Brand Autopsy

Something doesn’t make sense with this poster ad on the DFW Airport skylink tram. Do you see what I saw?
If I’m advertising a “treat yourself” occasion at the airport during the hullabaloo of holiday travel, I’m choosing something more treat worthy than a low-fat soft pretzel. There are lots of "treat yourself" opportunities at DFW Airport that out indulge a basic pretzel.

As a customer loyalty-focused marketer, Jeanne Bliss has been in the marketing game with some notable brands: Lands’ End, Coldwell Banker, Allstate, Microsoft, and Mazda. She has seen how making the wrong decisions can lead to forging customer disloyalty and how making the right decisions lead to fostering customer loyalty.

I’ve known Jeanne for a couple years. Smart gal. And her latest book, I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY DOG, is a smart read for businesses wanting to earn loyalty from customers. (Since Jeanne is a friend, she gave me a copy to read. Friends are nice that way. Thanks Jeanne.)

Jeanne is onto something worth reading by framing her book around exploring five decisions company’s make (or don’t make) to become a beloved brand.

To summarize key points from the book, let’s give it the Brand Autopsy "WHAT? – SO WHAT? – WHAT NOW?" treatment...

WHAT?
“When you make a decision, it results in action. And the accumulation of those decisions and actions become how people describe you and think of you. It becomes your ‘story.’”

SO WHAT
“As customers and employees, we crave what beloved companies deliver. They enable people to decide and act from a corner of their brain that is congruent with doing the right thing. In doing so, they build an organization with energy and spirit that draws customers to them.”

WHAT NOW?
“[There] are five decisions that set beloved companies apart. These five decisions reveal who they are and what they value.”

Decision #1:
Decide to Trust Customers and Employees
“By deciding to trust customers, [companies] are freed from extra rules, policies, and layers of bureaucracy that create a barrier between them and their customers. And by deciding to believe that employees can and will do the right thing, second-guessing ... is replaced with shared energy, ideas, and a desire to stick around.”

Decision #2:
Decide to be Guided by a Clarity of Purpose
“Beloved companies take their time to be clear about what their unique promise is for their customers’ lives. Clarity of purpose guides choices and united the organization. It elevates people’s work from executing tasks to delivering experiences customers will want to repeat and tell others about.”

Decision #3:
Decide to be Real, Genuine, and Personal
“... beloved companies shed their fancy packaging. Beloved companies strike a chord with customers. They decide to create a safe place where the personality and creativity of their people shine through.”

Decision #4:
Decide to Deliver Thoughtful Customer Experiences
“Beloved companies think and rethink how to conduct themselves, so they earn the right to their customers’ continued business. Their ‘experience’ is far more than the execution of an operating plan. [Beloved companies] leave customers thinking, ‘Who else would have done this?’ ‘Where else could I get this?’ ‘I want to do this again.’”

Decision #5:
Decide to Apologize
“When a beloved company apologizes for something that goes wrong, the intent and motivation is to make customers whole—to earn the right to continue the relationship. Many companies consider the apology as admitting defeat. In actuality, the reverse is true. A well-executed apology: one that is timely and delivered with humility and remorse ... often build a much stronger relationship. Both the customer and company win.”

Decision #6:
Decide to Read I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY DOG
(This is a bonus decision you should make.)

John Nese is a modern day soda jerk. He’s passionate about “flavored water with a lot bubbles.” Soda makes him smile, makes him happy. He’s the proprietor of Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Los Angeles. His store sells about 500 different sodas from small, independent-run soda makers. His business is a prototypical purple cow, worthy of word-of-mouth.

Watching the video below will not only make us smile and happy, it will make us smarter about business strategy and jealous we don’t have the same passion for what we do that John Nese does.

We’ll become smarter because we’ll see first-hand how passion propels performance, how being more selective makes a business more effective, and how sharing inspired expert knowledge will never go out of style.

We’ll become jealous because we’ll see someone who has made the necessary sacrifices in life to pursue their calling.

