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Surprise surprise - there's a social media firestorm brewing about Ambercrombie and Fitch again....

This embroilment is related to a comments made by CEO, Mike Jeffries in an interview, related to Abercrombie's targeting of the "cool set."  In Jeffries' terms, the brand is exclusive by design - targeted to the "cool" and "beautiful" kids -- and definitely not fat or ugly kids.

Do the research to dig out the quotes yourself, please... because frankly, this drama isn't the point of this post.  Despite Jeffries' diversity hypocrisy, snobbery and stupidity --- and even as a "fat chick" -- I don't really care.

Truth is -- Abercrombie thrives on this kind of attention -- This is not new.  This is their MO.  Google it. They've got media exposure in Huffpo, Forbes, and a ton of major media outlets in addition to social and blog posts.  I'm not even linking to it all.  Abercrombie doesn't care if you are ticked.  If they wanted you to like them, they would never have attempted to market thong underwear with suggestive sexual comments for 8 year olds.  Jeffries probably doesn't even care that people are ripping into his physical looks and calling him ugly and hideous in social media - and I daresay it's not just because that behavior is stupid, mean,  hypocritical and indefensible.

They don't care that you're mad because they believe attention is good for business. This whole move is focused on driving affinity for certain type of customer -- the "cool kids" -- and they are confident it will create a stronger desire in the "neglected fringes" to "fit in" via brand association.They laugh all the way to the bank! 

Abercrombie and Fitch doesn't care - about you as a person or a parent - or even about your kids.  They've also done their homework.   There's a pretty good chance that left to themselves, your kids  - cool or not, ugly or not, fat or not, are highly likely to continue wanting their overpriced goods.

This is precisely what motivated me to take action seven years ago with my step-daughter, Michelle - and I thought I'd share an updated article I placed on posterous about it.

How I armed my kid to battle a predatory brand - and what she taught me in return.

When my step daughter, Michelle was 15, she became frustrated because Dad didn’t want her to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch.  We discussed it in some depth and agreed it was important not to make her feel like her choices were being taken away from her unfairly - but to help her make good choices on her own.

So I took her on an Ambercrombie shopping trip.  I took the trip as a springboard for talking about the brand - the in-store experience, marketing, clothing, quality, sourcing, etc.  After all, this is part of what I do for a living and the store visit provided great fodder for discussion.  We walked into the cologne laden lounge-like setting.... There were the traditional shirtless, steamy model posters everywhere and rows of neatly folded garments.

Michelle's first comment was related to her surprise over the lack of variety in the homogenous stacks and racks of mass-produced clothing.   We watched as girls bopped in and out around us… looking very much the same…ponytails with headbands, tight layered t-shirts and perfect butt sweats with the Abercrombie moniker on the seat.  It was interesting to watch the clothes walk around the store… This was especially true for my daughter -- a kid who tried her hand at sewing her own clothes and making her own wallets out of duct tape (sheerly to be unique).  For her, the seeming lack of individuality was a turnoff.

Her next objection was over prices.  I had explained to her that she was welcome to spend her own money in the store, but that her dad and I would not spend any money there because of our objections to the company's sexual marketing to tweens and teens.  We made our way to the sale table, where the cheapest thing we found was a simple white tank top for $38 …  It was cute, but nothing special.  As our babysitting pro clutched on to her hard-earned dollars, she was simply offended by the prices.

This led into a chat about value.  We took a look at garment construction inspecting the material, stitching, threads on hemlines and embellishments.  We looked at construction, which was inconsistent and not noticeably better than Target or Old Navy. We talked about quality and workmanship.

Next, we looked at labels…. the ones that were labled were made in third world  - in places like Bangladesh.  It was sobering for her to consider the $56 tank-top on sale for $38 that she held likely cost less than a dollar to produce and was made by some of the poorest people on the planet… in a country that has been criticized for exploitation of workers and child labor.  (Of course, Abercrombie isn't alone in that business conduct - which is a sobering thought all around.)

Then we talked about the packaging. We talked about how the storefront made us feel... the in-store "exclusive club-like" experience ... we talked about the clothes and the power of wearing a brand on your body.  We talked about the pictures of the models and the marketing in the dressing rooms and the messages they conveyed.

We praised the praise-worthy -- we critically discussed the rest.  In truth, while I'd like to say I was objective -- I am sure I was not. I did try to issue self restraint.

Holding my tongue

I didn’t ask her to picture herself or HER child (regardless of age) in one one of these "cute" Abercrombie statement t-shirts:

For Girls:

• Tie me up, don't tie me down
• All bed, no breakfast
• I always end up on top
• Anyone you can do, I can do better

For Boys:

• She Goes Both Ways
• Ride the tip
• Maybe Partying will Help
• Volley My Balls Please

I didn’t point her to their quarterly “catalog” FILLED with sexual imagery and emaciated girls that might suggest to my daughter that her cute, blossoming figure was less than acceptable.  

