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Posts Tagged Catch phrases and experts

Old Spice Versus Dairy Queen

Aug 2

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in advertising, Brand strategy, communications, creative, Marketing Strategy, Scott Westerlaken, Television Advertising, web video | 8 Comments

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Someone once said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Ok marketing mavens out there! You may or may not have heard me rant over the last year about DQ’s ads, but now that some of you have actually started noticing them I think they are worth another look. What I want to talk about is the apparent blatant imitation. Let’s call a spade a spade; the DQ ads are a rip off of the Old Spice ads (I’m the man you wish you had) that shook the ad world for their recallable-ability. Rip offs really make angry as I’ve had ideas stolen on more than one occasion!

I really loved the previous iteration of the Old Spice ads; heck I even bought some Old Spice deodorant as a result of those ads. For context here is a link to one of the ads.

Very smart creative and brilliant execution…a winning combination.

Simply stated, DQ did a lousy job of stealing the idea. You be the judge….

 

I find the DQ ads childish and…I believe the campaign is a one trick pony, nowhere near as visually and mentally interesting as Old Spice. The DQ campaign has no legs, whereas the Old Spice work is built around a concept that continues to reveal new ideas and executions. Don’t believe me…take a look at the posts and at the views on the Oldspice youtube channel.  http://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice . That means it continues to get consumer attention. I even see the Old Spice “I’m the man” campaign with even more legs than the Budweiser “true” campaign from many years ago.

 

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Back to the point, no one I know in the ad world would have the brass balls to steal a currently running campaign’s big idea. And what really astonishes me about the current DQ creative is that they have done some really creative work in the past.I relate the DQ idea to “we need an idea for this years TV marketing…think quick!  As our current campaign is tanking…

 

Maybe, maybe not.

OK now I vented my spleen it is your turn to comment. Am I right or simply righteous.

 

SW

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Wikio
Wikio

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The perils of sponsorship

Jul 14

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in advertising, Brand strategy, Scott Westerlaken | 15 Comments

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Over the course of the last 11 years I have sponsored a number of events and charities.  Some, I have felt were quite worthwhile, some have been absolute disasters and most have fallen somewhere in between.

 

I believe pitfalls that have the potential for disaster or are just irritating are easily avoided by the paying attention to what is being offered up front and making sure your investment will result in positive PR.

 

One of my biggest peeves is feeling like our contribution was not appreciated.  I want to feel that no matter how large or small our sponsorship package is, that we are recognized. There is nothing worse feeling that you are only sponsoring the main sponsors PR campaign. Not to take anything away from the main sponsor’s importance but there have been a few times where it was quite clear it all revolved around them and the other sponsors were forgotten about.

 

A few times I have sponsored events and find out there is no formal contract. Why has this been a problem? It always seems that when there isn’t a contract the organization keeps asking for or demanding more dollars, time or resources then originally agreed upon.  Now we will not do any sponsorships without a contract…if they don’t have one then I’m out no matter what!

 

 

When I’m sponsoring I am acting for a business and we need to get something in return for the dollars or resources’ that would normally be used elsewhere making us money. I’ve had numerous conversations with sponsorship coordinators about the how money we would be spending on a sponsorship would be better spent buying tickets.

Sometimes, there is a very limited amount of value having our logo on a golf tournament hole flag or signage that 100 people walk by.  I look at these situations with a cost per impression perspective. $500 for 100 impressions?!

 

Worse than limited reach is investing in events where the organizers don’t remember you or remember to send you a thank you. It’s like the event and your donation/effort never happened. But your cheque was cashed and you can count on a call next year  Fool me once!