Enjoy. (Thanks Seth and Neal for bringing this video to my attention.)

RSS Readers ... click here to watch the video.

Lots of chatter online about the revamped Starbucks “rewards” program. Starbucks will discontinue its Gold Card program it began a year ago. The Starbucks Gold Card program was designed like many membership rewards program where customers pay a yearly $25 fee and in return they receive free refills on brewed coffee, free wi-fi access, and 10% off on all purchases.

Beginning December 26, Starbucks will replace its Gold Card program with a "My Starbucks Rewards" program offering customers a free beverage after 15 purchases. (There are a few other small perks in this program but it's essentially a Buy 15 Drinks, Get 1 Free program.)

Starbucks is touting its new rewards program as an improvement because of its simpler design and the no annual fee.

However, the consensus from the online chatter is this new program benefits less frequent Starbucks customers (2-to-3 visits a month) than the very frequent Starbucks customer (8+ visits a month).

Obviously the redesign of this program will benefit Starbucks more financially. Perhaps offering a 10% discount to Gold Card members on all purchases was profiting heavy-spending customers more than it was profiting revenue-needing Starbucks.

Whenever I read about new Starbucks business happenings, I refer back to the book I wrote about Starbucks foundational business practices. In TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE, there’s a short section on fostering customer devotion where I give the old school Starbucks perspective on “Preferred Shopper” loyalty schemes, such as a Starbucks Gold Card program or the new My Starbucks Rewards program...

“These ‘Preferred Shopper’ promotions also reverse the logic of great customer service: they ask customers to sign up for a card or buy a certain amount of product before they can enjoy the benefits of being part of the club. Do you really want to create two classes of customers? One that gets the ‘good stuff’ at a good price, the other that gets a raw deal? If you want to foster true customer devotion, don’t make your customers jump through hoops just to feel welcome, or 'preferred.'

Businesses operating like this treat their customers like cattle, doing whatever they can to attract attention. When companies are more focused on their own bottom line than their customers, both will eventually fall away. These programs lack soul and meaning to stand the test of time.”

The last paragraph in this chapter shares a thought more businesses, especially Starbucks today, need to pay attention to:

“Customer loyalty works both ways, and Starbucks knows that. Of course Starbucks wants to maintain its profitability, but it does this by helping the folks who come into its stores, not by working against them. If you want customers to stay loyal to you, stay loyal to your customers—treat them as people, help them as individuals, offer them something extra, and they’ll come back for more.”

You can read the full chapter, TRIBAL TRUTH #28: Foster Customer Devotion, in the box below:

Foster Customer Devotion

*** My WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post.

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It’s a few weeks until WOMMA’s Creating Talkable Brands Conference (Nov. 18 – 20, Las Vegas). Sign-ups have been strong. And for good reason — the agenda is strong.

There are over 40 sessions with 4 learning tracks and 4 keynotes addresses (.pdf agenda). For each of the breakout sessions, WOMMA is pairing up a Brand with an Agency. So you’ll hear both perspectives, the brand-side and the agency-side, in each breakout.

To help make sense out of the packed agenda, I’ve been sharing highlights from Day 1 and Day 2 on the ALL THINGS WOM blog. Here’s a sample of how I’m breaking down the agenda...

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DAY ONE Highlights

The Annual State of Word of Mouth Address
[Wed. Nov. 18 | 2:00 - 2:45]
Dr. Walter Carl has been a fixture in past WOMMA Conferences. Of course he’ll share new information on measuring WOM, that’s what he’s known for. He’ll also give us marketers more ammunition to better sell-in our WOM programs up the corporate food chain.

KEYNOTE: The Anatomy of Buzz
[Wed. Nov. 18 | 3:00 - 3:45]
Emanuel Rosen, an author and marketer who helped to spark interest in word of mouth marketing nearly ten years ago with the publication of THE ANATOMY OF BUZZ, returns to keynote a WOMMA Conference. Earlier this year Emanuel updated his influential book on WOM to include new learnings, new methods, and new case studies. His presentation will share the latest insight on all things WOM.

