The Biggest Picture [Pre-Quiz Post]
The salon where I get my “hair cut” in Soho has been doing a terrific job for years. But they have branched out to the point of no return and now the owner’s got a whole line of products to hawk. Whatever. But now when I call them instead of “push 1 for reservations,” the faux British lady says “push 1 for products.” That pisses me off and I’m considering a new place for a hair-do.
Why should I be 2?
It makes me think about how businesses these days forget how fickle the purchaser is, and how every little public decision counts. A lot.
Let’s look at Folgers, the coffee company that sells Americanized caffeine powder and has over $450 million of the market. They went out and said a new softer coffee would be better for the stomach – and had the science to prove it.
They called it Simply Smooth. “Made from specially selected beans that are roasted to reduce certain irritants that may affect a sensitive stomach,” was their super big press release.
People started going to their favorite blog and posting droves that Folgers’ talk seemed suspiciously like marketing-speak and questioned the veracity. Or, they called it bullshit. Then suddenly the New York Times asked Dr. Joel E. Richter about it – after seeing the online ruckus.“It’s as much mythology as anything,” Richter blabbed. “The evidence that coffee is injurious to the stomach isn’t there.” Hmm.
How many people are now in the market walking past Folgers for Maxwell House, where being good to the last drop was never in question.
What about the old time iTunes/iPod/Apple religion? Even it makes mistakes. This corporation just enacted something awesome that made me look up and say “Wow, a business is listening.” Apple announced we could finally buy entire albums from songs we had already purchased – cheaper than if we’d purchased the missing songs individually. Brilliant. However, in micro-letters it explained this was only for a limited time. Why? If I own the song why can’t you just let me take my time…! Why does a cool company like Jobs’ have to be as officious as anyone else? You already have my business,
We all have examples…I’m even a little miffed at the local design company who sent an e-mail about a fire in his place (“We’re offline now,” as if I would care) and used a salutation sure to insult folks: “Dear Clients & Friends…” If there’s money changing hands you need to separate me!” It’s like, “Screw you, give me the check.”
This whole partitioning of Friends and Family got our pal Starbucks in a ton of trouble last year. Remember how they sent out the e-mail “Free Iced Coffee” promotion to their myriad friends-of-Starbucks (mostly associates, executives, vendors and their beloveds) since they had a run of IC in the summer? Just after everyone started forwarding the darn things to everyone they knew Starbucks called it off. On the counters went a black-and-white sign, “This was only meant for Friends and Family,” which allegedly explained why they weren’t honoring the coupon any longer! Most of us who saw it went wait a minute. Well who the fuck am I?
Hardly anyone is careful anymore and it’s un-Punk to just push the send key without thinking clearly, weighing your options, and finally reading carefully. Why do people “say” anything when they are smart enough to know it could get them in hot water!
Well there you have it. A brief posting about the Punk mission to remember everyone’s watching. We’re all waiting to see what you do next. As a matter of fact, look up, that’s me staring at you, wondering why you aren’t studying. Because in a few days you’ll be getting the Quiz from Mark and me…and you’ll want to win one of our fabulous Punk Patches.
Oh yeah.
