Customer Crossroads

This just in: iPhone mobile credit card processing

The Apple iPhone will soon be functional as a credit card processing device, according to this report on Finextra. 

What this means is that your landscaper, the seller at the flea-market, and other small enterprises will be able to process your credit card using their iPhone as a mobile card authorization unit. There are monthly fees and such, but that's already standard in the credit card world.

This is a potentially huge greenfield market. I've been wondering why PayPal hasn't launched some capability like this, accessible using the browser function on smart phones.

A commenter on the Finextra story says that Treo has had this capability for some time. He recounted how a tour guide was easily able to upsell customers mid-tour because of the simple availability of card processing. It is well known that having-card users tend to spend more than cash users, and this has long been a selling point for merchant services.

Resources:

iPhone world story jan 28, 2009

Credit Card Terminal information from the developer, InnerFence

Today's culture moment: Playmobil security checkpoint toy

Thanks to Franca Leeson on TheHub, a creativity network, I learned about the Playmobil security checkpoint toy, available through Amazon for a mere $58.99.

The reviews displayed below the information are an amazing display of creativity, and a spontaneous response to this "normalization" of the intrusive security we must now endure.

Here are a few of the "reviews" that I loved:

I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!".

Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like.

What better way to teach the next generation how to behave in a police state then with a toy such as this? I'm really hoping that they come out with a toy in which the kids can play "interregator". Think of all the fun the little folks can have waterboarding those who "hate our freedom".

Amazon is now apparently hosting discussions, as I learned when I kept scrolling along. Which is an interesting way to keep people on your site and coming back to it. Amazon as public forum.There's the age of conversation in action.

I was suspicious that this item was a joke, but apparently not. There is a whole collection of similar items, including the Playmobil Police Checkpoint, a SWAT Helicopter, a SWAT Police boat, a Radar patroller, and a police station with a jail cell, and police HQ complete with interrogation room. And you can buy a prison cell accessory. There is a jewel thief kit. [I'm not kidding].

Really, what else could be the result of hours of television about police, movies about police, and movies that glorify criminals?

The toy industry is only presenting the world as it seems to be. The fact that there is a market for this stuff is pretty startling, but there you are.

There was a sci-fi story years ago, in which an alien race wanted to change the thinking of humanity to be more receptive to the aliens. They created toys.

What happened when everyone started bringing their own bag: the law of unintended consequences

I just got a call from a good buddy leaving Loblaws, which recently introduced a save-the-planet charge of 5 cents a bag for those no-goodniks that don't bring their own.

"I'm just leaving the Superstore now," says buddy."Everyone is bringing their own bags.

"And you would not believe how this has slowed down the checkout process. At least 30% slower."

I witnessed this myself at a Wal-Mart. The bags are not all the same size. Some are floppy and need to be held open. One guy was handing the bags over one at a time.

Last week when I commented about the cost of human-delivered services, I wasn't even thinking about this.

Researchers like me know how much customers hate waiting in line. They hate watching inefficiency in line. It used to be just the brown rice brotherhood that took their own bag. Soon everyone will be doing it.  Yikes!

Social marketing reprise: don't just be talking to yourself, okay?

One of the dangers we face here in the social media world is that we may just be talking to ourselves. Which is not a good thing if you spend a lot of time trying to build business on your blog. HubSpot captures this issue brilliantly with a cartoon on their blog, shamelessly copied and reproduced below. [Hoping you guys don't mind. I did put a link in it.]

The challenge for service delivery: people costs go up, digital costs go down

Sitting in the cold and gray of January can put one in the mood to contemplate the really BIG issues of life. Such as how the cost of digital services has dropped to practically nothing, and how the cost of human services continues to rise. And what this means for customer experience.

While stepping back and pondering this weighty issue, I checked out another amazing free tool available to the digerati. This one is called Website Grader, and for no charge beyond signing up to their mailing list, you can get a pretty good report on your web site, delivered in a minute or so.  [And there's a nifty badge too. I love badges, all bloggers do. It's down there on the bottom right, below the blogroll.]

All this as a marketing device to attract you to HubSpot's web services.

On the other hand, we have human services. There's a long standing tradition that people should get a little increase in wages every year. And occasional merit increases. So if the head count stays the same, more or less, the overall cost of the payroll rises.

This is leading to bizarre situations all over the place.

I can get webinars on many subjects for free, and can learn a great many things just by watching videos on YouTube, and reading free web content. It's even easier than going to the library. OR, I can take a class at a university or college, where costs continue to rise.

In my hometown here, the faculty of a major university have been on strike for two months because they don't like the latest offer: an increase of 9.25 % over a three year contract, with improvements in job security and benefits. [Are these people crazy, you may be asking yourself? Haven't they heard the news?]

