Church of the Customer: March 2005 archives
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March 21, 2005
Podcast: Southwest's Ding (and blog); Citizen marketers; WOMMA summit
Todd from A Penny For says he can't get our opening theme music out of his head. That's good, right? To listen to our latest show, click on the podcast icon below. (File size is 13.5 MB).
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Show topics
1. Interview with Southwest Airlines VP Kevin Krone about Ding! and a Southwest blog in the works
2. Citizen marketers and open-sourcing your business plan
3. Little Earth follow-up
4. Podcast feedback
Show notes
Links to people, companies, articles, blogs,
etc. mentioned in the podcast
* Emanuel Rosen, author of The Anatomy of Buzz
* Kevin Krone, VP of Interactive Marketing for Southwest Airlines
* Southwest's new DING! program
* Flytertalk forum discussions about DING!
* Paul William's new Idea Sandbox business that he is open-sourcing
* Catalyst Ranch
* Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
* Boeing's World Design Team for its new Dreamliner
* Story of Westwood Studios and its "hackable" game Red Alert
* Doom's mods
* The Red Couch blog
* Microsoft's Channel 9
* Books about buzzwords and bullshit
* WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit
*
Church of Customer discount code for the Summit: welovemini
* Kyle Coolbroth has more feedback for Little
Earth and its Brag Tags
* Country Comfort Inn in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
* Austin White makes a request for customer evangelism SWAG
* Izze's logo'd merchandise
Show music
Intro: "G.L.S." by Salme
Dahlstrom
Break 1: "Texas Summer Blues" by Jag
Break 2: "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang
Break 3: "Jamie's Crying" by Van Halen
Show length
29:23
Tell us what you think! Add a comment below, or send an email to talktous(AT)customerevangelists.com.
Or leave a short voicemail message on our special Podcast Feedback Line: 1-312-896-5095. Follow the prompts (our menu has not recently changed) and you'll have 3 minutes to leave your audible letter.
Previous podcasts are here.
[Technorati tags: podcasts, marketing]
March 17, 2005
Blogs = Google juice
In
* The number-one ranked “Robert” on Google: Robert Scoble.
* The number one ranked “Chris” on Google: Chris Pirillo.
The more inbound links to you, the higher your Google ranking. Frequent and interesting blog posts encourage inbound links. Write more posts, get more links. While it's not quite that easy, it beats paying big bucks for search engine optimation services.
BTW, the number-one ranked "Jackie" on Google is not yours truly (it's Jackie Chan). I have yet to kick Jackie Chan's ass (figuratively, of course!)
March 16, 2005
Knowing your customers via your blog
Weatherbug, an application that streams live weather data to the desktops of some 60 million people, is using its blog to learn more about its customers.
The company recently asked its blog readers to explain how they use the program and received a ton of free customer research. Everyone from painting contractors to horse owners tells a story. Many say they're just plain ol' weather geeks. Lots of good ideas in there on how to improve the program, too.
How are you using your blog to learn more about your customers?
Deceptive reality
This New York Times story explains how the producers of "Wife Swap" -- which ABC dubiously claims as the "most talked about reality show of the season" -- are distorting reality to new heights.
Or new lows, depending on your reality.
We guilty viewers of "The Apprentice" and a catalog-size genre of existing and future shows have willingly pulled the wool over our own eyes more than most show producers do. That we should have a willing suspension of disbelief for reality TV is an oxymoron, but it's central to the contract we make for entertainment value. It's complicit, but we expect a reasonable representation of truth in return, as reasonable people do.
With the Times explaining how "Wife Swap's" producers re-created scenes, gave lines for participants to read, and how they went generally crazy with an overabundance of pretending, it seems reality TV has gone so far beyond the contract of reasonable truth that the genre has jumped the truth shark.
Here's some word of mouth for ABC to consider: You've sunk the category. Reclassify your show as fictionalized reality drama.
AMA Puget Sound presentation
A special post here for the people who attended my keynote at the MarketSmart conference today in Seattle...
Thanks! What a terrific audience.
I promised audience members that I would share the presentation slides here on the blog: Download the slides here -- it's a PDF file, so you'll need Adobe's free PDF reader. Using your browser, save the file to your computer or network, and you're set.
The Da Vinci marketing code
Genoa Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone's back-handed praise for "The Da Vinci Code:"
The distribution strategy has been absolutely exceptional marketing, even at Catholic bookstores -- and I've already complained about the Catholic bookshops which, for profit motives, have stacks of this book. And then there's that strategy of persuasion -- that one isn't an adult Christian if you don't read this book. Thus my appeal is: Don't read and don't buy the book.
