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New Article: Autonomy vs. Control in the Workplace Feb 23, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Leadership, employee relations.
4 comments

Are companies more successful when they implement strict business processes to improve operational efficiency, or are they better off empowering workers to make good business decisions based on their knowledge and experience? That’s the topic of a new white paper published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (my first writing assignment for them).  The answer to the question is, well, both – the challenge is finding the right balance between centralized control and local autonomy.  Sounds easy, right?

Not Quite There Yet Feb 20, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Customer service, Customer support, E-commerce.
2 comments

I’ve been writing a lot lately about talent management and the importance of having a well-trained, motivated workforce to deliver the “brand promise” and maintain high levels of customer service, even (or especially) during a global recession. In a perfect world, consumers would receive consistently positive service and support across all channels – in a store, on the Web, from the call center, all staffed by helpful employees who are empowered to go off script and help consumers make  informed buying decisions or solve their problems quickly. 

If my current experience with Dell is any indication, we’ve got a long way to go. (Cue the violins.)

I’m shopping for a new desktop for my business. Dell is the only PC maker I’ve found offering free “downgrades” from Vista to Windows XP. I’ve got the model I want – a Vostro 420 Tower – and I’m clicking through their wizard to customize the system (bigger hard drive, etc.). I don’t need a monitor – but there’s only a pick list for different size displays, not for purchasing the system without one. Stuck. OK, let’s try the live chat feature. I fill out my name, type my question, submit – error message. Try again (sometimes technology doesn’t like the apostrophe in my name) – same message. I wait 10 minutes, try one  more time, with less text – same error.

So I clicked around, found an email for sales/pre-sales support, which seemed logical. Sent this email: 

I’ve been trying to customize a Vostro 420 tower, have a question about ordering the system without a monitor, tried to chat 3 times and got this msg:

SOAP-ENV:ServerUnable to Connect to Talisma Server at 143.166.82.15Request exceeds maximum size99999

Not efficient!

Regards,

Rob O’Regan

I received a prompt reply, but not what I was expecting/hoping for: 

Dear Rob O’Regan:

Thank you for choosing Dell. You have reached the Small to Medium Business Online Order Resolution team.  

Whats the question?

Thank you for choosing Dell.

Respectfully,

SMB Online Sales

Dell, Inc.

3 issues here – 1) using my full name (smacks of automation or outsourcing), 2) Nice tone! 3) anonymously signed. But hey, at least I got a response, and an offer to help (sort of). So I rephrase the original question: 

The question was whether I can configure the Vostro 420 without a monitor – I don’t get that option when I’m customizing.

Thank you. 

This response took a little longer, but was equally unhelpful: 

Dear Rob O’Regan:

Thank you for choosing Dell. You have reached the Small to Medium Business Online Order Resolution team.  

The system can be configured w/monitor but you will need to configure the lowest starting package.

Thank you for choosing Dell.

Respectfully,

SMB Online Sales

Clearly I’m missing the whole satisfying customer experience thing here. Probably my fault.

3/14 update: After being chastised by my buddy David Churbuck, VP of global Web marketing at Lenovo (or whatever his title is now), I bought a Lenovo ThinkCentre A57 Tower – and so far, it runs like a dream. Thanks DC!

Additions to the Blogroll Feb 19, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Blogs, Journalism, Journalists.
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Two former colleagues are now newly independent and blogging: John Dodge, my former news boss at PC Week, and Abbie Lundberg, who I worked with at CXO Media. Both are highly respected in the tech publishing industry (and by me). John is a longtime journalist and the former editor in chief of Design News. Abbie is a longtime journalist and the former editor in chief of CIO magazine. I sense a trend here.

The Sky Is Falling Feb 12, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Weird.
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Or maybe it was just two space satellites ramming into each other. A disturbing thought.

Article: The New Reality of TV Advertising Feb 9, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Advertising, Broadcast TV, Contextual advertising, Marketing, Marketing measurement, time-shifting.
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I have the cover story in the latest issue of The Advertiser magazine. The topic is interactive TV, specifically how a bunch of different players are hoping to make TV a lot more “web-like” in both functionality and measurability. The nut graf(s):

After years of fits and starts trying to turn the concept of interactive TV into a broadly based reality, a collection of service providers, technology companies, agencies, and marketers finally seems to be making some legitimate headway in transforming TV into a more addressable, more targetable, and more measurable advertising medium.

Sure, we’ve seen this dance before. For years, we’ve been hearing promises of two-way engagement, better buying and measurement systems, and addressable ads for TV viewers. But real milestones have been elusive in an industry known more for inertia than innovation.

Something feels different now, however.

Execs from Google, Unilever, Lenovo, Canoe Ventures and others weighed in on the topic.

Fakes, Frauds, and Irony Feb 5, 2009

Posted by magnostic in E-mail marketing, Marketing.
1 comment so far

Received an email from the CMO Council today with this  alliteratively intriguing subject line: Fight Fakes, Frauds and Infringements: Your Opportunity to Contribute. 

So I clicked on it. “Dear Kim,” it began, “A variety of tricks, schemes and frauds have been’infecting’ leading brands for several years and the issue has worsened over time. …”

I’ll tell you what else has been infecting brands: email blasts that address you with someone else’s name.

