Could Disney’s expertise with customer service help bookstores stem their decline? According to this feature in The New York Times (@NYTimesAd), the Disney Institute (@DisneyInstitute) is the “low-profile consulting division of the Walt Disney Company.” Disney is undeniably an expert in customer relationship management.
For instance, the company has spent so much time studying its park customers — more than 120 million of them globally last year — that it places trash cans every 27 paces, the average distance a visitor carries a candy wrapper before discarding it.
When clients send their employees to Disney for training,...some time is spent in seminars on topics like “purpose before task.” They also get tours of the parks, where Disney managers demonstrate their tricks in action, like giving directions by pointing with two fingers instead of one (it’s more polite).
Disney-led workshops emphasize 5 principles: leadership, training, customer experience, brand loyalty, and creativity. Sessions are custom tailored.
Examples of Disney’s attention to detail with its clients:
Maryland teachers were instructed to engage children by crouching and speaking to them at eye level. Chevrolet dealers were taught to think in theater metaphors: onstage, where smiles greet potential buyers, and offstage, where sales representatives can take out-of-sight cigarette breaks.
A Florida children’s hospital was advised to welcome patients in an entertaining way, prompting it to employ a ukulele-playing greeter dressed in safari gear.
You don't need to be BP, Toyota, News Corp, or even Tiger Woods to know how quickly ‘brand equity’ can be destroyed by screw-ups, cover-ups, and indiscretions. In the face of such PR fiascos, the accepted repair strategy has been to come clean as quickly and as contritely as possible. But in an era when corporate skeletons are subject to constant social media scrutiny, your business can suffer just as easily by being too transparent. Ask Bank of America....
Many see measurement of reputation — trust quotients, if you like — as the next big frontier on the Web. Just as Google unleashed the search potential of the Internet with its PageRank analysis that assigned a numerical weighting to every nugget of information, so a new breed of reputation brokers is starting to define Web 3.0 with the equivalent of 'PeopleRank' scores. You might think of these as Yelp ratings for people, creating a hierarchy of individuals and companies based on reputation scores....
Why would a 2-minute video (created by the Canadian forestry machinery maker Hakmet) of a machine cutting and splitting tree trunks go viral with more than 3 million views? Is it the hypnotic combination of lilting music, buzz saw noise, and captivating visual rhythm? Probably.
It reminds us of another hearty industrial company’s viral video success: Blendtec’s (@Blendtec) “Will it Blend” campaign. The video below of an iPad being destroyed in a blender has more than 13 million views. Wow.
He says the best explainer videos answer the question “How does this product fit into my life?” or “Why should I use this?” before they answer “How does this work?”.
57% of US consumers say that they’re increasingly checking product labels to see what company is behind the product they’re buying, and the same proportion say they get annoyed when it’s not obvious what company is behind a product, according the study The Company Behind the Brand: In Reputation We Trust by Weber Shandwick (@WeberShandwick). Roughly 2 in 5 US consumers also say they hesitate to buy products when it’s not clear what company makes them, and that they do research to learn about the companies that make the products they buy.
Our study identified 6 New Realities of Corporate Reputation. Each reality serves as a reminder to business leaders that they cannot view their company’s reputation and their product brands as separately as they once did. Aligning and integrating both optimizes their respective strengths to achieve strong business results.
1.Corporate brand is as important as the product brand(s).
3.Any disconnect between corporate and product reputation triggers sharp consumer reaction.
4.Products drive discussion, with reputation close behind.
5.Consumers shape reputation instantly.
6.Corporate reputation contributes to company market value.
“In this fast-moving information age, consumers can now readily connect the dots between the brand they buy and the company behind the brand,” says Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist, Weber Shandwick. “Whereas it has long been known that a strong brand shines a light on a company’s reputation, it is now clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that a strong company reputation adds an undeniable brilliance to the brand.”
What impacts consumers’ opinion of a company?
·Word of mouth (88%)
·Online reviews (83%)
·Online search results (81%)
·News sources (79%)
·Company websites (74%)
·Awards and rankings (63%)
·Leadership communications (59%)
·Advertising (56%)
·Social networks (49%) (are companies not embracing social media in a way that fully resonates with the public?)