Choosing the Right Agency for your Social Media Marketing Projects
[Wed. Nov. 18 | 5:15 - 6:00]
David Witt (public relations manager, General Mills), Christine Morrison (social media manager, Intuit), and Steve Knox (ceo, Procter & Gamble Tremor) will advise brand marketers on what to look for in a social media agency partner. The beauty of this session is you’ll get both sides of the story (brand and agency) to help you better prepare your RFP and to whittle down the seemingly endless agency options. A must-attend session for brand marketers.

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DAY TWO Highlights
Answers from Academics to WOM’s Toughest Questions
[Thurs. Nov. 19 | 9:35 – 10:30am]
There is an art and a science to word of mouth marketing. This session will focus more on the science of WOM. Brad Fay from the KellerFay Group will ask Professors (Walter Carl & Jonah Berger) and PhDs (Lezan Aksoy & Barak Libai) important questions about the motivations for why people talk. The differences between how online and offline WOM spreads will no doubt be covered. And, I’m expecting a heated debate about targeting “influentials” versus “influenceables.” Answers from these academics will be steeped in research and deep analysis. Every marketer is sure to learn something new from this session.

True Believers: Turning Skeptical Co-Workers into Progressive WOM Marketers
[Thurs. Nov. 19 | 11:00 – 11:45am]
I read the proposal Sean McDonald (Ant’s Eye View) and Sam Decker (Bazzarvoice) sent in for this session and thought this will be the most creative session at the conference. Sean and Sam have outlined all the corporate characters who can derail the success of a WOM marketing plan. We’ll meet the finance guy ("Eddie Excel") who always cries out for the ROI. “Fanny Facebook” is the marketer manager who thinks all she needs is a Facebook fan page, without any strategy, and WOM will happen. “Freddy Filabuster” shows up to grandstand against a marketer’s plan, but he’s only interested in advancing his career and not advancing the business.

Fun and creative stuff, for sure. But the session will also be helpful in giving us advice on overcoming the objections and misguided approaches from co-workers, thus, paving the way for our WOM marketing plans to succeed.

Power Lunch with Kristian Bush of Sugarland
[Thurs. Nov. 19 | 12:45 – 1:45]
Sugarland is one of the more popular country music acts, winning Grammy awards and winning fans. Much of Sugarland’s success stems from the band’s LOVE THE FANS philosophy. The band does creative things to keep their fans involved from scavenger hunts for hidden tickets to a continuous stream of interesting tweets on Twitter.

A band is indeed a brand. We marketers can learn lots from how Sugarland broke through the clutter of country music bands to become a success. Ted Wright from Fizz will set the stage for Kristian Bush, singer and guitarist from Sugarland, to share how Sugarland uses word of mouth marketing strategies to make his band a success.

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That's only a smidgen of all the happenings on Day 1 & Day 2 at the upcoming Creating Talkable Brands Conference. I haven't begun to highlight the afternoon sessions on Day 2 nor the morning sessions on Day 3. (BTW, you can save $200 on the registration fee. Learn more here.)

BAKED IN: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves by Alex Bogusky and John Winsor gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment.

(Yep ... it's another dramatic reading of an influential business book by Sir Wilton Norman Chamberlain III.)

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

[NOTE: I often receive free copies of biz books from publishers and publicists. However, I spent my money for my copy of BAKED IN.]

The Dachis Group is ringing up successes. They’ve hired a talented team. Been backed by big dollars from Austin Ventures. Gone global with the acquisition of London-based Headshift. And, introduced a new business term: Social Business Design.

Kudos to everyone involved.

However, I need help with the term, Social Business Design. The current design of its definition seems flawed to me.

I tried explaining/defining the term to a friend the other day but did it poorly. (I think I know what it means, but I don’t.) It’s about using online applications (like ‘social media’ tools) to help businesses improve communication across all departments inside the company and communication across all vendor partners and customers outside the company to create a more efficient and more coordinated way of doing business.

