Zipcar iPhone app customer reviews
I’ve been wanting to blog on this Zipcar iPhone App debacle, just hadn’t gotten the time this week. Anyhoos, I managed to sneak some time in now, so here goes.
This whole Zipcar incident reminds me of the company Momenta that released its “pen-based” computer back in the day (sometime in 1991 I think). The problem with Zipcar is very similar to that which Momenta experienced – you could have the greatest buzz campaigns, the coolest PR team and the sweetest gigs, but at the end it always boils down to the user experience.
If you look back on the early days of the Palm or even the iPod, you will find that buzz can essentially be described as “the word on the street”. It’s what people will say about your product based on their experience with it!
Yes, I know what you’re thinking…and I agree. A good, well executed PR and marketing campaign helps, but only when accompanied with a quality experience.
Another important lesson here is to not get so carried away with the desire to generate buzz that you end up creating excessively high expectations in the marketplace. Palm’s old philosophy of “under promising and over delivering” could work. I personally am a fan of setting the right expectations and then beating it by just a little.
PS: I had to revisit a cool book called “The Anatomy of Buzz” in order to write this post effectively. Just thought I’d share that with you in case you were interested in reading more about buzz marketing.
Marketing Commentary by .
I’ve spent the last couple months chatting heavily with people I meet about Authenticity. I’ve finally drawn some conclusions. Its now time to share.
Mainstream culture today readily accepts the unauthentic. Just look at the countless number of airline ads or hotel ads that constantly talk about providing a great experience. Then remember the number of times you’ve been frustrated in dealing with these very companies!
Similarly, think back to the growth and success of the game “Second Life” or to the differences between your own facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
Dove's award winning Evolution Campaign
An ad for Axe Deodorant
Just as William J. Levitt started churning out affordable suburban homes in the post WW2 era, companies today are churning out products and services that lack real authenticity. So much so that some brands are taking it a step further and poking fun at their own lack of authenticity.
So, in essence, the counter-culture today belongs to the REAL AUTHENTIC. So what makes you REAL? Well, for one, the real authentic doesn’t claim to be authentic! It just shows… . Here are a few ideals that I think could lead to a lot of success in today’s environment (provided it adhere’s to your values of course!).
SIMPLICITY – Keeping it real, simple and transparent.
MINIMLISM – a No-Frills attitude.
GROUNDED VALUES - having values that are real, open, grounded and adhered to!
NATIONALISM – Globalization was the Mantra until about a year ago, before sh*t started hitting the fan on Wall Street. Today its more about Nationalism – Canadian companies fighting their bigger stronger American counterparts are bound to get more support!
Marketing Commentary by .
So I’m guessing you’re not going to be surprised if I told you that social networking is really about 2 WAY INTERACTION. I am not just referring to the interaction between consumers themselves but the interaction between consumers and content producers – be it musicians, writers, bloggers etc.
The great thing about sites like Twitter is that it has put everyone on an even playing field. In a way, it has humanized these so called celebrities and given them an easy way to stay in touch with their audiences. Now the problem with this incredible boom in social networking is that in order to stay in touch with audiences, content producers are having to take their scalability to new heights. However, all of us are unfortunately constrained by the 15 or so working hours that a day usually provides us with. As a result, content producers are beginning to use ’dummies’ or ghost writers to maintain their presence online.
Unfortunately, I have a problem with that! All of a sudden the level playing field is not so level anymore. Now I wasn’t too sure if I was making too much of a big deal out of this so I decided to talk to other marketers, also studying at Schulich, to understand their perspective. One of my colleagues, Gal Corfas, told me he had recently stopped following Guy Kawasaki on Twitter for a similar reason. Here’s what he had to say…
“The strength of twitter, in fact the reason for its meteorically rising popularity, is due to twitter currently being perceived as the “honest voice of the people”. When popular tweeters use bots or writing teams to produce content for them, they undermine this honest image and are in fact pulling the carpet from under their own feet. ”
Personally, I don’t think the issue is the usage of ghost writers…the issue is more about authenticity. If you’re going to have a team to maintain your presence online, say so! Lets not dupe consumers, because sooner or later they’ll find out.
Marketing Commentary by .
Jun 10
21
Interest-driven social networking will change the world.
Our usage of social networks has evolved in the past couple years.
Aside from making use of social networks such as Facebook to keep in touch with friends and stay on top of events, users are increasingly becoming involved in “interest-driven networks” – networks who’s members are brought together due to a common interest or passion. Common examples of such networks include social platforms such as change.org and socialvibe.com and Facebook groups dedicated to certain causes.
Source: Flickr User: Dulk
The shift towards interest-driven networks has led to a gradual change in the makeup of peer groups on social networking sites such a Facebook [2]. That is, peer networks have started exhibiting common characteristics, similar to one’s friend network on Twitter – a platform where social connections are primarily built based on interest.
The gradual allocation of our “social networking time” into activities that are interest driven has brought about two very positive changes:
1. Its increased the number of “do-ers”
Since peer groups are becoming more interest-driven, users who’ve traditionally been action oriented are having a positive effect on their peer networks and as a result, are driving more users towards action. This is good news for communities looking to drive social change who’ve traditionally had problems getting people to donate, especially their time.
2. Its increased the number of “listeners”
Those who aren’t driven to action are getting influenced by peer groups to listen. In my own ethnographic research, I found a 40% increase in awareness of social and political issues primarily through information shared on Facebook.
The net result of this shift is very positive. Facebook has over 400 million active users. A community such as this has the power to change the world. The only barrier standing in the way is that of education and empowerment. This shift toward interest driven networks is helping break that barrier. In my personal opinion, we haven’t even witnessed 10% of the power of social networks, to drive social change.
References:
[1] Digital Youth Project – Living and Learning with new media.
[2] Digital Ethnographic study on 25 users between the ages of 19 and 32 between 2008 and 2010.
Posted in Marketing Commentary by Ujwal Arkalgud. 1 Comment