theIdeaStudio (Customer Crossroads)

Bathroom Marketing: reaching customers where they least expect it

I recently saw a new twist on advertising in bathrooms -- flat screen video. Your intrepid blogger took incredible risks capturing this photo for you inside the ladies room.

A second terminal was kindly placed outside the ladies room (below), no doubt to serve the ever-present line-up of women, or perhaps their male partners who are patiently waiting for them.

Anything that can reduce the annoyance of waiting is usually a good thing for customer experience. 

As every space your eyeballs may roam continues to be colonized by commercial messaging, it is going to be harder and harder to be heard by anyone at all.   

Using the Power of AND to Innovate: BBQ It Yourself Restaurant Concept

I went bicycling on Pelee Island earlier this summer, a bucolic place in Lake Erie that takes 90 minutes or so to reach by ferry. A great place to get away from it all; it's so quiet it's hard to find a newspaper. And home to one of the most innovative and fun dining concepts I have seen. 

The island is well suited to growing grapes, and Pelee Island Winery has a large number of vineyards there, as well as a wine pavillion. 

This place has a very small permanent population -- something like 175 people.  And the visitor traffic seems to be mainly cottagers.

Most wineries seem to have some kind of dining operation, so you can enjoy some of the wine with food.  But given the small population, Pelee needed to be clever about this.

So they created a self-BBQ operation.  You buy your meat (beef, venison or buffalo burger, chicken, sausage or vegetarian) frozen at the Deli-Hut. (And a small selection of salads, etc.) Then you barbecue it yourself at the free barbecues provided. 

After you've finished grilling, you can enjoy your meal at one of the picnic tables overlooking the vineyards.  With a glass of wine, of course!

What's even better is that they make the picnic area available to anyone without charge.  (There is a small charge to use the BBQs if you don't buy your meat from them.)  So regulars on the island tend to frequent the place as a great picnic spot.

Using the power of AND to innovate
I imagine that during their planning process, they wondered, "how can we give people a reasonable food experience with some wine AND very low overheads AND low operating costs AND that doesn't rely on having access to trained serving staff?"

• The winery gives its guests a good food experience with very limited overhead.
• They build goodwill in the community at the same time. 
• All those people who come to picnic regularly have a great opportunity to drop in and buy wine while they are there.
• They aren't competing with any of the other local dining establishments, all of whom serve Pelee Island wines.

This was a totally fun thing to do after a couple of hours of cycling, and I highly recommend you try it if you are ever there.  And a really wonderful example of innovation in creating a good customer experience.

Convenience Rules

On my travels this summer, I happened upon the unofficial Heinz museum, housed in a public art gallery in Leamington, Ontario, longtime home of a large Heinz plant. 

These "2 minute soup" machines caught my attention.  There wasn't a lot of information, so I'm a bit fuzzy on how they worked. They were still a good reminder that convenience has been on consumers minds for a very long time. 

Campbell's Soup At Hand seems to be addressing the same desire.

Self-heating cans have also been used, most recently by Wolfgang Puck for a self-heating latte. (NY Times article here, free subscription required).  Nestle used to have a self-heating coffee product in the UK, but it apparently has been taken off the market.

OnTech is the leading can provider, although the underlying concept has apparently been used in the military for many years. OnTech kindly provides a summary of their marketing research here and here although they don't appear to have a lot of customers, other than Hillside (an affiliated business?)

Our take:

We want convenience, but it doesn't always trump other considerations, such as taste and price.  A self-heating can is probably heavy, and you still have to plan ahead enough to take the can with you.  Plus, there's enviro-guilt to deal with when you dispose of the can. I'm guessing that these are some of the reasons that self-heating cans have yet to take off, while microwaveable soup in an insulated container is doing just fine.

On the other hand, as emergency supplies for hurricane season (as the PalmBeachPost suggests) price may be less of a consideration, and a self-heating cup of coffee could be just the thing.

The Power of a Good Story

There's nothing like a good story to motivate people to act.

Stories are how we humans have communicated meaning for millennia. When we find out what whales are talking about, my guess is it will have something to do with story-telling.  When managing change, I encourage clients to figure out the story -- not the PowerPoint, not the business case, but the actual story that communicates what is changing and why it's important. The story you want repeated peer to peer, that crystallizes real meaning for people. 

John Wood, the guy who started Room to Read, and has now written a book about his experiences, reminded me of this. Room to Read is a charity dedicated to building schools and putting books in the hands of the world's poorest children. He's been profiled in FastCompany, and the organization has won all kinds of social capitalist awards.

His book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", contains some interesting examples of change management and leadership.  Some of the things Wood thinks are important for success, like working ridiculous hours, probably aren't important.* But through luck or intention, he did a lot of things right.

