What Personality Type Are You?
Posted by goodmind on April 22nd, 2008
Can’t decide whether the glass is half full, or half empty? Then try a more conclusive test to see if you’re really an optimist, or a pessimist, particularly as it relates to your business pursuits, and brand identity. Determine whether the following statement is a pleasant, or an unpleasant truth;
“no matter what kind of company you are, your customers are having a conversation about your products and practices.” (Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com)
No matter which camp you fall in, it’s definitely an absolute truth, one that Salesforce.com has harnessed via their “Ideas” platform. (Making them realists, we suppose). Dell and Starbucks have already begun co-rendering the insights of customers, as brand notoriety is no longer a guaranteed glass half full scenario. In Dell’s case, it’s a box mostly empty.
Frugal Food
Posted by goodmind on February 22nd, 2008
With all the gloom and doom discussion on Wall Street about a recession, it’s easy to overlook what could be a bright spot for consumers. While traditional ‘inflationary logic’ would dictate a rise in prices on par with the rising cost of commodities, many familiar food brands are protecting their margins by listening to consumer preferences. According to a recent article in BusinessWeek;
“General Mills in recent months reduced the number of pretzel shapes in its Chex and other snack mixes to three, from 14. The company had pretzels in the shapes of the letters “H,” “O” and “T.” But research found (not surprisingly) consumers cared more about the variety of pretzel flavors than shapes. That move, combined with other manufacturing improvements, is saving the division more than $1 million a year.” (emphasis ours)
Depending on your penchant for snack food, an economic downturn doesn’t have to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
In Our Element
Posted by goodmind on January 30th, 2008
The Periodic Table has been abused as a visual metaphor, but we think the Periodic Table of Visualization Methods is quite apt, all things considered. Not only can it be put to practical use as a reference resource, we think it satisfies the main criteria of any good visualization method; making information more memorable and as a result, more functional.
We’ve included a screen shot of the Table below, but highly recommend checking out the real deal at visual-literacy.org. Scrolling over each “element” generates an example of the method in action.
[Insert Predictable Song Lyric Here]
Posted by goodmind on December 7th, 2007
There’s no question customer satisfaction is a murky concept to define. This makes the task of providing satisfactory customer service pretty troublesome. Most companies are more notorious for the “lip service“ imparted in marketing materials, than any other sort of service provided. How can the significant gap between customer satisfaction and service be closed?
Well, where there’s Web 2.0 there’s a way. Satisfaction is a new socially minded service using the “people-powered,” or crowdsourced approach to demystifying what the customer considers service. Insight is obtained instantly via on-line forum, where company employees and consumer contributors can converse about important issues, at their convenience.
Many of our own research studies often end with participants expressing their gratitude that a corporate entitity not only acknowledges, but actually seeks their opinion. Engaging the customer through a question and answer dialogue, and providing an outlet in which to vent often comes off as a “customer service” in itself.
Thus it seems that lip service as customer service is OK, as long as the customer is the one doing the talking.
A Most Anticipated Release
Posted by goodmind on November 19th, 2007
Upon completing a recent project investigating the future of the press release, we concluded that it’s often better to show than to tell when releasing non-commercial information. Enter the Multimedia News Release; available through MultiVu.
After viewing this video explaining MultiVu’s Multi Media Press Release, we were struck by the skillful demonstration of taking one’s own advice.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEfs8NDC6V4]
Critically, the ”MNR on the MNR” demonstrates that you don’t need to be a Coppola in order to produce an entertaining, authentic and effective message. We project that the mutual benefits bestowed by this format for both producer and viewer signal happy tidings for the industry. Hopefully Hollywood will follow suit before we end up with Spiderman 4.
(Full disclosure: PR Newswire is a client)
Graphing Consumption With Photos
Posted by goodmind on October 25th, 2007
Last week, we headed off to Pop!Tech , all set to blog three whole days worth of stimulating presentations, live. Live blogging from a conference sure seems like a good idea ’til you’re actually doing it. Here’s our excuse; Pop!Tech is a summit of eclectic personages, interested in the exploration of major trends, new ideas, and the social impact of new technologies. If it was a meeting of top astronomers to discuss recent trends in the application of stochastic processes, we would have been posting every five minutes just to sustain a pulse. That was not our problem in Maine.
Now that we’ve had about a week to recover, we’re just about ready to put some of the more memorable Pop!Tech presentations into words, in well rounded posts that attempt to do the subject matter justice. Kicking things off: Chris Jordan’s presentation from day one. Though we didn’t agree with everything this Seattle based photographer said (for example, we are skeptical that terrorists attacked our financial and political centers because because we don’t recycle enough) he does have an interesting take on how to make statistical data more relevant and understandable.
Jordan’s underlying premise in both his recent art, and in his Pop!Tech presentation is that hard data doesn’t “move us.” Statistics can only be “brought to life,” and truly comprehended through art. One of the more talked about images from his series “Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait” is a startling photograph of 426,000 cell phones, the number of phones “retired” each day.
We can read statistics about how wasteful our consumer society is, but the actual magnitude is little more than an abstraction at best. One must actually see the numbers to fathom the scale of our consumption.
What really grabbed our attention about this presentation though, were the parallels between photographing the detritus of consumer society, and market research. We both rely on statistics to illustrate the cumulative effect of consumer decisions. Jordan referenced Edward R. Tufte’s seminal work “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information,” and we can’t think of a more appropriate symbol for the unquestionable intersection of art and market research.
Your Company Logo Here
Posted by goodmind on August 29th, 2007
Designing a logo is a difficult enterprise. So difficult in fact, that most us will gladly shell out the job to a graphic designer and leave the font selection process to the professionals.
