I'm getting in the mood for my motorbike trip in two weeks ...
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKEuzxC4eGc]
Last summer I posted a list of books I intended to read during my holiday. This year I wanted to do it a bit more sophisticated using Shelfari. So I started adding the books in my library to my virtual shelf. Conclusion ... I need more holiday, some of these books have been sitting there for over a year without being read.
The advantage of Shelfari is that based on the ratings I can now set priorities as to which ones I really need to read, and the ones that will probably remain unread. The really smart way of going about this is to check ratings before you buy a book. But hey, I like buying books :).
Tx Jeroen for directing me to Shelfari.
If you're into big IT stuff and want to learn how to handle the marketing, communication, change management, etc. part of IT ... check out Jeroen @ Thinking Ape.
... nothing happened :(
I had 'begged' some people (a strange mixture of colleagues, old friends and even a competitor) to endorse me, because that was the last thing missing for a 100% profile. It's in my nature to want this kind of things 'completed'.
Two endorsements were added (and must say I'm blushing reading them), thanks Flo & Tom.
The bad news? Well I hoped some kind of Aladin's cave would open up, with all kinds of goodies, but nothing of all that. It was worth trying ;)
The first milestone has been reached, without too much pain I must say. Thanks to Head Sales Weasel Lédidie for the tips (like: replace a quick sandwich with a bowl of veggie soup and two meat balls ...).
Does fatblogging help? Yes, earlier this week I was at (another) event and I stayed low on the drinks and buffet because two of my readers came to me to ask "How's the diet going?" ...
Just replaced my Frappr map in the sidebar with Twitter friends. The map wasn't moving too much, so no real use anymore. And this is a new attempt to get into twitting ...
Next week on July 3rd I'm speaking at an IAB breakfast about Podcasting. My part is a strategic reflection about how to integrate podcasting in your marketing plan.
This is really my cup of tea, although I must say I don't have the presentation fixed and ready on my MacBook today. Since I launched the first commercial podcast for Eurostar in 2005 a lot has changed. A major one is the fact that nobody really succeeded in getting (popular) music in podcasts (due to rights issues), which re-boosted streaming music as an alternative. Anyway, I guess tonight will be dedicated to mixing and mashing all I know about podcasts and marketing in a cool presentation. Feel free to post some relevant links here :)
Other speaker are: Pierre Dubois (RTBF), Marianne Edlund and Olivier De Doncker (Emakina).
We (ONE Agency) just launched the first real internet radio station in Belgium. So stop whining about Pandora no longer being accessible, as of now there is HUMO Radio.
This is the first internet radio station we are launching based on the Aristo Music database, and hopefully the first in a long row. We are convinced this will give the concept op radio a new (interactive, 2.0) dimension. So if you want a station for your brand, drop me a mail because we've got loads of other concepts up our sleeve to make this the ultimate interactive branding experience for you.
Another reason to be happy is the fact that I finally got to work with Clo. We've known each other for several years now, but never did business together (just chatting, eating, drinking, presenting at conferences, ...). And then, suddenly, by coincidence we find ourselves in the same meeting room and one month later www.humoradio.be lives (again, in case you didn't know, HUMOradio was the first name of this magazine).
I got in a new "thought-provoking" book in yesterday: "The Cult of the Amateur" How today's internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy.
Yesterday evening I started reading and it's fascinating how one gets sucked into the book. You get a mix of two feelings: Recognition, like "yeah, he may have a point here" and Indignation, like "Wrong, wrong, he's got it all wrong".
This must by why everybody seems to call it "thought-provoking" and "provative". Finally a business book that is really engaging, rather then just an interesting read.
The summer clothing already gave an indication and when I checked last week I saw an all-time-high on the scale ... so I started thinking. When I went shopping this weekend I was once again confronted with the hard fact of all those 'cool shirt' I wouldn't fit in.
So yesterday I decided to go for a Montignac diet. Florence (our charming nr 1 Sales weasel who sits in front of me) promised to be my personal coach (so I don't have to read the damn book).
And as I'm an "externally motivated person", I decided to start fatblogging. So, like it or not, but over the coming weeks/months :( you'll be able to follow my 'progress' on my blog. I start with "over 100", as soon as the 100-hurdle is taken I'll be more specific.
If you're up to speed with the world today, skip the first two paragraphs ...
Who had heard of YouTube two years ago? And today, do you know anybody who has not heard of YouTube? Which medium grows at a rate of one millions members per year? Second Life. And what's next? Who dares to say? What will be the reaction of consumers when radio becomes interactive? How do you plug Windows Live Messenger into your marketing strategy? And will interactive television change the media consumption patterns of the average consumer?
We no longer watch television in front of the TV, PC's, iPods and even mobile phones increasingly substitute the old box. Making an international phone call is cheaper via a computer and emails are often read on mobile phones. We're in the middle of a revolution and the end is not in sight. Maybe it'll never stop. Blazingly fast evolutions in different technological fields make it impossible to even imagine what we are heading for.
In these seemingly chaotic times, there are two constants. Everything changes and at an ever higher tempo. Simple and transparent communication turns interactivity into the standard. Being at the forefront of innovation is therefore key to reaching the top and remaining there.
Dare to experiment. In a world where you can only plan ahead for a few months, you constantly need to find new roads, new strategies and new visions. And these are not to be found in the paved lanes of traditional business, but there where no one has ever gone before. Of course experimentation bears risks, but if we would compare the number of failed experiments with the number of meticulously planned upgrades and line extensions of existing concepts that turned out to be a failure, you can be sure these numbers would not be far apart.
This is not a plea to go around and spend money just like that, I rather want to promote the experiment as an investment. Start small and make a lot of mistakes, learn from the and make a new move quickly. Experiment intelligently. Use all available knowledge and intuition to choose from the many options that one of which you spontaneously feel the potential.
An that brings me to the second pillar: Intuition. I've always been a believer in the idea that a human being builds up intuition subconsciously through the experiences he or she lives through. Malcolm Gladwell explains this in great detail in his book "Blink". Just like human beings develop a sense for what will work and what won't, you can build intuition into a company. Build a network with other organizations and individuals which will feed your collective intuition. Then steer experiments from there. Bring people from different backgrounds together and let them think in an open atmosphere about all kinds of ideas. Develop these into something that can everybody can understand without too much effort; then confront your network with these concepts. Throw them in front of a group of bloggers, build them in Second Life or organize a poll. Any interactive medium can be use to change the direction of an experiment, or to delete it.
And if intuition tells you that one experiment is heading for the right direction, then do not hesitate to launch it. Even if the story is not yet 100% finished. Ask feedback from the public and correct where necessary.
An intelligent mix of experimentation and the opportunities of new interactive communication, is the way to go when looking for answers to the challenges of a fast moving interactive world. This column too is an experiment, so I invite you to express your opinion on these ideas.
Yesterday, during the most uninteresting lunch event of the year, I got a tip from Jourik from our colleagues at Moonboggle (did I get that right?). It's a mashup by Tim Bormans (a student) combining the playlist composition feature of LastFM with music videos from YouTube.
http://tv.timbormans.com
It's a really cool idea, imagine this in decent quality full screen video (e.g. from Google video).
I follow the internet radio scene with particular interest lately, and with a good reason. Keep an eye on this blog in the coming weeks :)
By the way Tim, if you read this, drop me a mail because I may have an opportunity for you.
Undeniable proof these tests don't work ... I've never been to "Werchter", I can't even help talking about "Torhout-Werchter" ... but the test qualifies me as and 'oldie'. But hey, who cares, it's fun.
I (well, my colleague Kenneth) noticed that YouTube has some nifty new features. Start the movie below (as an example):
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVf2bUIv6FY]
At the bottom there's a Mac-style menu with related movies. You can simply navigate through all related movies ... which in this case gives a nice list of movies we (ONE Agency) have put online (and also some unrelated crap :)). At the end of the movie there's are some new features too.
UPDATE:
New features disappeared again :(
Someone recently blogged about banner advertising on a Microsoft (MSN?) site that was not really compatible with the content of the page. If I remember well it was a page about energy saving and stuff with a banner for a petrol company ... hell, why does Google reader not have a search function :(
Anyway, it's not only websites that show this kind of inconsistency. This morning I saw this:
A bit unclear I know, but it's a drive-by camera-phone picture. What you should see is publicity on the back of this bus for the "Gents Parkeerbedrijf" existing 25 year and how easy it is to park in Gent.
A few weeks ago however, we had this campaign all over the press:
About how difficult it is to find a parking space in the city ... so you'd better take a bus.
Today I'm in Amsterdam for AdobeLive!. It's interesting to brush up my knowledge of the Adobe tools, so designers & flashers ... prepare for this would-be creative to come harass with 'cool things you can do with Photoshop' :)
Still, it not really my thing all this tool-talk. I hope the VIP-session in 10 minutes makes up for that.
At this very moment I listening to Mike Downey explain the history of Flash, without showing any goodies unfortunately. So the highlight of the day until now is Steven shouting out "Future Splash" ... as he was the only one in the audience who knew this was the original name of Flash.
"Will Ingrid Michaelson get a record deal? How much will Pirates of the Caribbean gain in its opening weekend? Will Candara’s Gift get a book deal? Media Predict is the online game where you can place your bets on the future performance of media. Why do that? Well, for one it’s fun. The bigger reason? Markets will help media companies give people what they really want."
Is I read "The Wisdom of Crowds" I got interested in websites that try to predict the future with a stock exchange mechanism where "crowds" give their opinion by buying "yes" or "no" shares.
It didn't work out for a previous edition of elections in Belgium (De Stemmenkampioen), and I'm a bit skeptical about Media Predict too. How on earth can a crowd of ordinary people have a valuable idea on whether someone will get a record deal or not? They may have a feeling someone SHOULD get a deal, but there are so many elements influencing such a decision that have nothing to do the quality of the music or popularity of a singer.
Good idea, wrong type of questions.
Yes indeed, after my post on my Telco-frustration both Belgacom and Proximus reacted ... and how! Contrary to what - customer from hell - Clo experiences in her Ikea-saga, I am now a happy customer of both. And I feel we can all learn something from this, so let's dig a bit deeper.
Here's a chronology of the facts:
1. Thursday (in a 'long weekend') I write a blog post
2. Monday: A call from Belgacom
On monday Frederic from Belgacom calls me on my mobile with the following message (in Dutch): Hello Mr. Van Wassenhove, I heard you have a problem with our ADSL service ... Me: - taken by surprise - eeeerh Yes ... Frideric: How can I help you ...
I explain my problem and he simply proposes me to give me a new password, over the phone, no hassle ... total surprise to me, but I'm extremely happy. In two minutes I have all the info I need.
AND ... he promises me to put his Proximus colleagues on my trail so the too could solve my problem.
3. Tuesday: The call from Proximus
Indeed, one day later Proximus calls me with the same question. The mobile problem was a bit more difficult to solve so they called Samsung. Two hours later they called me back with more information. Note that I too had contacted Samsung and they could only refer me to another department rather then solving my problem. But Proximus (obviously) has more power at Samsung so one of the Proximus experts tried everything in his power to help me.
Last phase (I'm getting a bit embarrassed now): Proximus calls me to say they can not solve my problem, they suspect it's a hardware problem so they decided to send me a new phone. Three hours later a new phone is delivered to my house! This service was offered by the VIP service department apparently. Cool, I'm a VIP now.
WHAT DO WE LEARN:
Handling blogs is a new discipline we (marketing/communication professionals) have to learn. I have a view on what the roadmap for managing blogging communication is so let's explore:
1. Listen: read what bloggers say about your brand
Belgacom/Proximus clearly did a good job here. Within days (hours) after my post they knew about it. I don't know whether that is thanks to a organised tracking system, or just some intelligent people in the company doing their job, but it worked. Good job!
2. React: I recommend to react directly on the blog with an open and clear statement, but the main thing is to do something.
Again Belgacom/Proximus scores good. It's just a pity they did not use the comment function on my blog to react. It would have given them positive exposure to the whole community, whereas now they have to count on my good faith to report back the fact they helped me out. So that's kind of a missed opportunity.
3. Learn & Build a customer-centric and HUMAN organisation
I don't know how much they learned from this, but there still is a lot for them to do before they become a really customer/human-centric organisation. It for sure is not easy to realise that in a large organisation but I'm convinced it's possible.
MY FIVE-STAR APPROACH FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE 2.0
1. Use what you know about your customer to identify them correctly (in case security is an issue) and then give the all you have in your database.
2. Use the call-center screening technology (like language, type of problem, etc) as few as possible. Of course I don't mind you asking me in what language I want to be helped. But don't create 100 possible options of which 90 lead to a tape.
3. If you feel too many people are using your call center (with simple questions they could read about on your website), improve your site. Make it easy to navigate, easy to search, accessible with any browser (also mobile, especially if you're a telco operator) and DON'T hide essential information behind a login.
4. Use telco options the way your customers do. Send an SMS (like Proximus did) but especially do NOT use hidden numbers but allow your contacts to call you back after a missed call.
5. Analyse the chain a customer has to go through to get a problem solved as you would analyse your own supply chain. Take out all the unnecessary steps and make it as fast and efficient as possible.
6. Overpay your call center staff ... they are crucial to your success.
So thanks Belgacom and Proximus for listening to me, thanks for solving my problem and I hope my rambling helps you (and other organisations) to improve customer focus.
Technorati Tags: Belgacom, customer from hell, Proximus, Customer Service, Samsung
How good does this commercial illustrate my previous post :)
http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf
Video: The Break Up
Great work Geert, probably the best piece of advertising ever done by Microsoft.
