Lately, I have been kept awake at night, considering the word CONTENT–as it applies to business success generation (marketing). There are many times, when used without a descriptor, CONTENT begins to sound like either polyester pillow stuffing, or the foam insulation that is blown into attics. Here are 3 sketches that may at some point, find there way into a CONTENT MARKETING presentation.
Instantaneous Hotel Room Chic from Marriott
(I write this with my “snarkasm” filter cranked up to 11)
If you are like me, while on business travel, you are hanging around your corporate hotel room and suddenly it dawns on you. Hey! Wouldn’t it be great to have an exact replica of this room carefully tucked within my very own residence!
Sure this would be great–but think of the time involved in tracking down the exact bed runner, shower head, table lamp, the slightly used terry-cloth robe and the aromatherapy personal care products. Who has the time?
But wait!
The marketing wizards at Marriott have developed their own in-room catalog–providing an easy-to-follow online shopping roadmap–making this far-fetched dream an easy-to-obtain reality. Prices range from $40 for the projection alarm clock up to $3642 for the Complete King-sized bed package (Euro Sham, Euro Pillow, Accent Pillow, Duvet Cover, Matelasse Deluxe Bed Skirt).
If you are like me, your fingers will want to immediately run (not walk) to www.shopmarriott.com. Enjoy! – Doug.
Ahoy! A Free, "International Talk Like A Pirate Day" Gift
In honor of today being–“International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” I am offering a free download of my e-book, “Tweeting Blackbeard: 10 Swashbuckling Business Tips From The World’s Greatest Pirate”.
I wrote the book with my eldest son, Foster, now a freshman at Elon University. Yes, in its original form, it was a term paper about buccaneer Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard. The two of us, worked together and converted an “A” paper into this fast-paced and easily digested business e-book. Perhaps, this is a form of pirating but Foster and I prefer to think of ourselves as privateers.
Okay.
Just for fun, I ran the last paragraph through the official, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Pirate Translator.
Here goes.
The pirate speaks, I wrote t' book with me eldest son, Foster, now a freshman at Elon University. Aye, in its original form, it was a term paper about buccaneer Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard. T' two o' us, worked together and converted an “A” paper into this smartly-paced and easily digested business book. Perhaps, this be a form o' piratin' but Foster and I prefer t' think o' ourselves as privateers.
Enjoy! – Doug.
The Visual Evolution of David Meerman Scott's: WebInkNow Blog
Today, David Meerman Scott, released the newest visual reincarnation of his legendary weblog, WebInkNow. From an inside baseball perspective, David made a web platform move from TypePad to HubSpot, which required the careful assistance of HubSpot's awesome tech team (mentally visualize a NASA Mission).
As a blogging pioneer, David has posts, links and graphics that go back a decade or more. Making the platform move–required the programming expertise and patience–of HubSpot's programming brain surgeons.
EYMER DESIGN Laboratories + Think Tank was not involved in the premier launch of WebInkNow (circa 2005). We did, however, pick up the ball shortly thereafter–and as you scroll through the screenshots, you will see how the visual brand morphed into the newly released version.
As a responsible branding company, we pay close attention to an organization's accumulated brand equity. There are many times when tearing a brand down and starting over is the best solution.
In the case of David, his followers were growing so rapidly, that we felt it was better to make wide and calculated turns, rather than major visual overhauls that might confuse his newly acquired tribe members.
EYMER did not create, the original version of WebInkNow. We did, however, incorporate pieces of the color palette and blog structure–the bright green, for example, still resides within the most recent version.
Also: It is only fair to mention that since older versions of the weblog were created in TypePad's earliest versions of their blogging platform–which offered a limited amount of fine-tuning, in terms of graphic design variables and flexibility.
If you have questions or concerns regarding your organization's marketing firepower, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we might work with you, in order to take the next step towards further success!
I can be reached at 781.383.8844 or by email: doug@eymer.com–Doug.
Despite Being The World’s Best: Poor Sales & Service Will Kill Your Business In A Heartbeat
I live in Massachusetts and my oldest son just started college in North Carolina. Late last week, he notified me that his allergies were acting up and asked me to send him some Clariten tablets. I of course agreed and proceeded to place an order with online retailer, Drugstore.com. After filling out the order form, I was presented with several payment options. I chose the most prominent method, PayPal. Although it doesn’t provide reward points, I have always been a big fan of PayPal and appreciate the security that it offers.
It was a short time after the order was placed, that I received a confirmation email from Drugstore.com. My order had shipped–Good News! However, after studying the email, I realized that the medicine was on its way to Massachusetts and NOT North Carolina. Sure, this made me a little frustrated–but I chalked it up to my tendency to multi-task–despite what the experts say.
I decided that my next move was to attempt the order again. Instead of ordering the bottle of 70 tablets, I would order a package of 10. When the larger bottle arrived in my mailbox, I would just reship them to North Carolina.This time, however, I slowed my self down and methodically went through the ordering process–paying close attention to the shipping address. When this was complete, I clicked the PayPal button–and everything was perfect!