At least that’s what I thought. After reading Dachis Group Managing Partner Peter Kim’s short explanation of what Social Business Design is, I’m totally lost.

Read through Peter’s explanation and see if you can make sense of it. If you can make sense of it, do us all a favor and leave your easier to understand definition for "Social Business Design" in the comments section. (Thanks.)

Peter Kim writes: “Social Business Design is the intentional creation of dynamic and socially calibrated systems, process, and culture.

Its goal: helping organizations improve value exchange among constituents.

Social Business Design uses a framework of four mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive archetypes: ecosystem, hivemind, dynamic signal, and metafilter. This model can be applied to improve customer participation, workforce collaboration, and business partner optimization. Doing so provides insight to help measure and manage business to produce improved and emergent outcomes.”

Clearly my WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post. (I work with WOMMA.)

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Last week was a big week for marketing, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidelines (.pdf document) for how businesses can use endorsements and testimonials in marketing. It’s a complicated and nuanced matter. Hopefully the presentations below will help you better understand what has happened and what marketers must be doing now.

For backstory purposes ... the FTC is in the business of protecting consumers from unscrupulous business practices, the commission believes consumers must be protected from being influenced by bloggers who fail to be transparent and disclose they have been compensated by an advertiser. The worry, of course, is compensated bloggers may not give their honest opinion about the products or services they’ve been compensated to write about.

Word of mouth marketing works best when it is credible. Each time word of mouth is faked and manufactured, the credibility of the most trusted marketing medium is damaged.

All that said, the end game for us marketers is that any marketing program we develop to spark conversations, especially online, we need to ask for disclosure from anyone involved. Bloggers we send products to for test drive purposes, need to mention somewhere in their writing if they received the product from someone other paying for it themselves.

To help sift through the nuances of the new regulations, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) hosted a webinar last week. In this webinar, Paul Rand, WOMMA’s president elect and CEO of the Zocalo Group discussed how these new regulations will impact marketers with WOMMA’s legal counsel Anthony DiResta from the Manatt Phelps & Phillips law firm.

You can view an archived, unedited 60-minute version of the webinar on SlideShare. An edited version (10:30 minutes) can be viewed below:

SHORT VERSION | Understanding the FTC Guidelines

View more documents from Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

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During the second part of the webinar, Paul Rand asked Anthony DiResta to give a legal perspective to important questions concerning how businesses and bloggers should practically address these new FTC guidelines.

I’ve edited this Q&A discussion from the webinar into a short presentation, which I encourage you to watch below. Questions asked and answered in this presentation include:

• How will the FTC track and monitor compliance to the new regulations?
• Will existing online marketing programs be exempt from these new regulations?
• Should marketers attempt to fix old blogger outreach programs?
• Does the FTC see a difference in sending an ‘influencer’ free product versus paying someone to blog about a product?

Practical Answers to Important Questions about the FTC Guidelines

View more documents from Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Starbucks is asking its partners (employees) to make short videos about their day-to-day life at Starbucks. Love it. The company will share these videos online at www.MyStarbucksStory.com. Again, love it.

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Early in 2008 Starbucks did a two-minute documentary on Young Han, a Starbucks barista, talking about his “Got Milk” photo shoot and his appreciation for the Starbucks Coffee Company. The video was posted on YouTube for everyone to see. (However, the video is no longer available.)

In a post from Feb. 2008 I mentioned how this video "works great as a recruitment video. Not slick. Not scripted. Just genuine moments and reflections..."  I also mentioned how Starbucks should STRONGLY CONSIDER encouraging its young and talented workforce to post videos of why they feel a connection to Starbucks similar to the brilliant Deloitte & Touche Film Fest idea.

More ideas from Starbucks empowering its talented workforce to showcase personality will go a long way in not just helping recruiting new employees but also in recruiting some lost customers to believe in the company again.

On the Post2Post Book Tour we’re talking about Jeremy Gutsche’s EXPLOITING CHAOS book.

