Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

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?" »

Posted by Jeremy Nedelka at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Continue reading "Correcting Mistakes Pays Off" »

Posted by Mila D'Antonio at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"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.

Continue reading "A PG-13 Ad Campaign" »

Posted by Kevin Zimmerman at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“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.

Continue reading "C-Level Customer Centricity" »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of hearing John Maxwell deliver an engaging keynote on leadership at the Sage Software Insights partner conference. Maxwell is the author of several best-selling books on leadership, as well as the just-released Leadership Gold: Lessons I've Learned from a Lifetime of Leading.

I was especially drawn in because of two things Maxwell said that, to me, directly apply to customer strategy: 1) when your ability to lead grows, so does your business; and 2) leadership is all about engaging people—and without engaged employees customer centricity is not much more than big talk. “Your ability to lead will determine your effectiveness,” he said.

Maxwell discussed the five levels of leadership. Here’s an overview.

Continue reading "Leadership: A Customer Strategy" »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 1:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)