The Social Network

If I learned anything from MIS 301 during my freshman year, it is that a stagnant business strategy is doomed to fail. Also, something about a “fitness landscape,” which was a buzzword that guaranteed participation points if used correctly. In light of the need to adapt, to avoid stagnant strategy, many companies today are engaging in social media marketing. The other day, the summer camp that have been involved with for my entire life asked me to be his… er, her?...I mean, its friend on Facebook. I haven’t rightly figured out who is personifying Camp Grady Spruce, but I will admit the alias has been quite informative on the happenings of camp. Although Camp Grady Spruce has been a late arriver to this trend of social media marketing, it is a great example of how a wide variety of companies are utilizing social media to improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

With over 500 million active users, Facebook is one of the most influential social media mediums. A newly hired intern would be able to see the obvious marketing potential of Facebook, I mean, even the guy who didn’t get the internship would understand. Of the 500 million users, 50% log on in any given day. For the mathematically challenged, that is a potential market reach of 250 million users daily. For internet advertising, this is an obvious high-profit situation, where ads should be selling for ludicrous amounts. Ingeniously though, some companies have found a way to utilize the reach of Facebook without paying a dime. As I mentioned with Camp Grady Spruce, companies can simply log on and create their own account. The biggest hurdle then is to get a substantial amount of friends, more specifically friends that are willing and able to purchase your product.

As I am biased towards Camp Grady Spruce, I am hesitant to use them as a success story for Facebook marketing… leaving me with no personal experience with successful campaign. In my opinion though, utilizing Facebook doesn’t seem to be a difficult task in reaching consumers. The two main ways that marketers can reach customers via Facebook is through site advertisements and company profiles. With site advertisements, there is obviously a premium needed to pay for the cost of the advertisement. These ads though have the potential to be highly effective as they can be tailored to reach a specific group of those on Facebook given particular aspects of their profile information. The cheaper of the two methods though is definitely to create a profile for the company. This is a free option as Facebook is a free networking tool. The challenge is getting people to view your profile. The most effective method would be to start by adding incentives to add the company as a friend and then other incentives to view the profile frequently. For example, the first 1000 friends could be entered to win a gift card for ONE BILLION DOLLARS! Obviously this is not realistic, but some incentive could be used. Then, once they have gained a decent number of friends, incentivize those friends to return to the site frequently by adding coupons habitually to the profile, encouraging friends to return to the site.

The main downside for marketing through Facebook is the limited reach of certain segments. The vast majority of users are ages 17-25. Reaching users above that age, which marks a large purchasing segment of society. At some point it just becomes weird if that group is actively on Facebook. 

Creative Combos!

First word: SPOON

When I think of the word spoon, my immediate inclination is to go ahead and morph it into a fork-like utensil as well – namely a spork. But, if kept simply a spoon, I am led to think about its practical uses: Eating (let’s get real, we’re definitely thinking about two things here, cereal and soup. Not at the same time though of course). Mixing. Measuring. Scooping. Ladling. Balancing on your nose…

When I think of the word spoon, I usually picture a plain, silver spoon. Nothing fancy. But when I think about it long enough, I’ll inevitably picture childhood “kid-spoons.”

When I think of the word spoon, I think of the ridiculous youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrStENrKZa8) about the guy whose spoon is too big. I also think of the kid from the Matrix showing Neo the ropes as he bends the spoon with his mind. Finally, I can't help but think of the classic act of spooning... big spoon vs. little spoon?

Second word: CUP

When I think of the word cup, I think about all of the drinks I would like to put in a cup. Orange juice, Gatorade, ice cold water, a margarita, Jack & Coke, texas tea, sweet tea, milk… Oh so many. I also think about other “cups,” namely a protective cup (think baseball), which is not what we’re talking about here.

When I think of the word cup, I think about the different kinds of cups: plastic cups, tall cups, short cups, glass cups, coffee cups, beer mugs, wine glasses (broad cup definition), sippy-cups, the particular cups I have back home – my comfort cup.