I didn't tell her about the company's then web-based and explicit “Screen Test” area, where an anonymous login links users to explicit video of muscular guys and hauntingly thin girls romping around in full nudity, stripping for each other - with butts and boobs for miles and naked make out sessions that feature Guys with girls, girls kissing girls, some allusions to guy on guy action.  (Note: For copyright reasons I didn't post screen shots - but I guarantee many parents would have been shocked to see this stuff).

All of this, produced and made accessible by a brand that wanted to take her money and put its brand on her adorable backside.  No way.  My decision about Abercrombie was an easy one.  This wasn't about me.

What was harder was contending with this beautiful, blonde 15 year old, who was racing into adulthood and developing her own identity.  While I hoped she'd agree with her Dad and me, it was much more important to help her make decisions like this for herself.  What was more important was helping her recognize and deal with predatory brands.  So my mission was to get her to think — for herself — armed with some new facts, and guided by her own conscience.  I wanted her to be honest. After all, if we raised her right, she should be able to come to solid conclusions on her own.

Her conscience told her to leave — and she has never gone back.

Today, our daughter is 22.  She carries a new (and sometimes surprising) set of convictions about the way she eats, consumes and shops that is only partially rooted in this experience.   When she came back from a year and a half abroad doing mission/humanitarian work in New Zealand, India, Fiji and Samoa…she informed me she’d no longer accompany me to my favorite coffee house because they don’t unilaterally support Fair Trade.  She won’t drink soda because it’s making us all fatter (and we’re SO blessed to have free, clean water!) She won’t eat chocolate that isn’t “fair trade” stamped because she’s been studying human trafficking in the Ivory Coast.  She doesn’t want to be used as a billboard for any brand.  She shops from thrift stores first when she needs something because it's cheaper and more socially and environmentally responsible.  That's my girl.

What's cooler still is that she isn't a bummer to be around.  She lives her life non judgmentally and with a smile, positive attitude and outlook.  She inspires new convictions in me and others. I can see how Michelle’s convictions can quickly be considered and even embraced by a group.  Especially as she lives her values in an edifying way -- living them proudly and unapologetically and beautifully - in praise of higher living. I can imagine the cascading impact her life can have.

(And I can't take credit for her -- she has always been an incredible kid.)

I wish I'd had that quality at her age. I didn't have her courage.  I often feared that living in alignment with my true core values would be isolating. So, I compromised, a lot.  I didn't "get" comfortable in my own skin until much later in life.

Accepting the Truth comes with a price.

I didn’t mean to create an activist here - I was trying to be a decent parent by making a few points about something I know - which is customer experience and marketing.  I was just trying to be faithful with the insights I've been given.

The thing is, once you flutter your eyes a bit, what you see around you - and what lies behind the scenes can be a rude and somewhat overwhelming awakening.  Faced with the truth, we can choose to respond in a positive way or curl up in the fetal position of denial.

I'm glad she is making good choices.  I can't help but feel the conviction she embraces today will give her an early edge in life - leading into a truly influential and powerful way of living.  It's based on a simple principle:

Living our values gives us the power to destroy the market for reprehensible things … and create new markets for lovely things. 

This isn't about Abercrombie and Fitch.  I don't like the company but it isn't the enemy.  Our real enemies are our own apathy, denial and a lack of moral fiber.  If you care about Abercrombie, by all means do as your conscience dictates.  There are a million ways to voice your concern and fight back.  If you don’t care about Abercrombie - that’s totally fine.  Pick another platform!  Human Trafficking, Sustainable Agriculture, Global Warming....  The fields are ripe with opportunity.

Whatever you do - don’t just sit there.  As the truth builds and cascades around us - we must choose to respond.  We won’t always be right, or be perfect (I am so far off it’s not funny). We won't be able to take on every battle.  We will sometimes be unwitting hypocrites and we won't always win.  However, we can do our BEST, for ourselves, our kids and our future.

After all, if we don't take responsibly, we lose our right to complain. 

What do you think?

This hasn’t been the American way for quite some time now!

But I AM active.  I’m socially responsible.  Really? 

But the keyword here is “KNOWINGLY,” isn’t it?

With regard to your values, what do you DO know? 

When you are offended, what do you DO?

Do you believe that your voice and behavior make a difference?

Hypocrisy goes both ways

Forrester Research's recent Customer Experience Forum in NYC just ended..  I wasn't able to attend due to a recent deluge of travel and client obligations, so I was keenly interested in hearing the outputs of the forum, so I've been reviewing some notes and key takeaways from the Twitter hashtag #cxp11.

