Ex3 Café

I'm Gettin' No Buzz from Google Buzz

Recently, I heard a lot of buzz (no pun intended) about Google Buzz.  Google Buzz is Google's new social networking site which enables users to "share updates, photos, videos, and more".  When I tried to access the site on my new Motorola Cliq Android phone though, I received the following error message:

buzz.google.com requires
Android OS version 2.0+
iPhone OS version 3.0+
Older OS versions may be able to access some features, but are not officially supported.

This error message was particularly irritating because I purchased the phone only three months ago and the operating system on the phone (Android 1.5) is developed by Google.  In short, Google's new site is incompatible with Google's own mobile operating system installed on the phone I purchased (brand new) only three months ago.  Interestingly, Google Buzz does work on Goggle's own cell phone (Nexus One) because Nexus One runs Google's Android 2.1 OS.

This brings up the following questions in my mind:

• Who's decision was it to install an obsolete OS on my new phone?  Was it Google, Motorola or T-Mobile (my cell phone carrier)?
• Why would Google develop a site that's only compatible with it's newest operating system(s)?  For a company that's new to the phone OS business, this sounds like a suicide mission.
• Why would Google develop and market its own phone (with its own Android OS installed on it) to compete with partner phones that also run the Google Android OS?  This doesn't seem like a good strategy to acquire new mobile phone manufactures and maintain good relations with existing mobile phone manufactures.

For a company who's slogan is "Do No Evil," Google's recent actions in the mobile phone market makes me scratch my head a bit.  Perhaps I'm missing something here...

P.S.
No, that's not me in the picture above. :-)

Dying a Slow, Slow Death (or Not)?

This recent article from CNBC caught my eye.  In short, the article describes how replacing older technologies with newer technologies often takes longer than most innovators expect.  For example, according to the CNBC article “When Sony announced its Mavica electronic camera in 1981, headlines trumpeted that “Film Is Dead.” But it took 28 more years for Kodachrome, the film immortalized by Paul Simon, to finally die this past June."

This article made me stop and think about similar predictions I’ve heard, throughout the years, about new marketing technologies.  Below are just a few.

Stop The Printing Presses!

I remember in early 1995 the CEO at one of my previous companies made a prediction that the company would (in the very near future) no longer print marketing collateral but would instead create electronic versions of the collateral and distribute it via e-mail and the web.  Well to this day, most companies are producing the same (if not more) printed collateral.  The only difference is they are creating electronic versions of the same collateral as well.  In this case, one medium wasn't replaced by another but rather an additional medium was added.  Similarly, when the microwave oven was launched, many thought it would replace the traditional oven.  To this day, most households have both!

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Catalogs

When eBay and Dell launched their respective websites in the mid 1990's, many thought the catalog's days were numbered.  After all, who needs a printed catalog if everything about a product can be described on-line?  It turns out a lot of people sill like the experience of holding and flipping through a printed catalog.  In fact, my 10 year old (tween) daughter still gets ecstatic when the latest edition of The American Girl Catalog arrives in the mail.  And interestingly enough, both eBay and Dell produce thousands (if not millions) of printed catalogs and magazines to this day.

Throw Out Your House List Because Outbound Marketing is DOA

In one of my previous blog posts, I described how many marketers believed that traditional outbound marketing (i.e. phone, direct mail, e-mail...etc.) would soon be replaced by inbound marketing (i.e. search marketing, blogs, social networking...etc.).  It's my belief though that these two mediums address different marketing scenarios and thus one wouldn’t necessarily cannibalize the other.  In fact, I believe that the smartest marketers will figure out how to integrate both inbound and outbound marketing into their overall marketing strategy.

In writing this article, I'm most certainly not bagging on new marketing innovations.  I'd be the last person to do this!  Like the CNBC article though, I believe that new technologies take a lot longer that most people think to gain mass adoption (if at all).  That said, one shouldn't ignore new marketing innovations, but rather take a balanced, calculated and well thought out approach to phasing these new innovations into their overall marketing mix over time.

Is Twitter Losing Its Tweetappeal?

Based on the recent articles below, one could very easily come to this conclusion:

• Information Week: "Twitter at the Vanishing Point"
• eMarketer: "Time to Write Twitter's Tombstone?"
  
• iMedia Connection: "Why Twitter will soon become obsolete"
  

Whether Twitter is here to stay or gone tomorrow is anyone's guess. This recent hiccup in Twitter's unique visitor numbers should make us pause a bit, though, to ponder a few key points.

The "Next Big Thing" May Not Be For You

If you're a CMO or other senior executive and were recently seen running down the hall in hysterics asking everyone "what's our Twitter strategy?, what's our Twitter strategy?..." you're probably feeling a bit silly now.  Like any new marketing channel/platform, before diving in head first, you should first ask yourself the following questions:

• What does this new channel enable me to do that I couldn't do before?
• Who's the target audience for this channel?
• Are any of my competitors using this channel?  If so, how are they using it and what's their success been?
• What are the hard and soft costs associated with using this channel?
  
• How is marketing ROI calculated when using this channel?
  
• How does this channel integrate with my current marketing infrastructure?

After answering these questions you may decide that Twitter isn't feasible for your organization.  THIS IS OK, because not doing this type of due diligence may end up costing you a lot of time, money and embarrassment down the line, should you decide to jump into "the next big thing" without doing your homework.

Don't Put All of Your Eggs Into One Basket

Like any smart investor, you never want to put all of your money into a single investment vehicle.  This same concept also applies to marketing channels and channel platforms.