 

So, how do I protect myself now? A great, well spelled out contract. If it is a dinner sponsorship and includes seats, I want it spelled out where the seating will be (after spending a $1000 for a table once we were placed at the back of the room, yet there were non sponsor seating (who where connected to the event planner) 2 tables closer!). If it’s signage, I want to know where it will be and how long it will be up, how big it can be and who is responsible for set up and take down (big point as that’s extra $$ on your part if you have to handle it). If it’s a services donation, I ensure the last little detail is spelled out..including if food will be supplied and what it will be as there is nothing worse than having a crew complain and charge you meal penalty because the food went missing or was unacceptable (I once had an event planner try to pass off non iced oysters covered with flies for crew lunch!).  The final test to see if we get involved is the actual committee involved.  If it is a respected group of people, chances are you will only be annoyed if something doesn’t pan out, if it a couple of students…well lets just say we’d recommend staying away!

 

Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on sponsorship!

 

Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Wikio
Wikio

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Equipment test and customer service

Mar 15

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in Equipment Review, Nova Scotia, Scott Westerlaken, Video Production | No Comments

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Well, I have a few clients that love tech and talking tech.  A couple in particular where drooling when I got the new GoPro Hd.  For those that don’t know the GoPro has been around for a while but only in the last year as an HD version and is an ultra compact, rugged, and water proof camera.  It has a bunch of industrial applications for us including mounting in places where I would have never thought a camera could go.  What is funny about this review I also relate back to my previous rants on customer service rather than fully concentrate on a product review.

The first thing I want to make note of is that I’m not expecting much from this camera other than being able to be installed and used in areas where I wouldn’t want to use our 5d Mk 2’s or EX1. This camera’s main points are that it’s water proof to 180 feet and it’s small…like really small and light… Dimensions (H x W x D): 1.6” x 2.4” x 1.2” (42mm x 60mm x 30mm), weight: 3.3oz (94g) incl. battery, 5.9oz (167g) incl. housing. I still expect half decent quality though as they have really hyped it in print and online and for pro use, well you need pro results.

The first test I did was with the head mount on a camping trip at the end of November.  The light weight test passed with flying colours.  I almost forget about it being there.  It did wobble a bit on the rough ground and on jumping.  On a helmet I’m sure you wouldn’t notice it at all and it would be much more stable.

When I got around to looking at the footage I found the light sensitivity a little lacking.  At a certain point it gets a little grainy (auto exposure only on the cam) and when shooting the fire at the end of the day there was little detail in the blacks (see example of frame grab).  I’m hoping for an manual exposure firm ware update in the future, really hoping.

On the matter of the capture quality was…well ok.  Nothing really stood out when properly exposed but then again it really didn’t jump out at me like when I first used the EX1 or 5D. For its size, weight and water ability I can forgive the “wow” factor though.  I didn’t get it do to portraits or landscapes!

The one thing that I thought I did notice was subpar the battery performance. In the morning of the hike the camera died and I popped the second battery and that one I “thought” died within a ½ hour…even though it was charged for 2 hours……more on that later….

The second test I did was doing time lapse for a documentary shoot I was involved in.  The camera has a built in intervolometer (a devise used to automatically take a picture at set intervals).


I set the camera up in a couple of locations and it really worked out well.  It’s tiny, water proof and does 5mg pictures….can you say inconspicuous?!  There was never a worry about leaving it unmonitored for 6 hours or more at the top of a post.

For the next test I did was just for fun. The first commercial I worked on was in 1987 and I was the car mount assistant for the first Ford Probe ad.  Since then I have always loved doing car mounts!  This camera is PERFECT for that.  I have to say that I had blast trying to find places where I “couldn’t” mount it and how close to “things” I could place it….


The speed at which I could mount this camera was amazing… side door mount? One minute tops.  Hood mount? Same.  Bumper mount? Five minutes tops, including safety and taping the mount….

Just last week we did a really cool shoot with it for the Ice Boat club on Porters Lake.  Perfect day for both shooting and sailing! Here is where we found another little trouble.

The camera doesn’t like flares off black. If you take a close look at the highlight on the mast you will see some artifacting.  Still though, a save able shot and also shot at 720p 60 fps…lots to work with.

