A Burst of Bland

Have you heard the buzz about Walmart’s new logo?

Out with the mean old military-looking logotype.
In with a friendly, lower case, unhyphenated look – finishing with a flowery starburst! That should get people excited about shopping at Walmart again.

While I find the new look underwhelming, the best part of the story is the way it slipped out. The Memphis, Tennessee municipal planning department got a look at plans for a new Walmart and noticed the new design – and soon it was in the hands of the Wall Street Journal.

Redesigns such as this are usually handled intelligently. Press releases, press kits, and lots of flossy blather about how the new logo reflects the new spirit of the brand, etc. It’s supposed to be a managed launch.

Walmart rushed out a short, bland press release that was even more underwhelming than the logo itself. It noted that “for the past two years, a customer-focused transformation has been taking place in Walmart's U.S. business.”


The new logo reflects Walmart’s “renewed sense of purpose to help people save money so they can live better.”

Surely the world’s largest retailer could have had a more compelling explanation ready than that?
New management welcome.

Why so stupid?

‘The new Batman movie is out, and like the last one (Batman Returns), this is not a movie for the young kids who enjoy the animated Batman on TV. "The Dark Knight" is gloomy, violent and complex, and features an acclaimed performance by the late Heath Ledger as the vicious psychotic killer, The Joker.

Ledger’s Joker “is the sort of character that could give younger kids nightmares,” writes the Washington Post. “This is not a movie for teens younger than high-school age, let alone grade-schoolers.”

So kudos to Nestle and General Mills, for giving away free Joker toys in cereal boxes: General Mills (Lucky Charms, etc.) in the U.S., Nestle in Asia. Psychopathic murderers go so well with cereal and milk and little leprechauns.

Sure, Batman is a comic book character, and comics have always been associated with kids. But it’s been clear for two years that Ledger’s Joker was going to be edgy and frightening and adult. All you had to do was look at Ledger's makeup to realize this was not Jack Nicholson from the 1989 movie – and certainly not Cesar Romero’s fun-loving Joker from the old 1960s TV show.

Parents groups are already up in arms. Yet this debacle could have been avoided if anyone in a position of responsibility, at the companies or their ad agencies, had actually thought through what they were doing.

How could they miss this?

Unless General Mills intends to distribute action figures of Hannibal Lecter next?

Routing Rogers

It’s iPhone day in Canada. And what should have been a coup for Rogers has turned into a disorderly rout.

We don't want to focus too much on Rogers in this blog [(a) it’s such an easy target for customer-service complaints, and b) the other telecoms aren't much better]. But the cable/wireless giant, flying so high over its iPhone monopoly, fell to earth with a thud when the user base revolted against its high prices – and forced Rogers last week to change its tune.

Why didn't Rogers see this coming? The target market for the iPhone is affluent, sophisticated, always-on information junkies: if there’s one thing they know how to do, it’s communicate. More than 50,000 customers and prospects signed an online petition protesting the announced package prices. Perhaps Rogers' vast history of monopoly protection has blinded it to the fact that consumers have choices now.

As the PR experts at Toronto’s Veritas Communications put it this week, Rogers regained some credibility with its new (albeit time-limited) lower price package. But it was too late to undo all the damage already caused:

“Rogers failed to see the backlash coming despite the incredible amount of online chatter on blogs, social marketing sites, you name it – in other words, all over the geekosphere where the iPhone’s bulls-eye target market lives. Responding prior to launch is good, but not letting the wave of discontent get as huge as it did... would have been much, much better. Witness Thursday’s Globe & Mail, which ran a huge piece on the front of the ROB equating Rogers’ iPhone stumble to New Coke, Super-size McDonald’s meals and other legendary PR gaffes.”

Dare we hope Rogers management have learned from this debacle?

Travel 1,000 miles to go bowling!

Yesterday I was planning our family vacation and looked up the website of a city we’ll be passing through to see what there is there to see or do. So I was pleased to find a page that says, "Things to See and Do."

The first listing on the page? Bowling.
Yech.

I have nothing against bowling. But there are bowling alleys everywhere, and I was kind of looking for something more special.

