Don’t make it too easy for your customers. Keep them intrigued, make them work.

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Four years ago I was introduced to Word of Mouth Marketing through our friends here in Atlanta at Fizz, a word of mouth marketing agency. I was intrigued by the concept and proceeded to attend a few WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) conferences.

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This past December I completely forgot about checking Twitter & Facebook. No intent to do so...it just happened. A couple weeks later, when I realized the time that had passed, I also realized I hadn't missed it. So I set out on an experiment to see what would happen if I stopped the constant social media participation for a bit. How long would I last? Would people start to ask me why? My last SM check in was on Dec 18. Number of people that have asked me why I stopped posting - only 2.

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My wife visited the at&t store to get a new cell phone since hers died. The website said we were eligable for an upgrade so we thought great! She walked in and up to one of the service people who looked "super busy" texting. She said "my phone is broken, can I use my upgrade?" He said sure, all you have to do is pay the $18 upgrade fee and then the price of the phone (roughly $150 low end). Julie said forget that wondering how is this "upgrade" was any benefit to her. Then she remembered we needed to cancel our home phone, also with at&t, which she figured she would go ahead and do now. Turns out they don't do that there. In fact you have to call a number and literally beg someone to cancel. Defeated and frustrated she left only to realize that her cell phone still didn't work, so how was she going to call.

Why is customer service so under valued by big faceless companies? Why is it so hard to do right? Experiences like these leave a such a bad taste in your mouth which otherwise could have been great. And it's only a matter of time before you spread the word to your friends. In this case a word of disappointment.

Marty Neumeier writes in Zag, "Every brand is built with experiences, whether the brand is a company, product or a service and whether it serves individuals or a buisness. The key is to craft those experiences so they create delight for the people who determine the meaning and value of your brand – your customers."

In the same book he also writes, "Every brand is built by a community. Not just a community of people inside the company, but it's partners, suppliers, investors, CUSTOMERS, non-customers, even competitors. It's a complete ecosystem in which there are gives and gets all around. Everyone has a role to play, and everyone should be repaid for thier efforts."

People need people, brands need people. Good will is good buisness.

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When was the last time you were asked for "your card"? Or you gave one away? If you're like me it's few and far between.

It seems like today business cards are dying a slow vaporizing death (like Marty McFly in Back To The Future), along with several other print meda in our iPhone/ Crackberry age. It makes total sense. Why do I really need a small piece of paper with your contact info on it? In 1995, before the "you-twitter-face" era, I might not ever see you again. Our brief encounter lost in the passing by happen chance of the ages, but that's not necessarily the case today.

I can easily add you to my contacts, send you a FR (friend request) on facebook, follow you on twitter, or go old school and send you an email. Will I really ever meed your direct contact info?

Maybe, but lets be honest, the real value in a business card is the impression you leave in the mind of the recipient. It's a great way to build the perception you want for your brand. So the question is, what kind of impression are you leaving? Are you leaving one with 3 phone numbers, 2 faxes, a tagline, mission statement, brand promise, national accreditations, car make & model, highschool yearbook photo, and your favorite Proverb?

Instead, maybe you should simply leave someone thinking? Maybe it simply challenges? Inspires? Starts a conversation?

Maybe your message is printed on a steak (there is actually a new process to do that). Not the most sustainable message, but I guarantee pulling a rib eye out of your pocket will start a conversation.

It's hard to do something different and break the norm. Real innovation happens when you don't just accept the way things are, but challenge them.

What are some of the best business card ideas you've ever seen?

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About a year ago I was headed out to a concert with some friends. In order to save time, I volunteered to grab all of us delicious submarine sandwiches from subway before racing off to make the show. As I walked in to a completely desolate store, the sandwich artist stood up from her stool and slugged over towards the beginning of the bar, with a stare that could freeze a charging grizzly dead in its tracks she looked up at me. Having the memory of a 90 year old man, I'd forgotten some of the orders, and rudely disregarded the "No Cellphones" sign and called my fellow concert goers. She quickly rebuked my action with a "What you want?" snarl. I calmly replied, "I'm not exactly sure yet, I'm calling to see what my friends want". She returned a scowl of disapproval, and said slowly and sternly with an extra enunciated tone, "WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?". Let's just stop right there. Not only was I super hungry and running late, I was now super annoyed and in the face of the rudest moment I'd ever encountered in my tenure of sandwich connoisseurship. I was about to order 14 sandwiches, a significant amount of business for a dying restaurant, and she obviously did not want my bothersome business.

How many times do we treat our clients like this?

Maybe not as extreme as the above example, but in small ungrateful ways, especially in a service based businesses, we can all be guilty. We fail to make the connection between our paychecks and our clients. I've seen this "bothersome- stupid client" attitude in so many agencies, and I hope we never become one of those.

