Kelly Mooney's blog about the online shopping experience from the customer's point of view -- MooneyThinks.com

The Open Brand -- Now in RUSSIAN!

It's been a little more than a year since we published  The Open Brand: When Push Comes to Pull in a Web-made World. And in that time it's inspired a client symposium, speeches, panels, workshops and, most importantly, provocative discussions with our clients. Discussions that have led to initiatives, projects, cultural shifts, and, ultimately, success stories -- for brands and for consumers.

Even as new technologies and movements take root, we continue to find new ways to leverage the Open Brand framework to transform marketing and branding. And to go along with the global reach of our icitizenry who are leading this transformation, we've just published The Open Brand in Russian.

If I knew any Russian, I'd tag on some sort of clever quip, but instead, I'll just say, check out the cover shot above. I think that's my name and my co-author's in the upper right hand corner. I think...kinda cool. (Jen, if you're reading, can you ask your Russian boyfriend to translate for me?!) ; )

Gain & Mandy Moore -- Live from Chicago

The great scent of Gain detergent is such a great source of joy to the people who use it that many of them remember their first sniff, the moment they fell in love with Gain. It's true!

We were thrilled to work with the Gain brand and partner agencies on a contest and promotion that celebrates first sniff stories. Consumers shared their stories on the Gain site and then a winner was chosen--Stephanie from Chicago (yes, that's her on stage singing with Mandy). Her prize was a free, intimate concert with Mandy Moore (another passionate Gain user) in her town--at the new Lasalle Power Company.

So in addition to the 300+ fans who enjoyed the concert in person last night, we aired it live on Ilovegain.com, where we could engage Gain fans across the country with an entertaining, inspiring experience. In addition to singing songs off her new album, Amanda Leigh, she spoke at length about her own personal, genuine LOVE for Gain. 

(Check out the first sniff stories across the country!)

Share Your Passion by the Dozen

In honor of National Donut Day (yes, seriously, it is), here's a consumer-generated donut for your celebration.

Early this spring, Dunkin' Donuts ran a contest to Create Dunkin's Next Donut. For about three weeks you could go to the site and design, name and share your own creation. The company narrowed the 130,000 submissions down to a dozen. Those 12 creators got a trip to the Donut Bake-Off at Dunkin' Donuts University. And everyone else got to vote on the 12 creations.

Today they announced the winner: Toffee for your Coffee. It's a ring-shaped glazed sour cream donut with chopped Heath® bar topping. Almost as interesting as the winning donut itself (I'm partial to anything with Heath® bars as an essential ingredient) is the story of the winner, who talks about the positive role the brand has in his life. Donut creator Jeff, from Alabama, may not be Dunkin's next spokesperson, but they sure have a great new advocate for the brand. His story rings with passion and authenticity...it might even make you want to forego the granola or fruit smoothie for a day.

What Do You Think?

With the help of VSL, I stumbled across urtak, a fun project created by two recent Harvard graduates.

According to the site, the name urtak is Icelandic for "sample."And that's what the site does, it takes samples of public opinion--or the opinion of anyone showing up there.

The concept is beautifully simple. You can answer general interest questions or, if you sign up (it's free), you can ask them.

• Do you know how to do the Macarena?
• Are you in debt?
• Have you read the Harry Potter books?
• Is your job difficult?
• Does having a pet make you a better person?
• Are you colorblind?
• Do you have any tattoos?
• Are you an only child?
• Have you ever gone more than 24 hours without eating?

As soon as you click your answer -- "yes," "no" or "I don't care" -- you can see how everyone else responded to the question. And if you want to toss your own questions out there, you can watch the community's responses to them.

The urtak site calls this a revolution in public opinion, which I think it might be. I think it's one of many. Google's top searches today, Barnes & Noble's top-selling books this hour, videos being watched now on YouTube, trending topics on Twitter...It goes on and on.

There are so many places for marketers--or just curious people in general--to look to check the pulse of what's on people's minds, what they're thinking and wondering. We've still got focus groups to study. We've still got neighbors to ask. But now we have more ways to see what other people think.

To Kindle or Not to Kindle?

 

Are you an early adopter? I typically rely on the early adopters in our company to vet the newest, coolest device, app, whatever, and then take their recommendations. It saves me time, money (wasted on bad choices) and aggravation. I consider myself lucky to work with so many tech enthusiasts and gurus.

There were mixed reviews on the first Kindle so I waited on the sidelines, even though I sometimes felt an occasional pang of of desire sitting next to someone using one on a plane. Admittedly, while I routinely devour online news and articles like everyone else in our industry, I still love...actually, cherish... holding the New York Times or Dwell or Saveur and other fav publications....just sitting on the sofa, feet propped up with a glass of wine. I'm attached. I admit it. So, is my husband. It's just part of our routine. Yes, I know the newspaper industry is in a tailspin and it's likely that many publications will cease to exist long term.

The new Kindle DX display is huge... appears to be the next best thing to paper. Love that I can email docs to the Kindle and that the font can be increased so I don't have to wear my deplorable readers. Now THAT is a value proposition that just might make me take the leap (oh, and all the subscriptions that are available, the low price of books, and more). I'm ready to give it a whirl. Here goes..!

Social Media Tools to the Rescue

For all the things we love about e-commerce, the reality is occasionally it doesn't work out the way we (consumers) want it to. And you can't just run to the store and make an exchange when it's a purchase from, oh, say, a boutique on the other side of the country.

So how do we get our problems fixed so we're happy consumers? (And how to brands recover from little mishaps?)

A fellow Resourcian shared a story with me about an online purchase gone bad. She'd ordered a coffee table book for her mom's birthday. It arrived all wrapped up (so nice, she was tempted to give it to her mom like that). A few hours before she was about to give it to her, she decided to re-wrap it and found the book damaged.