Jeremy advises companies on trends and innovation. He also is the driving force behind TrendHunter.com. His book is chock-full of case study examples on how to use “perspective,” “experimental failure,” “intentional destruction,” and “customer obsession” to thrive during times of change

I’ve compiled a short list of “money quotes” from the book.  Riffle through the SlideShare deck below for tasty knowledge nuggets.

View more presentations from John Moore.

For more thorough insights into Jeremy and his book ... read posts from the Marketing Fresh Peel, the Essential Orange, 800-CEO-READ, and Innoblog.

Emily Yellin's YOUR CALL IS (not that) IMPORTANT TO US gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

*** Clearly my WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post.

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BACKSTORY
This fall, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will release updated guidelines on endorsements used in advertising and marketing. Current guidelines were last updated long before the Internet became an irreplaceable communication/networking channel and before marketers understood the irrefutable power of word-of-mouth marketing.

The FTC works to protect consumers from being influenced by unethical, untruthful, and unscrupulous business practices. Updated guidelines will address the need for endorsers, reviewers, and businesses to be 100% transparent and disclose when material compensation (in-kind gifts, special access privileges) and outright compensation (cash) changes hands.

On September 14, 2009, WOMMA hosted a webinar on ETHICS & ENDORSEMENTS: What is Adequate Disclosure. The diverse panel included marketers, entrepreneurs, a professor, a marketing analyst, and a lawyer.

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TAKEAWAYS
The resounding sentiment was marketers and bloggers need to design word-of-mouth marketing programs to state early (and often) when material compensation changes hands.

It is a non-negotiable … businesses must solve for being obvious and upfront when a brand offers in-kind gifts, special access privileges, and cash as part of a marketing program designed to spark word-of-mouth.

Solutions discussed by the panelists centered around being clear and conspicuous when disclosing material relationships between a brand and a consumer. Practical implications talked about on the webinar included: “disclosure badges” on websites, prominently placed “terms of engagement” practices, specially designated “product review” blogs, and uniquely tagging of tweets (such as [#ad]).

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WATCH. LISTEN. LEARN.
You can watch, listen, and learn more by watching this highly edited version of the webinar. This 11-minute version shares key takeaways spoken by the panelists.

SHORT VERSION | Ethics and Endorsements: What is Adequate Disclosure?

View more presentations from Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

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LEARN MORE. DO MORE.

• The complete 60-minute webinar can be accessed here.
• You are invited to dig deeper into this important matter by reading and contributing to WOMMA’s Living Ethics Blog.

Continuing my “Would you Miss” series ...

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Does Denny’s provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? Does Denny’s treat its employees so astonishingly well that those workers would not be able to find another employer to treat them as well? Does Denny’s forge such unfailing emotional connections with its customers that they would fail to find another similar restaurant that could forge just as strong an emotional bond?

What say you?

Post inspiration | Mavericks at Work

Tom Fishburne writes...

"Many businesses treat social media tools the same as dropping an FSI or placing a grocery cart ad. It becomes just more superficial window dressing. I think it would be far better to apply that investment toward actually making the brand and products more interesting and remarkable."

Now see Tom Fishburne's spot-on illustration.

Good stuff Tom, good stuff.

Jason Stoddard did something interesting — he started his own consultancy company, Stagira. That’s interesting. But not as interesting as what he did to let people know he started Stagira.

Essentially, his marketing dollars went into running a conference, the Ubiquity Marketing unSummit in Austin, TX. Jason cajoled Chris Brogan to be his keynote speaker. He invited notable local social media marketing types to participate on panels. The conference information/schedule page lived on the Stagira website. Every marketing piece promoting the conference (from emails to blog posts to tweets) directed people to visit the Stagira website. Smart.

Everything turned out smarter because his conference attracted like-minded well-connected social media types. As Simon Salt tweeted, “Good Grief you cant throw a stick in here without hitting a Social Media celeb.” (It can only help a new business to have like-minded well-connected social media types making an unknown business known within their social circles.)

