customers at a much deeper level if they want to change behaviour, build brand loyalty or anticipate needs to drive sales or product trial. We can look at aggregate purchase data of a 'typical' customer from sources like Coalition loyalty programs, Proprietary retailer programs or measurement data like Nielson. --But this doesn't let you understand your customer to the point where you know the day they switch from toddlers to cruisers or from formula to baby food to solids. You don't know her birthday so you can surprise her or her baby's birthday so you can keep track of their progress. You just know generally what people who look like your customer are doing.

How do you develop a relationship with a stranger?

Answer? You can't. If you want to develop a relationship with a customer, one that's meaningful to your business and their lives, you need the whole picture. You need to know where they're shopping, what they're buying, what they're not buying, when they shop, what their family looks like,-- you need to understand them.

So how do you mesh understanding across an array of categories?

Think of each category like a piece of the puzzle. Understanding everything about one category will still not show you the big picture. You need to try to incorporate all the pieces you have to form the full picture. Some pieces aren't even in your business: The Social Graph. How your customer interacts with others, their friends and family, other brands, all feeds into a holistic view of that customer that is unique to them.

So do we need to know everything to make a marketing decision?

Of course not. Just like when you're starting a puzzle, you have the box to give you a rough idea of what they'll look like at the end. Call this the aggregate or persona data. You generally know it's a bird flying over a lake with trees. But how all the pieces fit together and bring clarity to the image require many pieces of the puzzle.

Where does digital fit into all this?

Everything is about data and learning and understanding. Businesses want to Get, Keep and Grow their customers. Acquisition, Retention and Up-sell/Cross-sell. They want to take all of this understanding and turn it into some kind of offer that creates an incremental lift in sales. That's what it's all about. So what about when you know different things about every single one of your customers? You need automation, machine learning, real-time analytics, real-time customer experience changes, tailored business rules and of course personalized and customized communication deployed automatically. You need a system that can take all of the data from purchase, data from referrals, reviews and preferences, historical data, geographic data, layers of social data and turn that into an experience that scales for every customer. Sounds good right?

This is happening now. Some companies get it and some don't, but most companies that have any SKU level data about purchase behaviour tied to the customer level have started down a path towards this data utopia.

The Illogical nature of a gift card

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:52:00 +0000

You can't think of what to buy. You know you want to spend $50. You buy a gift card to a store you know they like. Perfect right? Nope.

If you have to spend that money, either buy an actual gift with a gift receipt (like a gift card, except bigger) or give cash. Why? Well, I've explained it a few times here, and here, but the gist of it is this: You're admitting failure. You're saying "I can't think of something meaningful, but I will have the balls to tell you where to spend my money". That's not a thoughtful gift, that's formula. They do, so I must do.

What about this: Donate the $50 to a charity in their name? Send/Give them a nice card with all the things that $50 is going to do or the number of people it's going to feed over Christmas. That's sweet and thoughtful.

Also-- if you are going to give someone cash, why do the bills have to be new and crisp and right from the bank? The person you give them to is going to A) Spend them, at which point, it won't matter if they're creased or dirty or B) Deposit them back into the bank, which of course will take the dirtiest of money anyway...

One last thing--- Never get those Visa Vanilla Gift Cards. They have all the drawbacks of a regular gift card with the added benefit of an activation fee... GIVE CASH!

Carbon Neutral Beef

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:45:00 +0000

It was an interesting idea. Take the cost of off-setting carbon emissions of a major GHG contributor (namely beef for all purposes) and build it into the product's supply-chain, spread over multiple levels, to create a new category of product.

People seem to want to pay more for 'Organic' and other feel good labels. Why not for Climate Change.

Here's how I sold it:

Our goal is to not to simply burden production with the cost of offsetting, but like many other industries, efficiently pass that cost to the consumers who choose to buy and enjoy beef and related products through management and effective consumer and industry publications. By doing so as an aggregate entity, our industry can benefit from scale, and more efficiently convert the mindset of the average consumer to a new, responsible way of thinking.

In almost every scientific study on the topic of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock (specifically ruminent animals) are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

As demand for meat increases in our global economy, it is irresponsible of us to believe that humans will become vegans overnight. People love beef. It's what's for dinner! Change needs to happen, but that change can be positive, and have a positive effect on an industry that feeds our world. By creating demand and consumer awareness for Carbon Neutral Beef, we can, as an industry, cater to the changing needs of our consumers.

