Remember Voltron? When I was a kid I used to love that cartoon. You’d think that with those bad-ass robot lions the universe would be safe. But you’d be wrong. Because every episode some bad guy came along that couldn’t be defeated by the lions alone, not matter what they did. The same thing happened on every. single. episode. They had to combine to form freakin’ Voltron, and only then could they defeat everything in their path.
But why wouldn’t they just form Voltron at the beginning? I think that would have saved a ton of time, but then again, it wouldn’t have been much of a show (update: rented Voltron on Netflix and is isn’t much of a show through the eyes of a 20-something…in fact it sucked pretty bad).
Where am I going with this? I think a of people are seeing the value of social media and realizing that these tools can really affect your business. But we need to remind ourselves that it’s not a social vs. traditional world we’re living in. To have maximum impact, you need find out which channels, online and offline provide the best mix of message, experience, and sharability. In short, step back and look at where you’re putting your marketing dollars and determine if your message is effective and consistent both as letter and number and bits and bytes. Figure out how social can reinforce traditional and vice versa. Then Voltron your marketing from the beginning. You’ll see how much faster you’ll conquer the universe.
I, like many other iPhone and iPad users am still disappointed that Flash still hasn’t made its way onto those devices. Yes, I’m aware of ‘Frash’ but the big thing that’s missing in that package is the ability to play Flash Video - which is really all I care about (#iwantowatchTheDailyShow).
But what I’m really sick of is the whining on both Apple and Adobe’s part. Apple complains that flash is a closed, antiquated system (see Jobs’ open letter - Thoughts on Flash), and Adobe complains that basically Apple is the one who is using a closed system and basically doesn’t support Flash out of a grudge - and they’re moving on.
Hey Adobe - have some faith in your users. It amazes me that Adobe has just thrown their arms up. If they believe so strongly in Flash’s need to be on iDevices - just build it. Build it as an app or a plugin. And let the market decide (I can’t believe I said that, being a bleeding heart liberal). As someone who helps develop websites and other web based solutions, the lack of even a public beta also makes me less likely to suggest anything Flash based to clients. I recognize how many flash-disabled devices there are out there and by giving up plans to develop a solution, Adobe also is not giving anyone an incentive to continue to use their technology.
Between the U.S. Copyright Office officially sanctioning jailbreaking your phone and the ease at which you can do so thanks to jailbreakme.com - there’s now nothing preventing you from (legally) getting your iPhone to run flash. Just Adobe (well, and a little bit of Apple).
There are also plenty of avenues for distribution via Cydia or Rock that could bring an official Adobe Flash plugin to millions of users, should they choose to install it. Hell, I (and I’m sure many others) would gladly fork over a few bucks for the privilage of having flash capability (especially on my iPad). For the first time, Adobe could actually make money by distributing what has traditionally been a free plugin.
So I guess this is my open letter to Adobe. Put your money and your devs where you mouth is. Don’t take your ball, whine and go home. Like any other business, if you build a product that kicks-ass people will download it - they’ll even tell their friends. Again, have faith in your community. If Adobe truly believes that they have a great product, they should stand behind it and let the community decide. Maybe if they build it, we will come….and download.
I saw this great TED talk by Clay Shirky recently about how we’re starting to have a cognitive surplus in the world and shifting from a society based on consumption to one that is starting to be about creation, production and sharing. According to Shirky, the earth has about 1 trillion hours of downtime per year and the question is what newly empowered masses of people will do with the opportunities presented by digital technology. Will we make LOLcats or more versions of Ushahidi?
Internet companies can be tricky things and don’t exactly have the best track record for customer service (ever tried to get a Facebook problem solved by contacting someone AT Facebook?). We get it. You’re digital. You’re web based. But it’s not an excuse to wall yourself off from your customers.
Case in point. Over the weekend I was dealing with some pretty decent email outages with certain accounts that definitely were not caused by something on my end. Filing a support ticket with Netfirms seemed to have gone into a black hole and I never got a response. What I (and I think a lot of people) didn’t count on or look for right out of the gate was essentially a non-promoted ‘back door’ support medium via their Twitter account. (Full disclosure - I currently host most of my stuff through Dreamhost - but do still use Netfirms)
After a couple of hours not hearing back on my support request, I sent out a tweet describing the problem and within a couple of minutes had a friendly support person on the case. A few @replies (public) and DMs (direct messages - not public) later the problem was solved. I was impressed. By the way, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had a good experience with Twitter support at Netfirms, but it did get me thinking about the medium as a scalable customer service tool.