Will attractive aromas spritzed in the air be able to save bookstores? According to an article by Robert Klara (@UpperEastRob) in Adweek (@Adweek), a growing trend among diverse businesses (including retail, hotels, funeral homes, retirement villages, medical and law offices) is secretly scenting the air customers breathe to get them to buy more.
At a time when brands have already fine-tuned everything from their store color palettes to employee dress codes to the music thumping through the speakers, scent — the sole remaining sense that can directly influence how a customer regards a brand — is becoming an increasingly important instrument in the marketer’s toolbox. Given that smell is the most powerful and emotional of all the senses, the bigger surprise might be that it’s taken brands this long to wake up to smell’s potential.
...Environmental psychologist Eric Spangenberg of Washington State University says, “The technology has advanced to the level where anyone can do it.”
...Brands want their customers to be in such environments because, as research has shown, even a few microparticles of scent can do a lot of marketing’s heavy lifting, from improving consumer perceptions of quality to increasing the number of store visits.
...Brands that use the technology have a singular aim: to put people in the mood to spend. “Pleasant, subtle scents lift our moods and impact buying behavior,” says Donna Sturgess (@donnasturgess), president of Buyology (@BuyologyInc), a neurological marketing firm based in New York. Brands that have found the right ambient scent, she says, “have seen results as high as double-digit increases in brand preference.”
The Associated Press is talking up a new “visual identity system,” to be rolled out over the coming months (a historical retrospective of AP logos is shown above with the new logo on the right).
The global news network says the look and logo are designed for the digital era and are supposed to unite its various offerings as part of a “master brand” strategy. AP called this the first significant change in its look in 30 years. The first use is on its new AP Mobile news app and AP.org website (@AP). According to its brand introduction (pdf) document, the new visual identity system brings to life the AP values of “integrity, action, and independence...and creates a distinct footprint in the media marketplace.”
AP President/CEO Tom Curley says in the announcement, “We have world-class content and world-class products and now we have the world-class look to go with them.”
The system expands the range of colors and designs available for use in AP products and services. The logomark recognizes the past stencil pattern while the logotype is black with a red underscore, both in a white box. This design is by the firm Objective Subject (@ob_sub), which says the red underscore, dubbed ‘the prompt,’ “evokes AP’s emphasis on editorial rigor and precise and accurate approach.” It goes on, “We retained the original logo’s stencil lettering, which embody the gutsy and adventurous personality of an international news organization.”
Business Insider SAI (@SAI) reports that Kirsten Kowalski (@ddkportraits), a lawyer with a passion for photography, browsed Pinterest's (@Pinterest) Terms of Use and found Pinterest's members are solely responsible for what they pin and repin. They must have explicit permission from the owner to post everything.
“I immediately thought of the ridiculously gorgeous images I had recently pinned from an outside website, and, while I gave the other photographer credit, I most certainly could not think of any way that I either owned those photos or had a license, consent or release from the photographer who owned them,” Kristen writes.
Kristen turned to federal copyright laws and found a section on fair use. Copyrighted work can only be used without permission when someone is criticizing it, commenting on it, reporting on it, teaching about it, or conducting research. Repinning doesn't fall under any of those categories.
A court case allowed thumbnail images to be considered fair use, but Pinterest lifts the entire image, not a thumbnail.
If that didn't scare Kristen enough, the all caps section of Pinterest's Terms of Use did:
“YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU.”
What's more, Pinterest places all blame and potential legal fees on its users.
Basically, if a photographer sues you for pinning an image illegally on Pinterest, the user must not only pay for his or her lawyer, they must also pay for Pinterest's lawyer. In addition, the defendant must pay all charges against him or herself, along with all of Pinterest's charges.
Kristen likens Pinterest to Napster as an enabler of illegal activity. It wasn't just Napster that went down – 12 year old girls who downloaded music were sued too.
She concluded her post inviting someone from Pinterest to call her. Someone did. The founder. Read about it at “My Date with Ben Silbermann — Following Up and Drying My Tears.” Bottom line: She writes Silbermann said “some changes are on the way in the very near future.”
