Do you agree ?

The new #LinkedIn 3.0 (for Iphone) and the new web platform look and feel very 'facebookesque' is there something they're not telling us ?

Its ok to be 'Good Enough'

So I finally relented, and tried Starbucks Via today. Over the last 5 years my pallet has adapted to love only Espresso based coffee, but that was not an available option at an event I attended today.

Out of curiosity I tried Via instead of the brewed Coffee option, and was stunned to find it so drinkable. So much so that I was tempted enough to have a refill - an unexpected positive experience. Yet it wasn't really so unexpected, because they keep telling me it tastes better than brewed coffee...but that just was not believable until now.

For sceptics of Via like myself they could have done much more to get me to try it, to provoke me out of my apathy/rejection.

But how ? As I follow Starbucks on Twitter, they could have sent me a DM or @ message, and I wouldn't have minded that, because I'm enough of a fan to follow them. If they had incentivized me I probably would have driven to a store flashed my Iphone app and tried a free sample, but they didn't.
Ultimately they had my permission to change my mind because I had already reached out to them through my Twitter follow and my Iphone app, but in the end they got me by accident.

I struggle with the fact that by only delivering a 'good enough' (according to me) product they managed to change my perception and make me an advocate. I also struggle with how Starbucks is re-framing its coffee Equity. Do they stand for great tasting coffee or good enough coffee ? Do they stand for a great experience or more frequent good enough experiences ? I think you know which one to choose here ...right ?

Revealed:The Linchpin's (not so) secret weapon

Joyfulness Restored

Following my previous post "Black Friday and the GPS Blues", joyfulness has been restored and marketing once more triumphs.

(not so) Secret Weapon to monetary attraction
Seth Godin has smartly cultivated his fans in order to launch his new book "The Linchpin" with a simple yet compelling formula (with his actions in brackets):

1. Functional Benefit (book) +


2. Emotional benefit (Acumen Fund - Charity endorsement) +


3. Motivation (limited offer of 3000 + request to blog a review)
   

= Monetary Attraction

The formula is masterful ...savour, digest, share and reapply.

Black Friday and the GPS Blues

Black Friday

During Black Friday the new Rhianna album Rated R was available for $3.99 on Amazon.com. You could also have used a $3 e-voucher which meant for the princely sum of $0.99 you would get the album. Is this a great deal or does it make me question if the album is any good or not ?

For any brand this is a slippery downward slope..Rhianna may have sold lots of copies, but is the consumer being conditioned to value her product for less in the future ?

GPS Blues

The GPS manufacturers such as Garmin and Tom Tom are having a severely tough time of maintaining the (premium) value of their products as price competition drives down the $$ value of each and every product innovation in days ...let alone weeks, as reported by daily finance.

Value for me experiences

Spending time building engaging (value for me) experiences for consumers is a way out of this challenge - with a front of mind brand being Apple.

Less obvious and more interesting examples from Fox such as "24", and the band Sade are case studies of how to achieve this by 'cultivating' their fans.

You wont find these cases in the marketing books or too many blogs.....yet, but I may just have to change that....