Sea World presents a charming day…with a catch

January 4, 2012

I am surrounded by Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bert, as they dance to a catchy tune about letters and numbers. For a moment, I think about throwing caution to the wind and join in the two step. The furry creatures that taught me the ABCs are now paving the path for the next generation and I can’t really control myself.

The smiles on our children’s faces are as wide as Texas.

The live shows were a dazzling display of beauty and strength.

Recently, the family spent a spectacular day at Sea World San Antonio on a mild late summer day. The sun beat loud and proud on that day.

This treasured day, however, almost didn’t happen.

Our plan was simple:

-Open the doors to the park at 10am.

-Stay until exhaustion beat us down.

 The skies on that particular Saturday morning, however, were hostile. Drizzle and fog dampened all spirits. The previous night’s rain, thunder and lightning displays were legendary.

After a few hours of wishing, hoping, praying that the rain would stop, we caught a break.

The skies lightened just enough to let us into the park around noon.

Despite our late start, we were ambitious about our pursuit of trying every ride, coaster, game that was available at Sea World San Antonio. With the park featuring Halloween hours and events (until 10pm), we believed that we had plenty of time to ‘give it a go’.

We petted the sting rays, bobbed and weaved on the Shamu Express roller coaster, laughed on the merry-go-round, and marveled at the artistry and acrobatics of Azul. Azul was a major departure from your typical dolphin show. Talented professionals swam, dove, climbed, soared against a majestic backdrop of light, color, sound.  Unbelievable.

Even I tested his nerves on the jaw-dropping Steel Eel. As I made the slow, methodical incline prior to the ride’s steepest drop, I wondered, “Why am I doing this?” When it was over, I was ready to do it again!

Then, unexpectedly at 5pm, we heard this over the park’s loudspeaker:

“Attention please; because of inclement weather earlier in the day, the park will be closing at 6pm today. All Hallowscream activities are cancelled for tonight.”

The words: “What?”, “Huh?” could be heard reverberating around the park.

This was a surprise in the worst way.

I realize weather plays a significant role in the unpredictable schedules of most of these amusements parks, yet we wouldn’t have made the decision to enter the park around noon (at full price!) if we knew the day was only six hours long instead of ten hours. With the sky clearing, it didn’t cross our mind that the park would close early.

Most likely, we’ll return to Six Flags San Antonio for some stupendous fun. This bout of unfortunate, nearly unfathomable, news probably put a frown on the furry faces of Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bert as well as on the faces of the Austin visitors.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, Atmosphere. Customer Service, Communication, community, customer experience, Customer Service, knowing your customers, marketing to kids, Texas | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Blackberry’s customer service misfortunes

December 21, 2011

With my flight hours away, and my departure gate in sight, I decided to move off the main pathway of Atlanta’s airport and into one of its many retail stores.

Moving past smoothie factories, cheery sports bars and bustling departure gates, I ventured into a Blackberry store.

Blackberry's in-store experience was extremely underwhelming.

The young man glared at me as if I were the first visitor in hours. No greeting. No welcome. He stared straight ahead as if his job were torture.

Being a former Blackberry customer and ‘in the market’ for a new phone, I had an interest in the past, present and future on this once proud leader of mobile devices.

After browsing the many phones available in the store, I thought the staffer would inquire about my needs, yet the silence continued.

I took the first step and asked:

“Do you have any specials today?”
“No,” the worker responded, quickly retreating to his comfort of silence.

“Are all of the recent outages affecting Blackberry resolved.”
“Yes,” he muttered.

“Do you have any Sprint phones?”
He then pointed to a row of Sprint-enabled phones against the wall.

I tipped and tapped a few keyboards, touched some screens, read some feature descriptions and then it happened as I prepared to exit the store.

“Are there any questions I can answer for you?” the Blackberry representative asked meekly. Amazingly, he finally woke up to his role as customer advocate.

I turned and shook my head from side to side as I stepped back into the main artery of the airport.

Blackberry’s problems are much more fundamental and far-reaching than this dispirited exchange, yet this is clearly are a microcosm of this floundering mobile machine.

Years ago, Blackberry lost the touch of the customer. Apple brought products to market that inspired and energized the masses. Now, Blackberry’s doing its finest to ignore customers on their doorstep.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

3 Comments | advertising, Communication, Customer Service, experience, knowing your customers, marketing, merchandising, shopping, simplicity, Uncategorized, user experience | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Chik-Fil-A’s Cows on the Loose

November 7, 2011

A barren water tower stretches over metropolitan Atlanta.

Thousands pass each day without even a furtive glance toward the metallic beast.

Then, one day, the water tower changes.

Who knew a water tower could incite me to eat biscuits?

On Wednesday, it’s a dark gray, bland, corrosive tower.

On Thursday, it transforms into a work of architecture that draws looks.

  • Why are there cows climbing the water tower?
  • How does this tower look so lively amidst a mass of dilapidation?
  • What’s with the graffiti scribbled across the tower’s façade?