Now overall I love this little camera.  I really have only two issues other than the big lack of manual exposure control.

The first issue has to do with the design of the case.  To understand this the camera is in two parts, the actual recording devise with primary lens, battery and card and then the housing which protects the sensitive parts from water, dirt and impact.  The problem is with the hinge on the lock for the case.  When not engaged the hinge can fall off and once lost you need to buy a whole new case for $40.00.  Silly that they would design it that way, but they did…but they do a great deal of secondary sales!

The second issue one was a huge surprise but one we have been running into a lot recently.  GoPro customer support is very weak. Maybe the thought is they are saving money off the initial cost of the unit, but I would be more than willing to pay $5 more per until for great customer support…(I can hear past Dell owners groaning). The weak battery I experienced wasn’t really that weak (though don’t expect more than two hours of video recording).  The camera I had was defective and on the hiking trip it shut itself off.  It did come back on once I got back into the car so I figured it was either too cold or the battery wasn’t fully charged…but that wasn’t the case.  After the documentary I was going to start the car mount tests and the camera wouldn’t turn on.  I stored the camera in our studio all day, all the batteries were charged. No reason for it not to turn on.  After going to the GoPro site they had listed a solution (weird), which I tried a few times with no avail.  Sooo I did what I usually do when faced with problems with no logical solutions, I went to Google.  Google did not fail me!  Apparently there were a few people with the same problem.   The only solution was to do a camera exchange with GoPro and hope the new one did not have the same issue.  That would be ok, so on the GoPro site I submitted a support ticket explaining I had followed their solutions and had went through their procedure three times to no avail, the camera would not turn on.  Two days later no response.  Since the camera was only a week and a half old I went back to my trusty local camera shop (Henry’s) and they did a quick exchange! Done. Fixed. (god I love Henry’s) No problem since.  The next day I got an email back from GoPro telling me to go to the website and follow the instructions for when the camera will not turn on then contact them again if it doesn’t work…..hmmmm, thanks…  Ok people! As a company if you have robotic responses going it should be immediate. Submit support ticket, get a response with possible solutions based on key words.  The email I received should have gone right out away. Next, within 24 hours I should have received a response to the actual text I had sent them.  All the token response did was to a piss me off as they obviously didn’t read what I sent them and are merely trying to appear as being responsive.

Overall, I love this little camera, even with it’s faults I have found it very useful now that I know it’s going to work (very important when you bill clients for equipment!).  As for customer support I am really disappointed. Why oh why do companies scrimp when it comes to support? Worse is the outsourcing to India or the like where you know they don’t fully comprehend what you’re are communicating.  Talk about a thank you for buying our product!

Wikio
Wikio

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The Afterlife & Striving For Sainthood

Oct 25

Posted by Al Graham in Al Graham, Marketing Strategy, SEO, Social Media, Television Advertising, Twitter, Web | No Comments

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While not all advertising people could be described as Saints, for those who run ad shops that have remained stuck in the old days, the funeral march is well underway.

Yes, we all know and love Mad Men. But the version of the ad industry that Mad Men presents is long gone. We no longer smoke in the office, most of us don’t have a bar next to our desk, we aren’t all having sex with our non-existent secretaries and we don’t grab 15% commission of everything that moves. No, we don’t do business like they did in Don Draper’s heyday… unless of course the agency you work for or own is planning to become a “used to was” in the very near future.

The new world of advertising is dominated by those who have never lost sight of the simple premise that their very existence is tied to their ability to be their clients eyes and ears on the street and… have found a way to bring them closer to their customers. You can’t do that by sitting around the boardroom sipping single malt or by rushing home the minute the 5 pm bell rings.

The advent of Direct Marketing and the increasing use of data changed our basic understanding of the business in the eighties. But social media appears to be the biggest shift in how we communicate since Gutenburg invented moveable type printing.

Here are a few stats of interest.

• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers

• 96% of them have joined a social network

• 1 out of 8 couples married in the US last year have met via social media

• Facebook added 100 million users in 9 months

• If Facebook would be a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest

• 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees

• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices. People update anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?

• YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world

• There are over 200,000,000 Blogs.

• 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.

If these stats don’t make you stop and think, you should quit your ad job and get a job driving a cab.

The results are in and they are clearly telling us that we can no longer move client product and services based on gut instinct, clever burn lines or TV Spots and Print Ads that are all about our perception of features and benefits. Consumers are much too smart to buy that stuff… and they have the tools at their disposal to get even smarter.

That is not to say TV spots don’t have a place in an overall plan. But the recognition that TV viewing is fragmented and consumers are consuming more time than ever online is a prerequisite for success in today’s marketplace.

Imagine, a meeting between David Ogilvy and Mark Zuckerberg and the discussion that would result.  I think you might be surprised to hear Ogilvy say “Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.” That statement I think would make Zuckerberg’s head move like a Bobble Head toy in the rear window of Ogilvy’s Mercedes. Was Ogilvy ahead of his time or were we just not hearing the things that Zuckerberg and others appear to know intuitively?

On that note let’s sum up. If you want to influence consumers you must be part of the conversation they are having. Your challenge is to heighten you listening skills so you understand “the mores of society” and given an opportunity finding something of moment to say. And by that I don’t mean “While Quantities Last”

So whadda ya think…. is social media the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

AL_HiResAl Graham is a veteran of the advertising wars who once smoked like Mad Men’s Don Draper. He is also a veteran of many social conflict wars and has been actively involved in protesting dumps, airports, expressways and urban sprawl.

Wikio
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Collaboration

Jul 19

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in Brand strategy, Marketing Strategy, Nova Scotia, Scott Westerlaken, Television Advertising | No Comments

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Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

Having worked in communications through two large recessions I know that the companies that survive are the ones that can adapt to the conditions and own them….. I When times are good, we don’t think to much of a client sending one piece of a project to someone else, yet when times are tight we fight like mad to keep all the biz internal….whether or not it might be a good for the clients needs.

As the economy is starting to come to life like a 1976 Chevy pickup one defining practice will be how companies learn how to collaborate with each other.. especially with their competition… WHAT?! Really…  Think about it.  Take your best competition and their best resources and combine them with yours.  Not only do you benefit but so does your client and you gain a completive edge over any other competition!  This idea came to me a few months ago.  I was doing a SWOT on a new start up and one advantage I targeted was the ability to be able to offer varied solutions to clients based on their needs rather than the start ups offerings…a true reversal of “build it and they will come.”

I also looked at the main competition; small one to five person operations with small operating budgets and internal resources.  This was key, as the experience of the start up organization was competing against 5 to 30 person operations with operating budgets of .5 to 3 million and a vast array of internal resources..  Now imagine my glee when I thought of a company that could pick the best of another, combine with its own best attributes and offer it to clients.  Fantastic!

There are the sphincter tightening moments as you might imagine!  The moments where you feel so exposed that you wondered why you thought an idea was great in the first place!  One of my associates looked over at me during the first project we did this on and said “you got balls man…you realize they could steal this client like no ones business?” Ummmmm yeh…. But I had to have faith that the client could see the value we were bringing to the table and at the same time the competition would see the lack of value by stealing the client as it would end any more collaborations.

Now imagine if larger companies stared collaborating in the same way!  The resource power would be incredible…but here is the issue holding organizations back… A company’s ability to collaborate externally is parallel to how well they collaborate internally.  Look at any number of teams or divisions within a company and there will be issues with how they collaborate with one another…do they all fall on the sword when mistakes are made or do they all duck for cover? Not a good scenario for an external collaboration.

Regardless of how you believe this may or may not work for where you are now, one thing I believe is certain, a company’s lack of fear for collaboration will enhance its prospects of success.  No fooling, it is hard to do you and full of risks.  Clients, I believe, will appreciate that you are looking after their best interest and for the best solutions to their issues…. Now who is next?

