Brian Feener

The restaurant I went to yesterday and had a service window for the food. Of course my food sat there for only a couple of minutes but it felt like forever.

It got me thinking that having something so close tha you can taste it is worse than having its far away that you can’t see it.

Online, its knowing that the capabilities are out there but not being utilized. Slow loading video isn’t acceptable anymore. Not having an RSS feed is amateur. Download problems are avoidable.

It is easy to do your homework on a nightly-basis. I don’t mind holding you to a higher standard if you want to sit in the smart class.

Rat Cat

Here’s a short list of the stuff this cat could choose to eat

• M&Ms
• dry cat food
• wet cat food
• bananas
• trash
• the junk at the bottom of the garbage disposal
• the corner of the chair
• a plastic bag

Sometimes the most wrong choice is the choice that people make.

I’m not sure which lesson applies here:

1. You don’t always know what your customers want.  Sometimes they don’t either.

or

2. The most remarkable products are the most accidental.

“Corporate” is not a personality, it’s an absence of personality.

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There’s a certain ludicrousness to bullet-points. People don’t think or talk like that.

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We can tell when you’re not comfortable in writing or design.

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It’s easy to tell when you’re not having fun.

Over the weekend, Manny Ramirez started his yearly “I want to be traded” routine.

(Full disclosure: I’m an obnoxious Sox fan.)

At this point, it’s been done enough times that it’s hard to believe that it’s actually going to happen.  But then I think about a discussion in the movie 21 about variable change.

The long and short of the conversation is that when you change the environment around a probability, the probability changes.  (The movie uses the example of a game show with the classic Door #1, Door #2, Door #3 situation.)

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No, I have no idea what made someone think that a website dedicated exclusively to Cats in a Sink was a great idea.

What I can tell you is that this is not the future of the internet. (”Man cannot surf on cats in a sink alone.”)

While there are certainly going to be more sites like these that pop up, unless the model is scalable and creates utility (whether its the transfer of knowledge, money, or community), sites like this one will be nothing but niche and mildly profitable.

This brings me to today’s lessons that the greatest businesses are those built on self-propulsion.
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In your brochures, on your website, and on your garment tags there is some copy that can be improved.

Let’s face the facts here, you are developing a story for your product and for your brand. In the pictures, in the design of the site, in the choice of the colors, in the word choice, every single decision (both physical and digital) impacts the overall narrative of your brand.

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10% off… 20% off .. $30 off… where does it stop?

It doesn’t.

When a new company is trying to strengthen its brand, it is important that the customer begins to identify and qualify the company’s products in accordance with the company’s long-term brand strategy.  In regards to price, unless the long-term strategy is to always offer discounts (e.g. compete on price), a discount is detrimental to the overall brand.

Discounted prices can create a price-sensitive consumer that believes that waiting is the best way to optimize return-on-investment. When the customer knows that a discount is coming down the road, it becomes advantageous for them to hold off on purchasing and wait until the product gets hit with the discount.  What would force a discount?  Perhaps, slow sales?  When the customer knows the discount is coming when sales are slow, the customer can force the hand of the company to offer the discount by not purchasing the product.

Discounted prices create a different product. It takes a long time to research and develop that widget.  Between examining the market and putting the product into development and getting the appropriate approvals from the FCC or FDA or whatever, a lot of effort and time has been sunk into the product.  When you discount a product, you immediately allow your audience to re-calibrate their perception of the product.  Remember what I said about perception being reality for your consumer?  When there is only one price for your 128 GB iPod, there’s only one way your customer can perceive the product.

Full price allows companies to create relationships with their customers. I use the word “allow” because this aspect is not set in stone, nor is it feasible for everyone.  Selling directly to the consumer from the website or from a retail store gives the company an opportunity to interact and show some love to their customers.  It gives the company the opportunity to show how special each and every customer is.   It gives them the opportunity to say “thank you” right there and then; to offer a cup of coffee while browsing the store; to allow the sales associate to smile and be friendly to the customer; to get the return/exchange processed immediately and without a fuss.

CAVEATS

Low prices for valid reasons are not discounts. A lower price because it was purchased on-line (as opposed to through the catalog) is a valid reason for a lower price.  The customer has made the fulfillment process easier for the company and the company is passing the savings back to the customer.

Free shipping is not a discount. Free shipping is a way to encourage your customers to act on-line and to get the product to the consumer without going somewhere else.

There are expiration dates on technology. Creating products with updated features immediately makes your older versions hit their expiration date.  There’s no two ways around it.  The new iPhone made the old iPhone go out of date.  Discounts on the old iPhone are valid because it’s a different product in the eyes of the audience.

FOR THE COMMENTS: Why are discounts a valid and an important part in creating brand identity?  -or- What are more valid reasons why discounts are a bad strategy for brand identity?