Yet this technique is not without its own agonies and frustrations, since art school graduates have an uncanny knack for churning out at least a dozen eye-catching interpretations of a single brand name. Committing to just one version is tatamount to brand loyalty in a twisted, solipsistic sense. A logo should inspire loyalty among customers, but best of British luck sticking with one design yourself.
Admittedly, there is a lot at stake when designing or selecting a logo. We’ve been through the ordeal for ourselves, and we’ve been through it on behalf of clients. While nothing can truly substitute the direct views and opinions of a logo’s target audience, FaveUp is a nice way to get a little feedback before taking the plunge.
FaveUp serves as both a design inspiration gallery, and a contest for rewarding creativity. Anyone can submit a design, and anyone can rate a design. Seeing as the site allows us to be the judge, FaveUp’s logo is a little on the lame side. However, the concept of rating designs is undoubtedly cool, and on second thought, maybe their choice of logo was actually pretty shrewd. In this particular instance the logo probably shouldn’t be the most memorable content.
Make Your Point With a Co-rendered Graph
Posted by goodmind on August 22nd, 2007
Representing data with a graph is all too often a polite way to manipulate fact. The only misleading aspect of Crappy Graphs is the deceptively modest title. This clever blog graphically represents wry interpretations of reality, something we happen appreciate on this blog in case you haven’t noticed.
Crappy Graphs has recently gotten in on the user-generated content game, and in this instance the tactic might actually work. We encourage you to try out the Crappy Graph Builder, and let us know what you come up with.
Side Note: Coincidentally, the Crappy Graph concept is a nice instance of Inventive Thinking through Subtraction. Subtract the data from a graph, and you’re left with a witty blog theme, and an endless supply of potential content.
Reverse Market Research
Posted by goodmind on July 12th, 2007
Wesabe is community site that harnesses the collective financial wisdom of its members, with one small twist. Instead of Joe Schmoe providing unsolicited investment advice, Wesabe’s collective wisdom is the result of a more formal aggregation and analysis of members’ personal financial data. Wesabe notes any spending patterns among site users, and uses personal information (rendered anonymous) to make sweeping recommendations on getting the most bang for your buck.
Always looking to improve the financial sector, Wesabe now allows programmers to create their own hacks for use on the site;
“With the release of this API, we’re adding tools to help you automatically download and manipulate that data, too. As a result, we’re not just providing an API for our own site, but also for all the bank and credit card sites that Wesabe supports, as well. Since Wesabe supports banks and credit cards in over 30 countries around the world, we’re effectively providing developers everywhere a way to unlock data from their financial institutions and put that data to work.”
Wesabe was founded on a philosophy of attaining equilibrium in the balance of information and power between consumers and businesses. Since most businesses possess customer demographic data down to the specific minutiae, it does seem only fair. Since our business is finding and providing this demographic data, we feel slightly accountable for the current imbalance, and somewhat obligated to create our own Wesabe tool.
(via Boing Boing)
It Never Hurts to Ask
Posted by goodmind on May 24th, 2007
Allen Stern at CenterNetworks recently posted a few unsolicited strategic pointers for Ask.com. We feel it is a pretty sufficient set of tips for any search engine looking to compete with Google, an opinion which may have something to do with our own similar process for identifying tactics to drive use. At any rate, Stern’s recommendations include;
- Push hard to get site publishers to integrate the Ask engine, even offering cash for the swap. I would certainly change some of my sites to use Ask if they came calling. This is the way to begin the movement, not with stupid billboards.
- Look at the data and privacy issues Google is facing and attempt to leverage those
- Focus on owning categories… I have played a bit with their Kids search and I like it. This is an area Google does not have. Why not attempt to own this market?
- Work with bloggers in the tech sector, invite them to visit and learn more about Ask and spread the word. Don’t be afraid of the negative reviews. Remember people like the "Google Feeling". I don’t see Ask trying to create a "feeling".
- Use the Ask local tool and create local parties that can demo the Ask suite of tools. Remember it’s about a feeling. No one cares about the results.
With regards to point three, we have always seen the need for a comprehensive and trustworthy search engine dedicated to medical and health related queries. Ask.com has been around for what seems like an internet eternity, and thus commands enough trust to render them the best candidate to “own” the hypochondriac market.
Most of Stern’s strategic suggestions are product oriented, but it is still worthwhile to reflect on marketing tactics as well. Ask.com’s current campaign to become the most loveable search engine is so smart it’s stupid. Unless you so happen to be an internet nerd (hi) the ubiquitous “____ hates the algorithm” statements beg the question “what does an algorithm have to do with a search engine?”
Ask.com hopes enough people ask this through their service to quantify a $100 million advertising campaign. However, these “clever” viral marketing tactics are a bit outdated for the space in question. Positioning any web based business as the “alternative” cult brand is probably not enough. Instead, you have to first tailor your product to the outcomes, your customers are seeking.
In any case, the underground iconoclast internet user is hardly an under-represented market segment, and quickly becoming more myth than reality.
UPDATE
Speaking of outcomes, combining trust and privacy with the main ideas in points two and three might be an even more powerful position.
As if on cue, Geek News Central called Google’s acquisition today of FeedBurner “pure evil,” sounding the privacy alarm. Google, which as a result of the purchase, now has access to any and all of your RSS feed subscriptions. This may be pushing their "machine" into uncomfortable territory for many of us.
Thus, Ask.com could create a new category and position itself as the search engine for people who appreciate keeping their innermost curiosities and proclivities verifiably private. We’re a little wary of Google’s tracking ability ourselves, but anyone who subscribes to a certain social media blog has nothing to be ashamed of…
