Pete Blackshaw: Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World
First jump out of the gate on publishing, and a thrill beyond thrill to have this opportunity. Very important message about what it really takes to manage a business or brand in the era of consumer control. This book is far less about social media marketing campaigns than the role of customer service and "consumer affairs" in the marketing mix.
Charlene Li: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
More important validation about the role of CGM and social media as it impacts business. Both writers very smart and experiences in the space. Will write more once I get through the entire book.
Gerald Zaltman: How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market
Gerald Zaltman doesn't write specifically about CGM, but his core themes about the unconscious drivers of brand affinity provide some critical clues and insights behind what's really going on among today's passionate and viral consumers. (*****)
Don Novello: The Lazlo Letters
My dad was in advertising, and he would uncontrollably laugh while reading this book that. In many respects, Lazlo was the first "citizen's journalist" or blogger for that matter. His CGM was all about experiences with companies, brands, or VIPs. (*****)
Seth Godin: All Marketers Are Liars
I'm a huge fan of Seth Godin, but this one was just OK. I probably read it with a higher set of expectations that the book would be a bit more critical of the marketing industry. It's hard to disagree with the core premise of authentic story telling, but some of his points overstated the obvious (**)
James Heskett & Others: The Service Profit Chain
A major inspiration for much of my thinking about CGM. Heskett's a former b-school professor.
Seth Godin: Free Prize Inside
I'm not going to tell you what's inside, but I guarantee you'll be surprised. (*****)
Jeffrey Rayport: Best Face Forward
Rayport taught the HBS class that fueled my fanaticism for the "marketspace." The inspiration continues. (*****)
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point
How does the ripple create the wave? Read on! (*****)
Malcolm Gladwell: Blink
Trust your gut! It's not as irrational as some claim. (*****)
Kelly Mooney: The Ten Demandments
Kelly gets it! She's been working with some of the nation's top brands. Deep understanding of shopping behavior. (****)
Jon Berry: The Influentials
A solid case for why so-called "Influentials" matter. Authors really know their stuff. (****)
This video below (which I discovered via the WSJ blog) captures the core essence of Twitter in simple animation. I don't entirely agree with all the articulated "benefits" but it's well worth watching. And while we're on the topic of Twitter, here's a link to my ClickZ column this week entitled "Customer Service Meets 'Lord of the Twitters.'"
This year's Ad-Tech, which I'm still attending, is very special. Most importantly, the first "keynote panel" of industry experts focused on an issue that rarely gets top billing at industry confabs: the art of conversation. This is an important shift in our collective industry "attention" and "engagement," and while we're all far from finalizing the perfect white paper or case study about managing relationships with consumers in this age of consumer control, we're finally starting to talk about it, and at minimum, ask the right questions. I was deeply honored to moderate this first diverse panel of industry experts, which included (right to left after me in the photo) Tom Asher of Levi-Strauss, Beth Thomas-Kim of Nestle, Jordan Warren of Agency.com, Todd Cunningham of MTV, and Rick Clancy of Sony Consumer Electronics. I was also thrilled to debate, discuss, and vet out all the relevant issues in several spirited meetings and conference calls before the actual event. (Key learning: the "conversation about the conversation" as as important as the end result.) You can skim various blogs (or Twitter feeds or see a superb cNet News story summary) that recap the panel, but what I'd like to do here is simply list the key question we probed and discussed. I truly believe every marketer needs to hit the white-board sooner than later on these questions.
Many of these themes will be tackled at many levels -- and with finer levels of granularity -- at the upcoming Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) conference entitled WOMM-U. I provided background about this last week. Here's more info.
Other Ad-Tech Notes: Late last night, I was flattered to receive a special Ad-Tech industry achievement award. I dedicated it to my recently deceased father, William Blackshaw, who taught me all that can be good in advertising -- provided we keep it trusted and credible. Other industry achievement award winners included Rich Lefurgy and Kate Thorp, both of whom I deeply respect and admire. My message to the audience was that if we continue to keep the consumer right smack in the center of our radar, everyone wins -- always. I still think there are so many important issues we need to pro-actively address -- privacy, word-of-mouth ethics, ad intrusion, and more -- so while awards are appreciated (even humbling), we still have so much more work to do. But before we get too serious here, I'd be remiss not to direct folks to the full list of award winners, including "Elf Yourself," which swept three categories.
