Today I stumbled upon a random infographic about coffee on Pinterest. I'm glad the graphic's author included his details on the graphic because I'm finding that it's rather hard to track relevant content from that site without being an active member. I had to scroll down several pages after site searching on the coffee keyword, sifting my way past multiple re-pins of the same content. I'm debating whether or not it's a good thing that the site has culled back its open user registrations. Look at what happened to Google+ when registrations were throttled back. It really hasn't had the momentum we all expected the webapp to gain after beta.
06 March 2012
13 February 2012
Rock, Paper, Scissors
There are a lot of choices for consumers with how they interact with favorite restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, and other local retail stores. A lot of press has been on daily deal sites and the widespread appeal they have for using online communities for word-of-mouth advertising. The truth of the matter is that there hasn't been a slowdown of print ads either in the weekly circulars. My physical mailbox is just as stuffed with BOGO offers as it was before all the hype, thanks to the 3rd party marketing offers the US postal system delivers to every household in a region.
What we have now is a paradox of choice, as Barry Schwarts puts it, where all the choices we are given as consumers causes decision paralysis and unhappiness rather than liberation. Simply put, people choose inaction because there's less friction by doing so. In the event that a choice is made, consumers end up less satisfied with the result of the choice if there had been fewer choices to choose from. He suggests that the key to happiness is to have low expectations. Well, that's the suggestion for consumers.
For marketers, we have always been focused on profit-maximizing behaviors instead and opting for marketing methodology and strategy that meet business expectations for ROI. What makes a consumer or end-user happy with the product or rendered services has little to do with the choice that was made, but rather how that choice was fulfilled.
What we have now is a paradox of choice, as Barry Schwarts puts it, where all the choices we are given as consumers causes decision paralysis and unhappiness rather than liberation. Simply put, people choose inaction because there's less friction by doing so. In the event that a choice is made, consumers end up less satisfied with the result of the choice if there had been fewer choices to choose from. He suggests that the key to happiness is to have low expectations. Well, that's the suggestion for consumers.
For marketers, we have always been focused on profit-maximizing behaviors instead and opting for marketing methodology and strategy that meet business expectations for ROI. What makes a consumer or end-user happy with the product or rendered services has little to do with the choice that was made, but rather how that choice was fulfilled.
01 February 2012
Urban Summit 2012
I met a lot of interesting people at Portland's Urban Summit today. I also found that Mercy Corps NW hosts business seminars (and has visitor parking at their bldg on Naito Parkway). The summit was styled like mini-TED talks with speakers covering topics such as cultural intelligence, elevator speeches, business storytelling, and business development.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Marketing is about relationships (between the business owner/company and everyone else--vendors, partners, customers--for the best possible experience (speaker: Veronika Noize)
- Have a powerful, clarifying message (elevator speech) when someone asks you what you do
- Ask for the sale; Offer a prospect the opportunity to discuss if you might work together
- Say "thank you" or appreciate the rendered service to make clients super loyal for choosing you
- Business storytelling is a lot like word-of-mouth marketing (speaker: David Vanadia)
- It can be positive or negative; it conveys energy to others
- The "about me" page on a website is the most important part that helps build the brand and your story; it should answer what is the value about what you do
- Portland resources for SMBs (speaker: Kent Lewis, Anvil Media)
10 December 2011
Occupy Amazon? LMAO...
Other retailers are just angry with Amazon because they didn't think of this idea sooner. Instead of wasting valuable holiday retail time being angry with Amazon, maybe the other retail bookstores should spend the resources to develop their own inbound marketing funnels. Physical storefront owners are just perturbed that customers enjoy the tactile experience of shopping even though many will ultimately make their purchase online.
There would have to be a significant break in price or some other incentive (e.g., free shipping, bundled products/services) that would steer a customer away from that purchase. A $5 perk is insignificant if the item purchased retails for less than $25 since 3rd party shipping costs via Amazon would most certainly gobble up that benefit. This begs the question of how steep of a discount would be enough to lure a customer who is already at a physical retail store location to change their mind and shop elsewhere if the product were in stock.
