My wife and I decided last week that we wanted to buy a digital camera. The only digital camera I have experience with is a 3 year old walmart special that my father-in-law bought for Jennette. It has worked ok at times, but failed us in a trip to London.
I did my research online, found the camera that fit into what I wanted and went to Circuit City to make a purchase. But the rebate for a free photo printer was only available online. Strange, huh? So Jennette and I got back in the car, went to my office, bought the camera online, went back to the store, picked up our camera and now we have our new toy. This didn't bother me at all, but Circuit City has some confusing marketing. Do they only want me to shop online? Their website banner ad says otherwise, they are opening 65 new stores in the next couple of months.
My take away from the experience: Traditional brink-and-mortar stores get confused with how I (and many of my friends) shop and how to market to these new buyers. Web 2.0 seems to have some of them confused. So here is some insight into how I shop.
I am educated. I will do all the research at home online and know almost as much as your employees in a short time. I will have a couple questions and then buy something.
I have limited loyalty. I will shop for the best deal and don't really care where it comes from. But if your company makes an unreasonable mistake, I might never shop there again. BUT, I personally really enjoy customer service and good CRM marketing. So if you prove you are a good place to shop. I might be loyal.
I will abuse your system, if you let me. Key Bank has now given me 3 iPod nanos, for free (holding my money for a day before I transferred it to my ING Direct account is really close to free). I have and will cancel my account with them and only open an account when you offer me another iPod nano. This brings up another topic I will discuss some other time.
Figuring out how to sell to me must be difficult. Using disruptive methods along with the traditional is one way. I'll discuss more on disruption in my next post.
just a few of my thoughts
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Too Much Clutter
Clutter is a term used to describe the phenomenon of a marketplace being full or even overcrowded with products. It also refers to the extreme amount of advertising the average American sees in their daily lives. Clutter is a major problem for marketers and advertisers.
- wikipedia
While driving down to Utah this weekend I was reminded of the reason I hate the drive between Ogden, Utah and Provo, Utah, too much Clutter. I have had the opportunity to visit Times Square in New York City and Piccadilly Circus in London and the strip in Las Vegas. Besides Tokyo, these may be the two most cluttered locations in the world. They do not annoy me as much as Utah Advertising. I am amazed each time I drive at how bad the billboards and other ads can detract from the beautiful scenery that makes Utah a place to visit.
I understand the importance of signs, billboards and advertising, but I wish people were a little more tactful in their approach. Just a few of my thoughts.
- wikipedia
While driving down to Utah this weekend I was reminded of the reason I hate the drive between Ogden, Utah and Provo, Utah, too much Clutter. I have had the opportunity to visit Times Square in New York City and Piccadilly Circus in London and the strip in Las Vegas. Besides Tokyo, these may be the two most cluttered locations in the world. They do not annoy me as much as Utah Advertising. I am amazed each time I drive at how bad the billboards and other ads can detract from the beautiful scenery that makes Utah a place to visit.
I understand the importance of signs, billboards and advertising, but I wish people were a little more tactful in their approach. Just a few of my thoughts.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Blogging Break
For the past 5 months I have avoided blogging on this personal blog. I started thinking about it today and realized a couple of possible reasons why.
1. My friends gave me a nickname.
For some reason I tend to attract nicknames. This isn't always a bad thing, but sometimes I don't like it. Here are a few: Howard the Duck, Dobber, Gerber Baby, and lately it was Conan the Blogarian. Conan the Blogarian is a funny nickname, but made me hate myself a little bit.
2. I hate keeping a journal.
Blogging for me was/is a way to express myself and keep a journal. I am not very outspoken and tend to keep my opinions to myself, so a blog seems a little out of character. But expressing myself and voicing my opinions is something I would like to work on, so here I am again.
3. The tubes are cluttered
With some many people on the internet now a days, it just seems like there is a lot of crap out there. I didn't want to add to the pile.
4. I was busy
For the past few months I was studying for the GMAT, applying to graduate school, given more responsibility at work, and applying for a home loan. I never wanted to take the time to write a couple paragraphs and hit the PUBLISH POST button.
So now that I got out why I didn't blog out in the open I feel a lot better.
1. My friends gave me a nickname.
For some reason I tend to attract nicknames. This isn't always a bad thing, but sometimes I don't like it. Here are a few: Howard the Duck, Dobber, Gerber Baby, and lately it was Conan the Blogarian. Conan the Blogarian is a funny nickname, but made me hate myself a little bit.
2. I hate keeping a journal.
Blogging for me was/is a way to express myself and keep a journal. I am not very outspoken and tend to keep my opinions to myself, so a blog seems a little out of character. But expressing myself and voicing my opinions is something I would like to work on, so here I am again.
3. The tubes are cluttered
With some many people on the internet now a days, it just seems like there is a lot of crap out there. I didn't want to add to the pile.
4. I was busy
For the past few months I was studying for the GMAT, applying to graduate school, given more responsibility at work, and applying for a home loan. I never wanted to take the time to write a couple paragraphs and hit the PUBLISH POST button.
So now that I got out why I didn't blog out in the open I feel a lot better.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Political Rallies and Sales Kickoffs
After attending a Sales Kickoff in Orlando, FL, listening to Jesse Jackson at a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, listening to Al Gore live giving his latest edition of An Inconvenient Truth and attending the Boise State Fiesta Bowl celebration, I am a bit overwhelmed with thoughts of how people attempt to get others to jump on their bandwagon.
