Archive for the ‘Link Love’ Category

That old age print media is going to continue to struggle is that they are just lousy marketers. Lousy, lousy, lousy. Or, as Bart Simpson would say – "You suck!"

I’ve subscribed to the Wall Street Journal for years – print and online. Suddenly, looking for my daily dose, I’m offline. Seems when I resubscribed back in January I only did it for print – not the combo offer. Why they wouldn’t automatically upgrade both is beyond me – why downgrade an existing subscriber? I thought I was just continuing my subscription…

Having encountered the virtually unintelligible "you can’t come here anymore screen" I called. And waited. And waited. The person I was talking to for ten minutes – who needed all the skills of a CSI Investigator to figure out what was going on then said I needed to speak to the print department. Although my problem was with online access it really wasn’t an online problem. So, over the the print department… We finally sorted this out.

People, get with the program. How about getting rid of your stupid voice response systems and multiple call centers. How about putting the customer first. How about removing complexity. Simplicity saves you money and makes customers happy.

Been reading an interesting post by Tim Porter on an article by Markoff. Anyway, stumbled across this quote which really reinforces one of the key tenets of my Participatory Communications Workshop – that is, the rise of communities:

"The internet is more than a bonding agent; it is also a bridging agent for creating and sustaining community. Some 84% of internet users, or close to 100 million people, belong to groups that have an online presence. More than half have joined those groups since getting internet access; those who were group members before getting access say their use of the internet has bound them closer to the group. Members of online groups also say the internet increases the chances that they will interact with people outside their social class, racial group or generational cohor." Pew Internet Survey

Tim makes the point: "To borrow a phrase from Hodding Carter and convert it into advice for newspapers: Don’t reflect the community, be the community". Same goes for the PR pros and brand communicators. Don’t just message to the community. Engage in the community.

Cool… Skype remains my fave application of the last two years.

The WSJ says Blogs are great for brand insight thanks to new technology:

Purveyors of the new methodology and their clients say blog-watching can be cheaper, faster and less biased than such staples of consumer research as focus groups and surveys… For a Japanese auto maker, Mr. Rabjohns says MotiveQuest studied online postings about minivans. Soccer moms said their young children love minivans, which they regard as "a playhouse on wheels," but teens regard them as lame and want SUVs. MotiveQuest recommended developing a loyalty program to persuade minivan owners to buy the company’s SUVs, rather than trying to get them to buy another minivan.

Good interview here…