I decided to shut this project down since 99 out of 100 emails I get regarding the concept are companies trying to sell me SEO services to get me more visitors... I think that's irony, but I'm not sure.

I'll keep the domain forwarding here, since the idea is still valid, and so far I haven't seen this anywhere else in the world. Most of the interest has been from Australia, believe it or not. From that movie with Wolverine and Moulin Rouge, I guess they have a lot of beef down under.

More awesome facts about BEEF:

Burgers
A typical beef cow produces approximately 500 lbs of meat for boneless steaks and ground beef. By regulation, a beef cow must be at least 21 months old before going to the slaughterhouse; let's call it two years. A single cow produces 114 kilos of methane per year in eructations and flatulence, so over its likely lifetime, a beef cow produces 228 kilos of methane (not including the methane from its manure). Since a single kilo of methane is the equivalent of 23 kilos of carbon dioxide, a single beef cow produces 5244 CO2-equivalent kilograms of methane over its life. If we assume that the typical burger is a quarter-pound of pre-cooked meat, that's 2,000 burgers per cow. Dividing the methane total by the number of burgers, then, we get about 2.6 CO2-equivalent kilograms of additional greenhouse gas emissions from methane, per burger, or about 5-10 times more greenhouse gas produced from cow burps than from all of the energy used to raise, feed or produce all of the components of a completed cheeseburger!

At 2.85-3.1 kg of CO2 (equiv) per burger, then, that's 428-465 kg of greenhouse gas per year for an average American's burger consumption.

How ICANN and Registrars extort brands

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:33:00 +0000

If you haven't heard of the latest changes in the Top Level Domain world, it's time to start reading up. Recently, the .xxx TLD went live, but as we've started to learn, it's the registrars and squatters making the money, in a system where companies are essentially being forced to defensively register domains to avoid trademark infringement later down the road.

Here's my problem: Trademarks are a known commodity.

ICANN, in all it's wisdom of allowing this new land-rush of domain names, could have easily created a system whereby existing trademarks were exempt from the process, and trademark owners could, if they wanted to, register a .xxx domain. I equate this to the opt-in of most email programs.

Instead, legitimate trademark owners must either pro-actively register the .xxx domains as a defensive move (at $99 a year) or risk them being registered illegally and then trying to wrestle control back using the UDRP process + lawyers.

Why is this even possible?

Why is it that Microsoft can't sue GoDaddy for even allowing some nitwit to register microsoft.xxx. GoDaddy knows that only the real Microsoft should ever be the one to register that trademarked name. It's a trademark. That's the point. There's a big list over at the USPTO of all the trademarked terms, and ICANN and the registrars could just load in that list and wait for a company to dispute NOT being able to register a trademarked .xxx instead of the other way around.

On January 12th, 2012, generic term TLDs will become available... This is the next chapter in this nightmare. Brands (this time for even bigger money) can start to register generic terms, as the last little bit at the end of a URL... This means you could one day go to http://diet.coke and actually get somewhere.

Reminds me of something I read a while back: The hardest challenge our grandchildren will face? Finding a username (or in this case a .com) that hasn't already been taken.

Identifying Twitter Spam

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Twitter is a pretty neat invention. Like most great ideas though, as soon as there are lots of people in one place, some lazy marketer decides that spam will work and starts the inevitable struggle between good and evil. Like viruses and anti-virus software, or cops and robbers, everything in the spam world continues to improve. Just like the Nigerian 419, the object is still the same--- hit as many people as possible, try to fly under the radar, and try to look legit.

So how does one look legit on Twitter? Nowadays, if you have a tweet history of more than 15 tweets, you've changed your profile picture to something other than the default, and you have a girls name instead of a random character string--- you're doing better than most. ---But that's what some actual users look like, so how does the average person distinguish?

Content.

The following are screenshots of some wonderful people who have started following me in the last little while. I'm sure they're great people, except--- wait a minute?!-- they only talk about one topic and always have a link.

Most normal people (like my sister) when they started using twitter they asked open ended questions, they fumbled with over-sharing about breakfast--- they didn't immediately start recommending great articles (links) about tooth whitening, mortgages, insurance, credit cards, etc...