You might find the notes from Harley Manning's session on "The Rise Of The Chief Customer Officer" somewhat interesting.  Harley is the Vice President and Research Director at Forrester.  Here are the raw notes from the Forrester website:

• On average, chief customer officers (CCOs) have been in their jobs for two years or less time.
• Very few have backgrounds in customer experience. Instead, they have backgrounds as general managers, marketers, and sales leaders.
• CCOs are heavily concentrated in the business services, IT, and financial services industries, although you can find them in many other industries, as well.
• The majority of them sit on the executive management team at their firms, and they are highly likely to report to the chief executive officer (CEO) or the head of a line of business.
• They spend their time evangelizing customer experience, creating a shared understanding of customers, defining customer metrics, breaking down organizational barriers, building a customer-centric culture, and demonstrating a long term financial impact.

My first reaction?   HM!  I can't help but wonder how someone with no background in CX can tangibly, meaningfully and action-ably evangelize CX beyond the use of hype and buzzwords..... much less build a CX focused culture inside an organization. 

My next reaction?  Questioning.  Why didn't this presentation cover the hiring criteria the companies had for these positions? Boy, that would have been insightful!  I'd like to know how these companies define the criteria that qualify a candidate as a potentially strong CCO -- quantitatively and qualitatively!

My next reaction?  Perplexed.  Why aren't companies aren't appointing more CCO's who have a background managing the SERVICE END of customer management.  We can argue that sales is a front-line arena -- but there's no mention of CCO's coming out of SERVICE-CENTERED arms of business.   Wouldn't that be a natural approach, if service is truly critical to creating great experience.

My final thought?  Challenging.   Why we aren't appointing CCO's to positions who have an understanding of Customer Experience management --- or in this technical age, at least experience with Information and Interaction Design or even Human Factors?  Are they that hard to find?  Is this a failure in leadership's understanding of the critical nature of such skills?  Is it an inability to FIND people with these skills PLUS a mature understanding of business and industry? 

Filing this under "Things that make you go 'hmmm'." 


You can find Forrester's Key Takeaways here.

Tonight, I'll be hosting #IMCChat on Twitter with hosts Anna Barcelos and Beth Harte at 8pm ET on Twitter.  This week, we'll be talking about "next-generation" marketing... specifically, the topic will be: "Is Customer Experience Management the New Marketing?"

You can join us on Twitter by searching for the hashtag #imcchat.  You can also use Tweetchat or other tools to follow the hashtag and respond.

To foster some good discussion, one of the things I'd love everyone to check out is the chart I've been using with my clients to help describe the business shift we are seeing today.
Post-Millennial dynamics are driving change in all aspects of business today -- from product development to front line sales and Marketing.  In tonight's chat, I'd like to discuss how these shifts are changing marketing, and marketer's perspectives of their role in Customer Experience Management.

Also, for discussion purposes, we'll define customer Experience Management can be defined as follows:

Customer Experience Management (CXM or CEM) is the discipline, methodology and/or process used to comprehensively manage the exposure, interaction and transaction between people and brands -- over time, and across channels.  The goal of CEM is to measure and optimize experiences to minimize attrition and maximize satisfaction, loyalty and business outcomes.

Looking forward to perspectives and insights that will be provided tonight!  You can also follow me on Twitter @livepath. 

Today, I posted an interview with Melody Overton, on the Marketing Profs Daily Fix.  Melody is a non-profit lawyer who lives in Seattle. She has been running Starbucks Melody, an unofficial Starbucks fan blog since 2008.  I met Melody in a recent twitter chat, and was intrigued to know more about her brand advocacy for Starbucks and her mission as a dedicated fan blogger. You can check out that article as a precursor to reading this one, if you like, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Lately, I've been talking to more than my share of companies attempting to deal with online brand detractors and fans - especially bloggers. After all, they're not all as positive as Melody.  Without question, I feel the inclusion of the blogosphere in a Customer Listening Program is key to getting a handle on brand buzz. However, brands must do more than just monitor if they wish to encourage the efforts of brand evangelists, and neutralize (or even turn around) brand detractors.

Can detractors be turned around?  Well, Right Now (a client - disclosure) reports that 92% of consumers said they would be willing to go back to a brand after a negative experience if they simply:

• Received a follow up apology/correction from a supervisor/head office
• Were offered a discount
• Were offered proof of enhanced customer service

In a day and age where an average of 1560 people *may* hear about your customer experience failures, turning those detractors around can be a powerful thing.  But going beyond detractors, brands must also consider the power unsanctioned brand promoters have today.  We live in a post-Enron era, where consumer confidence is much higher for people than it is for brands. So, beyond neutralizing detractors, fortifying relationships with unofficial brand evangelists is should be a highly compelling focus.