Amazon.com is not the only online purveyor of goods with comparison shopping features for its customers. Many big box retailers have in-store product location websites which on-site employees can access via store terminals to find in-stock merchandise by nearby store location: Home Depot, Barnes and Nobles, Wal-Mart, JcPenney, etc.
What is lacking here is awareness that customers do shop this way. Having a cozy atmosphere and sweet aromas piping in from a coffee kiosk is not going to pay the overhead costs, let alone the staff wages of a brick and mortar store. Brick and mortar bookstore owners can compete with a powerhouse like Amazon by closing the information gap that forces customers to seek outside sources for reviews, purchase validation, or price comparisons.
Frankly, I don't see my local Ace hardware store going out of business any time soon, even with several big box retailers (including a newly built Costco) located just a mile away on the same street. Maybe bookstores can learn something about local area marketing from this hardware store.
There would have to be a significant break in price or some other incentive (e.g., free shipping, bundled products/services) that would steer a customer away from that purchase. A $5 perk is insignificant if the item purchased retails for less than $25 since 3rd party shipping costs via Amazon would most certainly gobble up that benefit. This begs the question of how steep of a discount would be enough to lure a customer who is already at a physical retail store location to change their mind and shop elsewhere if the product were in stock.
Amazon.com is not the only online purveyor of goods with comparison shopping features for its customers. Many big box retailers have in-store product location websites which on-site employees can access via store terminals to find in-stock merchandise by nearby store location: Home Depot, Barnes and Nobles, Wal-Mart, JcPenney, etc.
What is lacking here is awareness that customers do shop this way. Having a cozy atmosphere and sweet aromas piping in from a coffee kiosk is not going to pay the overhead costs, let alone the staff wages of a brick and mortar store. Brick and mortar bookstore owners can compete with a powerhouse like Amazon by closing the information gap that forces customers to seek outside sources for reviews, purchase validation, or price comparisons.
Frankly, I don't see my local Ace hardware store going out of business any time soon, even with several big box retailers (including a newly built Costco) located just a mile away on the same street. Maybe bookstores can learn something about local area marketing from this hardware store.
Best App Deployments of 2011
Google+ Hangouts enable free audio/visual conference calling with a group of up to 10 people. There's a 45-minute timer on the hangouts, so if you intend to be on it for longer than that, be sure there's a warm body who can let the app know that you're still around even when you're busy cooking up a holiday dinner. Check out the "Hangouts with extras" beta features.
Amazon's Price Check lets shoppers at brick and mortar retailers use a smart device (iPhone, Android O/S) to enter the barcode of an item and purchase it from Amazon.com with a $5-off incentive. This takes comparison shopping to a whole new handheld level.
Move over iPen. Wacom has you beat with its Bamboo Paper app (for desktop or iPad) and its ergonomically-designed stylus for the iPad. Not only does it handle notetaking with handwriting recognition, it can also be used for sketching and presenting notes, ideas and sketches with others. Download these from Wacom's Bamboo Dock.
JPM Chase and Wells Fargo are among the front runners of the banking industry that are creating apps to make it easier for customers to transact with them using smartphone apps. Wells Fargo's Mobile Banking app allows users to check their available balances, view account activity, pay bills, make transfers between accounts or to other Wells Fargo customers, and locate the nearest Wells Fargo or Wachovia ATMs and office locations from an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Chase QuickDeposit allows customers to deposit checks with an iPhone, iPad or Android device with just two camera clicks. Whatever online banking features customers already use to manage their finances with desktop systems, the momentum within the banking industry for secure, mobile banking apps is bound to increase significantly.
Happy Star Rewards (available on iPhone and Android platforms), a location-based rewards app by parent company CKE Restaurants, invites users to check in when they dine at either Carl's Jr or Hardee's. The first check in earns the user a spin on the "Wheel of Awesome" for a chance to win free or discounted food, gift cards, and merchandise from participating partners. Winners can immediately redeem the prize or within seven days. While the location-based app released early last year, it still totally one-ups Foursquare, Facebook Places, and other check in apps. File this one under retention marketing.