Content is the easiest way to identify a spammer from the average user. Have a look at these and you'll see what I mean:

Oh, and then there's the spammers that don't even change up the pictures they stole...

You'll notice a lot of people follow these spammers. That's the sad thing. Twitter has become an ecosystem of monitoring, management and engagement tools for watching, screening, validating, auto-following, auto-responding, auto-unfollowing, and more... This means that the spammers can get 1000 followers just by following 2000 of the right people... Sad isn't it...

What other tricks have you seen spammers do either on Twitter, or other social platforms...? @andrewkinnear

The 4QR Project

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:19:00 +0000

A couple years ago I had the idea that QR codes could be slightly more useful if you could change the destination after the code was already printed all over everything. I set out to come up with a way to do that.

The first thing I learned about QR codes was that since they are simply data, the shorter the string being encoded, the less data, the smaller the code needed to be. Meaning, in the same amount of physical space, the squares in the code are bigger, thus easier/faster to read for a camera phone. When I see giant codes, I know that they've encoded the full text of what they want the reader to see in the code itself. This is poor on a number of fronts, as it's more data that can be corrupted by a smudge or tear (even with error correction) and it's also harder to read for a phone, since alignment and resolution matter. The other thing is the content itself-- why put text, when you can put a URL and put all the text you want on the page you send the user to?

So, small strings meant better codes. Great. How about a short URL? Those are pretty small. I could use Bit.ly or tinyurl.com and take a big webpage address and shorten it. That was a start, but it meant that I would have to change the destination page if I wanted the content to change. Not as awesome.

Then I thought about a re-direct on the short URL itself. That was the ticket. Make a short URL that you can point anywhere you want. Encode that URL in the QR code, and there you have it-- a QR code that you can change after the fact. Great for applications like contests where you may want to take a user somewhere after the contest is over, but before your billboard comes down. Or if you're an individual and you want to have your own code. You may want it to go your LinkedIn profile for now, but then later when you get your own site, or start a business, you want the code to go there... You wouldn't want to have to tell everyone you've given a business card or brochure to that they need to get a new one, or go somewhere else, you just change the code.

Use the arrow to scroll through the explanation

Needless to say, the idea caught on anecdotally, and my private beta at http://4qr.me garnered a few hundred people who were interested in getting a 'Code for Life'. However, I've found it more useful to just have a URL shortener that I control, that I can see web analytics for and that I can use for projects where needed.

I think the next thing I'd like to do with the codes is put them on stickers. We'll start sticking them on interesting things and have the code destination be a kind of wiki for that physical location. People can leave comments, virtual graffiti, interesting facts or history, etc... If I were to crowd source the 'sticking' of the little stickers, it could take off a lot faster... Another fun nut to crack... It would be like an open source version of Yelp, where you can see what people say about things, but only while you're physically at the code. People could use the codes for scavenger hunts, leaving notes for others, or really anything they wanted... If the code ever went missing or was scratched off, a new code could be put in it's place (any code) and simply redirected to the old page...

Hundred of years from now, digital archaeologists will attempt to understand what all these codes do (unless of course Google or Amazon S3 is still around, in which case they can simply scan the codes themselves with an antique smartphone from the early 21st century...)

At least it didn't say...

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:44:00 +0000

...Not available for Google Apps users. It's a start.

Siri for Jailbroken phones and ipods?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:24:00 +0000

If Siri can run on a jailbroken iPhone 4 (not the new 4S) or even an iPod Touch, then why would Apple not put it in the app store and make it available for all?

Siri is supposed to be the breakout feature for the 4S that sets it apart from the others in the line-up (or even the competitors). Apple will surely move to squash this option, but should they?.

If GM came out with a car that got 200 MPG because of a feature in the latest model--- then others realized that they could tweak their current models to also get that mileage--- GM would be pissed, but should those people not be allowed to continue to get better mileage?

Should us lowly iPhone 4 owners not be entitled to use the new feature, since it's now been proven that it's not a function of the 4S's superior processor or other hardware--- simply a marketing choice?

You be the judge.

On a similar note: Why the difference in App stores between Canada and US. I can understand media restrictions, since TV networks may have rights to broadcast, etc--- but Apps? Why wouldn't an app developer want to sell their wares in every market imaginable? I know the answer-- these are rhetorical questions to make the app developers I know #fightthepower!