If you are serious about all the issues and themes in this blog, you won't want to miss the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's (WOMMA) Spring conference May 9-10. It's like a shot of WOMdrenaline! If you still are not convinced, watch this video from last year's event. (If you still are not convinced, check out this video from the very first WOMMA conference.) This year's event is entitled "WOMM-U" and a big focus is on "activating networks, influencers, and communities." Sign-up here! Here's the latest list of speakers at the event. Imagine the time and expense of connecting with all these sharp minds individually.
Personal Note: There are few things in my marketing career that have been more inspiring, empowering, and enlightening than my work with WOMMA. When we created this group four year ago, we sought to shape a new way of thinking about marketing that puts the consumer at the center of the universe. We were also determined to tackle head-on the issues like word-of-mouth ethics that we knew, if abused, had the potential to destroy all that is so special and unique about this "listening" and "conversation" anchored space. The group remains committed to all these issues -- adamantly and passionately -- and whether through membership, conference participation, or -- even better -- putting your name in the hat for the new WOMMA board, please participate.
My first official review just came in about my upcoming book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000. Publisher's Weekly notes the book is "thoughtful and engaging."
"Informative, energetic and entertaining, this is a marvelous argument for corporate responsibility and accountability, interesting to laypeople and instructive for executives."
Whew! Much as I'm a tireless advocate for feedback, I'm also the first to concede a certain anxiousness about subjecting myself to the same standard. When my publisher sent to first round of galleys to so-called "key influencers" (other authors, corporate bigwigs, thought-leaders), I found myself breaking a sweat when the deadline for testimonials passed and only a trickle of quotes had come in. Alas, I thought, they think this book is destined for the trash heap. Or maybe they strongly disagree with my argument, or think it's yesterday's news. Or maybe they gave a big "Pete who?" and moved on to the next piece of mail? The feeling was worse with folks I knew; nay, the silence was deadly. But in the end, plenty of quotables came in, and in most cases a quick reminder did the trick. Folks are busy, and reading a book -- even zipping through the first several chapters -- takes time. You can't take it personally. And even if they don't think it measures up, you can't take that personally either. True to the title, I've no doubt lots of complaints will also work their way through the system. But I guess that's also the point, right!
Starbucks & The Feedback Loop: On a related front, I recently talked to Elizabeth Gillespie of AP about Starbuck's customer feedback campaign, MyStarbucksIdea.com. Here's a link to the story. Although the campaign's received some understandable skepticism in the blogosphere, I frankly think it's a very strong example of reaching out to loyal, even critical customers for feedback. And there's real participation in this exercise, far more than most expected. As I've said repeatedly when I started PlanetFeedback.com, "All feedback is gold, every complaint a gift" -- and I believe this principle holds more than ever. In the case of Starbucks, some terrific ideas are now piping through the system, and site users are rating the best ones. Like Dell, I also think it's powerful that Starbucks is making the investment to nurture meaningful dialogue and conversation in its own "backyard." Then again, the ultimate "credibility test," of course, will be whether Starbucks management acts on the feedback. I'd be shocked if they didn't -- there are some really good ones up there. Let's stay tuned.
My work colleague, Valerie Bogus, precipitated an incredulous
"double-take" when she forwarded this screen shot my way. Vanity
clearly took the bait, and my face is still red!
Last Spring I participated in a presentation on sustainability to one of nation's top consumer packaged goods companies. While I chipped in here and here, the real rock-star who delivered the compelling, provocative, and talk-worthy insights -- and who truly engaged this influential audience -- was my colleague at Nielsen Online, Jessica Hogue. Jessica's since built up even more expertise, having carefully analyzed and interpreted tens of millions of online conversations reflecting consumer attitudes toward green issues, sustainability, corporate responsibility, and more,. I'd be remiss not to my readers know she's presenting some topline insights in a free webinar this Tuesday, April 1, at 2 PM EST. Here's the link to sign-up. I always try to keep the so-called "shameless plugs" about the work at my "real job" to a minimum, but I'm not going to apologize in offering the strongest recommendation for this particular webinar. I frankly think it's one of the most important conversational trends taking place on the web. Here's the official description:
As buzz about sustainability rises, bloggers are discussing issues beyond global warming and revealing new insight into consumer behavior. More than ever, consumers are paying attention to corporate social responsibility as "going green" becomes a key factor in buying decisions. How do consumers perceive corporate actions and brand messaging related to the sustainability movement?