But the smartest marketing move Jason did was recoup his marketing spend by running a conference where people paid to attend. Maybe you should have someone like Jason thinking just as smart about your business.

Over the weekend I bought and read Erik Qualman's SOCIALNOMICS book. It's a deep dive into how social media transforms the way we live and do business.

In chapter seven, Erik writes about "Winners and Losers in a 140-Character World." One line jumped out at me as a brilliant way to explain the best approach for businesses participating in the online conversation.

I had it to coming to me.

Someone spoofed my Marketing Masterpiece Theatre series of dramatic readings from influential business books. That someone is Jay Ehret from The Marketing Spot. Assuming the pompous persona of Sir Stamford Albert Winchester II, Jay reads from TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE.

I’m amused. Nice goin’ Jay. (Thanks.)

Jim Collins' HOW THE MIGHTY FALL gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment. (Expect an inane dramatic reading of very smart book.)

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

NOTE: A publicity firm sent me a copy of this book.

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Hugh MacLeod's IGNORE EVERYBODY: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

NOTE: A publicity firm sent me a copy of this book.

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Getting the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment today is ... TRUST AGENTS from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

Clearly my WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post.

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WOMMA recently announced its 2009 Summit in Las Vegas on Nov. 19 & 20. The conference theme is CREATING TALKABLE BRANDS using the original social media (word of mouth) and digital social media (online stuff).

The conference agenda is still being put together. If you have a case study that showcases how a brand uses WOM and Social Media to become talkable … submit a proposal to get on the agenda. Act now, the deadline is Aug. 31.

WOMMA wants to know what we think a talkable brand is.

WOMMA has their take (video). I have my take. No doubt you have a take. Share it, like this video shares my take…

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RSS Readers ... click here to view the video

Chris Anderson's FREE: The Future of a Radical Price gets the gets the Marketing Masterpiece Theatre treatment. (Expect an inane dramatic reading of very smart book.)

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

Has it really been three years since the last episode of Marketing Masterpiece Theatre? It has. In ’05 and ’06, I had some fun doing dramatic readings of business books such as … The Long Tail, Brand Hijack, and How to Become a Marketing Superstar.

Hopefully you’ll find the humor (and smart knowledge nuggets) in this go-round of Marketing Masterpiece Theatre. All new episodes all week long. Enjoy!

Today's episode is a short reading from GIVE YOUR SPEECH, CHANGE THE WORLD by Nick Morgan. A must-read book for anyone responsible for giving presentations.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

When I finally got around to using Batter Blaster, one word came to mind … PURPLE … as in PURPLE COW. This video ditty explains …

RSS Readers … click here to view the video ditty

Clearly my WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post.

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Did you see this?

PQ Media has released its second Word of Mouth Marketing Forecast Report. The report offers a deep dive into the size, scope, and growth of the Word of Mouth Marketing industry.

It’s a hefty read at 115 pages. But the information is worth digging into for marketers at both brands and agencies. WOM spend is on the rise, even in today’s recessionary times. In this report you’ll find out where money being spent, why it is being spent, and how companies are benefitting from their strategic WOM spend.

WOMMA members get this report free. (Membership perk.) Others must pay.

However, I’ve compiled a few highlights from the report into this short video. Hopefully this video will whet your marketing appetite to learn more from reading the full report.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video

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NOTE: cross-posted on the All Things WOM Blog

A Starbucks location once destined for closure has re-emerged as 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea. No Starbucks logo. No venti-sized cups. No sassy promotional signage. No automated espresso machines. The location is designed to look, feel, and act not like a Starbucks, but rather a one-off local boutique coffee shop.

On the surface, it appears to be an odd move. Why spend so many years building a global brand only to reject most everything about it? The answer … TO LEARN.

This is clearly an experiment, a four-wall enclosed retail petri dish. It’s a way for Starbucks to RE-learn some of the personal touches it has lost due to making so many compromises in order to grow to over 16,000 locations in 40-plus countries around the world. (We’ve gone over all these compromises on past Starbucks postings so read-up if need be.)