Game Mechanics you can use tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:48:00 +0000

I work with a lot of very smart people. Among other things, they design and develop proprietary loyalty programs for some of the worlds biggest brands. One thing that has been around for years but is getting new attention these days is the idea of Gamification; that is, using game theory and specific game mechanics to manipulate or shape consumer behaviour.

Before I get into some tactics and ideas, you have to answer the question 'Why?'. Why add game mechanics to your website, to your business or to your loyalty program? The reasons are easy to understand and ultimately will make you more money:

They focus the attention of a consumer, user or member on a goal or achievement.

They reduce attrition by creating an incentive for continued interaction

They help a business to get users to adopt new features, try new products, or other desired behaviours-- ultimately making the business 'stickier'

From that short list, I'm sure you've already started thinking of the things you could do for your brand or clients or in the retention program you currently use to increase engagement, stickiness and reduce the rate of attrition.

Here are some simple ideas that you can put in play tomorrow:

Status - Whether a badge, a colour or a level, people like to compete and collect. We've seen status used as a game mechanism since the first days of internet forums, but also as one of the easiest to understand in an airline frequent flyer program. Are you super-ultra-elite-deluxe?

Achievement Unlocked - Completion of a task, objective or challenge. This can be simple stuff like a check-in using a location-based application---or something like Do X, Y, Z and get 25% off your next visit.

Turns - Just like a board game, if two or more users have a single goal, making everyone take turns increases the amount of engagement and can help with the social stickiness by pushing some of the social psychology 'buttons' around peer recognition and competition. Promoting multi-customer goals was how the daily-deals business took off... Only 100 more people have to buy and we all get the deal, it's your turn...

Bidding - Probably one of the reasons eBay is so successful-- people like to be the winner in an auction scenario. It's pushing all the same buttons as gambling (which is why casinos are so successful) Just a little more and it's mine! Just yesterday, a colleague of mine told me that someone had bid $20 for a $15 iTunes gift card in a recent internal auction. Sometimes winning overcomes logic.

Capture - Using a mechanism where one user can capture the achievements of another may seem complicated, but it can be very simple in context. Foursquare's Mayor functionality is all about the capture. I get to oust someone else (sometimes a complete stranger) from their achievement and get to sit on my spoils and brag--- until someone does the same to me.

Building or Construction - Just like a board game, building something from nothing is fundamental. On Farmville, it's about growing your farm. In SimCity it was about growing your city. This idea is actually fundamental in loyalty, because it's what drives the desire to collect points or miles and build towards a single aspiration, like a Cruise or Vacation or Big Screen TV.

There are more ideas that you can use in a loyalty program, or in your business operations in general. Some more subtle than others. The beauty of this stuff is that they don't have to be secret or subversive--- you tell your customers what you want them to do, and if it pushes one of those buttons--- they'll do it.

What other levers can you use to increase engagement or reduce attrition?

Check out Mark Sage's Playful Engagement on SlideShare.

LinkedIn recommendations. Why wait?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:17:00 +0000

In the past I've found that people typically only give recommendations after working with someone, not while they work with them. Why is that? Good employee engagement programs have mechanisms for peer recognition that work all the time. Why has LinkedIn evolved in such a way that the positive feedback or kudos mostly come as a past-tense blurb?

I think there a few reasons, and I plan on attempting to shift behaviour in myself and my colleagues over the coming months. My personal challenge is to write a LinkedIn Recommendation for a current or former colleague, a few times a week for the next few months.

So why don't people do it all the time?

The first reason is that it may seem awkward to say something nice about someone and then see them in the hall the next day. I'm not trying to date you! I just think you did a good job, and if that means that all your current and future connections see it, then so be it. I happen to be not much of an introvert, so if I say something nice and public, I'm ok with it. ---the other side of the coin is that you may choose not to display it on your profile if it doesn't quite fit with the persona you're trying to present to the outside world. That's fine. It's your choice.

Why recommend someone? Well-- what's in it for you?

You get the added benefit of real estate on that persons profile, assuming that what you're writing is positive and that they're proud to show it off. If my colleagues read this they may think that the recommendations I write in the next few weeks are for that reason alone, but they're not. Here's the other big reason: It helps us both. Out in the world, where the recruiters lurk, searching people out for jobs and stalking our every move, positive connections help to differentiate you from the next person.

