@ 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
Posted by Dan Naden

Dell wants us to do more; I vote for less

August 8, 2011

Dell wants to expand footprint, yet are we already feeling squashed?

Standing in the long, plodding security line at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport, I glanced skyward. What else is an impatient traveler to do?

There, amidst the towering façade of the airport was a large banner advertisement: Dell: The Power to do More. (BTW: The companion ‘Do More’ web site is actually very vibrant; I sense myself wanting to get out of my chair and go for a run in a wooded area. ;)

Hmm.

More.

America’s become obsessed with abundance. More options, choices, selections, varieties, features, listings; more work in less time. More activities for our children crammed into a weekend. More items on the ‘to do’ list; more ‘go time’, less ‘down time’.

In a harried world, I opt for a little less. Not ‘sitting on the beach’ less, but a workload that yields quality output. I want to be the best at a few things, not mediocre at everything. I want to reflect on my day and think: “I got plenty of great work done today.” Not “I seemed busy, but what did I accomplish?”

Yes, we are pushing ourselves, our teams to do more with less, but at what cost? More mistakes, low quality, tense, frustrated people and teams are the norm, not the exception.

I get it; I understand the positioning for Dell mega-banner stretching across the interior of Austin’s airport; Dell wants to branch out from the ultra-competitive PC business into cloud computing, healthcare technology storage, services, tablets; they can’t and won’t survive by just selling dumb boxes forever. They want a larger share of wallet from existing customers. It’s easier to get ‘more’ from your existing customers than chase new ones.

If you poll 100 busy professionals and give them the following choice, what do you think the response would be?

  • Would you like to do more within a typical day?
  • Or do a better job with the work that’s already your responsibility?

I predict that the majority would choose the latter option. Many workers, already overwhelmed by the pressures and deadlines of the day, forget specific details around tasks, cut corners, push quality aside in favor or ‘getting it done’.

What do you think?

Dell may still sell more software and services and gain precious market share from this campaign from sheer brand identity and recognition on its home turf of Austin, Texas, yet its quantity over quality push seems off-target in a world that sometimes needs a pause button.

I say ‘mercy’ on more, and ‘all systems go’ for putting forth a quality effort on the ‘right’ work.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, Airport, Communication, experience, innovation, knowing your customers, marketing, merchandising, personal | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Give the dog an effectively-marketed bone

June 6, 2011

A yellow bundle of energy (dog) arrived at our house a few months ago.

She’s cuddly, adorable, and sleeps more than she should.

baby lab puppy

I've found a new friend (with sharp teeth!!)

Like any new pet owner, we made the obligatory stop at PetSmart for some puppy goodies: toys, food, bones.

Browsing the long aisles of PetSmart, I scanned all shapes and sizes of chew toys: squeezy, squeaky, noisy birds, squirrels, bunnies; if there’s an animal that your dog wants to chew, PetSmart can satisfy.

We picked up a bone that would surely, (hopefully) calm a biting, stressed, zealous puppy. My wounded fingers, arms, hands, ankles, legs could use a bit of a break from the frequent puncture wounds.

Upon arriving home, I could sense that my pup knew I had a gift for her; the gaze was more intent; her posture seemed poised to pounce.

I unraveled the new bone from its wrapper and quickly glanced at the packaging (I am in marketing, that’s what I do.)

Needing relief for a pained puppy, I didn’t want to be overburdened with feature fluff. I wanted to bring peace to my puppy.

What I read was straight to the heart of effective product marketing:

  • Virtually indestructible (I despise products that wear down after a few days. Built to last is a lost art.)
  • Finest natural gum rubber for maximum strength and durability (Our dog is tough; we want this bone to withstand her ferocity.)
  • Specially flavored they encourage exercise and provide fun while cleaning and massaging teeth and gums (The bone is getting plenty of the dog’s attention, so she must like the flavor.)

After watching my dog gnaw, nibble, tear at this bone for the past 3 weeks, this product manufacturer hit the marks on all three benefits.

The lesson for anyone marketing a product or service:
Don’t get trapped down the ‘feature funnel’. Focus on the true benefit that you are bringing to your audience. How will you make their lives easier? Less stress and worry?

A product that pummels me with a fifteen bullet point feature parade causes me to flee the scene after bullet #2. Stay clear of this train wreck.

If you’ve a pugnacious pup, try a bone to calm her nerves.

Time to go; a little yellow dog has a tennis ball in her mouth and she’s ready to learn the game of fetch.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | advertising, behavior, call to actions, Chocolate Labs, knowing your customers, store design | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Intellivision to Facebook: Gaming grows up

May 23, 2011

I’ve never been a good video game player.

Dainis, my friend from down the street, used to beat me soundly at Donkey Kong. He seemed to glide to Level 8 with his eyes closed, while I hit a wall at Level 2.

My brother didn’t let up the punishment by thoroughly battering me in Astrosmash, Intellivision’s knock-off of the famed Asteroids. My late night practice sessions with Root Beer as a stimulant didn’t work.

Pac Man Fever used to drive me crazy.

In my youth, I made a decision to turn to ‘real-world’ sports; it was a playing field where I enjoyed some success. Instead of growling over a premature ‘game over’, I could sometimes celebrate a victory.

Being a marketer, ‘gaming’ has always stayed on my radar despite my lack of talent. You can’t ignore the ever-present role of games on-line whether it’s Facebook, Web sites, Playstation, Xbox or Nintendo.

The scale of the industry is mind-boggling. A few years ago in 2007, the industry sold 267.8 million games. That’s approximately 540 games sold every minute. Amazingly, this was before Mafia Wars, Angry Birds, FarmVille.

The other night I surprisingly had a few quiet moments and bumped into an intriguing online game titled, World Golf Tour. Being a closet golf junkie, I sidetracked the subscription offers, sampling the free golf.

The course selections, golf club options (no lob wedge) were limited for the free ‘user’. I even wanted to invite a friend onto the fairway, but this was a pay-only feature. That’s alright. It’s faster to play as a single.

As a business owner, marketer, product lead, can you bring this proclivity for gaming fun into your business?

1.       Can you set up levels of your service to make it tantalizingly obvious that the free experience just won’t satisfy anymore? I am quickly seeing how the ‘free’ World Golf Tour offer is setting the stage for a paid upgrade.

2.     Everyone wants to solve his problem (leaky faucet, slow computer, lack of new ideas for his business). Can you make the problem solver have fun in the process? When I customized my new computer or shopped for a car on-line by winnowing the options, I wasn’t mindlessly shopping, I was having fun.

3.       Isolate your audience. Sound harsh? The ‘game’ is when social happens. Can your software, service or business ‘unlock’ the community network only for premiere or paid users? Give your ‘freebies’ a peek, but they can’t sample the valuable, transformative goodies.

Next time I am home, I might have to rummage in the attic for 1983′s Intellivoice, one of the first game devices with a voice synthesizer. I still vividly remember the game B-17 Bomber commanding in a robotic voice, “Fighters, 3 o’clock.” Bombs away.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | Communication, community, Facebook, gaming, knowing your customers, marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

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