After a brief confrontation, I ended up thanking the "Sandwich Artist" for her time and went next door to Willy's for chimichangas and nachos.

What's the worst customer service based experience you've ever had?

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*Disclaimer: All of the artwork used in this blog article does not represent failed organizations or business ideas, quite the contrary actually. It is merely an example of preliminary artwork we've created along the way to finding the right solution.

As a designer, emotional blindness to the artwork you create is common. Emotional blindness is when the artist is deeply connected and invested in his or her idea or design that any feedback, changes, or criticism falls on deaf ears. It's like tunnel vision or horse blinders with a touch of pride and stubbornness. With experience as an Art Director and a Designer (with a really hard head), I have a unique perspective on the dilemma. I've been in the trenches slaving away for days on a design, tweaking every nuance, only to be told in a two minute presentation that it's not right. On the other side, I've had designers present their hard work to me, only for me to instantly shoot it down.

The old saying, "Dont' miss the forest for the trees" is very appropriate for designers who are fixated with details. That's why a second set of objective eyes is so important, to bring, what our friend Alina Wheeler calls, "The Blinding Flash of the Obvious".

Thus, some of the artwork below. These are a few samples of when we had, self-proclaimed, brilliant ideas, but failed to either truly understand the client or properly educate the client on best practices. Visually, they are all stunning, but whether or not they would have been effective we will never know!

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It's specialness never really occured to me. I suppose that having grown up with the trademark green-capped, clear plastic squeeze bottles, it was just another staple in the kitchen. It was always at the tables in local Pho restaurants. When I was a kid, the "Rooster" brand sriracha chili sauce was as ubiquitous as ketchup in Southern California.

Now, it has started to become an ever-present condiment across the country — found everywhere from Walmart to mom-and-pop bars to Michelin-starred-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten‘s kitchens.

Aside from being boosted by the growing number of conscious culinary types, the Rooster sauce's formula for success is similar to many other strong brands:

A compelling story -> An authentic product -> Unique identity and design

David Tran, the founder, built a name for himself from making and packaging chili sauce by hand in Vietnam. After finding his way to America, Mr. Tran moved from Boston to Los Angeles in search of peppers. Within a month he started making sauce again and soon local pho shops stocked the product and the occasional American consumer began squirting it onto hot dogs.

While not having the most refined or sophisticated design, the bright red and green bottles definitely don't lack the ability to stand out on store shelves. And each one is decorated with a "logo" featuring — not peppers or flames or a fire-breathing pepper — but simply Mr. Tran's astrological sign, the rooster. As more and more new brands follow generic, accepted (ahem, "market research") formulas to build their identities, the art of story-telling and simple, honest design that isn't focus-grouped to death is quickly becoming a rare phenomenon.

Regardless of whether Rooster sauce will one day become as symbolic as a bottle of Heinz or a can of Coke, it's admirable that they've stayed true to what they love and what they believe in despite the national attention:

“We’re happy to see these chefs use our sriracha,” said Huy Fong’s president, William Tran, the 33-year-old son of its founder. “But we still sell 80 percent of our product to Asian companies, for distribution through Asian channels. That’s the market we know. That’s the market we want to serve.”

They haven't changed the quirky package design that most designers would scoff at. They haven't changed their name into something that most Americans can pronounce. They don't have a "web 2.0″, totally-awesome flash site with games featuring the rooster. And I hope they never will.

Photo: Robert Yager for the NY Times

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Don't have a big ad budget? Don't worry – you don't need one. According to Tourism Queensland, you just need a really clever idea, social media outlets, and some luck.

The Tourism board released a campaign earlier this year to locate someone to fill "The Best Job in the World". Genius. "The job description? Explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef for six months and report back to Tourism Queensland and the world via blogs, a photo diary, video updates and interviews." The pay, $110,000 for six months of work.

After 34,000 video entries from some 200 countries, 34 year old Ben Southall was selected as the winner this week.

Of course the goal was not to get someone to fill a job. Rather, it was to provide a platform for people to see how amazing the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef really are and that this is one amazing place you should visit.

Perfect idea, not to mention a great use of resources.

On a side-note, they do appeared to have totally ripped-off the concept used in the Bahamas logo. At least their campaign was original.

*Quote & Picture from article as it appeared at MSNBC.com. Full Article.

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We were privileged to be a part of the launch of the Catalyst Conference website for this years upcoming event. Awesome event, awesome folks, (and I must say) a pretty awesome site.

When you Check It Out, submit your story (AKA – Make Your Mark). Its fun, easy, and even if you haven't been to one of the conferences before (like me) its worth being a part of. And I will say, with folks like Malcom Gladwell & Rob Bell speaking – its definitely something I'll be checking out this October.

Explore around and enjoy!

And many thanks to Toolbox No.9 – our partner on the site development and one of the best Flash shops in town.

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