I started thinking about how hard it is for many companies to know where to start when dealing with vocal, online, unsanctioned brand evangelists (and haters!).   Then today -- sitting in a hotel lobby,  I came up with Eight Tips for Managing Vocal, Digital Customers.  This places an emphasis on bloggers, intentionally, although there are plenty of vocal customers in many different social channels. I talk about some of those, too.  While I'm sure it's not exhaustive, I hope it's a good start and that you'll add your comments and feedback.

1. Survey the Landscape.
Conduct an analysis of the unofficial blogs and other destinations that show up on Google, Bing and Yahoo where people are talking about your brand. You might want to dig several pages deep into the search results a bit, or use creative terms like " sucks" or "I love ".  If you use reputation management software like Radian6 or Techrigy, this exercise becomes easier and more robust, allowing you can look at volume, traffic and number of mentions. You can even search for mentions by the same individual (by name or handle) across destinations, and identify trends for location, persona, sentiment, etc. As you find these digital hubs, you'll also begin to find your most vocal brand detractors and advocates.  

As you survey the landscape, I recommend adding the blogs you find to an RSS Reader, like Google Reader. This will help you track and access these blogs in the future.  Second, I recommend cataloging these sites in a comparison grid that records the name, link, number of pages, author information, domain information, contact information (and/or link) and many of the considerations I'll ask you to make below, so you'll have it readily available later on.  Creating a private Google spreadsheet works well, especially if you've got more than one person working on the assessment, or if you want to share the spreadsheet:  

2. Assess the Content.
Now examine the blog's content to assess quality, quanity, frequency of posting, activity and accuracy.  Add scores for these items to your grid, if you like. If the site isn't graphically beautiful, don't assume it isn't influential.  There are plenty of highly active, well trafficked ugly sites on the web.  Read the posts (especially any "most popular" content, if it's available to you) and how frequently the author posts.  Check out activity on posts - are there a ton of comments?  How do the posts score on Google?  Is the content syndicated on other sites, like Facebook or LinkedIn?

Most of the time, what you find on a site is merely speculation or criticism that may be otherwise present in traditional and digital channels.  In these cases, it’s probably not hurting anyone and you'll be forced to ask whether any misinformation warrants your attention or not.  If you do find significant misinformation, copyright issues or other infractions, reaching out first with a friendly, positive note or comment that addresses the misinformation usually goes far to remedy the situation. It also shows that your brand is listening and can help hold the author accountable in the future.

If you find a blog is giving out routine misinformation, stands in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or if someone has gotten a hold of insider trading information or sensitive information, it may be a serious problem. You'll want to address any serious problems with legal counsel, and resolve any leaks inside your company directly.  As merited, the brand can push harder using legal means to correct the misuse of intellectual property or brand assets, malice, slander or misinformation that can negatively impact the brand..  

By spending a little time, it's possible to sort through active posts for new ideas, trends, areas of specific concern or passion.  This may stimulate new ideas, or draw the brand's attention to new areas for exploration. The blog's content may stimulate questions on the part of the brand, as well. For example, spending time looking through StarbucksMelody's blog, for example, you'll find a ton of comments and activities around Starbucks Mug collections as well as terrific feedback about the recent logo change. 

3. Generally Classify Sentiment.  
I'm not a fan of sentiment rankings using software because they rely on natural language queries that can be inaccurate. As you attempt to weigh sentiment, therefore, I encourage a lot of sampling, digging and reading. Many sites contain a "mixed bag" of feedback - and it's important to get a feel for the character and nature of each one in order to be fair minded about your future outreach or approach to them.  Note the overall personality of the blog.  Is it fun, irreverent, evangelistic, snarky or mean-spirited?  How has it changed over time?  On your grid, you can align the sites to a sentiment ranking on a spectrum from 1-5, positive to negative, adding notes and disclaimers as needed.

As you assess sentiment, you will also begin to identify individuals (authors, commentators) that are more  active and vocal than others.  Catalog these individuals on your grid is important, as well.  While manually, it can be difficult to get an accurate handle on the most vocal -- but you'll  begin to notice trends (both positive and negative) in tone and pattern over time. Using reuptation monitoring software can help you examine the content a single individual has left, over time and across digital "hubs".  If possible, probe into their histories of the most prominent individuals with your company and find out about their past experiences with your brand.  For example, if an individual is a high profile brand detractor who has been offended, and no amends have been made -- maybe there's room for relationship repair. 

4. Examine Potential "Influence."  
I was going to stay away from this term because of the way it is used and misused in social media circles today.  However. influence, as a measure of how much of an impact an individual *may* have on your target audience, is exactly what we're trying to get a handle on here.  Unfortunately, there is no magic tool or formula that will accurately tell you how much influence an individual may have - and an individual's influence is likely to shift and change over time.