If the recruiter sees two similar profiles, but one has a recommendation-- that's a big differentiator. Sure, maybe that other person could go and get a letter of recommendation, but you've already got it. You've got the social proof that says, "Hey, this guy didn't just sit in his cubicle or office and do work, he made an impression. He was a go-getter". Those kinds of things matter.

What if you're in a fairly senior role with no inkling of leaving? Why bother?

Think of the other person. Even though recommendations can be from peers, reports, bosses, clients, or teams-- it's likely that if you pick one person a week to write something positive about, the good karma will come around. At the least, they know that you value them (along the same emotional mechanics as the peer recognition strategy) but beyond that, you may unwittingly help them to get their next job. For you, it polishes the reputation you've built for yourself in the market. You may be a strong 'networker' but nobody may know that.

What are some other benefits of the recommendation?

For those junior peeps at the company who may not have a ton of experience, it can be a way to say to a recruiter "Sure, I may not have the 5+ years experience you're looking for, but look at what these senior dudes say about me. I'm the person you want."

I touched on it before, but the last thing I'll bring up is of course peer recognition. By sending a recommendation on LinkedIn, you're publicly validating the work someone does in a general sense. Lots of programs have peer recognition mechanisms for specific acts or behaviour but a LinkedIn recommendation is more of a generalized recognition. It says, "Overall, this person was good enough, smart enough or did good enough work, that I thought the whole world should know.

So-- here's my challenge to you. Pick one person a week from your past or your current place of work and recognize their efforts, expertise or enthusiasm.

Google Apps users: Second class citizens

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:54:00 +0000

Yay! Google Plus invites for everyone! --- oh, except you. You've invested your entire digital presence from blogging to email to domain management and hosting to images to video---everything--- so we need you to wait a little while longer. Your "Google" account isn't quite a real Google account. You see we call it a "Google" account, and we make it almost work like a real Google account, but your "Google" account requires your domain administrator to let you do things. ---Oh, that's you? Well I guess we just need a little time. You're probably just the kind of savvy early adopter we want, being as your whole digital life is integrated with our stuff, but you'll wait patiently over there with the others. We're not ready for you yet. We have Scoble. We're also busy fixing bugs and adding features so that we don't lose the buzz we've got going on so we can really ride this wave of PR.

*whew* Had to get that off my chest.

Google has a wonderful service called Google Apps. Millions of small businesses, schools and even governments have switched to Google. They've "Gone Google." However, none of the users (who probably think they have a Google account) can actually access Google Plus. They can't even 'Plus One' something on a search results page or on the web. That's because these are "Google" accounts. They look and feel like real Google accounts until you get to something new or awesome and then all the differences rear their ugly heads.

It won't be long. I'm sure of it. They want me. They want all those students, business owners and government employees. Why would I start using my old Gmail account, the one I've spent years methodically transitioning away from, to access their new service? No, I'll wait.

What I don't understand is if you're going to put control of the access in the hands of the domain administrator anyway (like all new features for GApps, they are rolled out by an admin) then why not turn Google Plus on for GApps users and let the domain admins decide when to roll out. This would allow nerds like me to immediately embrace and promote the new service (if it was good--- I haven't tried it yet, though the invites continue to stack up...) and yet still allow the City of Los Angeles or other institutional or business users of the GApps system to slowly and methodically do all their IT testing, policy making, rule writing, etc...

I feel like a second class citizen, but I should be VIP. Google--- Wtf? /rant

Technology ideas for meetings and events

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:24:00 +0000

I recently wrote a piece for Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine which has also been featured online. The gist of the article is to spark some ideas, stimulate the creative/technology juices and get event planners and others who have to deal with events (like personal assistants, venue managers, etc...) thinking about their audience and some minor details to make things go smoothly.

Part of the team at Carlson Marketing, our M&E folks have tight deadlines, various kinds of clients, group sizes all over the map and a lot of 'balls in the air' to juggle to ensure success. I figured a fresh look at what's being done currently and what slips through the cracks would make a great checklist.

Have a read and leave a comment. If you have other ideas that will be good additions to the list, I'm sure the audience wants to know.