One issue Jessica will touch upon is what Mya Frazier of Advertising Age recently popularized in a cover story as "Greenwashing" -- which Wikipedia describes as "the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a
company or the environmental benefits of a product or service." Jessica and her team have been carefully studying whether consumers actually view corporate claims around green as credible and believable.
Again, this is a classic area where listening really matters. Brands need to understand where consumers are both open to messaging, and the level of belief, disbelief, or skepticism they are starting with before they hear corporate claims. 
In many cases, claiming "green" just won't fly, especially as consumers exercise the web's "transparency toolkit" in the form of search, Wikipedia, activist web utilities (which make it increasingly simpler to vet out claims). This is yet another reason why I peg "affirmation" and "transparency" as two of the my six drivers of brand credibility in my upcoming book. Truths or untruths are readily affirmed on the web.
Anticipating Green Currents: But even beyond using CGM as a vetting vehicle around green claims, an equally valuable dimension of the online conversation is the degree to which it highlights emerging trends or unmet needs on the green front. In this Nielsen Brand Association Map (BAM), for example, taken during the first half of 2007, you'll note heightened consumer concern around "Bottled Water." For many, bottled water has become a new battle front on the sustainability movement, as many believe it's leading to unnecessary waste. Does everyone buy this? Well, that's where the conversation become so important, and this too is a topic Jessica will touch upon. Again:
Webinar on CGM and Sustainability
Tuesday, April 1, at 2 PM EST
Here's the link to sign-up.
One of the six brand credibility drivers I describe in my upcoming book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends; Angry Customers Tell 3000, is affirmation. This
refers to the consensus of
positive or negative truths about a business or brand.
Here are excerpts of the "Ten Things" from the article: There's also an excellent exchange of comments on my Consumer-Generated Media group on Facebook on this very topic.
What's missing? Join the conversation here or on the Consumer-Generated Media Facebook group. Dave Evans, Bill Stephenson, Morton Jensen, Zena Weist, Andy Zilch, Charlotte Selles, Pauline Ores, and Vandana Ahuja have already added superb comments on this topic.
Forget the election results for a quick moment. What continues to capture my fascination is the degree to which all the campaigns are reaching out to key stakeholders in a participatory, respectful, personalized, and timely manner -- and attempting to shape my perceptions well before I read the first piece of online or offline news. Not all of this makes sense for big brands, but much of it does. Sample the late night messaging.
From the Hillary Clinton campaign. (Time of delivery: 12:38 AM EST)
It's a pretty incredible feeling, isn't it? After our victory in Ohio tonight we have the momentum, thanks to your will, determination, and hard work. And you know what they say, as Ohio goes, so goes the nation.
Some people were ready to count us out. But you and I proved them wrong, just as we have every time they tried to declare this race over prematurely. And we're going to keep showing them exactly what we can do.
We're going to do it for everyone across America who's been counted out -- but refused to be knocked out. For everyone who's stumbled -- but stood right back up. And for everyone who works hard -- but never gives up.
I hope you enjoy our victories tonight as much as I am. We won this one together, and that makes it that much better. Thank you so very much for all you have done for our campaign. Let's build on this remarkable momentum. Each and every one of you can make a statement tonight by going to www.hillaryclinton.com
Thank you so much, Ohio, for everything you did to make this night possible.
All the best, Hillary
And This From Barack Obama's Campaign (Time of Delivery: 3.06 AM)
Pete,
We may not know the final outcome of today's voting until morning, but the results so far make one thing clear.
When the dust settles from today's contests, we will maintain our substantial lead in delegates. And thanks to millions of people standing for change, we will keep adding delegates and capture the Democratic nomination.
We knew from the day we began this journey that the road would be long. And we knew what we were up against.
We knew that the closer we got to the change we seek, the more we'd see of the politics we're trying to end -- the attacks and distortions that try to distract us from the issues that matter to people's lives, the stunts and the tactics that ask us to fear instead of hope.
But this time -- this year -- it will not work. The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high. Americans need real change. In the coming weeks, we will begin a great debate about the future of this country with a man who has served it bravely and loves it dearly. And we will offer two very different visions of the America we see in the twenty-first century.
John McCain has already dismissed our call for change as eloquent but empty.