Nevertheless, it's important to attempt to understand the following, level of engagement, voice and following a brand evangelist or detractor has.  If an individual has started a blog with successful and significant following (as measured by traffic, social following, mentions, search engine listings), they're more likely to be more influential than say, a regular commentator on a blog.  If they've successfully kicked off a movements, like a boycott or event -- or if they've influenced "trending" or created a "critical mass" of comments or activity on a digital hub, they're likely to have some influence. If they are a notable public personality or "friends" with notable public personalities, they may carry more influence. What you're trying to do here is determine who has more critical mass -- and potential influence for, or against your brand online.  You can align an individual's potential influence rankings on your grid on a 1-5 spectrum, as well.  Just keep in mind that influence tends to shift and change over time, sometimes very rapidly.

If you aren't using a Reputation Management tool, there are a myriad of free tools that can help you examine the influence of brand promoters and detractors. Check out blog traffic on compare.com or Alexa.  See if there's an active Twitter or Facebook following but keep in mind that it's easy to "buy" followers -- and a large following is not an indicator of influence. Look for the level of mutual  engagement the individual has with their online audience, and how engaged the individual's audience is.  You can do this by looking for active dialog on the blog, as well other social sites. You may examine retweets (RT's), comments and mentions over time.

I'm not a big fan of using Klout to measure "influence," for a number of reasons. However, seeing if a brand detractor or promoter has a Klout Score is one way of examining how socially engaged a person is.  An individual's level of social engagement may indeed be a greater indication of influence. Use all the tools at your disposal, plus your own common sense, to develop a high level understanding of how influential your promoters and detractors may be. This will give you a better understanding of the potential influence these individuals have, and help you prioritize your outreach approach.

5. Sort & Prioritize.  
Examine your grid and add an "Action" and "Priority" column.  Put notations on any site or individual that requires follow up with any critical issues that require immediate attention. Prioritize the rest and align the most appropriate response to each outpost or individual on the list.  For example, your "Action" column may include next steps like "Contact Legal", "Send Friendly Correction Note", "Leave Comment on " , "Thank You eMail", "Make Amends".  You may want to add certain individuals or blog sites (as some blogs have multiple authors) into a Campaign, such as a "Neutralize Detractors" campaign.  You might want to "Add to Blogger Outreach Program", which brings me to my next point.

6. Plan Your Outreach. 
A good blogger outreach program focuses on encouraging and fueling the activities of brand advocates while turning around or neutralizing brand detractors. It should not - and I repeat NOT - consist of merely adding the bloggers to the distribution list for your press releases or including them on a list of bad PR pitches that fail to consider their unique bent, interests or angle.  The latter, in fact, is likely to make you the butt of a joke instead of the recipient of praise.  Instead, a good blogger outreach program is heavily goal and objective driven, and sufficiently focused on both detractors and promoters, and is accompanied by measures that will help quantify outcomes.

Approaching detractors is best done on a case-by-case basis and is generally a very "high touch" activity.  Before approaching detractors, it's essential consider that  lending a brand's official response may elevate attention to a blogger's cause, and a poor response may escalate a volatile situation.  Two examples of this include Amazon's recent response to a book for pedophiles as well as the "Motrin Moms" scandal.  In some cases, a response is warranted and timeliness is critical - in other cases, saying nothing (or little) may be in order.  In general brands often benefit by demonstrating actively listening and a willingness to positive and negative feedback, as Domino's Pizza Turnaround Campaign reflects.  In some cases, however, some bloggers are proud of the distinction they have earned by being detractors, and have no intention of turning things around.  There are a number of different cases to consider.  This is why developing a decision and response tree that includes an escalated path for crisis management for dealing with detractors is critical to a successful outreach program.

Approaching brand advocates is certainly more happy business.  In general, blogger outreach programs are listening focused, personal, transparent (to the degree that brands can be) and not overly "sell" or "self" focused can create healthy connections with brand advocates that generate even more positive and more accurate dialog.  Giving bloggers a personal contact inside the organization (or an email address where they can ask questions) can create an open, healthy dialog that mitigates risk and allows individuals to conduct fact checks with the brand.  Touching base periodically with bloggers makes it easier to spread the word about new developments, products and activities that are relevant to them. This can be done by email, phone, through online events (e.g. web conferences) and real-world events.  Bloggers are always looking for inspiring new content to write about. However, it's important not to be perceived as hijack or control the content on a blogger's site and to always express gratitude for positive and negative feedback.

When it's appropriate, brands may also send test product or incentives to blog about. Larger brands have been doing blogger focused campaigns for years. For example, Ford's Fiesta Movement and Global Drive Event are two, highly popular campaigns.  Just remember that such provisions (trips, perks, samples, product, etc.) must be actively disclosed by the bloggers based on FCC regulations.