When I think of the word cup, I think of drinking games. Flip CUP. Beer pong. And so many other classy ways to kill time…

(Sidenote: although these two things are oddly in the same general category, they were 2 of my first 3 options, the third being “poop.” I almost tried to make poop and spoon work – pooper-scooper, toilet bowl cleaner… I think you’ll thank me for choosing cup instead.)

Possible Combinations:

• ·      Classic matching kitchenware
• ·      Ladle cup – essentially a cup with a long handle to use for dipping into the drink
• ·      A spoon-storing cup – stylish way to store your spoons without a drawer
• ·      Detachable spoon handle – detach your handle in order to mix your drink, eat your soup, slurp your hot chocolate
• ·      Magnetic cup – can hold the spoons on the side, another way to utilize detachable spoon or spoon storage
• ·      Oversized spoon handle with cup on the end – can be used (jokingly) to give your friend a drink across the table
• ·      Giant spoon with a tiny cup – with “my spoon is too big” written on the side (see the youtube clip above)
•      Giant cup/tiny spoon gag potential?
• ·      Meals in a to-go cup, w/ plastic spoon attached! (attached like the straw on a Caprisun)
• ·      Modern art candle holder – candle in the cup sitting on top of an upright spoon
• ·      Silver cup made entirely of melted spoons
• ·      A pipe – a stem made in the likeness of a spoon, and the bowl as a cup (definite potential ergonomic issues here)
• ·      Restaurant décor – cup shaped trashcans, light-posts as spoons
• ·      Musical instruments – as seen with the cups filled with different amounts of water, played by tapping the spoon on the side of the cups
• ·      Pencil shaped by a spoon, with an eraser in the likeness of a tiny cup

I think the combination with the most potential would be the possibility of creating a cup with a detachable spoon handle. Of course, you would have the basic advantages of a simple cup with a handle. But this is no ordinary cup! Imagine you are mixing up a powdered drink, or mixing in some sweet-n-low to your tea, and there is no spoon in sight. With this handy cup, you can simply remove the detachable spoon handle and mix your drink to your delight. A less desirable hypothetical: you are drinking a hot cup of tea, when all of the sudden you notice a bug floating in your drink! You are the type of person that won’t let this ruin a perfectly good cup of tea, but won’t continue drinking until the bug is gone. In light of how hot the tea is though, you are hesitant to reach in with your hands to get it. So what do you do? Detach the spoon handle and scoop it out. Boom. Tea saved. Finally, think of a time when you were drinking a smoothie of some sorts. For kicks, lets say it is a fresh fruit smoothie, with mango, peaches, pineapples, and strawberries. You get down to the last of the cup, but you can’t quite get the last bit to budge from the bottom. (I think you know where this is going…) So what do you do? Detach the spoon handle and eat enjoy the rest of your smoothie! 

iThis, eThat... enough already!

            I’ve come to accept the fact that I live in a world that is ever-changing, becoming more advanced, more connected than ever before. I will begrudgingly admit that I will probably let my kids get cell phones before they are 16 (back in my day, kids had to wait until they could drive to get a cell phone…), and worse yet, that I may break down and embrace the smart-phone craze - Although, I refuse to join the cultish following of iPhone users (sorry Dr. Walls). I haven’t quite decided why I am resisting this change. Am I an idealist? Do I fear a 1984-esque Big Brother? Am I simply stubborn in my ways? Maybe it is a combination of them all…

            The budding technology that I refuse to dismiss as my stubborn nature is that of electronic books. I understand the advantages, small as they may seem in my eyes, but I am utterly opposed to this movement towards electronic books, or eBooks as the hip kids call them. Before I move on, let me explain my concerns. I am a man who enjoys collecting a library. Something about having a shelf of books exudes class. Whereas, collecting files on an e-reader just becomes a liability (you can lose your entire library under a seat cushion!). I am also a man who enjoys making annotations. Some e-readers have addressed this, but none can compete with a paper book and a pen. I am a man who can never see himself smoking his pipe and reading a Kindle. I am a man who loathes having his English textbook on a website (no hardcopy alternative even… wildly frustrating). I am a man who rather enjoys the act of licking my fingers and flipping to the next page, rather than pressing the “next” button. I have many reasons for resisting this change, but ranting could be time-consuming.