5 things your business should be doing online

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:04:00 +0000

1. Listening

I do a few things. I have google alerts set up to alert me of any mention of a variety of keywords that appear in the news, on twitter or in blogs. I want to know when people are talking about me, but I also want to know about what people are talking about. In my field, I need to know about the latest and greatest news of the world. The fact that today, Apple and Nokia came to an agreement on Patents may not necessarily be something I care about, but if someone at my company asks, I'm probably the guy that should know. So how can I make sure I get all the details about everything? Feeds. Reading my feeds.

I probably spend at least 2 hours a day (not all in one chunk) reading the various feeds that come into my Google Reader. Why Google Reader? So that all my feeds, what I've read and what I haven't are always in sync whether I'm at my desk, at lunch, or at home in front of the TV. There's enough duplication between Gizmodo, Engadget, Techcrunch, Techmeme and others that I want to make sure I don't read anything twice if I don't have to. I subscribe to RSS feeds for all kinds of publications and blogs. Everything from Mashable and Hubspot for social media news and tips, to the aforementioned gadget and technology blogs, to mobilesyrup, MMA, Mobile Marketer and the like for mobile news and more. I want a taste of design so I subscribe to Brand New, Logo Design Love, Yanko Design and more.

You can also aggregate site feeds from other places like LinkedIn. I have all the Q&A posts from certain topics go into my Google Reader, since it's not a lot and I want to get them all at the same time.

Even images from your favourite Flickr photog can be fed via RSS into Google Reader.

When it comes to actual conversations, you need to actually read/listen/learn. As much as there are fancy filters, finders, monitors, feeds, apps and plug-ins to make the job easier, sometimes it comes down to reading what people are saying and responding. Being a human is the best part of listening.

2. Protecting your brand

If your business sells a product, you have a reputation to worry about. 9 times out of 10 it's a bad customer service or product experience that has led to someone raging online. If the concern is legitimate, do yourself a favour and come clean. Admit your mistake, be very public about how your fixing the situation, give your detractors nothing to focus on except the positive and move on. It's simple.

When you have someone with a beef who cannot be helped, or who has a problem that has already been fixed, but perhaps not to their satisfaction-- your options start to look limited. Assume everything you say will be made public. Assume any attempt to circumvent a process or bully will be showcased for the world to see. Pretty soon you'll realize that it's better to let some things die off on their own.

3. Make life easy for your customers

Do you sell a product online? Make it easy to return if it's broken, wrong size, wrong colour, etc... If I bought from a store down the street, they'd let me do that. The easier you make your customers life from first click to follow-up email, the more 'good karma' you'll get on the back end. People will recommend your business because of the great experience and pretty soon things like whether or not your 5 cents cheaper.

I tell people all the time about the service I get from ManPacks.com. They're so flexible, their site is easy to use, their customer service emails are answered by a human that I can reply back to with a followup. ---and because of that, I tell people how great they are and continue to buy my underpants and socks from them. Yes seriously. It's awesome.

4. Keeping it real

I touched on this with the ManPacks reference, but how many times have you tried to email a company and received an automated ticket reply or some kind of robotic response. They aren't awesome, but for the most part they're in place because of volume. That I understand.

What about PR then? If you're not actively trying to engage your customers in forums, on Facebook, through Twitter etc... you're missing a golden opportunity. I'm not talking about Auto-replies, Auto-retweets, Scheduled Facebook posts or things that can make your life easier. I'm talking about things that make your life take time. Actual work. Reading something from a customer and responding like a human. Tell them you're the Product Marketing Manager or the Public Relations Coordinator, but make them feel special.

Every time I've ever experienced an 'inside scoop', a secret deal, a VIP experience or reward--- it's always been worth it to the business.

5. ...The same things you do offline.

What's worse than a business who has terrible customer service? Trick question. Answer: A business that has amazing online community management and PR skillz, get's me to friend, follow, like, listen, subscribe, etc--- then when I get into a bricks and mortar location--- everything falls down. Great example: When the waitress looks at you like you have a third eye when you tell her you're the Foursquare Mayor, and would like your free dessert. Ha!

If you are going to do wonderful things online-- make sure you're doing them in the real world too. Training and rewarding your staff (which can translate into good karma online as well). Informing everyone about things you're doing online like blogging, tweeting, etc--- Maybe in the day to day humdrum your staff hear people talking about trying to find the right outlet for a question or comment-- if your staff know to say "You can speak directly with our president by tweeting us @ourcompany" --everything will go better than expected.