Some of these re-learning opportunities include:

Coffee served at 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea is roasted in small batches and brewed within days of roasting. (Coffee served at Starbucks is roasted in mega-huge industrial machines and could be months before it is brewed in-store.)

Espresso served at 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea is drawn from a classic La Marzocco machine and baristas will add latte art flair to drinks. (Starbucks uses automated espresso machines and baristas are too busy to add latte art touches to espresso drinks.)

Passion for coffee oozes at 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea. Limited-edition roasts are served through single-serving low-tech brewers (pour-over, press pots) or a high-tech brewer (Clover). (Starbucks uses large-scale brewers to mass brew gallons at a time.)

Pastries served at 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea are from a local bakery. Baked daily and delivered daily. (Starbucks sells lots of “thaw and serve” pastries baked in far-off places that are then frozen, packed, and shipped to stores for serving days later.)

Ambiance at 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea will be warm, welcoming, eclectic, and subtle. (Ambiance at nearly every Starbucks is uniformly clean, cold, and sterile.)

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15th Ave. Coffee & Tea is not a growth vehicle for Starbucks. Can’t be. It’s too expensive and time-intensive to scale. It can only be viewed as a learning opportunity for Starbucks.

Perhaps some of the learnings on how to add personal touches will find its way back into the Starbucks experience thanks to the company’s petri dish known as 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea.

Continuing my “Would you Miss” series ...

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Does Costco provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? Does Costco treat its employees so astonishingly well that those workers would not be able to find another employer to treat them as well? Does Costco forge such unfailing emotional connections with its customers that they would fail to find another hardware store that could forge just as strong an emotional bond?

What say you?

Post inspiration | Mavericks at Work

On the ALL THINGS WOM blog, I’m sharing bite-size lessons on key ideals that make word-of-mouth marketing more effective and ethical. The series is called WOM TRUTHS. Three lessons are posted with many more to come…

#55 | Word of Mouth is the Original Social Media

#37 | Reviews aren’t Sexy. But the Results are Sexy.

#09 | Buzz Doesn’t Create Evangelists. Evangelists Create Buzz.

Jay Ehret (@TheMarketingGuy) and I recently talked Word-of-Mouth Marketing on his Power to the Small Business podcast. I had on my WOM Enthusiast hat and talked about how there are two ways to generate word of mouth … You can bake it. Or you can make it. (You just don’t want to fake it.)

A little explanation is needed.

BAKING IT
Word of Mouth is baked inside how a company does business every day. Baking it follows the thinking that a company’s personality is its best form of advertising.

Baking It examples include: [1] remarkable product (iPod); [2] over-the-top customer service (Zappos); [3] awesome customer experiences (Kimpton hotels).

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MAKING IT
Word of Mouth is a program that is layered on and is part of the marketing mix. Making it is about doing interesting things to get customer’s attention.

Making It examples include: [1] memorable advertising (Subway “$5 Foot Long” jingle) ; [2] interesting activities (Southwest Airlines “Porch” pop-up lounge concept) ; enabling interesting conversations (HP’s 31 Days of the Dragon).

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Full explanation can be learned by listening to the podcast.

More chatter is happening regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s forthcoming guidelines on endorsements and testimonials in online marketing. It’s not an easy topic for us marketers to understand. However, it is something we will need to understand if physical word-of-mouth and digital word-of-mouth are to remain the most credible form of advertising.

No matter what the FTC dictates, I believe if we marketers follow a DON’T TELL. DO ASK. policy … all will be fine.

“Don’t Tell? Do Ask?,” you ask.

Click below for a 3:20 minute video ditty explaining why “Don’t Tell. Do Ask.” is a basic policy all marketers should follow when designing and delivering their next word of mouth marketing program.

RSS Readers … click here to watch the video.

Notes:
(1) Cross-posted on the ALL THINGS WOM blog
(2) I work with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association