            Although I enjoy the idea of being a unique individual, I find it difficult to believe I am the only consumer against eBooks. This intrigues me to try to fully understand the market of eBooks: who’s buying? Who isn’t buying? Who are the e-reader companies trying to reach? What strategies are they using to reach said audience? I am very interested to see if I can discover the origin of this movement and the catalyst that led to the materializing of the idea. Was this just an acceptance of a movement towards a more electronic world driven by i-this and e-that, or did someone genuinely seek out customer insights and find a worthwhile need for this technology. Short of predicting the future, I am interested to see how popular this product will become. There is also a strict distinction, in my mind at least, as to the pros and cons of eBooks in the contexts of educational versus recreational reading. My reasons for and against each context are specific to the purpose of why I am reading, so how does that influence the role of marketers creating and tailoring the product towards consumers? I am also interested in this subject due to its possibility of leading to a fad-movement, somewhat indicative of Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point.”

            To look at this product from another paradigm, what does Barnes and Noble think about it? Is Borders shaking in its boots thinking about a movement to eBooks? I would like to know if renowned bookstores are embracing this technology, opposing it, or being forced to accept it. Even if they embrace the technology, these companies also have to face the possibility of diminishing profit margins as eBooks are selling for such lower prices than their equivalent hardcopies.

            I believe this topic has a vast potential to be highly relative to the material of our class thus far. Specifically, I hope to find information on the customer research that went on before the creation of e-readers. This seems like a great opportunity to observe consumers’ reactions in experiments with both hardcopy books and eBooks. I am very intrigued to see if there are more articles on findings from focus groups that like found in “Exploring Faculty Experiences With E-Books: A Focus Group.” This was an article that discussed the opinions of many professors on the use of eBooks, whether for personal use, for class preparation, or even for their students to use. Results were highly varying as many different professors had unique opinions on the use of eBooks. More interestingly, depending on the subject that each professor taught, they were more or less likely to have a certain opinion on eBooks. In other research, marketers may have even implemented a simple-survey method, although no one asked my opinion… Which I would still gladly give. From the customer’s view, what is the experience like with the differing reading styles? What aspects of the customer experience are most important to these consumers?

            Ultimately, I hope to either be completely convinced of the usefulness of eBooks while learning more about how they are becoming a force in today’s literary world, or I want to find a flaw in them so large that I can completely eradicate their existence. Ok fine, maybe I am an idealist…

            

If Only Boots and Jeans Showed Up on My Doorstep...

As you can tell from my last blog, I classify myself as outdoorsy. I like camping, kayaking, and shooting things. Judge me all you want, but I also like the taste of Copenhagen between my cheek and gum. I think this may stem from my roots as a country, not Podunk, boy. Yes, I do wear my half-quill Ostrich ropers and my wranglers whenever I can, but not because I am a conforming frat-guy, rather because it’s the only logical thing to wear when you go dove hunting or horseback riding! All that said, I absolutely loathe shopping for boots and jeans. Even if I were given a blank check to go buy boots, I am hesitant to get excited. It all started with the ever-so-popular western wear chain, Cavender’s Boot Company.

            Too much of a good thing is a great thing, right? Not always. Imagine this… I walk into a Cavender’s, looking to buy some boots and jeans, and I am greeted by a cute, twenty-something year-old girl, dressed in her boots and jeans, smiling with a little twinkle in her eye. Then, she asks me (she talked to me!?) if I needed any help finding what I needed. (Of course, I suavely told her that I may have just found exactly what I was looking for. Ok, maybe not.) This was a pretty good start to my Cavender’s experience. I was ready to buy a nice pair of boots to show off to the girl who seemed so interested in my shopping experience. Before I knew it, another girl begins the same twinkle-in-the-eye routine. Either I am just bringing my A-game today or I am completely missing something. Soon thereafter, my luck changes as a similarly dressed man begins the same routine (with a little less twinkle). And it dawns on me. The people walking around with their boots and jeans, their twinkle in their eyes, and their desire to help are being paid to help me! They are sales associates.