But he should know that it's a call that did not begin with my words. It's the resounding call from every corner of this country, from first-time voters and lifelong cynics, from Democrats and Republicans alike.And together you and I are going to grow this movement to deliver that change in November. Thank you,
Barack
And so the campaign beat goes on!
Dawn is breaking, and I'm hours away from heading to the polls for today's "make or break" Ohio primary. (Yes, I live in Ohio - the hilltop community of Mt. Adams, Cincinnati to be exact.) Like millions of other voters here, I've been subjected to a barrage of TV ads, media headlines, big events, small events -- you name it -- related to the primary. I've also had the opportunity to dive fairly deep into all the candidates interactive strategies, especially the Democrats. This is the topic of this morning's Clickz Column entitled "10 Interactive Marketing Tips from Barack and Hillary." I've been quite impressed at how all the campaigns have taken full advantage of the their websites, especially around what I like to refer to as the "Third Moment of Truth" -- enabling expression, participation, involvement. Here's brief recap of some key takeaways:
Business Week's 3/3 edition (available online now) features a very important cover story by Jena McGregor entitled Consumer Vigilantes: Fighting for truth, justice, and the right to speak to a manager. The issue also includes an annual ranking of "Customer Service Champs" -- many of whom, interestingly, have been profiled in either this blog or my forthcoming book, "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000!" -- as well as a provocative (and spot-on) op-ed by Jeff Jarvis entitled "Love the Customers Who Hate You". Importantly, McGregor writes:
"The sting of a bad experience can cut so deep that it transforms an upset customer into an activist no longer interested in just a refund."
As we've probed many times in this blog (see tagged links), and in nearly a dozen ClickZ columns, marketers and business executives have yet to internalize the critical symbiotic relationship between brand/service "experiences" and "media" output (and I'm not talking about paid media). McGregor's piece helps make that connection more obvious and transparent. The propensity to speak out (hence generate CGM or social media) is inextricably tied to depth of consumer loyalty or disloyalty, and its powered by the web's growing arsenal of megaphones that seem to get even more powerful every day thanks to the advent of multi-media (e.g. video, audio, photos) as well as "I second that emotion" community and social-networking capability. 
The upside of extreme loyalty and brand emotion might be found in places like Facebook's 40,000+ member Southwest Airlines group or the nearly 70,000 member "Addicted to Starbucks" group (more perspective here). The downside of extreme disloyalty and boiling emotion -- what McGregor describes as "venom-spewed tales of woe" -- can be found in tens of thousands of places on the web's digital trail, from message boards to blogs to YouTube. (As Jarvis suggests, just go to Google and add the word "sucks" to a brand query.)
So What Next? Business Week does a great job diagnosing the problem, and the "winners" part shines light on a host of best practices (Fairmont, Lexus, Trader Joe's, Lands End, Enterprise), but I still worry whether there's a big missing piece of the conversation around "what next." Importantly, are the marketing leaders -- the owners of the biggest discretionary budget, and arguably the most influential drivers of change in large enterprises-- internalizing the message, and translating these new insights around consumer behavior into better "media" models. If "service is the new marketing," as they say, what's the blueprint for re-engineering the marketing department along these lines? How should the CMO -- or the constellation of communications agencies (media planning, advertising, PR, digital) -- be incented to move in this direction? And will there be rewards and recognition for the mostly undervalued (and typically non-strategic "cost center") owners of the call-center, email feedback, and more?
First Things First:
Since 2000, I've attended over a dozen conferences of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, one of the largest industry group's representing corporations and brands that own the "listening pipe." While not nearly as glamorous as the "new media" or Web 2.0 confabs and conferences, these SOCAP events always hit me like a refreshing cold-shower because they are grounded in the real nuts and bolts of listening, training the front-lines, adapting to an increasingly diverse (e.g. Spanish speakers) and demanding consumers, developing fair and consistent methods for responding to consumers, and navigating impenetrably complex legal barriers (and fear). I have also learned that this department is consistently underfunded and under-resourced, and mostly divorced from marketing. As boring and mundane as their work seems, it's hard not to conclude that if a company can't nail the "basics" of consumer listening they'll never get it right, or be credible, in the far more vexing and volatile social media zone. (Remember, most of the vigilantes Business Week's McGregor highlights initially reached out the company, but those experiences were poorly managed and only made the situation worse.) So you have to start with the source. That said, like the CMO, the consumer affairs and customer relations leaders also need to step up to the plate, a point I underscored last fall in a SOCAP keynote entitled "Wake Up and Listen to Consumer 2.0." If they want more budget, more respect, more leeway to nurture meaningful consumer loyalty -- and hence positive word-of-mouth and CGM creation -- they need to make their case, and do so now at a time when the resource-rich marketers are dotting every third word in speeches and memos with the word "conversation." 
