Mark Kolier’s Blog

Archive for the ‘Customer Experiences’ Category

We have what at the time was a state-of-the art (back in 2001) Sony 42 inch flat screen television. It is a complete monster – heavy, non-internet enabled and with no HDMI cables. The picture quality remains very good (to my eyes at least), but it is not the television of the future for my family or anyone else for that matter. The amazing thing is what we paid for it back in 2001 – $4,000 installed. It seemed so important at the time. Now it seems to have been overkill even if we’ve gotten more than 12 years out of it. And a larger, less-heavy (by a long way) and better resolution HDTV can be purchased for almost $3,000 less today.

Because we are doing some redecorating we need to move the television (in our new, smaller house) onto the wall as it currently is standing on a display case. It makes no sense to us to attempt to mount the ‘monster’ on the wall when it does not meet our current or future needs. Consequently we’re in the market for a new flat screen television.

In terms of watching television in 3D – I’ve never done that. In fact the only 3D ‘experience’ I’ve ever had was with Avatar which I saw in 3D (not IMAX however) in a movie theater. I enjoyed that experience but it did not exactly make me eager to run and see another movie in 3D.

I suspect that I am in good company when I note that wearing 3D glasses detracts from any movie or television watching experience. Maybe if I were watching alone it would not be as bad but the actual wearing of the glasses is a hassle.

So why would we be interested in a 3DTV? It’s not as if there’s ‘oodles’ of programming in 3D. I have often read that ‘next year’ will be the year of 3DTV. That is reminiscent of the constant chatter that ‘this will be the year for mobile communication’. The problem is that we’ve been reading and hearing about this being the year of mobile for about 4 years. It’s only now that it might actually be true in mobile. I think it could be three or four years before 3DTV has enough programming to make it worth considering.

It seems to me that 120Hz vs. 240Hz is more indicative of the choice we need to consider than 3DTV. 50 inches or something close to that seems appropriate as far as screen size goes. And it has to be fully internet capable with LCD technology.

Which brand will we buy? That’s another story but like most Americans we are looking at a budget and then evaluating the options that are contained within that budget.

If you have any suggestions please share!

Good marketers understand the value of a well-timed and relevant reminder email. Reaching a prospect or customer with a value-oriented message when they are considering a purchase decision is crucial to campaign success.

I’ve purchased flower bouquets several times over the past few years from Proflowers.com. In general I have found the site easy to use and the overall shopping experience to be good. In fact after a recent purchase of flowers that began to look shabby after only 4 days I contacted Proflowers and they made good on their guarantee by sending a replacement bouquet within a reasonable time period. Good stuff.
But the email below while well-intentioned contains a fatal error that will be difficult for you to find.

Extra 20% Off
Mark, give Mom a gift she’ll want to show off to all her friends. Order today and get an Extra 20% off* gifts over $29.

Or send Mother’s Day Spectacular with a Garden Green Vase for just $23.99 – a total savings of 52% with your Extra 20% off!

Hint: it’s not the offer or pricing. Actually the offer is a good one and the pricing seems fair. The layout is also fine, clear and not overladen with graphic elements.
Give up? The fatal flaw is that I cannot send my mother flowers for Mother’s Day since she passed away nearly seven years ago. Let’s just say that when I read the offer it did not make me feel anything but sad. I still miss my Mom and think of her every day. I will never feel the same way about Proflowers.com again.

How could Proflowers make such a stupid mistake? It’s hard to fathom. Did they send this same email to all their current/recent customers? If so there are undoubtedly many people who had the same reaction that I did. The copy could easily have been modified to capture the feeling of giving flowers on Mother’s Day. But as soon as the copy read ‘Give Mom a gift she’ll want to show off to all her friends.’ there was no way out of an embarrassment Proflowers created all on its own. Had the copy read ‘Flowers and Mother’s Day were made for each other’ or anything along those lines I would not have been put off at all. Once the email is made personal by mentioning Mom and her friends you’ve entered the twilight zone of stupid marketing.

Is it possible that Proflowers could know if my mother was alive or not? The answer is yes it’s possible but if they knew and still sent the email that makes it even worse! Chances are Proflowers had no idea of my mother’s passing – or if she had any friends or not BTW (she did but still…).
Email marketing is a profitable and important business particularly on the retention side. I find it incredible that Proflowers.com could miss the mark so badly.

Am I oversensitive here? Do you have any good stories on how a marketer tried to get personal and made a big mistake?

Since I went to see my doctor last week for my annual physical I thought about the interaction that I have with my doctor and how mobile communication could enhance that experience. If you are like most people you get to the doctor’s office on time for your appointment and more times than not are then informed that the doctor is running late.

Many physicians now have your mobile telephone number as a way to reach you with important news. However doctor’s offices could also use SMS texting to inform you that the doctor is running late by fifteen or however many minutes. This does not happen and there are probably several reasons for that, the primary one being the medical profession is not conditioned to communicate with patients in that manner.

An article in Media Post Wednesday by Reggie Bradford http://bit.ly/HHfmlw, highlights other ways in which mobile is being used to enhance the patient experience. Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States, has launched an optimized mobile site. So now Kaiser-Permanente patients are able to access their own medical information, securely and from anywhere in the world, through any Web-enabled device.

Mr. Bradford writes ‘Kaiser Permanente hopes to greatly increase the customer experience by featuring 24/7 access to lab results and diagnostic information as well as providing direct and secure email services with their doctors via a site that has fast load time, automatically scaled to the device’s screen size and providing easy navigation and scroll features. By focusing on the services that matter most to their patients, the company expects mobile traffic “to increase significantly with the new mobile-optimized site.”