            Now, people asking to help me are no longer flattering, but a bit annoying. I try to decide what boots I like, in my own mind, but I can’t get away from the 5 associates nipping at my heels, competing to earn a commission. All I want is my privacy to look around! How did all those eager helpers lead to me hating my experience at Cavender’s?

            Before I go back to bashing my Cavender’s experience. Let me give credit where credit is due. What they did do extremely well is perfect the “Relate” aspect of the Strategic Experiential Module. Every employee that I encountered at Cavender’s was dressed like someone I could see myself dressed as, or dressed as someone I could see myself dating! They each even had on their own unique cowboy hat, which I have never been bold enough to buy, but let’s be honest, I can relate to wanting one. They are absolutely catering themselves towards the audience that they are looking to reach. Cavender’s also did really well at accomplishing the “Sense” aspect of the module discussed in class. The atmosphere of the store was very comforting. The walls, the decoration, the floors, they all subtly conveyed the feeling of southern hospitality. Cavender’s was decorated the way that I would want my future hill-country dream home to be decorated. Two-for-two thus far, but not for long.

            Where Cavender’s messed up is where I initially thought they did really well… their customer service. They were incredible helpful. But then almost too helpful. And then, they were absolutely smothering you with help to a point of discomfort. When I go shopping, especially clothes shopping, I don’t enjoy myself. I want to get in and get out. I work best alone. If someone is always by my side, telling me what would or wouldn’t look good, or trying to sell me a shirt that would look good with my boots (up-selling is the worst), I get antsy and uncomfortable. But when I move past discomfort and straight into sheer anger is when the nagging help is unavoidable. When there are 5 associates on you like white on rice. Help is great, when you need it. But when I don’t need help, it is almost offensive to me to be asked 10 times if I needed to know where to find something… do I really look that lost and confused?

            I must admit, although I didn’t thoroughly enjoy my time at Cavender’s, I did buy a pair of boots… and jeans… and like 3 pairs of socks. I told you, I hate shopping, I wasn’t about to go to another store and waste more time. But, I think if Cavender’s made an effort to reduce the amount of in-your-face assistance and merely make knowledgeable associates available to be asked for help (NOT VICE-VERSA), then it would be a top-tier store in my book. Until then, I am have to plan out covert strategies for shopping trips to buy my jeans!

Poor Collegiate Outdoorsman

“So, tell me about yourself” – One of the toughest questions to answer candidly (without sounding cheesy, of course), unless you are lucky enough to have created a self-persona for a marketing class you took junior year of college… Oh, wait.

ATTENTION MARKETERS! Potential buyer!

Meet Bobby Lish. He is your typical 18-21 year old, male student. Except, “typical” doesn’t effectively convey any meaning to a marketer. If “typical” doesn’t suffice, what describes Bobby? (If I may revert to first person now…) Given the amount of time spent doing so, I am best described as a student. Many experienced marketers would assume this means I am likely dependent financially. In most areas, this is true. Tuition, rent, utilities, insurance… all a phone call away from being paid. Unfortunately, I am not fully dependent, leaving me to work two part-time jobs to fund my life. Most importantly, this means that time and money are two things that I have in limited quantity. I strongly dislike shopping for anything because I loathe spending money when it feels superfluous. I’ll buy almost anything though if I can be convinced I “need” it. Take a moment to reminisce…

Senior year of high school. Time to buy a college car. I could get a car, because it is more gas efficient, and probably cheaper than a truck, but what if I need to haul something? I “need” a truck. A single cab would be cheaper than an extended cab, but what if multiple people need a ride? I “need” the extended cab. The Z71 package makes the truck look awesome, but I don’t really need it, do I? Well, there’s the possibility of getting stuck in the mud (happens all the time, I hear…) and the 4-wheel drive would help in that situation. I “need” the Z71. I can be convinced I “need” almost anything that I want to have in the first place.

A perfect segue into what it is that I want. I would describe myself as an outdoorsman. Camping is my activity of choice. Adventure tickles my fancy. My summer job is always camp counselor. Always. I want my life to be a story that would sell millions of copies in the bookstores. A white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a golden retriever makes my skin crawl. “Into The Wild” is my favorite book, and my favorite movie (no immediate plans to abandon society for a bus in the Alaskan wilderness as of yet). I absolutely adore music. I firmly believe relationships are of paramount importance in life. Financial success means very little to me (aren’t I in McCombs?). My dream job is to be a big game hunting guide. Some of my most prized possessions are: a kayak, an old pipe, a travel hammock, a guitar, and a 12-gauge shotgun. I don’t always shop, but when I do, I shop in Whole Earth Provisions.

