Did you know that a person who regularly buys large dog collars has a higher risk of defaulting on a loan than a person who regularly buys bird seed?
Continue reading "Thoughts From the Toronto 1to1 Customer Champions Roundtable" »
If the television writers hadn’t just gone on strike last year, I’d say they definitely should following this announcement from NBC Universal. NBC’s new Digital Studio, which is creating shows to appear exclusively online on sites like Hulu, has teamed with an advertising company to create two new shows for this summer. Omnicom Group has already signed up companies like Intel, Cisco, and Microsoft to sponsor the show, but they’re not just airing short commercials in between scenes, running pre-roll ads, or even placing banners alongside the rolling video; the marketing is much more subversive than that.
Continue reading "Television show or commercial in disguise?" »
Customers don’t typically seek service when they’re having a good day. They need service when their order is wrong, their shipment is late, or there’s a mistake on their bill.
"Screw it" may not be everyone's first choice for an ad campaign's tagline, but that's what Harley-Davidson is doing these days with the apothegm "Screw It, Let's Ride."
The campaign caught my eye with a full-page ad on the back cover of a recent edition of Sports Illustrated. The full text of the ad?
"Over the last 105 years in the saddle, I’ve seen my share of conflict in the world, but every time this country has come out stronger than before. Because chrome and asphalt put distance between me and whatever the world can throw at me. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of my engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it’s that fear sucks and it doesn’t last long. So screw it, let’s ride."
The approach brings to mind any number of possibilities for other products.
“I’m passionate about customers. I always start with, how does that affect the customers?”
Those were the words of Sage Software President and CEO Sue Swenson yesterday during the opening keynote at Sage’s Insights partner conference. Swenson was emphasizing to partners how important customer relationships are to her, and to Sage.
I always love to hear that kind of customer focus, but it especially strikes a chord when someone at the C-level not only talks the talk but walks the walk. Because as we all know, an enterprisewide customer strategy can only succeed if company leaders believe in the power of customer centricity, communicate that to their employees, and deliver on it.