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Wikio
Wikio

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Someone Call A Doctor!

May 31

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in Video Production, web video | 3 Comments

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Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

Recently I had a conversation with someone who was bragging about their camera system and needing just one more lens to have a complete kit.  I asked her if she had tried the full frame model from the same camera manufacturer she currently used.  She replied that she had that model.  Thinking that she didn’t understand, I asked her again. “Have you tried the 22 megapixel full frame version of that brand?”  She repeated that was the one she has  “BUT it wasn’t 22 megapixel, it’s a 10 megapixel, 35mm SLR.”  I started to explain the different sensor sizes then stopped…why should I?  This person shoots stills for her clients now and bills them for doing so.  She should know the gear right?

As equipment becomes better and more affordable I am clearly getting more confused over what constitutes a pro photographer or videographer, or am I?   Does act of selling or be paid for your work make you a pro? Does it mean that you can now go around saying you are a “pro photographer” or “videographer” even if you don’t know the basics taught in first year photography or film school?  Not to say these folks don’t get great shots, but I have always thought there was more to being called a “pro” than that.  If I performed CPR on someone, does that make me a Doctor?

SW

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Wikio
Wikio

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Lazy Boy and Lazy Creative

Apr 9

Posted by Al Graham in Al Graham, Guest Blogger, Low Budget Advertising, Marketing Strategy | No Comments

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Talking Recliners and Sub Ovens that have Children.

Do you find watching TV a little depressing lately? Well I do.

One evening of viewing and one can’t help but wonder what happened to the creative advertising industry.

Take for example the series of spots that recently aired for Lazy Boy. In each spot we are asked to believe that recliners can talk. Wow what a premise!  Can you imagine the creative brief for this one? If that unbelievable premise ain’t bad enough how about a sub oven that, under physcotherapy, confesses to being a guys parent.

Neither of these spots is funny. Some lazy bastard, or worse a group of them, foisted these pieces of excrement on the client and beat their asses home – where being creatively responsible is not a prerequisite.

Al Graham

From People or Planes 1974 Gordon Willson

From People or Planes 1974 Gordon Willson

Al Graham is a veteran of the advertising wars who once smoked like Mad Men’s Don Draper. He is also a veteran of many social conflict wars and has been actively involved in protesting dumps, airports, expressways and urban sprawl.

Wikio
Wikio

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The King is dead! Long live the King!

Mar 11

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in Scott Westerlaken, Social Media, Web | No Comments

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I could never figure that line out as a kid growing up.  I forget what movie I heard the line in but I know I wasn’t watching the images at the time.  Had I been, I would have seen the old king take his last breath and the crown placed on the young prince.

When websites first started getting attention from marketers in the late 90’s the hot word was “content”.  Things changed after businesses found that content on the web alone didn’t make them money or drive their sales.  Interestingly in the last few years the word keeps popping up again.  “Content Is King”, and surprisingly in the same breath I hear the “Big Idea” is dead.  In fact I was just at a Canadian Marketing Association conference and heard it again.  Thankfully there were defenders of the “Big Idea” concept on the panel.  I’m always left puzzled by the “Content Is King” statements though.

The Internet is a communication medium and people use it to find information or entertainment of some sort (this is over simplified).  The information/entertainment on a website is considered its content. Generally the thinking is the more useful, fresh and interesting the content the website has, the more successful it will be. In theory this is because more people will want to visit it again and again, link to it, and generally talk about.  This is especially true if a website is constantly adding more and more content on a regular basis.  This could also be said about TV, Print and Radio and the strategy leaves a lot to chance.  You could be lost in the clutter!

