Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0150 Personalization

The folks over at CMO.com have an excellent article encouraging brands to provide real-time personalization.

This is the nirvana for marketers, to be sure, and has been unattainable until now.  Here is the article:

http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/8/15/real_time_personaliz.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

What is the objective of your digital marketing strategy? Do you simply want to be seen? Do you want to reinforce brand values? Or do you want to exploit the extraordinary depth and breadth of consumer data now freely available to create a one-to-one personalized brand experience that attracts and retains customers for life?

Hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Apps Not Translating to Sales

This is very interesting news over on Re/Code:

http://recode.net/2014/08/20/should-there-be-an-app-for-that-why-mobile-sites-could-be-more-important/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

We live in a world of apps: More than a million can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store; another 1.3 million or so from Google Play. We spend the vast majority of our Internet time using apps on our mobile devices (86 percent of it, says Flurry).

Much has been made of the dominance of apps in the world of mobile. But guess what? When mobile shoppers actually buy stuff, it’s not through apps, but on mobile websites, according to an eMarketer report, based on work by Baynote and the E-Tailing Group.

I've been following this for a while and am fascinated at usage statistics in this area.  It does seem there is an excellent opportunity to offer a strong experience in the mobile web world.

So if retail apps aren't used all that much for buying stuff, what are they being used for, and what should retailers be building?  Seems the focus should be on everything else.

I wrote a paper that makes that argument, in part, a little over a year ago.

http://thagent.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-it-truly-mobile.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0149 Facebook Product Design

This is a very interesting problem written about in the article below.  How do you make changes to Facebook webpages?  The 'Like' button is clicked approximately 22 billion times per day.  Do you make a change to that button lightly?

No way.

Here is the article:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-20/facebooks-product-design-director-redesign-for-1-billion-users

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Comcast Sales Metrics

Waitaminute, the service support staff is supposed to sell, sell, sell?!!?

Hadn't we figured that out?

I think there is no question this has been the case for some time with some of the major service providers but this story tells the inside details we always suspected.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/19/6028059/training-materials-show-how-comcast-pushes-customer-service-reps-to

I first found this story over on ArsTechnica:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/08/leaked-comcast-employee-metrics-show-what-we-figured-sell-or-perish/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Media attention and fallout from Comcast’s viral customer service missteps continue to plague the country’s largest Internet service provider. First there was Ryan Block’s ludicrous cancellation call, then Comcast refused to refund invalid fees for Tim Davis until he caught the company in a lie, and then Comcast kept Aaron Spain on hold for three hours, long enough for the customer service lines to close and leave Spain in limbo.

Each instance has been met with a swift response from Comcast’s PR group after going viral, but quick, reactionary responses don’t do anything to fix the underlying problems. Leaked documents obtained by The Verge (full PDF) paint a portrait of exactly how broken things are in Comcast call centers throughout the country, and the documents confirm what current and former Comcast employees have been saying for the past few weeks: selling services is a required part of the job, even for employees doing tech support.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** It feels like the floodgates have opened.  Here is a new story about a poor customer service call.  This one was recorded for YouTube, lasted nearly 2 hours, and had the caller go through 6 different reps without getting an answer to his issue.
http://bgr.com/2014/08/20/why-is-comcast-so-bad-15/

MCX, Amazon, Netflix and More

A couple of stories appear to be drawing headlines mostly by the comparisons they are making.

First is an article that tells the story that wants to do what MCX does, but better:

http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2014/the-better-than-mcx-mobile-commerce-approach

Here is a snippet from that piece:

If that sounds familiar, it’s supposed to. It’s what MCX is pitching to a coalition of merchants. The DoubleBeam proposition is different in one important way: DoubleBeam doesn’t require that a retailer be part of a coalition to get all of the goodies and is agnostic about what a merchant should or must offer to use its mobile platform. Tekippe and Toewe recently talked with Karen Webster about their plans, their vision and the future of payments.

Next is a take on the personalization of Amazon and Netflix and how a little company wants to do the same thing, but better:

http://betaboston.com/news/2014/08/12/coherent-path-aims-to-provide-a-gateway-effect

Seeing a pattern?

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Amazon and Netflix are known as the pioneers in bringing you personalized recommendations for what to buy or watch next. A Cambridge startup unveiling itself today is hoping to one-up the sites in the quest for a better recommendation.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0148 Apps and Retail

I've reached a tie for two related stories today.

First up is a story on retail mobile apps and the move towards mobile sites:

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/is-retail-enthusiasm-for-mobile-apps-waning

Here is a snippet from that piece:

A number of the retailers presenting at last week’s eTail East 2014 conference came down on the side of mobile sites in the ongoing debate over native applications vs. the Web, pointing to the larger issue of how best to reach shoppers across a multitude of devices.

Next is a piece that states consumers are increasingly less likely to download a new app of any kind:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101925585

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Smartphone owners' waning appetite for new apps is casting a shadow over what has been a technology market hotspot and is fueling mobile developers' concerns that their best days of growth are coming to an end.

Almost a third of smartphone users do not download any apps for their devices in a typical month, according to a report by Deloitte that predicts the volume of app store sales is hitting a ceiling.

Interesting reading.  Always good to look to the end of the hype curve.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

More Bad News for Comcast

Can you believe Comcast is in the news yet again for poor customer service?

Then again, if you are one of those who has experienced poor service from that company maybe it isn't too hard to imagine.

This fellow was put on hold so long the customer service center closed ... with him still on hold.  Ridiculous.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/comcast-keeps-customer-on-hold-until-it-closes-to-avoid-cancellation

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  This marks my return from a summer vacation week.  Very good time.  If you have never ventured to Montreal and you are in the Northeastern United States go ahead and make the trip.  Great time.