She called the toll-free number. Got a machine.
She sent an email. Didn't hear back.
Two days later she found the company had a Twitter account, so she Tweeted to them about answering her email about the damaged gift.
That was when the company responded. (They said her email had gotten stuck in their spam filter.)

So here's Twitter providing value to a customer - cheap, easy and fast. In this on-demand world, consumers need to be able to reach the brands they're doing business with--for good reasons or bad. And brands who want to stay on our short lists should be listening when we have something to Tweet about. Do you have someone assigned (and empowered) to manage this for your brand?

It's the People

In agency life, you often hear "it's the work that matters" or "it's all about making clients successful." I agree, in part. I mean, who can dispute that doing cool or innovative work feeds the soul or that delivering business success ensures future employment for individuals and agencies? But, what is too often overlooked is the importance of WHO you are working with everyday. WHO you're sitting with shoulder-to-shoulder to solve problems with insane deadlines, to whiteboard with around empty pizza boxes and heaps of cheap candy, or to travel with despite the unglamorous realities of long lines, delays, and lousy food. These people shape you in ways you can never fully imagine. They teach you things but you might not even know it at the time. Their talents become yours in parts and pieces. Their values morph into your own. They become family (yes, corny but true).

WHO I work with has been at the top of my priority list (not WHAT or WHERE or HOW MUCH) ever since I was 21 and fortunate enough to be employed by RichardsonSmith, a premier product design company founded by Deane Richardson and Dave Smith (now Fitch). Take a look at this photo from last Saturday (I'm in the tree). Nearly a couple hundred people gathered to celebrate a special company, a special era, an unexplainable bond that has spanned decades. Some had worked there for 40 years. Some 20 and some just 10 (like me) and a handful for 5 or so. Many traveled from all over the country for this informal get-together that snowballed after a brief mention/suggestion on LinkedIn. For hours, we reminisced and reconnected over burgers and beer. But, somehow the impossible deadlines, challenging clients, all-nighters, or creative awards never even made it into the conversation. It was the magic of the people that came alive....again...the relationships between and among smart, talented and authentic people. While that particular company is no longer, its essence permeates all of us who worked there. And, undoubtedly, each of us has been inspired and wired to bring a little bit of that magic to the people we're lucky enough to work with today.

Is Domino's Brand Really "Tainted"?

From Motrin to Amazon to Domino's, we're seeing that, thanks to social media tools, the storm of an angry consumer (or consumers) brews faster and bursts larger than we've ever seen before. Brands that want to come out unscathed have to be listening and have to really think through how they will respond.

An article from today's New York Time's says the video prank pulled by a couple of now-former employees of the pizza chain "taints" the brand. It very well could have. In fact, based on the Tweets and other comments, it could have killed the brand altogether. That fast. But an equally fast, genuine response from the brand could un-do and even reverse the damage.

How should you respond? It depends on the situation. We can learn a little from Domino's, who quickly set up an account on Twitter, where it's unhappy customers were, and released a response video from its president on YouTube, where the issue erupted.

The president's sincere tone (even though I wish he were looking at the camera) and the gravity of his words do a lot.

"It sickens me that the actions of two individuals could impact our great system," he said. "There are so many people who have come through with messages of support for us and we want to thank you for hanging in there as we work to regain your trust."

Domino's USA President, Patrick Doyle

And to his point, yes, Domino's now has to regain consumers' trust, but their smart response gives the brand the opportunity to start doing that right away.

What Do a Million Mother's Day Cards Look Like?

Have you seen Kodak's Mother's Day campaign? They're giving away 1 million personalized photo cards.

For existing customers, it's a nice reminder to bypass the card wall at the gift/drug/grocery store and do something just a little different--but not time-intensive. And for those who haven't made them before, it's a great taste of how you can easily and not-too-expensively create gifts that elicit exponential appreciation on the recipient's end.

I think FREE is smart (it's only $2.49, but feels like a larger savings). I think "million card giveaway" is intriguing. And I think reminding you that there are lots of moms in your life is wise.

But, why stop there? Why not OPEN up a bit? I'd love to see the gallery of cards people are creating. Let us look at other people's cards and get ideas, like fun types of photos, interesting crops or creative messaging. Let us sort by silly or sappy themed cards, or cards for sisters and friends who are great moms, or cards for the women who play supporting mom roles in our lives? That would be a Mom-a-thon I'd want to check out.

Beyond Product Reviews: Title 9 Solicits Skort Stories

What's better than a great product review? A great product story. Not just, Hey, I like my new ____. But customers telling the world how their ____ has been such a great part of their life. When you get someone to tell a story, you'll likely get more intimacy, authenticity and passion--and a more engaged consumer.

I got this email from Title Nine last week that cut through the clutter of subject-line-desperation that is filling my inbox. Most of the emails I'm getting these days are about free this or reduced that or final-last-chance-extended-free-shipping-on-everything.

But Title Nine's "Skirts With a Secret + Tell Us Your Skort Story" caught my attention.

I'm really not a skirt girl, which is why hearing about skirts from Title Nine ("Clothes that move for women on the move") was intriguing. And I'm sooo not a skort girl. (Maybe that plaid, pleated Catholic uniform steered me to jeans and pants all these years!). But I clicked through. And when I did, I learned that they weren't talking about "the old school kind that looked like shorts in the back." These are skirts with shorts hidden inside them. (Really, who knew?)

So Title Nine not only cleared up my confusion, but it supplied a few dozen stories written by women who are skort converts or skort fanatics or somewhere in between, addressing the issues of why I haven't considered them in the past, but also inspiring me to think about why I should try them in the future...well, maybe. Okay, not really. I'm still not a skirt or a skort gal. But, I just might spread the word to my sporty sisters who can pull off this look much better than I can.