In the past the “Big Idea” was the game changing concept in traditional marketing and advertising.  This was the “Where’s the beef?” idea.  If you had a good enough idea, theory said you could connect with the consumer, cut through the clutter and the product or service would be a success.  To me, though, the “Big Idea” can be two things:  giving people want they want (whether they know it or not) in a way that is more enjoyable than the competition and/or creating emotion that motivates them to an action.  Right now, the web needs the “Big Idea” more than at any other time to date!

As I see it you can have all the good content in the world, but you can still fail without a great idea.  Case in point are the sites with great content (pets.com, drugstore.com) but had flawed “Ideas”.   All the content in the world could not save them.

bk chickenMy line of thinking is if you combine valuable “Content” with a “Big Idea” you are almost guaranteed success.  On the web, Crispin Porter produced a great example combining the two.  The subservient chicken site, was built a few years ago for Burger King (ironic) to launch their new chicken sandwich and also build the brand slogan, “have it your way”.  Without the “Big Idea” I could easily see this site having been just pictures or descriptions of the many different ways to get your BK Chicken Burger (I’m sure we have all sat through those briefings)…. Instead it was an early micro site viral success!

Most times I will take the “big idea” over “content” (though I would take a million dollars over the idea of a million dollars in a second).  To say that there needs to be no “Big Idea” for successful marketing and websites as long as you have good content is rather foolish.  You are just keeping the door open for the competition to come eat your dinner.  Statements like “Content OR Idea” need to be refined to “Content AND Idea” in order to position yourself best for success.  I am almost thinking that the “Content Is King” line of thinking doesn’t consider monetization of the product? Am I misguided? Maybe I’m just not seeing the King for what the King is?

SW

Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

Wikio
Wikio

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How Was Your Meal Tonight?

Feb 4

Posted by Scott Westerlaken in Marketing Strategy, Scott Westerlaken, Social Media, Twitter | 1 Comment

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As you finish your meal at most restaurants the staff will ask you how your meal was. Standard operating procedure for them and it makes absolute sense…  Get feed back in case something went wrong so maybe they might be able to fix it before you leave and spread the negative reviews.  Additionally, not asking would be implying they didn’t care about the customer’s experience.  Seems smart doesn’t it?  Yet most business other than the hospitality industry forget to ask (or worse listen)  “how they did”. By setting up a twitter search filter within their Twitter program and using Google Alerts Blog narcissism or market research a business can take care of such issues .  Not only does it give you a heads up as to what your customers really think but it shows your company cares when you publicly and proactively take care of complaints.

Recently I rented a vehicle with Hertz for a shoot.  When we picked up the vehicle they asked our plans and they upgraded the rental (at  no additional charge) to a model that would better suit our needs.  During the last part of the rental, however, the rear hatch failed and we had to do our loading and unloading through the passenger doors for a day, not a huge deal.  Upon returning the vehicle they asked how everything went and I explained it was great except for the hatch.  They promptly gave us a day off our rental contract for the minor inconvenience.  Fantastic!  That afternoon I tweeted the experience and thanked Hertz.  Within five minutes I had a direct tweet back from Hertz with a thank you.  Shocking!  I decided to do some research and discovered Hertz were following their name in Twitter and actively responding to comments and complaint issues (and in the open!).  SMART!

A few days latter I received a call from Dell Customer Support.  Having dealt with Dell support before I was mildly curious as to why they were calling.  The conversation started by the rep asking me if I was happy with my Dell and if I had experienced any problems during the past year. Ah!  Finally Dell is showing they care (if you have experienced Dell Customers Support in the past you will know what I am referring to)!  I went overdell the small issues I’ve had and the work arounds (using posts from other Dell users and not from Dell’s site) and expected to hear how they have some solution for me…To my dismay, the call quickly moved to a sales pitch for the extended warranty!   I emphatically told them I was not interested.  We went back and forth and I explained how I didn’t need the $400 extended warranty at which point she went into full script mode for 3 minutes without letting me get a word in.  I put the phone on hands free and went back to what I was doing before she called.  Eventually she hung up.  I twitted the experience expecting to get a response like I did from Hertz.  Hertz is a car rental company, Dell is a technology company….surely Dell would be as or more advanced than Hertz!  Nope. Nothing.  Now what was suppose to increase Dells revenue has only succeeded in further frustrating a customer.  FYI, a few days ago they called again…I explained they had already called me and I wasn’t interested….they hung up. Wow, not smart, but it appears that’s The Dell “standard operating procedure”!