With the cost of so much that is digital dropping, dropping, dropping, it gets harder and harder to find ways to support the perceived value of human-delivered experiences. Like, say, clerks in a clothing store, or tellers in a bank. No one wants to pay for these things directly. But the costs of human staff essentially rise every year, whether prices do or not.

Right you say, that's what has driven offshoring of call centres, among other things.

The challenge for us as experience marketing folk is this: how do you make the human experience valuable enough that people will pay the cost of delivering it? Especially when people are reassessing the value of pretty much everything?

No answers today, just raising the question.

The social media paradox: you can put carpet on You Tube, but it will keep you busy

This is the third of a three-part interview with Christine Whittemore, creator of Flooring the Consumer, a trade blog in the carpet industry, and Carpetology, a consumer focused blog on everything carpet. Read part 1 here and part 2 here.

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Pushing further into social networks

As Ms. Whittemore has continued to learn more about the social media environment, she and her colleagues have reached into new areas.

In 2007, and again in 2008, she participated in writing the Age of Conversation, a collaborative book created with bloggers around the world. Each author contributed a chapter, and the book proceeds have been donated to the children’s charity Variety.

Being involved in that project was what led Ms. Whittemore into other online sharing tools, including Facebook and Twitter. “We had a reason to experiment with some of these tools to figure out whether they make sense and how to use them.  I’m in admiration over Wiggly Wigglers (here on Facebook) and The Engaging Brand (here on Facebook) and how they use Facebook to nurture their community and business.”

She has now started experimenting with Facebook for Wear-Dated, and has a video series called A Foot’s Perspective on YouTube. True to form, both these properties are cross-linked and linked to the Carpetology Blog. There are Flickr sets for Wear-Dated, Solutia’s brand of carpet fiber. “These are long term projects that allow me to keep on learning and experimenting.”

Ms. Whittemore also describes herself -- accurately -- as an "enthusiastic participant" in the Bathroom Blogfest, an annual event that I was involved in instigating that created many opportunities for additional blog profile through cross-linking.

The "social media paradox"

When asked about key learning and missteps, Ms. Whittemore says, "The biggest misstep is not experimenting and trying these tools.  They are efficient and powerful and here to stay.  So, not becoming familiar with them puts you at a disadvantage."

Unfortunately, as many new media practitioners know, time pressures often expand with involvement in social networks, something she calls "The social media paradox".

"My biggest frustration is not having enough time.  I bet you are familiar with what I term the social media paradox: you get involved because you have a bit of extra time.  Before you know it, the social media project has snowballed and taken on a life of its own. 

"You develop a community.  You must nurture it, but that leaves less time to be looking outward at what others contribute to the conversation, and keep up with other new developments." 

The challenge becomes to "still be aware of what’s going on outside your immediate circle". If you don't maintain this connection between the online and offline worlds, she believes you become "too insular".

Another key area of learning has been in keyword placement and search engine ranking. "I knew nothing about SEO when I started out.  As my writing has improved, I’m developing more sensitivity for how to position ideas and keywords for greater benefit.  The Carpetology Blog has helped tremendously as all postings have some relationship to carpet."

She still wishes she had more time for formal training in online copywriting principles and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), as well as Google Analytics and other tools. All in service to meet the goals of the entire exercise: "understand what matters to web visitors".

Trends: social media is growing, and the consumer is in charge

Ms. Whittemore believes that blogs and other social media tools are becoming more accepted, even in traditional industries. "I’m seeing more exploration taking place with LinkedIn groups forming", she notes, and "Corporations are getting increasingly involved in social media which means that acceptance is growing."

What isn’t changing is that the consumer is in charge and begins research at a web browser.  "The only way to be discovered is by participating in the online conversation and creating content that is authentic, trustworthy, relevant and valuable. And that will only become more true going forward."

Christine Whittemore is certainly one of the people actually driving change in traditional industries. I have no doubt that Solutia's competitors are wondering how to catch up to this two year lead in online conversational presence. They could take a lesson from her, and just get started.

The development of these online properties certainly shows the potential impact available from new media involvement for any industry, no matter how traditional, or even low-engagement the category might seem.

Using social media: focus on the message, and bridge new and old

I've been very interested in marketer and author Christine Whittemore's approach to social media in the carpet industry, a space not necessarily well known for innovative marketing. She graciously agreed to answer some questions about the  two business blogs she is now responsible for. In this second article in the series, (read the first one here), we'll focus on how she keeps the target audience engaged, and metrics for success.

