Marketing Factoids

  • Fewer than 10% of the London Financial Times Stock Exchange Index companies have marketing directors on their boards source ›
  • Of those people that recently made consumer electronics purchases in a store, 80 percent visited the store's website first. - Nielsen Online survey source ›
  • V users watch more TV than before (127 hrs, 15 min per month) and also spend 9 percent more time using the internet (26 hrs, 26 min per month) than they did last year source ›
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JUL 25

Griping Online? Comcast Hears and Talks Back

New York Times, July 25, 2008 — Brandon Dilbeck, 20, a student at the University of Washington, was complaining recently on his blog, Brandon Notices, about Comcast’s practice of posting ads in its on-screen programming guide. He assumed he was writing for his own benefit. “It feels like nobody ever really reads my blog,” he said. “Nobody has left a comment in months.”

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JUL 23

Electronics retailers find service sells

USA Today, July 23, 2008 — Three of the TVs are dark in Wal-Mart's electronics department, where the only two clerks in sight stock a shelf and disappear. At a nearby Target, the digital camera desk is unmanned, and there's no staff roaming electronics. In Circuit City, a clerk concedes it's his first day on the job and first week in the country.

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JUN 23

How Apple Is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service

Pete Blackshaw Explains Why Consumer-Facing Brands Can Benefit From Better Customer Interaction

Advertising Age, June 23, 2008 — "How can I help you, and where would you like to go?"

In this simple greeting, there's a huge question: Are the greeting and the experience that follows marketing or service or both? In the last couple of months, Apple has boosted the number of "concierges" who greet and direct shoppers as soon as they walk in the door of its retail stores. Apple has always had employees at the front, ready to help, but this time it is positioning an eager-to-please offensive line a few steps from the doorway.

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APR 28

Customer support phone numbers can be tough to find

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2008 — Let's play a game: Find the customer support telephone number. There was a time when businesses actually welcomed phone calls from customers. Now, many go to extraordinary lengths to avoid calls, preferring that orders and support issues be handled online.

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MAR 21

Using Customer Service as a Branding Opportunity

Thanks to Web, Advertiser Can Engage in 'Conversational' Marketing With Customers

Advertising Age, March 21, 2008 — Conversing with consumers and finding out what they think about their brands has become a whole lot easier for marketers because of the web. And whether it's an actual customer-service call or inquiry or responding to a comment on the corporate blog, marketers need to start looking at each interaction as a marketing opportunity. That was one of the main themes that emerged during the "Listenomics: So you want to be a conversational marketer?" panel at the Ad Age Digital Conference.

Category: Brand Strategy
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MAR 5

Customers Disappointed By Web Sites, Online Customer Service

MediaPost Publications, March 5, 2008 — WHEN IT COMES TO WEB recourses, consumer-centric companies are still failing to meet expectations, according to a new study of nearly 1,000 such companies and online shoppers.

Just 44% of consumers believe the information available on most company's Web sites meets their needs, found the study conducted by InQuira, a developer of automated self-service applications for Web-based sales and services, and research firm ServiceXRG.

And it's not for lack of trying, as a full 74.5% of consumers indicate that they use company sites to get information about products or services.

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FEB 20

The Best And Worst Companies For Customer Satisfaction

Forbes, February 20, 2008 — When tumbling home values and high gas prices already have consumers spending less at stores, car dealerships and airline ticket counters, how does a company minimize the pain?

One way is to offer superior customer service, the better to compete for the fewer number of dollars out there, and set yourself up with loyal customers for the inevitable economic rebound. A new report finds a lot of companies like Wal Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ) seem to have a different plan.

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NOV 2007

Magic Shop

Are your frontline employees going to save or kill your most important quarter? At Apple, nothing is left to chance

Fast Company, November 1, 2007 — Day one at my new job. Sporting white headphones, I am plugged into a computer watching Ridley Scott's awe-inspiring "1984" Macintosh ad, reviewing the company history, and getting pumped up about my new workplace. Like most of my coworkers, I'm already a loyal fan of the company, so starting this job will take my interest to the next level. I'm working as a Mac specialist at the Apple Store.

What happens between now and Christmas is the most important time for a very large sector of our economy: The National Retail Federation predicts almost $475 billion will pass between customers and merchants this holiday season, and whether such notable brands as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Gap (NYSE:GPS), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and many others think... continue reading

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OCT 2007

Behind T-Mobile's customer service success

She's blunt. She's flashy. And customer-service chief Sue Nokes is T-Mobile's secret weapon in a cutthroat industry

FORTUNE, October 1, 2007 — Marry me, Sue!" We've just pulled into the parking lot of Albuquerque's Jefferson Commons call center, home to 800 T-Mobile USA customer-service representatives, and outside there's mayhem. Hundreds of screaming, chanting people are standing in front of the building, bedecked in a wild array of hot-pink clothing (T-Mobile's signature color) ranging from T-shirts to cowboy hats to feather boas. They're waving signs, holding up camera phones, and generally acting like starstruck teenagers. One guy's wearing a fuchsia bathrobe; another, in a fluorescent-pink wig, is screaming, "We love you!" over and over.

All this booty shaking and flag waving might seem a bit extreme, given that technically today's event features a middle-aged woman on a routine visit... continue reading

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JUL 2007

Was Sprint's Sacking of 1,200 Customers Sound Business?

Canning Chronic Complainers a Good Call, but Average Consumer May Get Wrong Message

Advertising Age, July 12, 2007 — Sprint Nextel's decision to "fire" some of its customers may be a good business decision — but could come back to haunt it in the long run.

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