Snooze = Lose

By Tommy Leung on 09/19/2010 in Life, Marketing

It is a little ironic that I title a post “Snooze = Lose” when I chronically hit snooze in the morning. But, I’m not talking about early risers or getting to some place early than others.

I’m just talking about being in the right place at the right time. Consistently.

Closing on Holidays

There are some holidays where virtually every business is closed. A lot of holidays have become days for sales because not snoozing on those holidays are a way to increase sales: win. It’s really not some corporate evil master plan that has made a monetary event out of Labor Day, President’s Day, Independence Day, etc.

Businesses are always looking to take market share away from their competitors and what easier way to do so than to be open when they aren’t? I still need to buy things on holidays. There’s a market.

The Gym Market

I’ve been weight lifting since I was 13. Training at the gym is my rock. A 45lb plate is the same no matter where I go; it will always be 45lbs. Gym time is where I can clear my head.

Where there is nothing else going on besides moving a heavy weight and not dying in the process. It is where I can predictably get into a state of flow. No matter how well I take things in stride, life is always going to be a little stressful. The gym is my reliable release.

I had taken 2.5 weeks off from the gym recently and was itching to get back in the gym. This break coincided with the end of my gym membership so it was a good time to take an extended break and then finish the year off strong.

I’ve been going to a local gym. They have no other locations. It was the only one of its kind and it wasn’t very flashy. They have a mix of old to semi-modern equipment. It is one of those gyms with pictures of competitive bodybuilders lining the walls as a showcase of the great bodies that have trained there at one time or another.

A classic gym.

I was ready to go on Saturday. It would have taken an act of God to prevent me from lifting. I walked over to the gym and they were closed. Closed because of Yom Kippur.

Always Have a Plan B

I really wanted to lift. It’s almost like craving for White Castle.

There I was standing outside the closed gym with  a cup of Starbucks. I wanted the caffeine to give me a boost for my lifts. Now, that caffeine only served to make me more determined to hit a gym.

There is a New York Sports Club three blocks from my apartment. The gym I was going to was further away but, they were 24 hours. I have logged many workouts in and around midnight in the last year.

NYSC closed at 11pm. Coincidentally, I was planning to move my workouts to the morning after this break to give myself more time at night to work on some projects. So in my mind, the 24 hour benefit was now a negative crutch I would have to stop myself from leaning on.

As I walked back towards my apartment, I was deciding what I was going to do when I got to NYSC. My first idea was to find their day rate. My second, their month rate. And my third would be to join them again. I was a former NYSC member for over two years so I am familiar with the luxury of towels and new, well-kept equipment.

I walked into the NYSC and the girl at the counter tried to scan me to no avail–didn’t have a card. I asked about their day rate: $30. Seriously? So, then I asked for their month rate: $79. Not thoroughly pleased with either, I asked what it would look like if I joined them for a year right now: $39 today and $69/mo.

That was more to my liking even though it was still about two times more expensive than the price I was paying. I do get access to all other NYSC’s during non-peak hours and the shiny equipment. I thought about it for a little and decided, “what the hell, let’s do it.”

So here I am, a NYSC member again.

Punishing Businesses for their Religion

While I am not purposefully punishing a business for their religious practices, that is fundamentally what happened. I would have spent hundreds of dollars at my old gym if they were open that day. I have instead committed to spend a little shy of $1000 with NYSC–roughly two times more than what I would have spent with my old gym.

I surely cannot calculate what may be gained by forcing myself to get my workouts done in the morning instead of having the crutch of being able to go late at night and then starting the day late as well.

Small local businesses are often in danger of not existing tomorrow as the big, well-funded businesses come into town. This NYSC didn’t always exist here. My old gym has existed long before NYSC. The space that NYSC is in used to be a pool hall.

While I like to support small, local businesses and what not, I am also a consumer like any other. I have wants and the business that can satisfy those wants gets my money.

It really is that simple.

On that Saturday, NYSC was there and able to give me what I wanted. The local gym never did do a good job building brand loyalty. I wasn’t enamored by them and could do without the class of morons who inhabit that gym and gyms like it. My guess is that the NYSC price tag filters out a great deal of jackasses; this leads me to believe that Equinox must have the most polite people.

When a business doesn’t build brand loyalty, customers will jump ship for any number of reasons. It only takes one errand error to take you out of the game.

Snooze = lose*.

*I didn’t think of this incarnation of “you snooze, you lose.” It was in a text conversation and I thought it was awesome. You know who you are. :)

BodyBuilding.com’s Notable Service

By Tommy Leung on 09/14/2010 in Life, Marketing

With all the options to shop these days, you really can’t just be another boring, me-too store. When Amazon can provide amazing prices and amazing service in almost every category, you are going to need to try a little harder to retain customers. Those who can’t will soon find that they are out of business.