6. Engage! 
You don't have to wait for a fully initiated plan to engage with brand promoters or detractors.  This is where common sense comes in.  Working within the conscience and communications policies of your company, you might just consider dropping certain authors an email, or leave a comment on the blog. Thank the author for posts that properly represent the brand. Make your presence known! Your brand's participation doesn’t necessarily “endorse” the blog but shows you are paying attention and that you are engaged. This almost always lends credibility to brands with the engaged audience.  You don’t have to comment on every post or piece of misinformation. Stick up for the brand and clarify when necessary but don’t dive into a hornet's nest of contention unless it's absolutely necessary.

7. Monitor and Measure.
As I've mentioned repeatedly, listening is key but measuring the success of your outreach program is also important.  I'm a big fan of monitoring technologies such as Radian 6 and Techrigy as well as business intelligence and data mining tools like Clarabridge (disclosure, this is another client).  Use social monitoring tools to keep an eye on the blogs focused on your brand. Take a deeper look at natural language trending to get a finger on the pulse of your extended community. Keep your grid updated, and be sure you're measuring outcomes, such as increases in mentions by topic, increasing positive mentions, detractor conversions, etc.  Your individual measures should tie directly to the objectives you assembled for your blogger outreach plan and be as measurable as possible, and will be customized for your company based on your goals and objectives. 

8.  Learn & Respond! 
 Remember that while you may have your own channels and tools to measure the pulse of customers -- the people that gravitate there may not be the same people who gravitate to other digital outposts where your brand is discussed.  Keep an open mind, open eyes and you just may learn something new, and be prepared to respond by adding something new, enhancing your experience, etc.  For example, Starbucks recently responded to their vocal online and offline audience by making Wifi free.  The action your brand takes will often speak more loudly than your words.  There’s a lot to be learned from the free-expression of your customers on unsanctioned sites and blogs. You might be surprised at the ideas you find, and the new relationships you may build that can tell you something about your audience you didn't know.

So there you have it.  Eight tips for dealing with Brand Promoters and Detractors, with an emphasis on bloggers... drafted hastily in the lobby of a Santa Cruz hotel.  Your input -- additions, comments are most certainly welcome and appreciated!

After reading my humor-driven posts on Bathroom Usability and Cottonelle on Crack, friends Becky Carroll and CBWhittemore asked me to participate in the “bathroom blogfest.”  This year’s theme is “Mad Men: Bathrooms of the 1960’s”.  You can read all it here, and access the Blogfests 30+ participants, as well! In short, it’s all about bathrooms and customer experience.

So I admit -- I'm the straggler.  It's 11:30 pm on Saturday night, I'm just getting this post in under the wire. I’ve been on-site at a client for six days and have penned this first draft at an airport... However, I did ponder over this topic sporadically during the week.  Here's the insight I drew from the writing challenge:

The architects and designers of the 1960’s knew how to use space, color and texture to create comfortable, luxurious spaces for relaxation and conversation. They used form, shape, color, pattern, texture and rich materials to create depth and warmth. They accessorized with over the top details and accessories. These trends are clearly seen in the bathrooms of that era – bathrooms that became more than just functional – but in escape from the frenzy of a pressure-filled decade.

Consider these images I found on Flickr last week (click to view the slideshow):


From chandeliers to mirrors, wood paneling to textural wall paper, granite to marble, luxury abounds in the bathrooms of the 60’s. Space was used creatively to establish zones for personal care, pampering and relaxation. Lounge seating was often installed. Traditional vanities and credenzas became more “furniture like.” Fixtures like chandeliers add a touch of glamour. Floor coverings like carpet and flokati rugs were brought in warm, luxurious comfort.

Perhaps this extra attention to luxury and comfort are why the bathrooms of the Mad Men Era were commonly called “Lounges.” Perhaps these reflect the needs of an unsettled generation, looking escape the realities of a pressure filled decade if only for a minute.  At home, and in public places, restrooms became luxurious personal “comfort spaces” where people felt at ease, secure and free to relax and even converse. 

These rooms were less focused on the perfunctory and became more about the emotional and physical needs of the people that used them. I think this is where there's a take away lesson for all of us managing Customer Experience today.

We live again, in an era of distress and turmoil. We also live in an age where we are bombarded by stimulus. We cannot count the messages we have to process, the things we have to do, learn, know and understand. We are overwhelmed by information, stimulus and the pressure to make decisions, and we must do so quickly as we attempt to manage the onslaught. As a result, the brands that make us feel even more overwhelmed, pressured, “sold” and pushed are more at risk of earning our ire, rather than our affinity.