I have been to a few sales kickoffs and all of them had some great training, but there is always some type of excitement and hype built up about the company. The Sales Kickoff I attended for a door-to-door sales company was always full of giveaways and excitement. The company took care of us but always made me feel a little childish. I guess they did get me to the conference so they could get all of my paperwork filled out. The corporation I work for now does a much better job giving insight into our products, the competitive environment and the company situation. Corporations will always try to get people to believe in their product, I am just happy to work for one that I actually do believe in.
Listening to Jesse Jackson was a treat. I am amazed with how prolific he pontificates the prolonging pragmatic problems that face these United of States. If there is anyone that can rhyme words in a way that makes you want to yell amen, Jesse Jackson is that man. Mr. Jackson did a good job at first telling us of the struggles that faced Martin Luther King Jr. and the people that he represented. Then Jackson started to explain to the audience the detriment that is the Bush Administration. The reverend catered to the audience the was composed of mainly democratic liberals, and told those that would listen of the atrocities that those in Washington were committing on the world. I liked the first half of his speech and Jackson made some good points about equality, but the second half was too much "Bush Bashing" and not enough telling me how I could help. (I will add that the many 'amens', 'you tell it', 'thank you brother', etc were worth attending the event. I really enjoy the way Rev. Jackson speaks)
Two days after a packed house, 10,000 in attendance in Taco Bell Arena sat through a Boise State basketball game during a day of celebration in Idaho for the Undefeated, Fiesta Bowl winning Boise State Broncos Football Team for the presentation of the Fiesta Bowl trophy (sorry I digress), another 10,000 people gathered to listen to Al Gore present An Inconvenient Truth to Idaho. My first observations were the difference between the two audiences. I believe there was a small percent of people that attended both the basketball game and the Al Gore speech. Myself, my wife and brother-in-law were three of those that attended both. I was a different atmosphere for sure. Al Gore has some good things to say, but he didn't give me enough ideas of how I could make a difference. I also wonder what he did while he was in the White House for 8 years? Today it was announced that he is up for a Nobel Peace prize. Go figure. My thoughts coming out of the speech were, "Didn't I see and hear all of this in that movie I watched starring him?"
I really enjoy living in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. The population is exploding and too many people are finding out that Boise is a great place to live. People complain about the diversity, but I can attest there are many different people with plenty of different ideas. I may not like all of them, but I respect them. I also realize that people try to get you to jump into their agendas. Do your own research and find out what you think. Don't just "Damn the Man" or "Blame Big Brother" before you look into the facts yourself.
I have been to a few sales kickoffs and all of them had some great training, but there is always some type of excitement and hype built up about the company. The Sales Kickoff I attended for a door-to-door sales company was always full of giveaways and excitement. The company took care of us but always made me feel a little childish. I guess they did get me to the conference so they could get all of my paperwork filled out. The corporation I work for now does a much better job giving insight into our products, the competitive environment and the company situation. Corporations will always try to get people to believe in their product, I am just happy to work for one that I actually do believe in.
Listening to Jesse Jackson was a treat. I am amazed with how prolific he pontificates the prolonging pragmatic problems that face these United of States. If there is anyone that can rhyme words in a way that makes you want to yell amen, Jesse Jackson is that man. Mr. Jackson did a good job at first telling us of the struggles that faced Martin Luther King Jr. and the people that he represented. Then Jackson started to explain to the audience the detriment that is the Bush Administration. The reverend catered to the audience the was composed of mainly democratic liberals, and told those that would listen of the atrocities that those in Washington were committing on the world. I liked the first half of his speech and Jackson made some good points about equality, but the second half was too much "Bush Bashing" and not enough telling me how I could help. (I will add that the many 'amens', 'you tell it', 'thank you brother', etc were worth attending the event. I really enjoy the way Rev. Jackson speaks)
Two days after a packed house, 10,000 in attendance in Taco Bell Arena sat through a Boise State basketball game during a day of celebration in Idaho for the Undefeated, Fiesta Bowl winning Boise State Broncos Football Team for the presentation of the Fiesta Bowl trophy (sorry I digress), another 10,000 people gathered to listen to Al Gore present An Inconvenient Truth to Idaho. My first observations were the difference between the two audiences. I believe there was a small percent of people that attended both the basketball game and the Al Gore speech. Myself, my wife and brother-in-law were three of those that attended both. I was a different atmosphere for sure. Al Gore has some good things to say, but he didn't give me enough ideas of how I could make a difference. I also wonder what he did while he was in the White House for 8 years? Today it was announced that he is up for a Nobel Peace prize. Go figure. My thoughts coming out of the speech were, "Didn't I see and hear all of this in that movie I watched starring him?"
I really enjoy living in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. The population is exploding and too many people are finding out that Boise is a great place to live. People complain about the diversity, but I can attest there are many different people with plenty of different ideas. I may not like all of them, but I respect them. I also realize that people try to get you to jump into their agendas. Do your own research and find out what you think. Don't just "Damn the Man" or "Blame Big Brother" before you look into the facts yourself.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Another Great Voip Service
Digg.com had a post about GrandCentral.com today. GrandCentral is currently in beta, but offers some great free services. The basic idea is that you get "one number for life." Pick a number that will not change when you move or change jobs.
This is a great for those working remotely and want a phone number in the state they are working. No longer will you have to worry about the long distance charges affecting the amount of inbound calls you receive. The grandma that has resisted a cell phone for so long will be so happy. It also helps if you have a corporation set up in Nevada and want to get rid of that annoying cell phone with a Nevada number.
Pretty neat what people are coming out with.
This is a great for those working remotely and want a phone number in the state they are working. No longer will you have to worry about the long distance charges affecting the amount of inbound calls you receive. The grandma that has resisted a cell phone for so long will be so happy. It also helps if you have a corporation set up in Nevada and want to get rid of that annoying cell phone with a Nevada number.
Pretty neat what people are coming out with.
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