And good riddance! Who wants to deal with bad customer service anyway?

I have written about customer service from my own experiences to abstract ways of thinking about exceptional customer service. Let’s say I consider customer service important and approve of great customer service when I see it.

So much so that I will share it. And share it a lot. It’s good for a brand to be in my good graces. I might not directly influence millions or even thousands of people but, my indirect influence could account for a small fortune in customer lifetime values.

This is the case with almost anyone today. One tweet. One Facebook mention. One blog post. And we’ve just told hundreds of people and countless more will discover it later. Treat us poorly at your own risk.

And this isn’t just theoretical. Many powerhouses and small businesses have been eaten alive by competitors who outfoxed them in customer service. However, just looking at dead companies doesn’t account for the companies who are still alive because they stepped up their customer service. There is little room left for taking customers for granted.

It takes truly exceptional service to stand out.

Overcoming Convenience

About a week and a half ago I ordered vitamins from BodyBuilding.com. I had only ordered from them once before and everything went well. Normally, I buy from GNC or CVS. GNC for the more potent multi-vitamins and CVS for the run of the mill Zinc, Vitamin D, etc.

I’m not an avid reader of BodyBuilding.com but, I was recommended their store by a friend. They have an enormous selection and great prices so there is no reason not to buy from them. It’s just not always convenient. CVS is open 24 hours and down the block. GNC is easy to find.

I decided to try a new multi-vitamin and was running low on other vitamins as well so I bought all of it from BodyBuilding.com. As a multiple item purchase planned ahead of time, online is generally more convenient.

The one thing that I am semi-worry about is my superintendent thinking I take steroids because the box is emblazoned with the BodyBuilding.com logo. Not that body building is a direct link to steroids but, there’s that stigma. I’m just someone who likes to stay in shape.

So, random judgers be damned!

Delivery Exception

BodyBuilding.com shipped my order the next day–speedy service! It was coming from PA to NY via FedEx. FedEx had it ready to deliver to me in a day or two and then I saw something I’ve never seen before: a delivery exception.

According to FedEx, the package was damaged in transit and was undeliverable. I Googled around to figure out what a delivery exception meant. Surely, someone has dealt with this before. It was all very inconclusive. FedEx’s own site wasn’t particularly useful either.

This was also a time when I was busy moving offices at work so I didn’t get around to dealing with this problem until Labor Day. The FedEx status didn’t change for days so I eventually used BodyBuilding.com’s online customer service chat to resolve it.

I tried customer service at about 11PM so I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there. And if someone was, they must have been in India.

Customer Service from India?

Once upon a time we accepted calling a big corporation and talking to “Steve” sitting in a room named “Ohio” in a building in Bangalore, India. Steve worked from a script. Any problem that couldn’t have been documented would take hours to solve–if at all.

I don’t know if more customer service has been outsourced to India or not. I know JetBlue takes a different approach and many other support lines I’ve called direct me to someone within the United States.

The person who I talked to from BodyBuilding.com customer service was named Kamikaze Candy. Strange? I’d say.

Odd name or not, I only care that my problem can be solved. So I proceeded to explain my issue and Kamikaze Candy fixed it. It was all very friendly and professional. My order was reshipped within 24 hours and arrived a couple of days later with gifts: a sample pack and a blue silicone wristband with the word TRAIN and BodyBuilding.com’s and RedLine Energy Drink’s logos.

I liked the wristband. Train means something to me. A lot of people workout: blindly going through the motions making little progress from day to day. I train.

FedEx came in the morning so I unpacked the box, put on the wristband, and went on with my day. Give me a meaningful gift and I provide some free advertising.

So far, the customer service has been pretty good. Of course, if this was all there was to it, I wouldn’t be writing this post at all.

Everyone Likes a Card

During Christmas, we write so many cards that most of them really have no meaning.

To XXX,

[Default Card Message]
Merry Christmas!

from,

Tommy

It’s pretty lame but, we all do it. At least the card’s picture is nice sometimes. Decorative.

In my mailbox today was a bunch of junk mail, something political, a bill, and a handwritten, card-sized envelop with my name on it. I threw away the junk and something political, put the bill aside, and opened the handwritten envelop.

The return address noted BodyBuilding.com so I knew where it was from but, I didn’t know why.

I opened it and inside was a card. A BodyBuilding.com branded card. I thought it was interesting. Maybe they were trying to sell me on something. The mountains of direct mail that make it to my mailbox have made me cynical.

I opened the card and inside was a handwritten message. It could have passed for a mass message with my name on it but, someone took the time to write it by hand. It was signed by Kamikaze Candy–that’s a unique touch.

Now, I still have a feeling Kamikaze Candy was in India and the person who wrote this card isn’t the same person I spoke to. I can’t know that for sure and maybe I am too cynical about direct mail but, it doesn’t matter.