Instead, creating “comfort spaces” where the people we serve can interact with our brands can be instrumental in capturing affinity and attention today. This principle transcends the physical environment, extending into the virtual environments in which we connect with and serve others. When we focus on the experiences people have, rather than how we will “push” our messages to the masses, we focus less on blasting people with selfishly-driven messages (which creates discomfort) to meeting people in a more natural, organic way. Here are just a few modern day types of comfort spaces:

• Starbucks is perhaps the king of the Comfort Space, as a huge public proponent of the “Third Place” theory creates comfort zones online, too. “My Starbucks Idea” lets customers share ideas and desires in a way that helps them impact the business. It has resulted in many new product ideas and has measurably changed the way Starbucks listens and responds to customers.
• The Choppe Shoppe and other men’s grooming lounges make male grooming and pampering a macho thing. Smiling stylists in chic wear hand patrons a beer while football broadcasts on the big screen, and copies of GQ and Car and Driver grace the chrome coffee table. Suddenly, "manscaping" isn’t so scary.
• Home Depot and Lowe's both offer classes to help customers complete “do-it-yourself” projects without totally screwing up. These classes drive loyalty and can result in increased product sales.
• Best Buy’s Twelpforce helps people of all walks of life make decisions about new technology purchases with a no-pressure sales approach. This comfort zone is driving sales and reinforcing Best Buy’s thought leadership.
• Tirerack.com (while not the best site from a usability perspective) offers several configuration applications that help users select everything from replacement tires and wiper blades to new wheels and preview the items on a schematic of their own car. It makes purchasing really easy.
• Caribou Coffee – My husband and I often take our 3 year old to Caribou in the morning. We can enjoy a coffee and catch the news on our Droids while our little one munches on breakfast and plays with high quality educational toys in the play area near the fireplace. They offer leather lounge seating and even a quiet meeting space that can be used as needed, or reserved in advance by work shifters (like me) and other groups. 

From lounges for frequent flyers to clubs for frequent buyers.... there is no end to the types of Comfort Spaces we can create to serve the needs of our customers.  From bricks to clicks, just what kind of comfort spaces are best to create depends on the unique needs of the audience, juxtaposed with the core competencies of the business. Keep yourself grounded in reality, combine the two, and opportunities can become very clear. Comfort Zones can be useful in helping people with:

• Discovery
• Learning
• Product Selection
• Transaction
• Co-Creation
• Service
• Sharing

… and when Comfort Spaces are designed effectively, they are very useful in merging your brand with the lifestyles, rituals and habits of your target audience. Comfort spaces can enhance and support the customer experience at key points in the adoption continuum. And of course, they can also be instrumental in driving positive business outcomes.


Business has shifted, and business people must find ways to ease into the cramped headspace of others in a manner that feels less invasive and more natural, comfortable, and even personal across channels. From the traditional mediums of communication to new channels that can help us extend our businesses strategically into the lives of those we serve.  Here's one example of that strategic extention at work in a bathroom.  I took this today, just prior to my flight in a very clean, well designed bathroom at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport....



Perhaps not a true "comfort space" but I loved the use of mobile here....

So, using thatbrooms of the 1960's as a muse -- name your favorite brand-driven comfort space.  What does it do for you -- and how does it motivate you to do what's good for the brand?   Are there any aspects of it that don't work? (E.g. the equivilant of the "flokati rug" in the space)?

In the words of a former mentor, "Words mean things."  This is really simple but profound if you consider how seldom we really weigh what we say.  I think it's important not to take things at face value, which is why I previously tackled the charge to "Be Transparent" in a two-part post dealing with new levels of transparency in the  business cycle.  Last week, I responded to the lemming call to "Be Authentic!" addressing our need to instead embrace "authentic goodness." Now, I'm responding to another call I see regularly.... and the call is this:

"ENGAGE FOR SUCCESS!"

Raise the sword from the high horse and shout it loud as you lead the charge of businesses everywhere! This is the magic formula for success. It's not like it costs anything, right?  Wrong. This statement has zero context. Engage in what, with whom, and for what reason?

I often see this blanket charge is issued by people (including someone recently) who employ formulas and follow schemes to garner a massive audience.  They leverage follower numbers as a platform to try and establish "authority" or "influence" and broadcast messages out to a faceless sea of names in a manner that largely mirrors traditional one-way marketing.  They engage in a largely unfocused dialog that leads to little and usually to demonstrate their own knowledge, self-promote or attempt to game some influence.  They follow far more people than follow them back.  They rarely respond to DMs, (although they spam people with them) and haven't had meaningful discourse with 80% of their network. Beware of these people -  they don't understand business shift.

Any fool can employ a follow scheme and garner a massive audience overnight using bots and apps online - but without a plan, and decisive focus, it's a waste of energy. 

ENGAGE WITH FOCUS

Engagement is one part art and one part science and it must be driven by a larger picture for how it engagement will drive measurable outcomes.  Perhaps this is why brainiac Brian Solis dedicated an entire book to the topic of engagement.  That's right, an entire book.  In fact, a number of smart people have written about this.  Whether your focus is broad and expansive or narrow and deep - - there's got to be a a plan in place clear goal, a set of measurable objectives in place guiding engagement.