Walgreens and CVS are two examples of pharmacies that truly understand the priorities of customers that are accessing their storefronts via mobile. In both their smartphone apps and optimized mobile Web sites, customers are able to input and/or scan their prescription barcodes for quick and easy refill orders. Additionally, these two sites feature a consumer-friendly navigation system with efficient scrolling features as well as e-commerce capabilities. Upon accessing the site, customers have the option to immediately download their respective smartphone apps -– a feature that more loyal and frequent customers surely appreciate.’

Mr. Bradford makes a great case for how mobile communication can enhance the doctor-patient relationship. I find that there is an increasing use of mobile communications by my doctors and friends of mine in the medical profession. The former reticence to mobile and internet information by medical professionals seems to be on the wane as doctors have realized that informed patients are not always ‘infused with a little knowledge that can be termed as dangerous’ and can be actually easier to consult.

I wholly agree with Mr. Bradford that mobile should be built into marketing efforts. The healthcare industry is a perfect example of how it can benefit both patients and medical professions.

Have you offered your mobile phone number to your doctor? If not would you?

Since I am old enough to be a card-carrying member of AARP I am also old enough to remember what the acronym stood for – American Association of Retired Persons. In 1999 AARP ‘officially’ changed its name to “AARP” – or Ay Ay R Pee to illustrate that its focus was not on retirees but people over 50.

Still I have an ingrown prejudice that AARP = OLD GUY. I don’t really feel old, and I am far from retirement (whatever that might look like). When I received the invitation to join AARP a couple of years ago I was not overjoyed. Despite that I joined anyway. Part of it was to see from a marketing perspective what I might be offered – after all it was free. So far the main ‘benefit’ I have seen is the monthly magazine, which for those of you who do not know remains the single largest circulation magazine in the world. In fact AARP claims more than 40 million ‘members’ but of course those members don’t pay anything to BE a member.

I have to admit the magazine (cleverly entitled ‘AARP – the magazine’) is something I rarely look at. Part of the reason is that it screams – HEY OLD GUY READ THIS! My own problem I realize but I am betting I share that little prejudice with many others. I truly wonder how many 50 year olds that receive the magazine actually open it. Last night I somehow stumbled upon the most recent issue and thumbed through it.

My takeaway was that the magazine isn’t bad at all and there were a couple of articles worth reading and the membership benefits section outlined something I had not seen before –show your AARP card at Dunkin’ Donuts and with a purchase of a large or extra-large coffee receive a free donut. When I drove past Dunkin’ Donuts this morning I thought about it but decided to pass. I like donuts as much as the next guy. However donuts don’t help me, or anyone, look like less of an old fat guy. But I know I will take advantage of it before too long provided I can actually FIND my AARP card.

AARP also produces radio and television programs (I’ve never heard or seen one). Specific products include Medicare supplemental insurance; member discounts on rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and lodging; special offers on technology and gifts; pharmacy services; legal services; and long-term care insurance.

There are other benefits as well although I fail to take advantage of them since that acknowledges what I prefer to not think about – somehow I am over fifty – and how the heck did that happen? And I really don’t care to be reminded by a magazine of that fact.

AARP has great assets that people like me try to ignore. And if you are not yet eligible you probably are not in a big rush to get there. That does not seem to be as good a business model as it could be.

I think AARP could use a total rebrand don’t you?

Although I have visited a number of factories in China I’ve never had the opportunity to visit the giant Foxconn factories which are located in several different parts of China. Foxconn is actually a Taiwanese company as an affiliate of Hon Hai Precision Industry. Yesterday (Thursday) Apple Inc. agreed that it would work with its partner Foxconn to improve wages and working conditions at the factories where iPads, iPods, and iPhones (among other products) are made – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46896890

The independent Fair Labor Association claims that the results of their probe ends up being good for Foxconn, good for Apple and not least importantly – good for the factory workers themselves. Foxconn has more than 1.2 million workers. Does this mean that popular products made by Apple will become more expensive? Probably but keep in mind that labor costs are only a small part of the total cost of Apple devices made in China. Other companies such as H-P, Amazon, and Sony will all face similar changes and possible price increases.

When I have visited factories in China I cannot ever recall being appalled by the working conditions. That may just be my particular experience and not indicative of things in general. The factory buildings are inelegant and utilitarian. South China, where the city of Shenzhen is located, is very warm for much of the year and there are areas in the factories that are not air conditioned. In fact the Chinese are cost conscious and therefore energy saving conscious. Many offices only have room air conditioners (no central A/C) which are left off when the rooms are not in use. I recall many meetings in a room with temperatures in the mid-80F range when the meeting began. We all were sweating but by the end of the meeting the temperature was a more bearable 75F which somehow felt really cool. But on the factory floor there were fans everywhere and while it was warm it was not uncomfortable and the employees seemed to not be bothered at all.

The probe centered a great deal on the amount of hours Foxconn factory workers were working. What was interesting to me is that during peak production, workers put in more than 60 hours a week on average. Apparently they were paid overtime for additional hours over what they signed on for. Since many of the workers travel far distances to work in factories in order to earn money, they live on the premises in dormitories during the week and some even on the weekends if they live too far away to travel back and forth. It’s possible that those workers counted on the overtime as often is the case here in the United States. But Apple acknowledging that it can play a part in making working conditions better for Foxconn’s employees is a positive development overall.

As China’s economy continues to grow and standards of living continue to improve, it will become more important for Chinese factories to provide technological solutions to problems and challenges and not just bodies. There are now new places in the world that can offer labor costs less expensively than China. Yet since the worker cost in a device like an iPad is small, the likelihood of moving production out of China is not as imminent as some people might like to believe. Accordingly the uneasy marriage between Foxconn and Apple will be around for quite a while yet.

Do you feel Chinese factory workers are being treated unfairly? And if so on what basis do you make that assertion?