I am still impressed that BodyBuilding.com did this. I’ve never had customer service send me a handwritten card after successfully solving my problem.

This is notable customer service. This is what gets written about and shared. And this is why I’ll be buying from BodyBuilding.com again instead of GNC or CVS.

Including Batteries

By Tommy Leung on 09/01/2010 in Life, Marketing

When I was a kid, birthday and Christmas presents seemed so much more grand. Every year they got less and less exciting. I’m not excited at all these days.

I look forward to the drinking and friends on birthdays and it is usually incredibly entertaining–alcohol does that. The holidays still have a magical feeling but, it’s not about the presents–happens when presents suck more and more year after year; good thing for the holiday booze!

On these gift-receiving days, there were likely times where you got a gift that required batteries and the gift-giver didn’t include the batteries and times when they did. How annoying was it when the batteries weren’t there and you didn’t have any lying around?

Those 4 AA batteries really make a difference. It’s not that apparent when the batteries are there because everything went smoothly. But when the batteries aren’t there, you notice. The gift just isn’t as good. The experience from unwrapping to unboxing to play is disrupted by having to find batteries before play. It’s not the ideal experience. If you are giving a gift, why wouldn’t you want it to be as pleasant as possible?

You’ve already walked 990 steps of 1,000. Why not go the remaining 10?

While the difference may only be a few steps or a few dollars in quantitative terms, the qualitative difference is immeasurable. I still remember who always made an effort to include batteries in gifts.

These little details are what separates the men from the boys–or the women from the girls–in life and the professionals from the amateurs in business.

Most of the time, these little touches aren’t hard to do or inconvenient. Their payoff is so much bigger than the effort they required; their ROI is fantastic. It separates you from everyone else who looks just as good on paper and has just as much talent.

Sometimes, you aren’t going to win on sheer force of merit. That $500 gift without batteries might get left alone in the corner while the $50 gift with batteries gets all the play.

Brand Transference

By Tommy Leung on 08/25/2010 in Marketing

I’ve grown to really like FreshDirect–possibly even love. They are like the Amazon of supermarkets. I am a native to the digital world. I am generally more comfortable shopping online than I am in a brick and mortar store.

There’s no way to search by keyword at a store. I don’t see what other people also bought or what they bought instead. I can’t read reviews.

When it comes to the supermarket, packages of meat and vegetables don’t come with descriptions. I can tell the difference between beef, chicken, and pork. I have little knowledge of what each cut means.

It’s even worse in the vegetables section. I know lettuce, spinach, and that’s about it. Everything else is just more green stuff. And how to cook it? I have no idea! I eat my vegetables as a salad.

Reinventing Food Shopping

FreshDirect changes all of that–as well as ensuring I get fresh food and delivering it to my door. I can read about different cuts of meat, types of vegetables, what goes good with them, how they can be eaten, and how they should be cooked.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a foodie or an aspiring master chef. I just want my food to be relatively easy to prepare, taste good, and be nutritious. That’s really it.

FreshDirect is more than just the supermarket that delivers to me even though I do love that part. They also help me with what I do after I get the food. I’ve used FreshDirect for well over a month and it’s been great and I can say that I trust them; their brand is in good standing with me.

Because the FreshDirect brand is in good standing with me, I have tried new foods that I wouldn’t otherwise try and new brands that I wouldn’t otherwise try.

I am going to refer to this as brand transference. There might be another term for this but, I don’t remember any from marketing classes. The idea is as simple as the concept of guilty by association. Except, this is a positive association.

A Tea Story

I drink tea once in a while. Mostly because the only brand I am aware of is Lipton. My local supermarket does sell other brands but, I don’t know them from a hole in the wall. All I have to go by is price and their boxes–none of which is that appealing.

And since I can’t see reviews or get recommendations of which tea is good, I just go with the least worst choice price wise. I can’t even recall the name of the brand of tea I had bought last from the supermarket. It took me months to finish it and it wasn’t that good. I just assumed tea wasn’t that good–Lipton surely isn’t.

It wasn’t until I did a search for “organic tea” at FreshDirect that I found Yogi Tea. I trust FreshDirect to carry good products and there aren’t that many organic teas to choose from. Yogi had the largest selection and each type of tea was marketed for a different goal–detox, anti-oxidants, immune boost, etc.

I had never heard of Yogi Tea until I found them on FreshDirect. I bought a box. It was a simple and painless decision unlike when I’m standing in a supermarket aisle trying to choose between 10 different types of teas that all look similar with little descriptive differences.

I have tried 3 different boxes of Yogi Tea and even gifted one. I like their product. I may have very well seen Yogi Tea at my local supermarket or CVS and didn’t pick it up. There is too much clutter at the supermarket and I don’t trust my local supermarket to only carry good products.

My local supermarket has a neutral brand standing. I don’t love them and I don’t hate them. They are like a stranger and we don’t give much weight to suggestions from strangers. It’s our friends who we trust. They could be wrong but, we’ll trust them.

