Casual Fridays

Next week, my wife and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. Between the blog and her, she wins – hands down. So, no blue jeans and t-shirt next week as Casual Friday is cancelled.

Don’t fret, it shall return after Labor Day. Sunburn and all.

OK, by now this AP story is old news.

Here’s the gist:

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

OK, something had to click in these people’s minds to make them think that these computers were worth all the hassel they endured. Worth the wait. Worth injuring others or sustaining injury. Worth the public embarrassment of wetting yourself. It’s not logical. It’s violently emotional. Akin to temporary insanity. So much so that it even perplexed the director.

“It’s rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer — and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes,” said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. “But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event — it almost has an entertainment value.”

This is an incredibly interesting story. It affirms a few beliefs:

1. People do not buy according to logic. They buy based on an emotional response, but justify that decision with logic.

2. Shopping and entertainment often blend.

If you can capitalize on those two points, you can become “worth it” in the minds of your customers. As Apple is worth the premium price. As Starbucks is worth the wait. As a Harley is worth the effort.

Seth Godin says oh yes you can!

Amazing what can happen when the rules of your company don’t supercede the heart of your company. Customers actually like you. Sometimes enough to tell others about it.

Novel idea.

Do you want to inspire people to be kind, thoughtful, and generous to one another? Apparently the NCAA doesn’t.

Josiah Q. Roe’s article at Irresponsible Journalism points to a story of the NCAA’s inability to recognize what is actually right in college athletics today.

UGA is playing Boise State opening day. Some UGA fans hear about the father of a Boise State player who is currently serving in Iraq. These Georgia fans decide to raise the couple thousand dollars to fly the father home from Iraq so he can see his son play D-1 football ‘gainst Georgia.

The NCAA finds out about it, and check this, put a stop to it because it would be violating the NCAA’s bylaws. In effect, these Bulldog fans would be functioning as boosters for Boise State, so its a no-go. Amazing.

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

I agree with Josiah. Do you? Sure you do.

Now:

Do you commendate employees for “breaking the rules” in order to service customers?

Do you hire employees that are willing to “break the rules” if needed?

Or are you more interested in having yes-men working with you and for you?

Do you communicate rules to your employees or do you communicate the heart of your company?

Bottom line: If your employees are unwilling to break the rules of your company when necessary to serve customers, then they’ll break the heart of your company and lose customers instead.

Thanks to Andrea Learned’s posts on Artistic Tile’s ads this week, was one of those weeks where I wish I didn’t restrict myself to only updating this blog on Fridays.

Concerning Artistic Tile’s provocative ads, Carole Fuller (Director of Strategic Marketing for Smith College) decided to contact the tile company’s VP of Marketing. In her email, Carole stated this:

I communicate with about 50,000 smart, educated, well-to-do women who live around major cities, and I lived in northern New Jersey for 22 years. I would be appalled to market to the smart women I know with such sophomoric humor. It’s not funny; it’s just lame.

Sounds like a valid critique from an informed professional. Jan MacLatchie, VP of Marketing at Artistic Tile, included this in her response:

In fact, this campaign, strategically developed to differentiate our brand within the category, was produced by some of the top talents in advertising in the world, and was photographed by one of America’s leading fashion photographers. His work includes the current campaigns of many of the top fashion houses. The theatrical model makers who hand craft our tile costumes are the same people who are creating costumes and set designs for current Broadway plays, feature films and television, including the amazing angel wings you may have seen in HBO’s (Mike Nichols’) adaptation of Tony Kushner’s brilliant and moving “Angels in America”. The copywriter is the same brilliant talent that made Kenneth Cole a household name. While the copy (as well as the idea that anyone would actually wear tile) is certainly tongue-in-cheek, we feel it underscores our key message points of style, selection and service in a memorable, playful way.

Pretty impressive… if these were ads for an HBO original or a Broadway musical. They’re not. They are ads intended to market a high-end tile to a sophisticated audience. Instead of addressing the possibly misguided strategy of these ads, Ms. MacLatchie focuses on the execution. They are beautiful ads which will probably win a few awards for the ad agency. With a little target market feedback and some sharper copy, they probably could have helped Artistic Tile win lifelong customers as well. Alas, I feel as though Ms. Maclatchie is too emotionally invested in the credentials of her ad producers to adjust the campaign. Instead, she’ll likely continue to defend her decisions.

Andrea Learned’s series of posts this week points to the dirty grout surrounding these tile ads.

The problem with ads like these is that they work… temporarily. They get attention and may even get a “decent” response (greater than 2% - wow). But, they’re short-sighted. They don’t create long-term conversations with the market that eventually convert into sales.

The problem is that they don’t see the long term effects on their image and reputation.

The best way I can phrase it? They’re prostituting their business.

I got a few nice comments about last week’s 7 minute rant, and in light of Seth’s article on two kinds of writing, I thought I might keep it up.

How come I can’t buy one nail or screw from the hardware store anymore. Used to be, you could grab these out of a bin. When I go to Lowe’s or Home Depot, they sell them in packages of 6 or 8 or 12, or in a box of 50 or larger. What if I only need one or two? Why do I have to buy 6? Then I have 4 or 5 left over. Now do you see why so many guys need those big metal tool cabinets with all the little-bitty drawers? I miss Mom and Pop, don’t you?

