Mark Kolier’s Blog

Archive for the ‘Customer Experiences’ Category

Last night we picked up our teenage daughter from LaGuardia airport. She came in from Central America through Miami to LaGuardia (LGA). Originating as an international flight but they went through customs in Miami so the leg to LGA was domestic.

It was a bad weather night in the New York metropolitan area with thundershowers all day and heavy downpours. We knew the flight would be delayed and American Airlines updated the flight status dutifully all afternoon on their site as well as through opted-in reminders we subscribed to. It was frustrating for all of us that the flight was delayed more than two hours but pretty good use of communication overall by American Airlines.

The same cannot be said of the baggage handling at LGA. The baggage claim at LGA is not run by American Airlines or any other airline as it is unionized and the handlers are employed independently. Moreover we got into baggage claim and there were hundreds of people milling about with no signage indicating where the baggage was to be claimed. However there were a number of ancient but blank video screens.

We stood at one baggage carousel talking for ten minutes with another family whose son was on the same flight. Finally my wife (she’s the proactive one here) suspected something was not right and found out that in fact baggage from our flight was at a carousel at the other end of baggage claim. Still without any indication but she found someone who seemed to have an idea.

Then we learned that the baggage was being off-loaded to two carousels. So we had to split and have one of us at one, one of us at the other and the third standing on long line for reporting lost baggage as after 45 minutes we had begun to lose hope.

Finally my wife spotted our daughter’s bag and we were able to leave just as I was about to enter the office to report the bag lost.

Aside from this situation proving that carry-on is the only way to go (not an option when you are backpacking for three weeks), I was shocked, disgusted and disturbed that in one of the world’s busiest airports, the baggage handling was among the worst I’ve ever seen. Believe me when I tell you that Hanoi, Vietnam was cleaner and with better signage than La Guardia.

People that travel into NYC hate LaGuardia. Is it any wonder why? How does this show off my hometown to visitors from other countries? Or those that live in the United States?

Now that the World Cup is over and Spain has been crowned champion for the first time the time is right for a little reflection on the event that has spanned the past 4 weeks. My soccer experience consists of playing junior varsity soccer (not all that well) and coaching my children’s soccer teams until they became good enough to exceed anything I could teach them. However, I have a number of observations regarding this year’s World Cup so here goes:

1) Watching it together. There are few events in which people from across the planet watch the same thing at the same time. The Olympics come to mind and Americans might think the Super Bowl is up there but in my view there is nothing that comes close to the World Cup in terms of exhibiting a country’s passion. Is there any other sporting event that has fans of one country rooting hard for or against a country other than their own?

2) Kudos to South Africa. South Africa achieved nearly everything it hoped for short of winning a game or two. Hosting the World Cup is a monumental task and all indications are that the South Africans set the bar extremely high. Keep that in mind Brazil (where the next World Cup is in 2016)

3) Soccer comes of age in the U.S. My guess is that many more Americans watched (and talked about) the World Cup this year than ever before. Landon Donovan’s goal in extra time to push the U.S. past Algeria may be seen as a watershed occurrence for American soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it).

4) Timing means a lot. Having games televised at 10:30 in the morning and 2:30 in the afternoon on the east coast of the U.S. (not so bad in California at 7:30AM and 11:30AM) created a positive buzz around the office – at times it almost felt as if people were having fun at work – that’s a good thing folks! As the 2016 cup is to be held in Rio (one hour ahead of east Coast time), North America will get games in both the afternoon and prime time while Europe will stay up a later and Asia – well they will be the bleary eyed ones. People will watch, oh yes people will most definitely watch.

5) Advertising: The running time of a World Cup game makes it more eminently watchable than most other sporting events. No television (or radio for that matter) ads for 45+ minutes. The changing ads behind and around the field were not at all intrusive and I think very food for the brands that chose to participate.

Sure the officiating was at times deplorable, (ok much of the time) and Uruguay’s Luis Sanchez match-saving handball will live infamy, but the thing the strikes me the most is the collective excitement and pleasure and goodwill created by the World Cup event. I eagerly await the 2016 World Cup.

Did you get into the World Cup this year?

Activision/Blizzard’s online role playing game World of Warcraft (WOW) continues to amaze me. With more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers it is one of the most successful online gaming models ever created. This past Tuesday Blizzard announced a new feature called ‘Real ID’ to be used on its official bulletin boards. This feature would require a person to submit his real first and last names in order to submit comments. It appears to be first tested on a new game release called StarCraft II but it appears the ultimate plan is for the new policy to apply to all forums.

They have put it under the banner of helping improve the quality of conversations and make the forums better places for players to visit. Blizzard said in a blog post that the change was intended to “help improve the quality of conversations and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit.”