Using a Good Story

Wood tells some great stories that illustrate the hunger for learning of children in developing countries, and the ingenuity and commitment of their families in acting as the charity's local partners. And he hears some pretty amazing stories, too, that people have told him -- because they saw someone they thought might be able to help. They didn't make the case for books -- they took him to visit a school that had none. 

If you want to change the culture in your organization, start by listening to the stories people tell, and listening to the stories you yourself tell -- you'll learn a lot about the culture, about what is important, and about what people are paying attention to.

"Nobody Ever Washed a Rented Car"

I'm not sure who said this first, but Wood says it again in his book, and he's so right.  For Room to Read, this means asking the local village to raise half the funds for a new school or library before construction starts.  These are called "challenge grants", and they give the village a commitment to the project that far exceeds what an outright gift would create. 

It works the same way in business. Ever wonder why so many head office projects die in the field?  Maybe it's because there was no room left to create. There is great joy in creating, in solving problems, in adding our own brushstrokes to a project.  If you let people do that, they have real ownership in both the project and the results. If it's all about you, your plan, your goals, your year-end bonus, why should anyone else care?

"Stop Talking, Start Acting"

Don't wait to get everything completely right.  Just get moving. This is one of the great lessons that Jim Collins told in Good to Great, and it comes up again in Wood's story. Once you know the direction, start building momentum. 

An executive I used to work with told me something amazing once. He said: "We'll figure out how to do it after we land the deal."   A great sales manager once joined my weekly sales team meeting. A couple of our reps didn't have a lot of appointments booked for the week.  His first question? "What are you doing this afternoon?"

I'm working on a book right now, and I can tell you something: there's no amount of planning that is a substitute for sitting at the keyboard and writing.   You want to make something happen?  Just start. 

Tying Investment to Results: the Donor Experience

I think most people who grew up in a large, successful corporation learned to stay on top of their numbers. I know I did. And Wood has brought this discipline to the charity, which tracks and reports how many schools, how many books, how many scholarships.

Even better, in the early days, if you gave them enough money to fund a school, they actually put your funds toward a specific school, which contained a plaque with your name on it.  Someday you might trek to it and have a look for yourself. This has been very important to donor motivation.

A look at their web site made me wonder if they are still doing that, and if they can still do that now that they are bigger.  It was a brilliant strategy and I'm sure was a factor in their early successes.

When you think about motivating your own team, consider whether they can see the chain that ties their efforts directly to results. The more visible the link, the more ownership you will have. No matter what the role, find the link to the big goals and results for the organization, and people will feel part of something more important that will help them survive the drudge that goes with all roles.

One definition of leadership is that a leader is someone to whom you will give your discretionary effort.  People need a reason to make that particular donation.  Did you give them one this week? 

"If you ask people to reach deep, to think creatively, and to produce extraordinary results, they usually will.  Too often in our modern world, they are simply not asked." 

                    ~ John Wood

References:

Wood, John. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children. Collins, 2006.

*Something about Wood's verbal style reminded me a lot of Bill Rancic, the guy who won the first Apprentice contest: it's that same frenetic optimism unsullied by irony, untouched by failure. Or perhaps I'm just jealous because I haven't founded a global charity success story, and haven't yet finished my own book.

Seth Godin on Broken Stuff: 20 minutes and several good laughs

Having trouble getting motivated when the sun is shining?  Give yourself a 20 minute refreshment break and watch Seth Godin at the GEL conference, talking about experiences that are broken, and enjoy some laugh-out-loud funny stuff. [And get a chance to see Google video in action, if you haven't already]

The best take-away from this:  if your customer says it's broken, it's broken.
If some poor customer takes the time to actually tell you something's broken, try not to argue with them. They are very likely speaking for lots of other people that couldn't be bothered wasting their time to tell you it's broken.

And this week, make it your job to fix just one broken thing, no matter how small.  Bonus points if you empower someone else to fix some broken stuff.

In my personal calendar, we are coming up to the end of the psychological year.  September is always the first month of the new year if you started school in September. 

So end the year right, and fix a few broken things. 

Update on Zopa and Prosper, online un-banks

Zopa is an un-bank of sorts, a peer-to-peer finance operation. Zopa brings lenders and borrowers together in an online marketplace, letting the lenders (i.e. people like you and me) offer funds at a specified rate, for a specified term, with limits on the level of risk. Borrowers look at the funds on offer, and choose whether to take at that rate or wait for a better deal.  Zopa makes the market, provides administrative and matching services, and underwriting services, but it does not itself lend money.

Zopa has recently launched in the US, from it's UK origins, and decided to do some focus group research in advance of the launch. In the spirit of open-ness that seems to define this company, they have disclosed clips of the focus groups through a link on their blog, here. Or go directly to the clips here. (Quicktime required. And it takes a minute to download.)