2/6 update: Just received a follow-up blast with the subject line “CORRECTION: Fighting Fraud…and Learning a Lesson in Personalization”‏ – with my real name and an apology from a CMO Council VP. Nice recovery. She added, “as one expert in personalization pointed out this would make a GREAT blog post.” Well, I don’t know about great, but she got the post part right…

Super Bowl Observations Feb 2, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Advertising, Super Bowl.
Tags: ,
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Random thoughts on the Super Bowl: 

  • Great game, obviously. I was pulling for a Cardinals’ upset but had no emotional stake in the game, which made it easier and more enjoyable to watch. But where was the booth replay at the end? 
  • The refs had too much influence on the game. The best zebras are invisible – this group seemed to crave the spotlight, to the tune of a Super Bowl-record 18 penalties, 11 for Arizona. Let the conspiracy theories begin …
  • I watched about 3 minutes of pre-game coverage over the weekend, but the one segment I did catch was prescient. On ESPN, Trent Dilfer and Keyshawn Johnson explained why Ben Roethlisberger is not a running quarterback as many people think – he’s a scrambler who can “extend plays” by running around in the pocket, keeping his head up, still thinking pass first. Damn – that’s what he did the entire game. 
  • The ads were so-so, nothing particularly memorable. Typical head-scratching stuff from GoDaddy.com (what was Danica Patrick thinking?), enough of the Clydesdales already, lots of random violence, and of course at least one spot featuring monkeys. My kids’ favorite was CareerBuilder, though it got pretty tedious after the fifth repetition. My favorite was probably the spot for Hulu.com with Alec Baldwin – with possibly the best tagline ever (“An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.”).

The Snuggie Phenomenon Jan 27, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Direct marketing, Marketing, Video, Viral marketing.
4 comments

In this age of the enlightened and empowered consumer, let us never underestimate the power of pure kitsch as a marketing tool. Witness the Snuggie, the goofy blanket/robe hybrid with the goofier direct-response TV ads, which has been flying off the shelves. From Ad Age:

The quirky little blanket with sleeves has become the raiment of the zeitgeist, with more than 4 million units sold in just over three months and more than 200 parody videos on YouTube. Fox News honed in on a woman wearing a Snuggie as she braved the cold attending Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20, five days after Ellen DeGeneres donned one on her daytime talk show.

4 million units! In case you’ve somehow missed the ad:

Recession Death Watch: Trade Shows Jan 12, 2009

Posted by magnostic in E-mail marketing, trade shows.
5 comments

Industry trade shows have been approaching dinosaur status for some time, but the current recession could sound the death knell for many events. Attendance at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was down more than 20%, according to preliminary reports. And consider what the Direct Marketing Association is offering prospective attendees in a gasping attempt to boost the numbers at next month’s Email Evolution Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.:

Financial Aid is now available for this event: Tell us your story. We want to teach you and you want to learn, so let us be your Monty Hall. Email Rachael Mark Feigenbaum your story and what you can afford and we’ll see if we can make a deal.

Hotel Credit: When you reserve your room at the Westin Kierland, the hotel will give you a $20 per night hotel credit to be applied to purchases at the resort. The details are below, but basically, it’s some extra money your company doesn’t have to spend to feed you during your travel.

Roommates: Real World Scottsdale anyone? If it’s the travel fees that have you plagued, consider sharing with a fellow attendee. Make new friends or convince a co-worker to come along by bunking up in a room. There’s plenty of space, so why not?! Shoot Debra Venedam an email and she’ll connect you with other people looking for rooms.

Next up: Free hookers!

Marketers Sick of Web 2.0? Not So Fast Jan 9, 2009

Posted by magnostic in Innovation, Marketing, Marketing ROI, Marketing accountability, Promotions, Social Networking, Social media, User Generated content, Viral marketing, Web 2.0, Word of Mouth, buzz marketing, social media marketing.
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Survey results released this week from the Marketing Executives Networking Group and Anderson Analytics are getting a lot of play in the blogosphere, particularly this nugget from the press release:

Twice as many marketers are “sick” of hearing about Web 2.0 and related buzzwords such as “blogs” and “social networking” compared to last year’s survey; however, marketers still admit they don’t know enough about it.  This was evident in the results of a social media study MENG released on November 6, 2008 showing 67% of executive marketers consider themselves beginners when it comes to using social media for marketing purposes.

A couple of points here. First, only 19.4% of the 643 respondents said they were tired of hearing the term “Web 2.0″ (up from 9.1% a year ago), 12.2 % said the same about “social networking”, and 11.3% cited “social media” as a term they had tired of. Not exactly overwhelming condemnation of the concepts. And it’s no surprise that the year-over-year numbers would go up, considering those terms generate an endless drumbeat of media coverage. Hell, I’m sick of hearing about/reading about/saying them myself.

What the press release and subsequent coverage of the survey overlook is that when the respondents were asked what they considered to be the most important marketing concepts, the percentages citing “word of mouth,” “social network sites,” “viral marketing,” “Web 2.0,” and “consumer generated media” all rose year-to-year. Granted, these categories did not crack the respondents’ top 10 priorities (word of mouth was #11), but it’s clear that these concepts are rising in importance, even as the buzzwords themselves are becoming cliche.

The greater concern should be whether marketers will be able to sustain any progress they’ve made with their social media marketing programs. With more than half the respondents noting that their ‘09 budgets have been reduced, the tendency will be to fall back on more traditional investments like sales promotions, which are viewed as safer bets than the experimentation that goes into identifying social media strategies that really work. The sales folks will be happy, but innovation will take a hit. So even though 79% of the execs in the MENG survey said that customer satisfaction was their top priority, customers can expect to be subjected to the same hard-sell tactics that have become so annoying (and so easy to ignore). Talk about tired.