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Focus on the message and bridge the new and the old

Ms. Whittemore believes that the relative ease of using social media tools -- versus traditional marketing communications -- allows the marketer to “focus on your message from the beginning", rather than the mechanics of delivery. But there are no quick results.

“Regardless of your industry, you still have to start from scratch to build your credibility, reputation, trustworthiness and your voice - one post at a time. And, then, you have to find ways to cross-merchandise your posts by bridging new and old forms of communication.”  Among the methods Ms. Whittemore uses to do this cross-merchandising: sending out press releases about the blog, mentioning it at presentations, and listing the blog address on a business card to hand out.

Marketers need to be prepared for ongoing learning. “I’ve heard it said that there’s no such thing as a social media expert because we are constantly learning and figuring out new approaches to what we are doing", she says."It takes time to internalize what works, and it’s easy to miss the obvious.”

As an observer, I can see a very consistent and significant effort to cross-link to previously published posts, and to engage other bloggers with comments, shout-outs and links to related content. It's an impressive effort, and really highlights that this sort of initiative requires real resourcing and time commitment if it is going to work.

The personal rewards: clear thinking and disciplined process

When people ask me about my own blogging experience, one of the things I always tell them is that my writing has improved enormously. This is Ms. Whittemore's view as well.

"Becoming successful in this environment has definitely been a stretch." She is now responsible for 3 blogs (Flooring the Consumer -- the trade blog, Carpetology -- the consumer blog, and a personal blog about her community -- The Smokerise Blog).

She publishes two to three times a week on the business blogs, in addition to writing trade articles, press releases, website updates and presentations. “Although I enjoy the written word, I never considered myself a writer.  I do now!” 

She finds the glut of information a marketer needs to deal now with a challenge to process, and hopes that the writing discipline will help with that. “I’m hoping that it will also force me to process information more quickly as it’s hard to keep up with and share the wisdom that is available.”

Engage your target audience with relevant stories

Ms. Whittemore has found that ideas, stories and examples need to be very relevant to the audience, and not too abstract. The blog needs to communicate with passion and relate to the retail experience, whether it’s in flooring or not.

While this sounds simple enough, a quick read of her blogs shows the effort that goes into this. For example, the January 12 Flooring story was about holiday store windows, and links to three other articles about store windows, complete with images, and highlights the web sites of some of the most interesting ones, such as ABC Carpet and Home, and Bergdorf Goodman. Like all the articles in this blog, there is a highly personal tone -- she explains why she doesn't have more of her own pictures of windows due to family commitments over the holidays -- and a veritable link-fest of connections to relevant content, pictures and even embedded videos.

An example of the consumer oriented content is shown in the image above, taken from the December 12 post on Carpetology. The carpet-buying sheet is a consumer-oriented one page sheet that outlines useful tips for buyers, such as keeping a sample of the installed carpet to support warranty claims. This is the sort of material that is usually buried deep inside the corporate website, and probably doesn't reach nearly as many people as it might located inside social media. The blog posting goes on to talk about how all vacuums are not the same -- "beware the beater bar!" Practical, relevant advice.

Ms. Whittemore believes the challenge now is to find ways to connect online and offline effectively. “There’s so much rich and relevant content available online that all can and should benefit from. It’s up to us as marketers to figure out how to engage those offline conversations … and make it part of the rich online discussion.  Otherwise, we’re just talking amongst ourselves.”

This theme is the topic of a new social media initiative called Bridging Old/New, “that I hope you will participate in.” [Yikes!]

Measurement and impact: tie it to the business objectives

Many bloggers are free agents of some sort, and pretty much in control of where they spend their time. We may want results, but no one is looking over our shoulder and asking the question. An employee spending this kind of time on social media is going to have to justify it for at least one stakeholder. I was curious how Ms. Whittemore is doing that.

“The beauty of this digital medium” she said, “is that there are all kinds of measures available: visitors, pageviews, subscribers, bounce rate, time on page, comments, and more.” It all depends on the purpose of the blog. Which is why her measures vary across the blogs.This is truly one of the smartest things I have yet heard spoken on the topic of social media measurement: to have objectives, and link your measurement to the objectives.

“For Flooring The Consumer, I monitor subscribers over time, comments both online and offline (I get many offline or email comments), and whether posts lead to other conversations.

“For the Carpetology Blog, I monitor overall traffic and which terms visitors have searched on, whether they have come from or go to the Wear-Dated website (http://weardated.com), and key word rankings. 

“And then, I look to see whether traffic I refer to the website is better qualified and stays longer than traffic coming from other sources. The Carpetology Blog was launched at the end of December 2007; and we redesigned the WearDated.com website on June 1, 2008.  Although it’s still early, it’s exciting to be noticing improved results!”