A number of people have complained about Guy Kawasaki, accusing him for a lack of focus and taking him on for his methods on Twitter.  Guy has garnered a tremendous following through his own reputation and effort, and by employing the use of follow bots, auto responders and not-so-ghostly support staff to manage communications to his network and manage tweets around the clock.  I don't personally love his approach -- but I really do respect Guy - because he does have focus. His entire goal is to target (in his own words) "anyone who can click"  - largely to drive traffic from all walks of live to Alltop   -- although this network is also instrumental in promoting his books and other efforts.  He's got massive focus.. and massive followers. He works in a direct-to-mass capacity --> and it works for him.  My only caution for those watching is this: Guy's approach may work for a huge persona, or a mega brand -- but it's not likely to work well for the the majority of us in business today.

We can all challenge ourselves to employ better focus. Identify the audience(s) that matter(s), understand the needs of each audience, approach engagement with a plan, use the tools that help you communicate better and engage in a manner that emphasizes testing, learning and improvement. Most importantly, establish your reasons for engaging. Here are a few broad ones:

ENGAGE TO LEARN

If you want to build a network that will serve as a valuable resource, attempt to build a following of smart folks who will readily engage with you to answer questions and solve problems.  They should dare to challenge what you say, probe with you, debate with you, give you ideas and promote you when you say smart things.  This is true whether you are an individual learning from others, or a person representing a company whose goal is to harness the input of the masses to better inform your brand's customer.  As you learn from them, celebrate their savvy and contribution to further bolster your network.

Engaging to learn means you'll be thinking, listening, probing, dialoging and debating as you fish for wisdom and insight within your interaction streams.  It also means you won't be fishing merely within your own stream.  Smart learners also mine available wisdom from other streams (related, competitor, etc.) using available technology and tools (disclaimer: both Clarabridge and RightNow are clients).  After all, there's a focus group happening online every day -- and smart people can readily use the knowledge exchange to create, innovate, capitalize, grow, reach and extend more strategically. 

ENGAGE TO SERVE

Business is all about people:  People serving people.  If you are not engaging in social channels to serve, you're not doing business well.  Whether you're providing helpful knowledge, directing people to channels for resolution, or solving people's problems -- you will be called upon to serve others in social channels.  Some of what your assistance may not even be your job.  Some of what you do may not lead to a sale  - but it should lead to affinity.  When you behave in a stupid, insensitive manner, you may be called on the carpet, with ruthless public exchange on Facebook, Twitter or one of the thousands of websites, communities, networks or customer service portals out there.  . Take a page from the winners or the losers: Serve first, or die!

ENGAGE TO SELL

This is placed intentionally at the center of these admonitions - because this aligns with the objectives you must have in mind as you focus.  When I sale - think of it this way.  Everyone is selling something. You might be selling your post, an ebook, a product demo, the menu of the day, or a product directly. That's why all of us should be able to drive measurable and meaningful transactions - from clicks to comments, cvisits to conversions, calls to foot traffic, leads to sales.You must master the art of the sale by presenting the right message, to the right person, at the right time - and that takes finesse and practice.  It also takes trust.  So, outside of NOT assuming everyone wants what you have to offer, there's no magic formula, here.  Leverage what has worked in the past but think outside the box. Experiment, measure and improve - and as you do, make this your mantra:

ENGAGE TO ENDEAR

Whether you are large or small, the goal of engagement is to endear the right audience, by providing value in a thoughtful manner.  Contrary to popular thought -- this doesn't mean everyone will always like you, or that you should please everyone.  In fact, if we're being honest, for most brands - and even people - there's an aspect of acceptable loss in all relationship building efforts. However, in the shakeout, you must manage all relationships in a manner that leaves you with a pretty loyal group of followers who support you for what you bring to the table.  If you play your cards right with your end-to-end experience, you may just find yourself emerging with a raving group of fans who will take a bullet for you - or at least brave the wait to buy your product.

ENGAGE TO MEASURE

By all means, it's okay to look at the qualitative and esoteric benefits of engagement, such as the friendships you have built, and their contribution and enrichment to your existence, how they make you feel.   However, it's essential to go full circle to and measure your performance against your plan and objectives using real data.  Are you moving the needle, driving desired results?  What trends do you see, and how can you boost results?  What have you learned, about yourself, your competitors and your audience?  What did it cost you?  What did it take to manage it and, forecasting ahead -- what's it going to take to better what you've done in the future? How can this and how should this grow or change over time?

DRIVE SUCCESS BY STRATEGICALLY EXTENDING YOUR BUSINESS

In the end, our engagement must be about adding value and improving the experiences we offer. If we are not engaging in a focused and intentional manner:  to learn, to serve, to sell, to endear, to measure... we may just be engaging for nothing. What do you say?  Please Add your thoughts... links, etc.