To summarize, you could call me a marketer’s nightmare: An outdoorsy college student, who doesn’t have much spending money, and when he does, hates spending it. But I, like many others, have my weak spot. I love the idea of being “manly.” Did I buy my truck because I needed a truck with an extended cab and 4-wheel drive, or did it simply appeal to my desire of manliness? Do I drink Dos Equis because of the taste or because “The Most Interesting Man In the World” also drinks it? I will defend the taste, but it doesn’t hurt that he drinks it too (have you heard that sharks have a week dedicated to him?). In the end, take a product, prove its’ use to a man (a real burly, man’s man), and prove its’ necessity, then it will be irresistible to me. Unless, of course, I’ve already started selling all my possessions in hopes of setting off into the wilderness to live an epic life of adventure… In which case, I’m a hopeless consumer, but do you know anyone in the market for a 4-wheel drive truck?

Understanding Customer Insights... Or trying to!

As we begin to study the practice of developing customer insights, we are introduced to the idea of how to use those insights in the field of product design. Not only are there differing views on the gathering of these insights, but also there are many unique ideas on how to approach the design aspect of creating a worthwhile product. As Jeff Mulhausen said, design starts with problem seeking, which relates closely with discovering customer insights, then goes into problem solving, which relates to the design phase, and is concluded with the implementation process. Being devoid of any true experience with gathering customer insights or attempting to design a product, many of these concepts proved interesting.

Understanding how to gather useful information about, and discover true customer insights remains my primary interest in this course. Being able to sufficiently satisfy a customer’s needs makes you highly effective in the business world. But how do we know what customers are thinking? I was particularly taken aback by the notion that customers don’t even always know what they want. As “Insights to Customer Insights” explained, customer insights rarely emerge from quantitative research. Authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner help illustrate this through the story of a sociology student at the University of Chicago. The student sought to understand the creation of self-identities of the poor communities of Chicago, but to no avail through quantitative research. It took years of immersion into their culture for the student to find the answers he was seeking.

This idea of the futile nature of quantitative research is surprising, yet understandable when truly analyzed. However, in light of the advantages of qualitative research, I still believe there is merit in investing time in quantitative research. Not only does quantitative research allow you to better understand consumers (admittedly on a shallower level than qualitative research may allow for), but it also shows the customer that you care about satisfying their needs.

As if the problem-seeking phase of design wasn’t challenging enough, we have to aptly solve the problems we discover. Learning about the various “pioneers” of design, if you will, was helpful to me. I enjoyed seeing a unique array of design philosophies, from Dieter Rams designing “as little as possible,” or Eero Saarinen designing for “the next larger context.” Both philosophies led to effective design, yet both utilized completely different approaches. Understanding the variety of design philosophies used in the past help to show that many different design strategies can be considered as successful.

I also found some of the philosophies to sound appealing, but I question their merit in practice. The idea that business success and social benefit can coexist seems too good to be true. Maybe I am merely a cynic, but I have yet to see enough corporate altruism for this idea to firmly take root. I still believe that companies will simply do what they see as most profitable, regardless of corporate responsibility. On the same notion, the philosophy of designing for the majority sounds great, but what about in application? The trendy thing these days is to “go green,” to care for the environment, or to be charitable. But what is the profitable thing to do? Yes, 90% of the world may be the majority of the population, but the majority of the consumers and the wealth of the world remain within a minority of the population. Seeking to benefit the majority looks good for the Associated Press, but I am skeptical that it will increase profits, which is what drives most corporate executives.

Monday’s lecture and readings alone provided many points to ponder. There will always be differing opinions on how to gather customer insights and how to use them once they are discovered. I look forward to creating a deeper understanding of both of these concepts as the semester progresses.

First Blog Ever...

...was a worthwhile, meaningful post