Runner-ups:
Unable to sell off its mobile operating system webOS and no longer a manufacturer of the tabletware that houses this code, HP's webOS and its support resources are now part of the open source community where devs can use and modify freely.
Popplet, a web-based collaborative mindmapping tool. Think of popples as little buckets containing text, photos, and whatever else people share online. Free version only allows you to edit one popplet and the paid version allows you to create unlimited popplet. Downsides: Flash-based for desktop computers, still in beta, clunky interface.
CarrierIQ's hidden app collects device performance data from millions of Android, Blackberry, and Nokia mobile phones. Is that really a bad thing? What R&D entity wouldn't want to know more about their users and how their devices are being used? It is a gray area in US wire tapping laws since CarrierIQ's app engages in passive wiretapping for monitoring/recording data traffic. Unless these class action lawsuits can prove that CarrierIQ deliberately altered the traffic with the app, there's really not much that any user can do about it besides buy a mobile phone that doesn't have CarrierIQ's rootkit installed such as a Windows 7 Phone. So it tracks location data, big deal. How else would a mobile device be able to triangulate the best celltower reception or allow a user to check into their favorite retail shop?
Amazon's Price Check lets shoppers at brick and mortar retailers use a smart device (iPhone, Android O/S) to enter the barcode of an item and purchase it from Amazon.com with a $5-off incentive. This takes comparison shopping to a whole new handheld level.
Move over iPen. Wacom has you beat with its Bamboo Paper app (for desktop or iPad) and its ergonomically-designed stylus for the iPad. Not only does it handle notetaking with handwriting recognition, it can also be used for sketching and presenting notes, ideas and sketches with others. Download these from Wacom's Bamboo Dock.
JPM Chase and Wells Fargo are among the front runners of the banking industry that are creating apps to make it easier for customers to transact with them using smartphone apps. Wells Fargo's Mobile Banking app allows users to check their available balances, view account activity, pay bills, make transfers between accounts or to other Wells Fargo customers, and locate the nearest Wells Fargo or Wachovia ATMs and office locations from an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Chase QuickDeposit allows customers to deposit checks with an iPhone, iPad or Android device with just two camera clicks. Whatever online banking features customers already use to manage their finances with desktop systems, the momentum within the banking industry for secure, mobile banking apps is bound to increase significantly.
Happy Star Rewards (available on iPhone and Android platforms), a location-based rewards app by parent company CKE Restaurants, invites users to check in when they dine at either Carl's Jr or Hardee's. The first check in earns the user a spin on the "Wheel of Awesome" for a chance to win free or discounted food, gift cards, and merchandise from participating partners. Winners can immediately redeem the prize or within seven days. While the location-based app released early last year, it still totally one-ups Foursquare, Facebook Places, and other check in apps. File this one under retention marketing.
Runner-ups:
Unable to sell off its mobile operating system webOS and no longer a manufacturer of the tabletware that houses this code, HP's webOS and its support resources are now part of the open source community where devs can use and modify freely.
Popplet, a web-based collaborative mindmapping tool. Think of popples as little buckets containing text, photos, and whatever else people share online. Free version only allows you to edit one popplet and the paid version allows you to create unlimited popplet. Downsides: Flash-based for desktop computers, still in beta, clunky interface.
CarrierIQ's hidden app collects device performance data from millions of Android, Blackberry, and Nokia mobile phones. Is that really a bad thing? What R&D entity wouldn't want to know more about their users and how their devices are being used? It is a gray area in US wire tapping laws since CarrierIQ's app engages in passive wiretapping for monitoring/recording data traffic. Unless these class action lawsuits can prove that CarrierIQ deliberately altered the traffic with the app, there's really not much that any user can do about it besides buy a mobile phone that doesn't have CarrierIQ's rootkit installed such as a Windows 7 Phone. So it tracks location data, big deal. How else would a mobile device be able to triangulate the best celltower reception or allow a user to check into their favorite retail shop?
0
moos
Tags:
amazon,
apps,
banking,
google,
mobile marketing,
retention marketing,
social media,
wacom
Tags:
amazon,
apps,
banking,
google,
mobile marketing,
retention marketing,
social media,
wacom
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