I've been away and chronically behind, and so missed reading many of the posts from other bloggers taking part in the bathroom blogfest 2007. Catching up today, I wanted to mention a couple of posts that caught my eye. As well as a few marketing observations.
Interesting Posts - not an exhaustive list by any means!
From Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path - Office bathrooms as key indicators of team culture. Great article. Reminded me of the private bathrooms that executives in some industries get as part of their perks, and what this might suggest about the caste system in place in those organizations.
"The point is that bathrooms signal what’s important to the team culture:
- Does the bathroom feel more personal than institutional?
- Do you care about keeping the bathroom clean because you care about the other people that use it?
- Can you get a good look at yourself in a good mirror before that big meeting so that you don’t embarrass your team with spinach in your teeth?
- Do you enjoy seeing artworks created by your team members?
- And the big one…are you trusted not to misuse the supply of toilet paper?"
Her translation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to the office bathroom is worth the drive over to read. For extra credit: see if you can translate your product or service into Maslow.
Laurence-Hélène at Blog Till You Drop updated us on the trend of luxury public/private bathrooms, a trend that is spreading. There are now three of these: London, Japan, Paris. And clever companies are using these spaces to encourage trial of their products. I have heard that some nightclub ladiesrooms offer additional services on busy nights, like manicure services and quick massages.
Sports arenas appear to have among the worst ladiesrooms anywhere.
Reshma Anand reported seeing an improvement in public washrooms in India since the blogfest last year. And wondered if more fathers would like to have change tables in the men's room.
Katie Clark at Practical Katie was dismayed to see a bathroom that subordinated usability to design in a new library. There's no place to put down a purse or anything else.
Marketing observations
You can get a lot of people talking about something with a blogfest. Many of the less well-established blogs on the list saw major traffic boosts as a result of their participation. But the big jump in traffic on the group blog set up by organizer Stephanie Weaver was especially interesting to me. She sent in a note to Blogger, letting them know, and they highlighted the blog. Instant jump to thousands of page views. of course Blogger would not have done this if they didn't think the concept was interesting. So the formula remains the same -- you can get publicity if you have something interesting to say.