Using a medium such as Twitter where search is real-time and robust has other benefits as well. When I tweeted about the problem and got a response, another Twitter user chimed in as they were having the same problem. Support can scale if you can fix the issue in public. Posting what was causing the problem and what users need to do for the solution can spread just as fast as the problem did and would save us all a lot of on-hold time.
Companies used to be able to get away with making it difficult for customers to get support (or at least, as a customer there wasn’t much you could do about crap service). Now, those with bad experiences tell google - and for internet companies this can be a big deal.
It kind of boils down to a basic premise of “If something isn’t working - stop doing it. If something is working - do it again.” Simple, right? If your company sucks at phone support, don’t offer phone support - but DO offer kick-ass online support…support so kick-ass that you’d be a fool to complain about not having phone support. It’s not about having phone support vs Twitter support - it’s about having support. Period.
Ideally it’s about having both - meeting your customers on their terms and using the tools they want to use can and will go a long way to building a long term customer. Just ask Zappos. But if you’re going to make users jump through hoops or use a narrow set of channels to get service and support, it better be a great experience for them.
So, what has been your best experience with customer service on the web and with what company? Who has been the worst? Fire away in the comments, please.
Recently I took part in the nation’s biggest 15K road race - The Boilermaker - which is held in my hometown of Utica, NY. It was my 4th time running but my 1st time competing in Vibram Five Fingers. I’ve been practically living in my pair of KSOs since I purchased them in May of 2009 (well, at least when there wasn’t a foot of snow on the ground) and started my training for the 15K in them over the winter.
While I loved running in the KSOs, I was fortunate to snag a new pair of Bikilas in May. This changed everything. The Bikilas were even more comfortable than the KSOs and training was a blast in them. They provided a minimal layer of padding to help with the repeated impact of the pavement over 15K while still giving me the barefoot feel and flexibility.
This year’s Boilermaker was the largest in history with over 13,000 runners and an enormous post-race party at the Saranac Brewery (I can’t think of another road race where you get a free beer immediately after running it). The amount of spectators was also amazing and they really kept you going throughout the different sections of the course with water, music, and yes, even vuvuzelas.
I also noticed some other fellow VFF runners while at the starting gate as well as a one runner who was completely barefoot. The race itself was perfect this year from the temperature to a ton of volunteers who made sure the weekend’s events were memorable for both the runners and the spectators. It’s a weekend where our community really comes together and makes you proud to be a participant. As I crossed the finish I also broken my own personal best time, finishing in 1:20:08.
Lots of the discussion around barefoot running (and running in VFFs) has to do with running form and injury prevention. While these are all great benefits to leaving your sneakers behind, that’s not why I love them. For me, the tactile experience and flexibility simply made running fun again for me. It made me want to challenge myself, work hills, run for time and most importantly get out there and put some miles on. This was the first year I can remember enjoying my training regiment and consequently worked harder up to the race.
Combine that preparedness with the spectacle that is the Boilermaker and you have the perfect combination of competition and celebration. I can’t wait for the next 15K!
It’s hot and sunny here in upstate New York and for some reason it’s made some businesses think it’s already Halloween.
Last week on my drive home I drove past Little Caesar who was dancing and waving a sign for $5.00 pizzas on the side of the road as well as a guy dressed as a Giant Taco (I shall henceforth call him Taco-Man) pushing a special on burritos. Oh yeah, and just a regular non-costumed guy (unless you want to call him Super Bored Man) holding a sign telling me that I need to sell my gold jewelry now for top dollar on yet ANOTHER major intersection.
I’m actually a bit surprised that I haven’t seen anyone dressed as the statue of liberty on the side of the road advertising tax services - then again it wouldn’t be timely or targeted (as if these kinds of tactics are targeted).
Is this the most creative use your marketing budget? Have we as a species run out of creative ideas to attract customers? Granted, those giant taco suits aren’t cheap…but really?
How about instead of having Billy change into Taco-Man you worked to cultivate a following with some killer deals (Taco Tuesday, anyone?) or an event centric atmosphere that gives like-minded people a place to connect and grab a bite? There’s no reason bike-night should or needs to happen at a local McDonalds or Arby’s. Look around your area, find a group that isn’t having their needs met - and sponsor them through specials, cash or even a place to gather. Little Caesar should be making pizzas, not waving down traffic.
What do you think? Do street characters get your attention and impact your purchasing decisions? Fire away in the comments…
Remember Voltron? When I was a kid I used to love that cartoon. You’d think that with those bad-ass robot lions the universe would be safe. But you’d be wrong. Because every episode some bad guy came along that couldn’t be defeated by the lions alone, not matter what they did. The same thing happened on every. single. episode. They had to combine to form freakin’ Voltron, and only then could they defeat everything in their path.