Author, pastor, and speaker Charles R. Swindoll (@chuckswindoll), broadcaster on the syndicated radio program Insight for Living, has penned a new book about his childhood speech impediment and how he was able to overcome it. The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) asked Swindoll about his life, his stuttering speech as a boy, and the inspiration and drive behind his new book, Saying It Well.
If anyone has ever seen the movie The King's Speech…they will see something of the struggle that I went through. There’s nothing more fearful for the average person in our society than to stand before a group of people and speak. When you add to that the battle of stuttering, your problem is exacerbated beyond words.
So when I began to learn how to speak [publicly], I still had the fear, because I always had my speaking interrupted with the impediment. So it took some time to gain confidence over that. I am thankful that over time I have been able to conquer that battle though admittedly there are still times that I go back to the principles that were taught by my speech teacher....
...when it was at its worst, I think my mind was racing ahead of my ability to put it into words. I had to learn to pace my speaking. The use of pauses was really helpful. Knowing that some words come more difficultly than others, I have found it helpful, when I get to some of those words, that I pause, say it in my mind, and then I speak it more deliberately.
...if you can find ways in your life to conquer the fear of falling on your face or in some ways appearing foolish in front of an audience it would be helpful. I found several things come to my rescue; one is a good sense of humor. I am often the brunt of my own humor. People feel comfortable when you share stories like that.
...it’s important to begin with a statement in your speech that grabs the attention of the audience. I try to make my opening line 15 words or less. It’s the only part of my speech that I memorize and it doesn’t have to be profound, but if it carries with it something that breaks the “ho-hum” of the audience, then I think that is a great way to start.
After you’ve begun with that opening statement, you need to have an introduction that helps the audience know what you’re saying is important....help convince them of the value of what you are talking about.
...then you move into the body of your speech.... You move from one point to the next and on to the next, perhaps to four or five points, and along the way you do a little review of what you just presented. Then you bring up a new point to develop. As you’re moving along through the speech you’re moving towards a conclusion; this is the part many people leave out. Just as you need to have a good takeoff, you need to have a good landing. If you’ve done everything except land well you haven’t succeeded. So instead of just bouncing on the ground when you land, you need to have a smooth landing.
...remember to quit while [the audience is] still wanting more.
How do people discover books in the digital age? Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) reports that, according to a survey presented at the Digital Book World conference (#dbw12) in New York last month, nearly half of readers discover new books through the recommendations of family and friends, and nearly a third discover them at bookstores.
·49% - Family and friends’ recommendations
·30% - Bookstore staff recommendations
·24% - Online and print advertising
How will readers discover, buy, and read new books as e-reader and tablet ownership increase and traditional books sales channels are challenged?
A new service that wants to help in this regard is Small Demons (@smalldemons). It takes all of the meaningful data from all favorite books and puts it in one place. Small Demons collects and catalogs the music, movies, people, and objects mentioned in books and makes those details searchable, creating a universe of book details, or as the service calls it, a storyverse.
Book Baby (@BookBaby) says Small Demons CEO Valla Vakili was so intrigued by the description of Marseilles in Jean-Claude Izzo’s Total Chaos that he replaced the Paris leg of his trip with Marseilles, an experience so inspiring that the concept of Small Demons was born.
In a recent interview with GalleyCat (@GalleyCat), Small Demons VP of content and community Richard Nash explained: “If you are an author, we are going to create verified author pages. You’re going to be able to add biographical information, information about your own books and other features. You will also get access to the editing tools that we are using to fix the computer’s mistakes. We know algorithms can’t get everything right and even when they get something right, they can’t necessarily provide the nuance that a human being can.”
Nash continued: “A computer can tell us how many times a song appears in a book. But it can’t tell us that it is the song that the couple dances to at the wedding reception or the song the jilted lover plays after being dumped. It can’t tell you the emotional resonance of it. So we are going to be relying on librarians and authors and gifted amateurs to come in and help us fix and add and weight and evaluate all the data we are generating. Individual authors will have that ability over an extended period of time.”