“The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players,” and it went on to offer, “However, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where ‘flame wars’ (vitriolic commenting), trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild,” Blizzard said.

“Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before.”

The gamers are almost unilaterally opposed. And furious, if not possible vindictive (many have posted they will quit the game, never post again etc.)

Anonymity, for better or worse, has been used in online gaming since it began. Apparently after receiving a backlash, one community manager, under his former alias Bashiok, decided to test the system with his real name. The results were not so kind. Within minutes of internet sleuthing, everything from his personal life to the names of his wife and children were put on public display. None of this is surprising at all, given how much information is published on the internet.

Is it any wonder why the gamers are apoplectic?

Many people rely on anonymity as they move around the internet. The cartoon shown as a part of this post is a prime example of people’s desire to be anonymous.

Companies understand that that there are problems with spamming, griefing, threats, etc. but a large amount of Blizzard’s customers think that showing their real names is infinitely worse. The gamers feel if Blizzard continues on this track, the practice could spread to other networks like the PSN. Perhaps now, the outcry will have them think again.

But for me the real questions are – 1) How is this serving the membership and community? 2) Why now? 3) What will be done with the data?

What do you think – good idea? Bad idea?

If you read the article in the NY Times this past Monday http://nyti.ms/cLeFl6 you saw that Dell Computer had a series of problems with its computers failing at the University of Texas (among others like Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo and the Mayo Clinic to name a few). It’s a sad, sad story of a once high-flying company that had it all (brand reputation and market share) whose star has come crashing down to earth.

It was such a great story. College student Michael Dell has an idea and creates the model of selling personal computers directly to customers while a student at the University of Texas. Being a direct response guy Dell Computer was the paragon of how direct to consumer sales can be a rousing success. The Dell name was synonymous with quality, reliability and service. It also was the harbinger of corporate outsourcing that became a regular business model for other companies. The early 2,000’s television campaign ‘Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell!” was a winner all around and was fun at the same time as it demonstrated the brand promise.

As time went on consumers began to accept that one might pay more for a Dell than other brands but the positives far outweighed the negatives. My company was one of those companies as our entire team has had Dell’s for years. And they have performed very well.

Dell employs somewhere just under 100,000 people. Most of them are no doubt hard working and principled employees. But there reportedly also employees that went out of their way to hide the problems. Now Dell is being sued by the University of Texas and can expect other companies to follow that lead as the news has come to light.

Dell compromised on the promise and brand reputation it had painstakingly built over 25 years. Now Dell will be in full damage control but the damage as far as I can see may already be the beginning of the end. I know I will personally never feel the same way about a Dell Computer again. Chances are I will have a great deal of company there. They’ve besmirched their own brand name, while at the same time tearing down a direct marketing made turned mass-retail feel-good story.

I could not be more disappointed and in addition I am worried that people in my own company possibly have bad machines that could go at any moment or worse pop and leak fluid (read the article).

Do you feel the same about Dell Computer?

Since the iPhone remains on the AT & T platform I am just not interested in experiencing the vagaries of AT & T service. That’s why I decided on sticking with BlackBerry in the first place.

My first BB Storm (got it in January of 2009) worked well – for about fourteen months. Then the crashing began. It was as if it was tired of being on all the time, which in my case it is. To me there’s no point in having a phone that you turn on and off to save battery life. The touch screen was a bit finicky but I adapted and did not have a problem – until the 14 month mark.

After dealing with the slow spiral downward for two months and having to reboot the phone three times or more a DAY, I finally capitulated and sprang for a new phone even before my contract was up (November – I was trying hard to hold out). Now that I have the BB Storm 2 I wonder why I waited so long! It is a waaay better machine.

The BB Storm had limited space for applications. The Storm 2 has well over 100MB of space for apps which is something like 8 times more than before. The touch screen works much better with a nearly audible click when you type – a bit off putting at first but now strangely reassuring. Phone service is excellent (it was before) and 3G internet browsing and Wi-Fi are added features – and really good ones. The digital camera is still one of the best around and shooting video is a good experience as well.

I’ve used an iPhone and acknowledge how good the technology, design and interface is. The iPhone is pretty good for email (not as good as a Blackberry but still ok), really good for web browsing and the phone service is lacking. The BB Storm 2 is a big upgrade from the BB Storm 1 but I am left with the idea that the entire BlackBerry touch screen platform should be revamped and have its own unique features that are different from the iPhone. I have heard that it is in development and I am eagerly awaiting that release. If the BB platform does not further differentiate itself my next mobile device will be an iPhone.

One can only be a resistor for so long.