My book lays out a host of strategies for making such a case, but short of even reading a book (or Business Week's story) business leaders simply need to take a long, hard stare at today's consumer and negotiate a new relationship.
The good news is that there's a growing laundry list of best practices in this area I like to refer to as Listening-Centered Marketing, from Dell's Ideastorm to the 800-number-all-over-the-place Zappos.com. We're also seeing new metrics and measurement protocols (this is part of what I do in my day job) that make it far easier for brands to understand and act upon varying degrees of consumer emotion (the building block of consumer loyalty or even defection) flowing across the CGM landscape.
Final Question: And so I end this post with a simple question: how do we shift from consumer-powered "vigilantism" to company-powered "service vigilance." Business Week's piece fires up that conversation, and I really hope it continues down the right path.
This morning in my ClickZ columm I only peripherally dive into CGM and instead fixate attention (and engagement) on the dynamics of "marketing" to my own kids. Lately I've been trying to master the ins and outs of persuasion and marketing in the context of getting my lovable twins to do certain things, like getting ready for childcare. It's a humbling exercise, constantly requiring pause for introspection, retooling, and an occasional dab of self-pity. Oh, and I'm hardly immune from the occasional head scratching from my wife, Erika. As I note in the piece
I instinctively start the process with delusions of Web 2.0 speed and efficiency and overly romanticized notions of "conversation." It's always a delightful and heartwarming process, but it rarely lines up with the marketing plan -- or my desired product-launch timing.
Anyway, I offer up seven truths and principles for managing through all this. They include:
An excellent conversation is brewing on my Facebook "Consumer-Generated Media" group around this the very issue of whether I've yet to reach the "tipping" point of too many friends. I posted the question moments after I officially reached the 500 friend mark. So far over fifteen well-friended "friends" have left thoughtful commentary, and it's worth a good read. Dave Evans says "it doesn't matter," while Bob Troia notes (correctly, I think) that "the flaw with Facebook is that they refer to everyone as "friends" when in fact we are "connections". Suzanna Stokes of South Africa notes: ""friends" is a poor description of the networking tool that facebook offers," while Cathy Yingling on Indianapolis says "more the merrier." Ann Michael says she "feels my pain and shares (my) questions," while colleague Stephen Tompkins says I just need to get more efficient sub-categorizing my friends. What do you think?
I'm flirting with 500 friends on Facebook? The question is: how much is too much? Is there a "point of diminishing returns" in how many folks I friend? How do I sustain the conversation among friends in a meaningful way? What is friendship? These are the big questions I'm asking as the I reach the 500 mark.
In my ClickZ column this morning, Adapting to Consumer-Controlled Surveillance, I volunteer a dosage of tortured ambivalence about today's marketing environment:
"I often worry that in our sometime irrational exuberance over the benefits and wonders of conversation, brands are blind to what it truly means for consumers -- our coveted buyers and lifetime revenue streams -- to be constantly watching, monitoring, evaluating, and talking about us. At the end of the day, consumers are monitoring brands and companies "for quality purposes" 24/7, far more attentively than companies recording toll-free calls. And that has enormous consequences for how we promote, protect, and manage brands."
It's not that I lack excitement about "participation" and "conversation." I just worry that brands and their agencies -- and other brand stakeholders -- all to often sidestep the more difficult questions around how to truly manage and interact with consumers in this age of "consumer control." Romanticism sometimes suffocates realism. Marketing claims often simply betrays the facts. This is big theme in my upcoming book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: Running a Business in a Today's Consumer-Driven World. This isn't to suggest I have the answers, but I do know we need to get this particular "conversation" going sooner or later. In my column I outline six key rules and principles to warm up our thinking. They include:
Here's a link to the full article.
Check out the burst of online conversation on blogs in the final hour of this evening's Super Bowl. The green represents discussion deemed to be "sports" oriented, and it's clear that most of the spike you see is attributable to the final moments of the Super Bowl. This is taken from Nielsen's BlogPulse tool, which monitors over 70 million blogs every day.