Why do all my devices still have cords (PDA/laptop/iPod/camera)? Hasn’t Bluetooth been around longer than Dick Clark? Yet we still have all these proprietary USB, Firewire, and power cables. Why don’t the power cables spool in and out of an adapter instead of having to be wound up and untangled each time?

My bank has a camera in the drive-thru lane to get a good look at me, but I can’t see them. I usually strain to see my teller. I don’t know her name (it’s usually a “her”), I don’t even know her face. It’s a big conglomerate, so my bank’s face isn’t very distinct either.

I met a friend for breakfast at IHOP every week for a year and the staff never knew my name. They never asked.

Even worse, my doctor asked. He still calls me Gary, when I’ve told him repeatedly that I go by my middle name, Dustin.

Intentional baldness is sexier than genetic baldness today. The good news is if you’re genetically partially bald (like me), you can still be intentional about the rest.

OK, so bloggers like Andrea Learned and Jory Des Jardins have me thinking I’ve ignored women too much in my marketing. But that wasn’t enough, CNN had to tell me that I’ve ignored them in web design as well.

This cnn.com article reports that 94% of websites show a masculine orientation while only 2% show a “female favored arrangement.” Yowza! If we expect the world wide web to procreate, I’m not real keen on the girl-to-guy ratio here.

The article piqued my interest in an obvious market opportunity, but their solution left me concerned.

So should Web sites consider having two faces, one for male users and another for female visitors? Moss said more research is needed.

“At the very least,” she said, “we think there ought to be a combination of aesthetics.”

I’m often leary of anything that says, “He likes blue. She likes red. Make it purple.” That’s exactly what comes to mind when you say, “combination of aesthetics.” Instead, maybe we should try to understand why women enjoy bolder background colors and why men were pleased with a 3-dimensional look. Then we can take that knowledge and see how it intersects with our products, our company, and our brand.

(thanks to Jason for sending the cnn.com article)

I’m short on time today, but feel like I can’t pull off a formulated post. So, I decided to use 7 minutes to rant random thoughts.

How come no one wants minimum wage to work as a Wal-Mart cashier, but so many of us are willing to do it for free ala self-checkout?

My wife and I are going on a Caribbean cruise for our 10 year anniversary in a few weeks. The travel agency called and said they had a travel pack for me to pick up at their office. I drove over and walked in the door and up to the first desk I saw. “Can I help you?” said the lady at the desk. I told her why I was there and what my name was. She pulled open a drawer and pulled out the packet, handed it to me, and said “There you go.” I walked out. What a wasted experience. Why didn’t they just mail it to me? I was physically in their building for the first time (we booked by phone) and that was the entirety of our interaction.

I eat way too often at Sonic Drive-Ins. I get breakfast burritos frequently. Every time, they ask if I want tator tots with it? I get that. But, there is a “Breakfast Burrito Meal” that includes tots and a drink (coffee or soft drink). Why not ask me if I want to “upgrade” my burrito to a meal for only $x.xx more?

How come I only hear from my dentist right BEFORE an appointment (friendly reminder call) not AFTER my appointment (to make sure I’m pleased)?

How come I have to tote an awkward, ugly Firewire cable on my sleek, simplified iPod in order to plug it in at work and in the car? Shouldn’t it be able to plug directly into a socket so I don’t have to carry a cable around everywhere?

How come my bank doesn’t have drive-thru lanes for people who pre-filled all their forms? An express lane for the bank.

How come it took me 15 minutes to make a 7 minute rant? Well, someone called in the middle.

Seth Godin had an interesting post concerning the President Bush’s remarks concerning intelligent design and evolution. I have no idea if Seth and I agree on this topic. That isn’t the point. I’ll get to the point later.

This is brilliant story telling in that it resonates with what a lot of people want to hear. It fits their worldview. It allays their fear of the unknown and resolves internal conflicts.

Of course it’s not “true.” Of course it’s not “science.” That doesn’t mean the idea isn’t popular and it doesn’t mean the idea won’t spread.

Wow, this made me think as I read the Washington Post story.

Bush’s comments were “irresponsible,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He said the president, by suggesting that students hear two viewpoints, “doesn’t understand that one is a religious viewpoint and one is a scientific viewpoint.”

Intelligent design may not be science, but I would argue that evolution is a religion. I’ll get to how this affects marketing in a moment, but stay with me here. Evolution supports a religious viewpoint as well as a scientific one. Like this article and Bush’s comments, most people pit evolution against the traditional Christian view. How can evolution proponents overcome this hurdle? By showing how evolution can support the majority’s religious viewpoint.

Back to marketing. Unless your product is religious in nature, you probably don’t think religion affects a person’s decision to buy it. Wrong. This issue can affect what textbooks are bought or even which school a child attends. A person’s religion can dictate whether someone eats at your restaurant if it contains a bar. They may not buy your cloting line because of the suggestive photos in your catalogue. Maybe their religion is based more on ecology than theology. In that case, your environmental friendliness may predispose their purchasing decision in your favor, even if what you sell has nothing to do with the environment (i.e. Ben and Jerry’s).

People’s core beliefs form their religion of buying. Seth calls this a worldview, but that word has been difficult for me to sink my teeth into. So, what is your customer’s “religion?” Do you know why they buy your product? Think beyond price. Think beyond basic needs like “they’re hungry.” How does your product fit into their religion of buying? Why do they believe in your product? Just like religion, if they didn’t believe it they wouldn’t buy it.