External recognition is always nice, though, so Carpetology was submitted to the Forrester 2008 Groundswell Awards. The submission required quantification of the value of the blog, which Ms. Whittemore kindly shared with all of her readers in a post on the Flooring site. Note that the application was for the consumer site, but the sharing was on the trade site, a neat trick that continues to support the advocacy mission with retailers. Ms. Whittemore reports that that particular article generated some great feedback from readers. The site now also has a very short pop-up survey to gather feedback from readers. Few angles are missed here.

Focus on value for audience, not measures

Despite having a good measurement strategy for her own initiatives, Ms. Whittemore cautions that measures are built over time, and there are no quick fixes. “You will NOT see sustainable radical day to day changes across any of these measures.  For improvement, you will need to show up day after day and produce authentic, relevant and valuable content. So, don’t fixate on the measures; better to focus on your audience and how to create value for them.”

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The third and final article in this interview series will be about the lessons learned from this work, and Ms.Whittemore's view of trends.

Using social media in a traditional industry: Flooring the Consumer Blog

A lot of businesses still struggle with how to use social media effectively to communicate with their end consumers. They don’t see their company or their industry as high tech, or sexy, or particularly cutting edge – in short, they just don’t see the fit of social media for their situation. Manufacturers and wholesalers of consumer durables might well consider themselves in this situation. Take carpeting for instance. I can't remember when I have seen this industry featured in a marketing magazine.

This is why I have been fascinated with the success Christine Whittemore of Solutia has had with her personal business blog, Flooring the Consumer, and have been keen to ask her a few questions.

Ms. Whittemore agrees the carpet marketing environment is traditional. “It’s not high-tech, and not promoted as high-touch – even though carpet engages the senses more than many home products.” Far from being cutting edge in retailing or marketing, price is often a more dominant feature than fashion or design in messaging.

So carpeting is a market few would see as ripe territory for new media.Stay tuned as we find out more about bringing social media to the marketing of a carpet manufacturer.

Seriously good statistics

Flooring the Consumer was launched in June 2006, and is now ranked as #108 on the Ad Age top marketing blogs, and has over 800 subscribers. These are seriously good statistics for a blog of this type.

More importantly, as you'll see in the coming posts, the blog is achieving business results. Ms. Whittemore is the Director for In-Store Innovation for the Wear-Dated carpet fiber division of Solutia, a $3.8 Billion company with 6000 employees. The company manufactures nylon fibers that go into residential carpet. Her work involves training, presentations, and thought leadership at retail for the flooring industry.

Below, authors of the Carpetology blog. The same team "elf themselves" at the Office Max site.

Born out of frustration with traditional marketing

The blog was born out of Ms. Whittemore’s frustration with traditional marketing to achieve her business objectives. “I had been flirting with the notion of a blog -- actively for 9 months prior to taking that step -- because I was so frustrated with traditional marketing, had things to share with my audience of flooring retailers and retail salespeople, and couldn’t get published fast enough and frequently enough by the trade press.”

In addition to this challenge, there was minimal budget for a traditional newsletter, and she felt these had become “inefficient” as a communication tool in any event.

After attending a Columbia Business School conference on marketing innovation, Ms. Whittemore says she realized “most of the people in the room not only blogged, but were also cutting edge marketers…  and true innovators.” She took her content ideas and her sense of urgency to work, and the blog was born.

About consumers and retailing, not just carpeting

There are now three blogs as well as a Twitter feed, and Facebook activity. The blogs each have a distinct audience. Flooring the Consumer is targeted to the trade, and addresses topics such as marketing to women, the retail experience and consumers in general.

Carpetology, launched in December 2007, is a consumer blog about all things carpet.

The third blog, The Smoke Rise Blog, is a community-oriented, more personal blog.

While the consumers are online, not all the retailers are. There are retailers keen to reinvent the experience, however, and these are the ones that Flooring the Consumer reaches, and that keep the author motivated.

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Next up: how to keep people engaged with relevant content, and how to measure success.

Don't panic and do anything dumb: and do filter your lists

I want to give you a smile in these bleak times when doom and gloom are everywhere -- in the skies, and in the papers.

So I've got something amazing to show you. Check out the image of the direct mail piece below. Notice anything odd?

Now this is clearly a product targeted to women. That would be, for the most part, names with an honorific like Mrs., Miss or Ms. Not the Mr. that it was addressed to.

Conditions are challenging for marketers everywhere. These are times that call for original thinking, and often, for stepping back and maybe not doing what everyone else is doing.

And while you are at it, you should ensure you are spending those scarce marketing dollars in the most effective way. [Hint: clean those e-mail lists.]