Within moments, I understood the tower’s new purpose; its injection of life amongst a multitude of wear and tear.

The cows: Chik-Fil-A’s emblematic cows were climbing towards the tower’s peak; their crusade against beef goes skyward.

The graffiti: Chik-Fil-A’s broken English in edgy-cool font is instantly recognizable and humorous. What’s there not to like about: “This morning try de-calf.”

The coffee cup: The tower’s top had been re-crafted to look like a steaming coffee cup. Genius.

I don’t normally gaze at water towers; I try to keep my eyes on the road. This one, however, nearly caused me to drive onto the median.

Many billboards surround the highways of Atlanta and other major cities. These billboards are so ubiquitous that I see them as white noise. Companies that look for other canvases to communicate their ‘outdoor’ message and blend their messaging into the structure score points. Fine job @ChickfilA.

Have you seen any crazy good advertisements incorporating the natural structure of a building, bus stop, or other entity? Share.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, billboards, call to actions, marketing, Marketing Event, personal connection | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

@ Best Buy, it’s the stuff that brings them in….

September 19, 2011

Since when have we become so ‘accessorized’?

Recently, I visited a Best Buy and expected to find wall after wall of big screen TVs, computers, electronics, stereos. I am not much of a gadget guy, so I don’t frequent these places very much. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. My preconceived notions were fulfilled.

The store’s perimeter is an electronic festival with flashes of light, color, images and sound.  A bank of TVs allure with stunningly picturesque pictures of bears swatting salmon in angry rapids, two children frolicking in a meadow of wildflowers, a fearsome linebacker delivering a knockout blow to the opposing team’s quarterback. I couldn’t help but look at every one, despite the fact that they were all streaming the same picture.

You could hear a pin drop in this aisle.

The store’s interior, however, pulses to a different beat. Let’s call it stuff (accessories): game cartridges, DVDs, CDs, gift cards, wires, cables, camera cases, Ipod skins. I am fairly tech-savvy, yet I almost felt compelled to ask for a translation guide. This accessory goes with what product? And why would I need this?

I used to think of Best Buy as the store of ‘Big Things’: TV, appliances, stereos.  It’s where I went with a friend’s truck because I knew my car wouldn’t hold my loot.

Now, it’s the land of small things. Five years ago, you walked out of Best Buy with something on a dolly for $500 pushed by a pimply-faced high-schooler. Now, you pack your cart full of ‘things’ and wonder how all of it cost $300. During my recent visit, the traffic condensed around the peripherals, add-ons, and accessories, not the big-ticket items.

The world’s become bigger. Its products, however, are becoming smaller.

Sure, we still buy the big things, but the ‘little stuff’ seems to be the locomotive in today’s economy train.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, Communication, communications, customer experience, Customer Service, knowing your customers, marketing, shopping, store design, Uncategorized, user experience | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Hungry to persuade and motivate? Try this recipe.

August 29, 2011

The words we use are very situation-dependent.

What you tell your friends on the green of the 18th hole on a recent golf outing will most likely be different than how you respond to someone’s question during a job interview.

The same holds true for your voice tone.

Yelling at a teammate to hustle on a basketball court is expected just as whispering is between the stacks of books at a library.

But how about what you say? Can certain words persuade or motivate us to act?

Go ahead, tell me about your most popular dish.

I don’t do it often, but I recently visited a few ‘very’ fine-dining restaurants. Outside of the delectable, mouth-watering food, my favorite part was listening to the waiters announce the ‘specials of the day’.

“Our chef has specially-prepared this dish for you: It’s always one of our favorites. We’ve trolled the deepest part of the ocean to find the thickest, most meaty red snapper. We top the snapper with lime juice, capers and the sweetest organic tomatoes straight for our own garden. The perfect pairing for the red snapper is the wild rice combination with finely-cut almonds. Delicious!”

“We offer you the freshest ocean salmon, drizzled with light cream sauce, nestled under a bed of organic orzo. Accompanying the salmon is gently fire-roasted asparagus.”

Hungry? I didn’t need much more convincing. Typically, I ordered the specials that were so brilliantly communicated by the skilled waitstaff.

So what’s their trick? It’s a trick that you can use in your marketing.

Notice these words:

  • Specially-prepared
  • We offer you
  • It’s always one of our favorites

Now, you may not be selling high-quality seafood, yet you are trying to make your prospect feel as if your product or solution is directly geared to his/her need. I always like to know that a company is doing everything they can to make me happy (see: ‘specially-prepared or ‘we offer you’). I want to know that others have made a similar choice (see: it’s always one of our favorites), whether it’s trying the red snapper or spending big money on the latest storage technology.

It’s easy to over-complicate, pushing every single feature through a face-to-face demo, meeting or Web site copy. Stick to the basics: you’ll convince them every time.

Bon appetit!

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | advertising, Communication, communications, Conversation, healthy eating, restaurants, retail | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
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