The remark I found most interesting was the woman who wanted to help struggling artists, but couldn't figure out how to find them, and thought Zopa would be a way to lend them money safely. I guess the instinct to be a patron of the arts continues, even though most of us don't have the money of the Medici.

Zopa uses some clever marketing tactics, such as paying for referrals.  If you are an active Zopa lender and bring in another member who completes a transaction, you both get paid 30 pounds.

Zopa's blog invites guest authors to write.  Here's an example from Philipg27, a Zopa lender, who writes that Zopa is not a community, it is a market, and compares it to Lloyd's of London insurance. Philip27 takes the company to task for weaknesses in it's online functionality.

...most importantly for Zopa the message is that Zopa should be working towards making the market easy to use rather than attempting to foster a sense of community. The website is notoriously difficult to use, it should be as simple to use as my online-stockbroker, and provide me with enough information to make informed decisions on the most effective options to lend money. I don’t really need pictures of people jumping over mountains whilst baking bread. I need cash flow statements, better reporting and maybe even some idea of what’s happening to my loans being processed that are currently lost in the Zopa Triangle …

Prosper is the other major peer-to-peer lending operation, with a few differences from Zopa. 

Prosper permits lenders to form syndicates on their own, and choose their borrowers. Borrowers can also become part of a group, where the group's reputation rises and falls based on repayment patterns, which then affects their interest rates and ability to attract lenders. 

Prosper is a bit more wild and entrepreneurial in approach than Zopa, permitting lenders to take undiversified risks by lending a lot to one individual or group.  Zopa forces lenders to diversify.  Now that they are both operating in the same market, it will be interesting to see how things shake out.

I expect it will be a few years before we really see how these approaches work as a business.  Meantime, it's fascinating watching how both operations differentiate from banks in their communication approach.  If this approach really works, it seems obvious that a big player would try to enter the action, perhaps with a sub-brand, just as a few are now in the payday loans business using subsidiaries.

A Shocking Story of Sales Missing in Action

Or, how your customer communications can dilute your brand...

I was pretty sure this sad day would eventually arrive -- when Bizsmart closed down their free chequing for small businesses.  I got the notice today.  I have three months to find a new bank.

Bizsmart was always a subsidiary of CIBC, so of course this notice letter suggests I go move my account there, referencing the main home page and 800 number as a source of information.

Of course, moving my account to CIBC will likely be as much work as moving it to a competitor.  So I think I may shop around. Here are a few of the things your Customer Experience Counselor would suggest could have been done here:

1. Give the customer some incentive to move to the preferred option.

How about a free i-Pod, a promotion one of the competitor banks here just wrapped up?  A preferred pricing offer.  Free cheques.  A ball cap, for goodness' sake.  Free coffee at the branch.  Anything at all. 

2. Show some appreciation to build some goodwill.

Is it the customers' fault you couldn't figure out how to make money this way?  You should still say thank you. If you don't, what will they think about your main brand, and why should they continue to give you their business?

3. At least make it easy for your customers to move.

Suggest which branch would be best. Provide a name and phone number for the nearest location.  How about a special 800 line for switchers, set up to help facilitate the move? 

How about a landing page on the CIBC web site that provides some targeted support and links to critical information on the CIBC site.  It could also have FAQs.

First among those FAQs should be something about those online government payments -- a service which I truly love and cherish.  (Does anyone else have this?  Does CIBC have this? That could make a critical difference. Even my bookkeeper thinks this is a cool service.)

How about helping customers move all their online payments at the same time, to save them some hassle? 

Would you consider transferring some of the paperwork?  Or do I have to get yet another banking resolution? (My lawyer thanks you.)

My Take

Issuing a bare notification letter when you are making a big customer change has the advantage of clarity. But no matter what is happening, make sure it's brand accretive*. You just never know who might blog on this stuff, do you? 

Given the marketing effort expended on obtaining new customers generally, be sure you don't care before you act like you don't care.  After all, just like Mom told you, it doesn't cost anything to be nice.

* Is it Brand Accretive or Brand Dilutive?

Investment bankers and their pals talk about merger and acquisition opportunities as "earnings accretive", when they mean it improves earnings per share, and "dilutive", when it damages earnings per share. There's a good definition here.

We need to think about all communications as brand accretive or brand dilutive -- do they add lustre to the brand or not?

I had hoped this phrase came from me first, but unfortuntately I see three references to this term on Google.

Update September 1, 2006: My other business got the "good customer" letter after I wrote this.  Read the followup item here.

Using Games to Uncover Insights

I had the pleasure of reviewing an early copy of Luke Hohmann's upcoming book, Innovation Games.

What a delightful surprise to find it filled with actual good ideas, well explained. 