Talk about multi-tasking. I'm halfway through the Super Bowl, and I've got over half-a-dozen measurement tools in front of me. All fascinating, but also a bit frenetic. As part of my Nielsen Online responsibilities, I'm helping oversee our Super Bowl monitoring work. But in addition to our "official" metrics, I'm keeping my eye on just about everything, including the degree to which brands are driving offline/online synergy. (Verdict: Ok so far, but not nearly as well as I would have expected.) Anyway, here's what I've got open on my laptop right now:
Who says CGM is just a digital or "Web 2.0" thing? In reality, we're creating content all the time, and often at a very young age! Last Monday, my wife Erika and I took our twins to the National Underground Railroad Freedom to commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. 
On the third floor of this spectacular center (full disclosure: I'm a proud web advisor and volunteer to the center) is a special area for kids to craft their own art work and media messages around freedom-centered themes, and then post them to a "Freedom Wall."
My kids were fully consumed in the exercise, and the part they seemed to relish the most was posting the content to the wall. 
They too seemed to want to leave their mark. The power of expression. Whether wall, message board, blog, or soapbox, the desire to create, express, and speak out is a constant!
My most recent ClickZ article, entitled Search & Reputation: Your Brand Standing is Your Shelf Landing, insists that "search and brand reputation share an inseparable, symbiotic relationship, and CGM is the dominant, if not final, arbiter of that marriage. That puts the exercise of managing brand equity on the thin, precarious line between control and capitulation." Further:
"In both pleasant and unsettling ways, companies are quickly learning their brand equity and credibility is the sum total, and composition of their search results. They're also beginning to internalize (usually the hard way) that CGM is now the fastest-growing source of indexed content in search results....That means, in essence, we're all hostage to the conversation."
This issue is a key theme in my upcoming book, and it powers one of my "six drivers of brand credibility" -- affirmation. Brand credibility and reputation heavily rests on how well search results "affirm" brand attributes. For example, after hearing a "we solve all your problems" ad pitch from a particular brand, a consumer might conduct a bit of extra due diligence on a search engine, or even Wikipedia. In some categories such as wireless, search results often "affirm" negative -- not positive -- experiences with the brand, hence eroding credibility. Every brand stakeholder needs to be attentive to these dynamics. Again, here's the article. If you want to dig deeper, John Battelle, not surprisingly, has written a fair amount about this topic.
Type in Pete Blackshaw into Google and
Is customer service the new marketing? That's certainly been a long-standing contention in the blog, and it's the theme of a one-day conference taking place in early February. A firm called GetSatisfaction is the primary host, and it looks like a promising -- if not long overdue -- confab. The timing is for this conversation is just right, and I frankly hope we'll see more of this in 2008. My upcoming book (which I'll start previewing in future blog entries), Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000, hits this very theme right smack in the strike zone. In particular, it makes a forceful argument that marketing in the age of consumer control needs to be completely realigned around customer service and consumer affairs. With millions upon millions of CGM comments across the web indicting (or complimenting) varying degrees of customer service, or brand listening, there's plenty of empirical evidence to support such a direction. 
The key for brands is to draw specific linkages between key dimensions of the service experience and what I like to refer to as the "CGM echo effect." Such analysis is critical to drive investment or media-mix reallocation. In the wireless category, for example, customer service issues related to "billing" tends to have a higher word-of-mouth or viral impact that other issues. This became obvious to me starting in 2000 while analyzing hundreds of thousands of letters on PlanetFeedback.com and more recently across thousands of online expression venues.
Certain issue hit core emotions more than others, and customer service is at it heart consumer emotion. (See article: Attention! I Don't Want Your Freakin Attention!) Conversely, brands like Amazon and online shoe seller Zappos.com tend to be rewarded by great service delivery or shipping. (See recent NY Times story entitled Put Buyers First, What a Concept.) What's needed is a new science of "cause and effect" around the service experience that heavily factors in advocacy and word-of-mouth. Consumer affairs and customer service departments, in partnership with marketing, can help lead that charge, and that was my hold-no-punches challenge in my October keynote to the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP). The CGM revolution and Web 2.0, I argued, is finally lending credence and strategic relevance to consumer affairs -- so it's time to lead and set the new agenda. We'll revisit this issue at Ad-Tech San Francisco in April, so stay tuned. (I can't attend the February conference, but I'm jealous of anyone who can.) For more fun reading on this topic, see:
