When Free Isn't Enough

Last month I wrote a post about Chris Anderson’s Free: Why $.0.00 is the Future of Business. From there I updated the post with Trendwatching’s Free Love trend briefing. It was while reading the Free Love briefing that I discovered SilverJewelryClub.com. A website where visitors are presented with a revolving choice of free jewelry. In the spirit of research I choose a pair of earrings and ordered them. The earrings were free + $5.99 in shipping costs, a bargain by any definition. The transaction was easy, order follow-up was appropriate and the earrings arrived 1-2 weeks later. Unfortunately 1-2 weeks later was just long enough for me to forget the name of the company I ordered them from.

The earrings arrived in a non-descript padded envelope. Within the envelope the earrings were in multiple small plastic bags crammed into a blue mesh jewelry bag. That was it - no packing slip, no collateral encouraging me to buy jewelry and no mention of what company the jewelry came from. The worst part is the packaging of the earrings and the lack of attention to detail has taken what started out as a great experience where I had a positive impression of the company and turned it into a negative experience. There was nothing special that would encourage me to pay for jewelry from the company. Instead I feel relieved that the earrings were free and that I didn’t pay the SRP of $59.99.

Free is great, it gets people interested, but it’s equally important to think through how to make free into a profitable equation. For SilverJewelryClub.com that could be as simple as upgrading its packaging and including some well though out collateral. Perhaps a mini catalog of jewelry available for purchase. At the very least, when sending a customer a freebie, remind them whom the freebie is from.

Virtual Interview with Rohit Bhargava on Personality Not Included

This past Tuesday Rohit Bhargava conducted a book launch experiment using social media. Through his blog, Influential Marketing he invited his readers and fellow bloggers to send him five interview questions about his new book Personality Not Included. Rohit gets coverage for his book and the bloggers participating get a nice interview for their blog. All of the participants and links to their interviews (when published) can be found here.

I loved Rohit's book launch idea and am happy to participate in it. So without further adieu following is my virtual interview with Rohit on his new book Personality Not Included.

Valerie: Was it companies that have excelled in building a personality or the widespread lack of personality in companies that served as the inspiration for Personality Not Included?

Rohit: I think it was probably the widespread lack of personality that mostly led me to writing this book. First because I thought it was a message that people needed to hear, and second because I thought it would be very useful to a large number of organizations."

Valerie: If you had to choose one company that was most in need of a personality, what company would it be?

Rohit: Hmm, tough to choose one company, but I can definitely single out a few industries. They are the usual suspects, but industries like cable television, airlines, and banks. The nice thing is, there is hope for all of them, as I share some stories in the book of efforts in each of these industries that offer a hope for all of them.

Valerie: What is the biggest piece of advice you have for a company that knows that it needs to become more authentic, but isn’t sure how to go about it?

Rohit: The single best thing any company can do is to lose their "employee silencing policy" as I called it in the book. This means allowing employees to have a voice and share more openly about what they do. I realize this is a tough prospect for many companies because it means giving up control ... but if they believe these employees are not already talking about where they work and what they do, they are misleading themselves. Being more open about this lets you tap the most powerful potential brand ambassadors you have, your employees.

Valerie: In your opinion, is it easier for companies that align themselves with a cause to be viewed as more authentic to their customers and prospects or does social integrity not play into the authenticity equation?

Rohit: This is a really good question. I think that it certainly plays a part, but having a social cause is not a necessity in most cases. There are industries that are exceptions ... pharmaceutical companies for example will rarely do a patient oriented campaign without some sort of cause element. The point your question comes down to is whether a brand offers something compelling enough to believe in. An element of the book is helping brands to identify what this is. In some cases, it would certainly involve a social cause ... but not all the time.

Valerie: What is the consumer’s role in crafting the authenticity of a brand? Should the brand be the leader or should the brand acknowledge and embrace consumer change, such as unexpected brand embracement by one or more subcultures?

Rohit: The most authentic brands are the ones that have the types of relationships with their customers where they are heavily influenced by their customers. I don't think requires a subculture (ie - niche) element, though. You raise a great point about change, though - because customers can very often be the best agents of change if a company is willing to listen.

Making Dental Sexy

A shout out to my colleagues at Delta Dental, we knew dental was sexy, and here's the proof. Inspired by David Meerman Scott, Dr. Helaine Smith brings us the Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex ebook. You can download it from her blog.

Organizational Change vis a vis Things Fall Apart

I recently finished reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It’s a story about Okonkwo, an African tribal man who spends his entire life trying to prove his strength. Toward the end of the book his tribe is changing, it’s embracing peace instead of its usual stance of war. Okonkwo believes so strongly in the old ways of his tribe that it becomes impossible for him to embrace the tribe’s new way of thinking.

While reading this book I was struck by how companies and their employees go through this conflict on a daily basis. Companies are built and destroyed by the culture they create. And that culture can change at any time for a number of reasons, such as the appointment of a new CEO or the implementation of a new growth strategy. Employees are expected to be resilient and adapt to the changes around them. However, without a strong leader, someone who is willing to take the time to explain the changes, the meaning of the changes and the vision the changes are meant to deliver it becomes seemingly difficult to accept them. This failing leaves a company with a string of Okonkwos, feeling petulant to the changes around them until they’re left with no other choice but to leave. It’s a good reminder that humans are innately resistant to change, but with a strong, charismatic leader, change becomes easier and cultures can be built around it.

Getting rid of the bad tables

Seth Godin’s The Bad Table post got me thinking about the group insurance industry. The post challenges readers to think differently about their “bad tables” (you know, the ones crammed in the corner near the noisy kitchen or next to the bathrooms). It suggests giving special service at the bad tables to make the entire experience equal with that of the good tables, but equal in a different way. The reason this makes me think of insurance is because the group insurance industry is famous for handing out lots of bad tables, usually to small groups. Insuring small groups can be risky because there isn’t a large pool of people to spread risk across. However, because small groups tend to have higher premiums (to account for the riskier nature of their size) they usually end up funding the discounts that the larger groups enjoy. And for their trouble, they get treated as second-class citizens. Many insurance companies create great new benefits, but usually with the fine print of “not available to groups of 50 or less members.” That leaves small groups paying more in premiums for fewer benefits. While not all insurance companies are guilty of this (Delta Dental extends new benefits to groups of all sizes), many are. Getting rid of the bad tables is something every business should strive to do. It wont be the easiest assignment, but it could be the most creative.