Word of mouth is a form of brand transference. The trust you have in your friend–the brand–is transferred to the product they recommend. If someone you dislike recommends a product, a negative feeling will be transferred to that product. Brand transference applies to the positive and negative.

Using Brand Transference

Word of mouth is no easy thing to bring about. You need to do something worthy of being talked about. And even then, when you think you’ve got something amazing, a lot of other people need to as well. Otherwise, no one is going to talk about it.

Why do cute cat videos go viral on YouTube? Is it really that amazing? Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. There really is no reliable way to make something go viral–it’ll happen for all kinds of reasons, few of which are completely predictable.

Simple brand transference can be created reliably. Brands do it all the time. When a brand decides to sponsor a charity or a cause, that’s using brand transference. The positive feelings people have for the charity’s cause is transfered to the brand that is sponsoring.

Brand transference can also be used for brands that want to establish a certain image to associate with existing brands that already have that image. Partner with, co-sponsor, or otherwise cooperate publicly in some way.

Brand transference is a simple and easy means for any brand to adjust or build their brand image quickly and effectively.

Fighting the TV Tide

By Tommy Leung on 08/17/2010 in Marketing

[First, a shout out to a friend's new blog about television, life, and things that make her think. This post was not exactly inspired by her posts but, I'm sure it had some indirect effect that made me blog this after reading an article about the average age of US TV viewers. :)]

I would be the first one to recommend going against the grain and doing what you want to do. Innovations don’t happen because we blindly follow someone else. The key is in knowing when you are really fighting the good fight and when you are just afraid of the coming tide.

Let’s take network TV for example.

The average age of TV viewers in the United States hovers at 50 years old. Either the population is growing old rather quickly or the much coveted 18 – 25 demographic is ignoring the television.

Sadly for those who refuse to change, both things are true. The US population is getting older with the 65+ demographic poised to account for 19% of the population by 2030. The 18 – 25 year olds are ignoring the television and we will continue to ignore the television.

The worst part is not only that young people adopting YouTube, Hulu, and other online sources for their video entertainment but, so are older people. Hulu’s rapid growth has been due to their expanding 35 – 49 demographic.

The problem for network TV isn’t that the younger demographic is leaving the television behind while a large, older demographic will stay behind. The issue is that the market for TV content on a TV is shrinking. Networks that can’t grasp this will see their ratings continue to drop. There will likely be one network left to pick up the pieces. There’s still a profitable market to be had–just not profitable enough to sustain everyone.

There are mega-ratings events that happen on TV several times a year in the form of the Super Bowl, Olympics, Oscars, etc. but, how long is that going to last? The younger demographic is still leaving the television. The demand for this content on a computer is there and it’s growing. A few mega-events throughout the year can’t sustain all the TV networks either. If that’s the plan, it’s not a good one.

The poor CW! Their shows target the exact demographic that is leaving in droves. I remember when they were The WB and UPN existed as well. I was not a UPN viewer but, I did watch a lot of shows on The WB. As The WB was dying and merging with UPN to form The CW, they were extremely hesitant to move their shows online when FOX, ABC, and NBC did so.

I remember this because I no longer wanted to or could schedule my time around their TV shows and I was still watching Smallville and One Tree Hill. They didn’t put their shows online. The thing is, I had not missed a single Smallville episode for 5 seasons. The show was already getting ridiculous–I hear it’s even more so now–but, I had some commitment.

Thanks to The CW’s shortsightedness, I picked up watching House and Bones on FOX’s website. Eventually Hulu arrived and FOX, NBC, and ABC all eventually put shows on it. I now watch shows from all those networks on Hulu. They get to advertise to me where they would otherwise have not had me as a viewer at all. I have not spied a CW show for years.

This goes the same for CBS but, CBS is obviously doing something right in their programming and I was never a big CBS viewer to begin with. I am aware that all the networks have online episodes in one form or another but, they moved too slow. I have already moved on to new shows and there is only so much time I have for watching TV shows. With Netflix’s catalog of streaming shows, I have little reason to go looking for new shows that don’t show up where I already watch.

It would be quite a joke to call The CW a major network. The only thing major about them is how majorly they lag in ratings. The WB was a different story. The WB had some of the highest rated shows including 7th Heaven. I can’t point to a single show on The CW with remotely the same drawing power. The WB was a great product for it’s time. It didn’t change with the times and merged with another lagging network–UPN–to form a still lagging network–The CW.

The CW is still a backwards thinker: ”In fact The CW stopped offering an online repeat for Gossip Girl in order to try to boost viewing figures.” The CW is fighting the tide for all the wrong reasons. Most of network TV has moved on and are continuing to move on.

Fighting to keep everything the same because you’re afraid of what’s coming is not a good fight.