Have you ever been so frustrated by the automatic computer generated voices that give you 500 options, then tell you that your call will be answered in five minutes. Which then turns into fifty minutes. And worst of all you are paying for the call.

A Whole New Brand World

The call for the longest call at Zappos lasted for over five hours. The call centre agent became a hero. Can you imagine this happening to the companies you deal with. No, we cant either.

Today Walter and I discuss the narrow minded thinking of business that look at operational efficiency that is busy destroying business’s. And no, this is not going to make things fall apart in the next year or two but definatley in the not so distant future.

From Command Control Tactics To The Boer war

We discuss how marketing has evolved from the command and control strategies and tactics to mobility and organic marketing and look at:

• How customer thinking has changed and the role of business
• Is the chief marketing officer is dead – no role
• Why bad business is run by efficiency experts rather than customer happiness
• Are customers a necessary evil
• Zappos – why they really are such a good example and not just a cliché
• Why your competition is Zappos, Amazon and any other brilliant customer experience
• Your brand is everything and you are good as your worst experience.
• Why big brand companies have a shelf life — and why the boring gurus CEO wont win tomorrows awards
• The customer experience is the new benchmark. It is the new differentiating factor and defines what is possible.

Go here to listen to the podcast.

It’s the eve of the local government elections in South Africa and Walter and I chat the development of the raving loony political party.  This idea was born when we asked the question: If brands behaved like politician’s what would happen to them?

Dirty Politics and Crowdsourcing

There have been many messages from the racist madam who can’t dance, to the debacles about human dignity and open toilets, and … well, you get the idea.

Without becoming a political platform we chat about the behaviour of politicians, the messages they send, the ethics behind it and how people will drive change through their empowered voice.

The idea of crowdsourcing and democracy is compared and Walter shares his thoughts about the impact of Egypt. You can read his latest post on this on his Organic Marketing Blog.

The Future Business Model

We also looked at the business model of the future that does not need advertise.

Bean There Coffee is an inspiring brand. They focus on fair trade; they look after their suppliers in a way that most brands cannot even imagine. Maybe what is most telling is that the staff are really happy and having fun. They also see their customers as a key part of their business rather than a necessary evil.

This is the type of experience will get people talking. And its not the just the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Splatt Feedback

And, please let us know what your experience is with the Splatt Podcast. Is there anything you want to chat about or discuss?

Go Here To listen to the podcast

The Old Spice campaign is a one-night stand. It grabs your attention, flirts with you, gets you all steamed up, gets you to engage and then dumps you like a bunch of rotten tomatoes.

This is certainly not the way you should be talking about the poster child of social media campaigns. Heck, maybe Mustafa will hot tail it on his horse to come and deal with the sacrilege. Or maybe, hopefully he will just have a cool shower and move on.

All joking aside, the question we look at in today’s podcast is the issue of engagement. Why marketers insist on embracing a campaign that spikes like mad and dumps you down with a crash.

Some thoughts that we chat about include:

• Why social media should be social engagement.
• Wonder if the company culture creating a problem for marketers?
• Why your advertising agency can really damage your social media campaign
• Why a like is worse than a cheap suit and is not love.
• Why you need to treat your customer as a first-class citizen.
• Why trial and awareness is not enough anymore.
• Why a coffee shop owner is doing a better social media job than high-end brand managers.
• Your brand is about feelings – create good ones and word of mouth will spread.

What are your thoughts?

You can listen to the podcast here

After a few complaints about trying run a business through the crazy holidays, Walter and I chat about Vodacom – again!

And, no we don’t have a grudge against the Cell Phone providers (as I am sure many people do), but they just have a huge target on their back at the moment.

With Cell C and Vodacom just going through a rebrand and a few spats with the ASA there are a lot of mistakes to learn from. And a lot of things we can talk about.

What is Your Brand Message?

Walters post sparked our conversation: Vodacom. This is what your brand is. Maybe the most important part of the post is that

“Your Brand is what we (Your customers) say it is.”

Of course he also offers the crazy idea of turning the Blue Bulls into the Red Bulls (and making Pretoria see red). His experience also highlights how badly Vodacom planned for the launch of the iPad 2, when they ran out of micro sim’s. (No Vodacom, it’s not just about you).

We also discuss the advertising message. We look at the previous Nando’s ad that played against the Cell C as a backdrop to the chat. We love the ad but the question remains how effective was it? Nando’s has done a superb job as a social satirist and have played the Rebel so well. The question is how do brands like Nando’s evolve their communication – and how do they develop their message?

What are your thoughts?

You can listen to the podcast here.

Brands are ideas, emotions and are about connecting with customers. In fact, let’s step further than that and recognize that your brand belongs to your customer. It’s their belief in it that drives it. So, Be Innovative, Be Interesting, Be Cool. And Stop Moaning.

The Irrelevant Vodacom / Cell C Spat

In todays Podcast Walter and I chat about the irrelevant Vodacom / Cell C spat and that it is nothing more than a testosterone fight between the two companies. The questions we discuss

• How relevant is the ASA in this new marketing word?
• Is Vodacom’s disagreement nothing more than ego contest?
• Where’s the value for the customer in the turf war and who is actually winning?
• Has marketing evolved into a nanny state and comparative advertising?

FaceBook, Gossip and Care. Your New Marketing Strategy

We also take a moment and have a look at Facebook. Are a large number of fans relevant and how many of them are raving about you. And maybe more importantly do people even care?

And Care is important as it drives that most fundamental human need of “Gossip”. As strange as it may sound Gossip is really important to your brand. We look at:

• Why gossip is a key driver to your social community
• Gossip is driven by a social bank account and reciprocity
• People gossip about what makes them happy or upset.
• People are talking about brands over coffee, and gossip inspires the conversation

Click here to listen to the podcast

No one likes spam but the marketer who sends it (can we even call them marketers?). If we get it via email or cell phones we still want to throw rotten tomatoes at them.

Why do we throw our reputations that we work so hard to create for a mere 3% return. We are sure you will agree that the 97% of people you irritate do not think fondly of you.

It’s Destructive Marketing

Walter shares his experience with this destructive marketing practice and his WASPA (good) experience. Maybe if all went to war on spammers they may just think twice.

From destructive spammers to powerful weak links. It may seem to be a bit of a cointradiction but here we talk about why they are so important to you. We look at …

• The power of weak links and the network effect
• Marketing to a network that is not homogeneous and not all connections are equal
• Why friending 500 strangers is great clever
• Why you should develop your networks when every connections is potential
• The difference between Online interests and Offline likeability and social groups
• Building diversity is key to your marketing and business growth
• What role strong links and acquaintances play in your networks
• Why your market should look like an oatmeal bowl
• The role of your personae’s and how brands need to adapt
• The roles we fill in networks
• Why crocs are as bad as spammers

Click Here to listen to the podcast.