Oh, Cardinal Bertone, I think you just helped sell many more pallettes of Dan Brown's book.
March 11, 2005
Dear TiVo...
I've been seeing another provider. I think you know her.
Comcast caught my eye with its HD service/DVR combo, and we've been seeing each other for over a month. You see, dear TiVo, you don't offer a high-definition, cable-based product that will record and store shows (although you do for your party friends at DirecTV), so it's better that we end things now.
I know, I know: You're much prettier than Comcast. Some say Comcast's looks and personality are downright ugly. In many ways, they're right. But I think Comcast is just in an awkward place right now; I think she's nearly ready for an extreme makeover, so I'm keeping fingers crossed.
TiVo, I just wish you'd hooked up with Comcast awhile ago. If you had, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But, you know, you're so stubborn...
And I wish you'd given me more reasons to hang in there, but your temper tantrums were a little much.
As of this afternoon, it's over. We had five good years together, and I hope you found my introductions of you to friends and colleagues during that time rewarding. Maybe we'll meet up in the future when our mutual needs merge again.
Until then, best of luck.
UPDATE: TiVo and Comcast agree to a relationship. Their spawn are expected sometime in 2006.
March 10, 2005
Wisconsin: We love ya!
Jackie and I were introduced to Wisconsin's Gateway Patrol program today.
We were cruising down I-94 outside of Milwaukee heading back to Chicago when a tire decided to die suddenly. It was snowing and the wind was fierce. We pulled over to inspect our misfortune as cars and trucks whizzed by nerve-rattlingly close.
The state's Gateway Patrol employs a small army of emergency assistants who roam freeways quickly clearing wrecks and looking for stranded motorists with flat tires, dead engines and other hazards of driving by car.
We had been struggling for at least five minutes with the car manual's obtuse directions on how to remove the face plate covering the tire's lug nuts when Keith of the Gateway Patrol appeared suddenly like towtruck angel. (That's him in the picture getting ready to jack up the car while I unhelpfully watch.) Keith had the spare on in about 10 minutes and shepherded us out of the danger zone moments later.
It seems Wisconsin is a pioneer in roadside assistance, with one trade publication
calling the state's years-long program "a model for the region and for other similar
programs across the nation." The Gateway Program is so forward-thinking that Keith and his colleagues hand over a pre-stamped survey form to rate the complimentary service. For most government-operated programs, that's unheard of.
Keith could not have been nicer and more helpful during the experience. He wouldn't accept a tip, so Keith -- this blog post is for you. Thank you.
Your newest fans,
Ben & Jackie
March 09, 2005
Whole Foods' new flagship church
USA Today explains how Whole Foods is unveiling an updated store concept that seems strategically designed to generate word of mouth and evangelism.
Pleasure is woven into every crevice of the new flagship store. Such as the guy who hawks fresh hot doughnuts — with no artificial ingredients, of course. A walk-in beer cooler (bring your mittens) and 800 kinds of beer. And 14 pastry chefs — any of whom will be happy to whip up a baked Alaska on the spot.
The lighting for the produce is the kind used in art galleries. The music is classical. Walk by the hot nut section and special fans waft that tummy-teasing smell of roasting nuts your way. The store signs and displays aren't plastic and particle board but a more eco-friendly, woodlike product made from wheat straw.
Whole Foods fully understands its organic products and the store experience are the marketing. It all ties in to an easily understood theology shared among employees and customers. CEO John Mackey says, "We're not a religion. We're not a cult."
Perhaps that's his PR cover, but Whole Foods is a religion, and its evangelistic true believers (including me) see Whole Foods as the Apple of supermarket retailing, just as polarizing as that company is to Microsoft.
March 08, 2005
Chicago, future home of citywide wi-fi?
Chicago is considering making wi-fi service available citywide. It's a terrifically bold move.
If it actually happens, it becomes a great reason to evangelize Chicago as a business-friendly city. Citywide wi-fi creates a data-friendly atmosphere attractive to businesses, investors, tourists and
entrepreneurs.
Now the hard part: "Ald. Edward Burke said he will draft legislation
designed to preserve the city's right to permit installation in Chicago
before the General Assembly can consider a bill that would preclude
municipalities from doing so," according to the Chicago Tribune.
The phone companies, of course, are behind the efforts at state levels to prevent cities like Chicago from making wi-fi service available as a utility.
The phone companies exhausted their well of customer goodwill long, long ago.