• Marketing Channel Diversification:  In most instances, it's best to adopt a multi-channel approach where you leverage the right channel for the right audience at the right time.  Leveraging this approach better ensures that your message is received in the most effective and cost efficient manner.

• Marketing Channel Platform Diversification:  In this case, you don't want to "hard wire" yourself to just one channel platform (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn...etc.).  Here it's best to publish your content once and distribute it to multiple channel platforms through a content distribution service such as Ping.fm or Sendible or through a standard content distribution format such as RSS.  This approach yields to key benefits:

1. You can communicate with your customers on their preferred platform

2. If one channel/platform goes out of business (i.e. Twitter goes under), you don't have to change the format of your content to "plug into" another provider's platform

The Viral Effect Can Go Both Ways

Twitter's exponential growth grew mainly through the "viral effect."  Just as easily as Twitter's growth can skyrocket through the viral effect, it's growth can also tank via the viral effect as well, as negative publicity (via viral distribution) can be a self fulfilling prophecy.  This is an important reality to keep in mind as more companies incorporate viral marketing/social media into their overall marketing mix.

So, is twitter losing its tweetappeal?  We'll find out more in the next few months.

Who Benefits Most From Mail-in Rebates?

If you're thinking the customer, think again.

After writing my last blog post, I decided to do some further "behind the scenes" research on mail-in rebates.  In addition to discovering a multitude of complaints and horror stories from pissed off customers regarding the hassles of the rebate redemption process, I also gained a better understanding of who benefits most from mail-in rebate programs.

As I see it, here's the benefits to each of the parties involved:

Product Manufacturers

• Can show increased sales/profits due to the time lag between when products sold and when rebate expense payments are made 
• Can use information collected from rebate forms for marketing research and for future direct marketing campaigns to stimulate additional sales
• During the "turn around" time, can earn interest on rebate payment(s) due to the customer

Retailers

• Can display a lower price for select items (i.e. price after rebate) but still charge the full amount at purchase
• Can reduce the price on certain items without having to change the price in the inventory/POS systems or on in-store signage
• Could make rebates conditional upon other criteria (i.e. other than the standard submission of UPC code, receipt, and other info. within the required time frame).  For example, a computer retailer could require that a customer sign a long term contract with a particular ISP in order to get the rebate.  The ISP could in turn give the retailer a "kick back" for every customer signed up.

Rebate Processing and Fulfillment Companies

• Make money from each rebate processed for a manufacturer or retailer.  Some rebate fulfillment companies may even be rewarded by the number of rebate claims that they actually deny!

Customers

• Can get money back, but have to be willing to jump through hoops and wait several weeks to get the money.  Must also be OK with the fact that rebates could be processed much more efficiently.  This excerpt from an article in Slate.com explains how:
  
  "All of this hoop-jumping fuss—the paperwork, the postmarking, the sales slips—is quite unnecessary, says Leonard. Fulfillment centers can now do it all online—whether or not the purchase was online, with a credit card, or with cash. They don't need the UPCs or the old phones or any such nonsense. The sales receipt could contain a unique code number that the consumer could enter into a Web site. Think of that the next time you are dissecting a box to get a lousy UPC code."

Obviously, customers appear to benefit the least from mail-in rebates.  That said, if you're a "customer focused" company touting a great "customer experience," you may want to think twice about rolling out mail-in rebates.  If you're dead set on rolling out mail-in rebates or if you already have mail-in rebate programs running, at least make sure you have an efficient and timely process to manage the rebate redemption process.  Otherwise, in the long run, you may be doing more damage than good to your companies' reputation.

Mail-in Rebate for an On-Line Purchase?

Now that's a bit of an oxymoron, don't ya think?

I encountered this scenario when I was looking at wireless PC cards on AT&T's website (see below). 

 

What struck me when looking at this rebate offer was why do I need to go through the hassle of printing a rebate form, gathering all of the required proof of purchase information, filling out the rebate form and mailing the form to AT&T's rebate center when I purchased the product directly from AT&T?  Isn't purchasing the product from AT&T (and having a record of this purchase in AT&T's sales transaction system) the ultimate proof that I legitimately purchased the product?  And once I go through all of these shenanigans, I have to wait 8 weeks to get my rebate card?  How come I can get the wireless PC card in about a week (or less) after ordering it on-line, but it takes 8 weeks to get the promo. card?  I understand that I may have to wait 30 days (to make sure I don't return the product) but once the 30 day return period is over, why make me wait almost another month to get the card?  I wonder if it's a coincidence that AT&T benefits financially from this seemingly unnecessary and inefficient process that is highly prone to errors.

The diagram below sums up (in my uncreative, business process analyst sort of way) this scenario:

Unless I'm missing something, here's what I would suggest to AT&T for a better customer experience when offering rebates for on-line purchases:

• At the on-line check out, have the customer check a box indicating that they would like to have the rebate promotion card mailed to the same address that the product is being shipped to. 
• If the customer wants to have the rebate card shipped to a different location, provide the means for the customer to enter an alternate shipping address.
• Once the 30 day return period has expired, send a fulfillment request to the rebate center (automatically) to have the rebate card shipped to the customer.

Of course it would be great if rebates were eliminated all together.  But if a company is going to offer rebates (especially for on-line orders) at least provide a more efficient and accurate method for customers to submit rebate claims.  Otherwise, in this increasingly on-line, real-time, automated, work flow driven world, to only provide this arcane method for submitting rebates becomes ever more suspicious.

Am I missing anything here?  Please feel free to post a comment with your input/thoughts.

P.S.  I don't mean to pick on AT&T, as I'm aware that most wireless carriers offer the same type of mail-in rebates.

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Mark Olson
Founder, Ex3 Solutions