Stealth Marketing - would it work?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:56:00 +0000

I'm pretty sure I thought of this idea prior to seeing this preview. The problem is now, people may pick up on the idea...

Stealth Loyalty

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I've been thinking about this concept of stealth loyalty for a while. Normally, Loyalty is something one has towards a brand which results in things like repeat business (overall retention), increased frequency of visits or purchase, increased spend or basket size, and social functions like advocacy. Not in every case, but those things are a great platform from which to build.

So, with this concept of stealth loyalty, I was thinking about whether or not a customer could be loyal, in all aspects mentioned above, but not even be aware of their loyalty. What does that really mean?

Imagine a scenario where you sell a product through a retail distribution channel, but you're not really in control of that channel. You can offer incentives to change behaviour, but only of the sales force. Everything you do that touches the consumer is outside of the sales channel. Advertising, PR, Social engagement, contests, etc.

What if you could get your customers to be your advocates? Get them to talk about your product to their friends? Purchase more, more often? What is that worth?

Is it better to have the badge of honour-style loyalty where the customers know the program, like the rules in which they play, and are proud to display it-- or this stealth loyalty where they simply consume more, more often, and tell their friends about it. What is the advantage of the latter?

Rome2Rio visual travel planning experience

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:45:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to see where you can get to? This new startup called Rome2Rio makes it pretty simple to get flight information--travel information really-- for any destination. Plotting all flights to and from a location, the site is very easy to navigate, especially for visual people like me.

After selecting a location, the various options appear for travelling, whether by plane, connection, trains, etc...

The next step is simply to select the Show Prices button to start the traditional flight selection methodology (number of adults, departure date, return date, etc..) The user is presented with several options for airlines, and prices vary depending on all the usual factors.

Pricing is powered by Kayak.com and presents in a very pleasing way, showing number of connections necessary, sorted by user preference. Ultimately, when the user decides it's time to book, the hand-off is made to Orbitz.com for the actual eCommerce/itinerary portion of the experience. I would say this is where it falls down, since the user is thrust from a clean, modern, visual experience deep into an ad-entrenched 5-years-ago-from-a-design-perspective Orbitz.com experience. Mind you, the planning portion was great, so if I'm done planning and it's time to book-- who cares?

What do you think of this method (rome2rio's) for finding a flight vs. the traditional search criteria/list to decipher method? Rome2Rio is in beta, but I'll bet you within the year, they've been snapped up by one of the bigger players, maybe even Orbitz themselves?

PS: If you visit the site, a cute/clever thing they did is put a different, random destination in the search field every time. I've always thought this was a neat way to get people to explore...

Google Search Story maker

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:08:00 +0000

It was fun, so I tried it.

If Google kills QR for places, is QR dead?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:51:00 +0000

Nope.

QR and NFC do different things. You can't print an NFC chip on a billboard, your roof, your car, in a magazine or other places that are 'far enough' away from the reader. NFC, though awesome, reminds me so much of Bluetooth. It's a hardware solution, requiring expensive readers (your phone or the store's base unit) and expensive data units (the chip, though inexpensive, can't be produced like any other print material).

Some background-- People are saying that QR may be dead in the water now that Google has pulled support for QR codes on their Places product. Let's think about it for a minute. Google is in the search business. They probably hated the fact that to enhance their usability of the search product in a geographic and small business environment they needed to physically print and ship unique stickers for the windows of small businesses... That's probably the who reason they stopped. I doubt there was a memo at the Googleplex saying "Nobody do anything with QR anymore--- we don't like it."

So let's look at the options: For QR to work, you need a camera (which pretty much every phone made today comes with) and you need software (which is available for free in a myriad of different incarnations, platforms, languages and styles). A lot of phones come with the software already! You can make QR codes yourself for free. You can print them on anything for zero incremental printing cost. People are just now finally starting to use them for things that are useful like putting links in magazines or watching videos from billboards. Privacy is controlled by the user. By that I mean, I can scan a code, go to a website see some content and then choose to engage further. With NFC, the solution is hardware driven, you have to trust the phone, the retailer, the bank or the Telco to make sure that they're not sharing the wrong thing at the wrong time. The biggest push is for mobile payments, so now we're diving directly into my wallet with any mistakes, errors, hacks or leaks. Proximity is a feature-- meaning it only works from a touch to a few centimeters away. What about something I see online, on a billboard, on the back of a streetcar? I can't make the chips myself, so as a brand marketer-- to present any NFC-based solution-- we are talking $eriou$ dough. There is no test and learn with this stuff, because they have to build it into the phones or the SIMs before anyone can actually use it.