Reading through the rest of that page, I found drag racing (not my cup of tea, but again not the sort of thing one travels a long way to see), marinas and movie theatres. Zzzzzzz. In between were a few listings for farmers' markets and galleries, but only two of them had writeups relating to local foods or regional art forms - the sorts of things that make for worthwhile stops.

You had to read down a long way before you found the really interesting stuff, like the specialty music venues, the Wharf sector, an interpretation centre for local native culture, and the lodges, tours and cruises that really make that area special.

Why was this such a problem? Because most web surfers have no patience. Most would click away long before they got to the good stuff. And why was this material presented in such a stupid, boring way? Because the chamber of commerce put their listings in alphabetical order!

Perhaps they never heard of thinking like the customer – or just putting your best foot forward. New Management Wanted – and a little more creativity.

Why Service Matters

Attention companies that still don't get it: Canadians demand good customer service. According to the second annual TD Canada Trust Customer Loyalty Poll, 95% of Canadians say their experiences can make or break a relationship with a particular brand or company.

That figure is up 10% from last year's survey, showing that Canadians are getting even more serious about service.

When asked which form of appreciation they are most interested in receiving from retailers and suppliers, 49% of consumers ranked "just good customer service" as number one. Loyalty programs and gifts followed far behind, at 18% and 17%.

There's another benefit to delivering good service. Says Tim Hockey, President and CEO of TD Canada Trust: "Good customer service has a ripple effect... our poll shows that 89% of people will share their positive stories with their friends and family."

All this sounds obvious, righ? So who isn't getting it? The utilities (think phone and cable).

The poll finds that consumers think retail stores and financial-service companies (29% and 28%) offer the best customer service. Utility companies are perceived to have the worst (42%) - even higher in Ontario and Quebec.

Bell's Bafflegab

Ottawa security professional Eric Jacksh has found a hole in Bell Canada’s security – and is getting the “we really care” runaround.

When he input his unlisted phone number into a Bell WiMax webpage to find out what services are available in his area, up popped a map showing the location of his home. Since he already knows where he lives, and he’s been paying for anonymity for years, he’s miffed that Bell is now offering thieves and telemarketers a path to his front door. He sent them an email requesting them to delist the service.

A few days later he received this helpful reply.

Hello Eric Jacksch,
Thank you for visiting Bell's web site. My name is Colin and I am pleased to assist you with your inquiry.
I understand your frustration. Please note that, unlisted service will remove your phone number from the directory. Bell Store Locator and other satellite images will display the images of earth as it is and it is not possible to unlist the same.
Eric, we appreciate you using Bell Canada's eContact Centre and I look forward to serving you again.

I was interested to read that it is not possible to unlist the earth. But that doesn't seem to address Jacksh’s complaint.

A story on the issue in the Ottawa Citizen evoked this reassuring response from Bell PR person Jacqueline Michelis: "Certainly protecting the privacy of such customer information is of prime importance to Bell and our strict privacy practices and policies consistently rank among the top corporations in Canada." As Churchill used to say, Bell offers “all aid short of help.”

Jacksh has since complained to the CRTC and the Privacy Commissioner. Maybe they will get some answers. In the meantime, new management would be welcome.

You can read more on Jacksh's quest on his blog, The Jacksh Report.

Replace Yourself First

Here’s a sad story from the ranks of retail.

A young friend, Bob, works for a mid-sized retail chain in Toronto. Recently, his sister was in an accident, so naturally he was called to the hospital to join the family vigil.

The call came to Bob at work. When he told his supervisor he had to rush off to the hospital, she was taken aback. This wasn't a good time, she said; the store was very busy and short-staffed.

Bob couldn't believe his ears. “I have to go,” he said. “My sister has been badly injured.” I would hope that most bosses would immediately say, “Go. Do what you have to do.” But not this boss.

“All right,” she agreed, reluctantly. “But first, you have to call up your co-workers to find someone to come in and finish your shift.”

I guess Bob needs the work, because he did as she asked. In the middle of the day you don't find a lot of people at home doing nothing, so it took him more than half an hour to find someone to take his place. He was still at work phoning around while the rest of his family arrived to worry together at the hospital.

Fortunately, Bob's sister will be okay. But his relationship with his boss will probably never recover.

New management – and a new attitude towards the needs of employees – would be very welcome at this chainstore. Perhaps they haven't heard there's a talent shortage?