Each of the games is actually an activity that you can facilitate with a group of people, such as users or customers, or potential customers.  The activities largely fit into a two hour time slot, which makes them suitable for ideation sessions or focus group types of environments.  Although the games are certainly not limited to that.   

The games are about uncovering new product ideas, ways to improve an existing product, and similar topics.  These are the the projects where you hope the stars will align for you and your client, and you pull out all your best tricks to make it happen. 

While the problems addressed are familiar, the activities present a good slant on an old problem.  For example, Speed Boat uses anchors holding back a boat as a metaphor for barriers to increased use or adoption. 

These kinds of activities sound simple enough, but the trick is always in using them effectively.  I found Luke's instructions clear and useful, and he provides a number of his "secret tips" that could save you learning things the hard way.  He also talks about the debrief process, a critical step in anything of this nature.

If you are trying to get some innovative thinking going, this would be an excellent place to start. For the individual who is new to facilitation, or has no budget for expert help, Luke provides very clear guidance on what is needed, whether it is flip-charts or index cards, and how the flow of things should work.

For those of you who are already skilled facilitators, a few of the games may seem familiar. For example, the "Me and My Shadow" game is observational shadowing of someone in a specific role, or a user. This is something I'm personally very familiar with.  "Remembering the Future" may be also have some familiar DNA for the experienced facilitator.  Having said that, I'd be surprised if you didn't get at least one, and more likely several new techniques from this book.  And it is often nice to see someone else's slant and enhancements on an old favorite.

So, I know this is a pretty shameless plug, and I've never actually met Luke -- we've just exchanged e-mails. So it's just my enthusiasm for the content.  I just thought the book was really practical and useful, (unlike so many business books these days).  Publication is slated for September, but you can pre-order.

Innovative Methods in Online Qualitative Research

If you could use a break from the heat, stay in for lunch on Thursday and join me for a free webcast: When Online Qualitative Shines: Solving Business Problems.

I will be the guest speaker for a web-cast on the topic of innovative ways to use online qualitative research technologies to solve business problems.

I'll be joined by Betsy Leichliter of New York, who partnered with me in developing the background research for this presentation. Betsy and I interviewed more than thirty researchers worldwide to gather case studies.

We won't be talking about researcher methods -- this presentation is for clients who would like to know more about what other organizations are doing with the new tools.

As always, it's not about the technology, it's about how to use it to get results!

This interactive presentation format will give you access to a chat window, as well as the option to phone in with questions.  It should be lively and informative.

It's free.  You have to register for access, here.

These Q-Casts are non-commercial educational events sponsored by the Qualitative Research Consultant's Association.  Once you register, you will have access to the full archive of great presentations. 

The Brand as Idea

One of the best explanations of branding I've ever seen was in a New York Times article, The Brand Underground, by Rob Walker.  Here it is:

"Branding is ... a process of attaching an idea to a product. Decades ago that idea might have been strictly utilitarian: trustworthy, effective, a bargain. Over time, the ideas attached to products have become more elaborate, ambitious and even emotional. This is why, for example, current branding campaigns for beer or fast food often seem to be making some sort of statement about the nature of contemporary manhood. If a product is successfully tied to an idea, branding persuades people -- consciously or not -- to consume the idea by consuming the proudct. Even companies like Apple and Nike, while celebrated for the tangible attributes of their products, work hard to associate themselves with abstract notions of nonconformity or achievement.  A potent brand becomes a form of identity in shorthand."

There it is folks.  Print this one out and stick it on the wall.  Branding is a process of attaching an idea to a product. (or service).  It's not a logo. Period. Full stop. [I know -- I'm preaching to the converted here, but wasn't that a beautiful expression of the idea?]

RSS, a new medium?

Feedburner CEO Dick Costolo was interviewed in Business 2.0 (July 2006 issue), and had an interesting perspective on where RSS is going, and the future of push.

RSS -- or really simple syndication -- is how you are reading this post, unless you got it via e-mail, or surfed here directly. While it is closely associated with blogs, it's really useful for any content-rich environment that updates regularly.

Costolo really caught my attention with his take on media trends: that initially publishers tried to use the web to drive print subscriptions, and it didn't work well. Now they are trying to use RSS to drive traffic to their web sites, but that won't work either, because RSS is a new medium.

"The new medium never drives dollars to the old' it drives dollars to the new thing."

I think he's right. Which means that the importance of web content by itself will tend to diminish.  People are not going to keep revisiting your web site to see what's there that might be new.  They'll find out what's new when they choose to syndicate your feed, and you send them something new.

Of course, in this expanding world of communication overload, you need to have something pretty interesting to say if you want anyone to tune in.  Authentic, transparent, and helpful. And maybe you can bundle some advertising messaging in there.