Coincidently in the same week I sat down with my new friend Ross Simmonds (Twitter-TheCoolestCool)  rossfor a beer.  We started talking about my recent experiences with companies using twitter as a customer support tool and he told me one of his experiences with Aliant Mobility.  He twitted about being dissatisfied with a support call on his account….and know who contacted him back via Twitter?  Rogers Mobility!  Yes, Rogers.  Now that’s taking it to the next level.

It takes all of a few seconds to do a Twitter search and just a little longer to set up a Google Alert.  Not following your brand and company on Twitter and via Google Alerts is the same as saying I don’t care about what my customers experience with my company.  Why?  You’re not listening to what they have to say about the experience!  It would be the same as the waiter not asking how your meal was.  So, on that note, how did you enjoy this blog today? Can I get you anything else? :)

SW

Scott Westerlaken

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in television, film, video, marketing, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott Westerlaken has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

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It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.

Nov 27

Posted by admin in Scott Westerlaken, Social Media, Uncategorized, Video Production, web video | No Comments

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What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know.  It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.

Mark Twain

roof in field

I like to compare what I do in communications to building a house.  There are many different ways to get to a finished house and not all houses are the same.  Some are designed by architects who put out tenders to construction companies who then, after winning the tender hire subcontractors.  Others are dreamt up and built by the dreamers using their own hands.  In what I do I can either be hired by the client or an ad agency to execute to varying degrees on an idea of theirs or our own.  Also, as demonstrated on “Holmes On Homes” and maybe in your past marketing efforts there are folks out there who bullshit you out of your money leaving you with a half finished reno or message!

In building a house or communications message, none of the finished products are inherently superior to the other just by how they got to being, but there are some benefits and dangers involved in each method.  For one, the more people involved in the process the easier it is for someone down the line to “fix” a mistake caused by inexperience, lack of knowledge or attention to detail, but the more people involved, the more complex the process and the more cost.  With less people involved the process can be simplified and the costs can be reduced but inexperience, lack of knowledge and attention to detail can be disastrous as there are few others (if anyone else) to catch errors.

The major challenge facing small to medium sized companies right now when it comes to hiring independent contractors to execute on their communications is they can be faced with an assortment of “experts”.  These “experts” can throw around key words, stats and phrases to leave the impression that they “live” whatever they are professing to know about marketing, web, or video.  But there is more than knowing the latest catch phrases, popular websites and/or having read the latest evangelical book or blog on the subject required to be able to effectively communicate your message.  Success in telling the story comes from being able to combine solid knowledge of the media involved, knowledge and experience in technically executing for that media and having the ability to effectively communicate with the client and even more importantly, the target audience.  It’s not rocket science but does require hard work, which some are adverse to.

At PHI we believe the secret to communication success is having a team that is willing to work hard to understand the company and target and put a supreme effort into the execution of the message, all within the company’s budget.  Our team’s depth of experience in various industries, working with various products, and in some cases, being a manager on the client side making marketing or advertising decisions gives us a practical, street level understanding of what works in a real business and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, sales and the need for sustainable cash flow is what business owners want out of their communication expenditures. However, a company’s sustainability is only obtained by telling its story through meaningful, targeted branding, PR and advertising that will reach the actual customer.

You know your business better than anyone, and PHI’s team will help you articulate that knowledge (and story) into something that resonates with your target.  Catch phrases are optional but if you call in the next two hours we’ll throw them in for free (you only pay added shipping and handling).

SW

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