Soon after, the confirmation email for the second order arrived. Yes, the second order had gone through and the package was being shipped to…
…Massachusetts!
I immediately called Drugstore.com to find out what had gone wrong for the second time! The customer service representative was very polite as I explained the series of events. He kindly explained that, yes, this was a problem and that they were aware of it. The way that their online system was set up, if you select the (extremely prominent) PayPal button as your payment option, the delivery address is automatically changed to your default PayPal address. In other words, upon entering ANY shipping address, whenever I pay with PayPal, my Drugstore.com order will be chipped to my Massachusetts address.
The customer service rep, with some hesitation, finally agreed to send me postage-free shipping labels so that I could immediately return the two orders, once received. Once the packages were received, I would receive a refund to my PayPal account.
So, from a customer service standpoint, if Drugstore.com realizes that this is a problem, why don’t they discontinue the use of PayPal until this issue is fully resolved?
This whole experience has caused me to rethink my business partnership with this online retailer. In fact, I was able to place an order for the 70 Clariten tablets through Amazon.com. I have received confirmation that my package is North Carolina bound–and not only that–I was able to make my purchase for almost $10 less.
On Friday, I received an urgent email from the college’s health office. They were checking through his medical records and questioned the date of when he received a particular vaccine. According to his medical records, he had received the shot at four months of age–when in most cases, this particular vaccine is not given until the child is at least a year old. In fact, because he received it so unusually young, the health office insisted that he immediately receive a new vaccine–if he wished to continue attending classes. It was the health office that suggested that I speak with his pediatrician, in order to confirm that a mistake was not made in transcribing the date of the vaccine.
After hanging up the phone with the college health office, I immediately picked up the phone to the office of his pediatrician.
We love our sons’ pediatrician and feel very fortunate to have had him as a doctor. However, as the years have gone by and his practice has grown–breaking through the communication barricades of his office have become extremely impossible.
Last Friday, I appeared to be on a lucky streak, as I hurdled the phone tree and was fortunate enough to speak with a live operator. A second point was scored when the operator proved to have fairly decent control of the English language. Actually, she gave every indication of understanding my problem and immediately put my call through to the Nurse Help Line.
Three points! I was on a roll.
Unfortunately, that is when I skidded and hit the wall. After being placed on hold for almost 20 minutes, I was asked to leave a message so that someone would return my call. That was Friday. Today is Tuesday. My son has already received the shot and everything is fine with the college health office. Will I ever receive a call back? I am guessing not.
Drugstore.com has poured millions and millions, into their marketing efforts, My son’s pediatrician is a wonderfully talented and dedicated doctor. Unfortunately, in both cases, the organizations will eventually fall victim to their own sloppiness, when it comes to servicing their customers. As a business owner for myself for nearly all of my 30+ years of professional experience, I know how much easier it is to work with existing customers, than convert new ones. Something that took years and years to build–can be gone in a nano-second!
For further discussion of this topic, I suggest that you download David Meerman Scott’s new ebook: Agile, Real-Time Customer Service. You will probably also want to check out his new book, The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to use agile selling, real-time customer engagement, big data, content, and storytelling to grow your business. –Doug.
Book-Support By eBook
I just got my hands on David Meerman Scott’s, soon-to-be business book blockbuster, “The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to use agile selling, real-time customer engagement, big data, content, and storytelling to grow your business”. As I am sure that you are aware, David is a marketing genius, great client and friend–and that we have spent almost a two decades working together.
I had nothing to do with the book design. That was taken care of by the talented folks at John Wiley & Sons, the book’s publisher.
I did, however, design David’s latest eBook: “Agile, Real-Time Customer Service”–as a precursor to the release of the new hardcover book.
For those of you in the business of sales and service (aren’t we all selling something?)–I highly recommend downloading the ebook [click here].
After quickly ingesting the appetizing content, I am almost positive your cursor will walk on over and order the book. Better yet, call your local bookstore and have them order a few copies.–Enjoy!
“SlideShare is approaching 70,000 views!”
This was a bit of great news that I heard from happy client, David Meerman Scott, last evening. David has recently published his new book, The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to Use Agile Selling, Real-Time Customer Engagement, Big Data, Content, and Storytelling to Grow Your Business.
This summer, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with David, once again–as creative director, on this presentation as well as his new ebook (that released this morning), Agile, Real-Time Customer Service–that includes some excerpted material from The New Rules of Sales & Service. The ebook is under a creative commons license, so feel free to share it.
Why does David have a permanent, front row parking space at EYMER BRAND Laboratories + Think Tank headquarters?
Because in our 20+ years of working together, he has always allowed me to do what I do best. Sure, we may not always agree on the "first pass" but through constructive back and forth collaboration–we always come up with something better than what we might have created on our own.
Additionally, In the process of developing his materials, I always learn something new. In a world that changes on an almost daily basis, learning must never cease! – Doug.
Ice Bucket Challenge: The day that I was dreading.
Well it is finally over and I survived–barely. #icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge, and #strikeoutals