I think that's enough of a rant. NFC does not replace QR. QR is just annoying for Google.

Amazing new Single from The Midway State : ATLANTIC

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:15:00 +0000

New single from my good friends The Midway State, have a listen to ATLANTIC. I love this song already. Well done gents! I will be dusting off the iTunes account for this beauty for sure.

Atlantic by The Midway State

The unstoppable pre-roll ad

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:16:00 +0000

Wow, is that disappointing. A 30 second pre-roll ad for acne cream (obviously there's no way to target me, other than the content I was about to watch was juvenile) then a 12 second video clip, followed by 15 seconds of credits and comment overlays with links and suggestions.

I'm never getting that time back.

I'm not sure that I have a problem with the idea of ads in general-- what I don't like is that once I hit play, the ad loads, and there is NO way to stop or pause or mute the ad short of leaving the page. This is even more difficult if I'm viewing the video within my Google Reader, and never actually visited another page or tab that I can close... I had to physically hit mute on the computer to stop the sound while waiting patiently to see the terrible 12 second fail.

So here's my question to you-- How would you prefer content providers monetized their content? Pre-roll? Post-roll? Overlay? Surrounding page space?

Online Journalism over the years

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:19:00 +0000

Amazing but true. I have to be honest and say that this isn't how I see the web for the most part, but only because of my liberal use of AdBlock for Chrome. I do wish that pagination would go off somewhere and die though.

Have you been to Huffington Post lately? So much content, but a lot of it is aggregated. HuffPo gets the eyeballs, shows a snippet, then there's a click to the originating article or post. No wonder AOL bought them...

Is this the future of journalism? I have no idea. I certainly don't think of myself as a journalist and I'm happy to lump 99% of bloggers into that category, but so-called 'old media' seems to be really shifting.

Do you ever get to an article or post and sigh if they don't have pictures or video?

Direct vs. Indirect QR Codes

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:28:00 +0000

It's so simple. A QR Code is encoded data. What do you want to encode in your code? If you encode your data Directly, no matter what, someone will be able to get at your data. Lots of readers, no need for internet access, etc.

Indirect QR codes encode data still. They encode a reference to the proprietary location of the data you want. With a regular reader (since for most indirect codes, they want you to download the proprietary reader as well) you will decode the data simply as a reference. A number, a code, a lookup. Or worse, a URL, but not the one for the site you want, one that references the database to look up what site you want.

Sure there are some advantages and disadvantages. If you use a direct code, you get less analytical intelligence about usage. However if you use an indirect code, your customers have to have the right reader for it to work. What is more important to you?

My terrible picture should explain how terrible this is:

Independently fine. Together? Not so much.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 18:57:00 +0000

Robot that can hover and use Kinect's vision to avoid obstacles and think.

Robot that can cut 'soft foods' like meat. Or People.

*crickets*

What's the point?

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:26:00 +0000

If you're Sears and you're spending big bucks on your Christmas TV campaign, why are you going to bother flashing a QR code and a bunch of Social Media logos on the screen? Is it for people with PVRs who aren't skipping commercials? What's the likelihood that someone can take out their phone, load up a QR app, get up close to the TV ('cause it's tiny) and steady their phone long enough to scan the code? I'll tell you the likelihood-- not likely.

I like the effort, but TV? Why not pick a medium that isn't so fleeting...

Sears, keep up the good work.

Facebook Messaging Update

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Kinnear) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:49:00 +0000

So, if you haven't heard, there are some improvements coming down the pipe for Facebook, integrating IM, email, SMS and FB Messages into a streamlined product that leverages your own social graph for things like filtering, addresses, etc.

What I think is most awesome, is that your public username will be your @facebook.com email address. This means that for all those clever people out there that didn't use their name, or failed to hit the username land rush, you may be stuck with a terrible, terrible email address.

That is all. (Oh, also, I watched 'The Social Network' and I really liked it. Best line: "If your clients were the inventors of Facebook-- they'd have invented Facebook!")