DISQUS

Jake ... yes, it is gray and spitty in Seattle ... but when the giant orange orb in the sky shines, there isn't a more beautiful place than Seattle. You and your family will absolutely enjoy Seattle.

(The biggest thing you'll miss about Dallas is travel-related. Living in the Pacific Northwest makes flying most places an all-day affair. In Dallas, you can get to both coasts in half-a-day. Not so in Seattle.)

Alan ... agreed ... SBUX is trying really hard to best "position" their mktg copy ... with the rollout of Pike Place Roast and the new coffee procedures (30-min hold times, grinding, scooping), I noticed a stark change in their copy ... they went from telling the story to making up a story with lines like "freshly scooped" to describe packaged coffee ... the old SBUX would have laughed at that line

Alan Toad ... "nourishing" is a squishy word ... no concrete definition ... what's "nourishing" to you might be too extremely healthy for others. Part of the arts & science of marketing.

Shit. Toad, not Todd. My bad.

Todd ... these "nourishing blends" offer customers a BETTER, BAD CHOICE. The truly healthy conscious will avoid Vivanno because it is a poor snack and poor meal replacement. However, the regular person who desires to eat healthier might be attracted to Vivanno. It's certainly healthier than a milkshake or any other indulgent beverage. Vivanno is a better, bad choice. Dig?

And yeah, SBUX is putting a lot of marketing muscle behind Vivanno with in-store collateral, out-of-store advertising, and over-the-top storytelling.

The real problem with Vivanno is its taste is merely mediocre. People do not expect mediocre products at SBUX, they expect exceptional products. The SBUX product graveyard is littered with mediocre products that failed ... Mazagran, Tiazzi, Power Frappuccino, Milder Dimensions, Salads, Heated Savory Sandwiches, and other medicore offerings.

I doubt Vivanno will be around next Summer. For it to remain on the SBUX menu, a typical store will have to sell at least 20 Vivanno nourishing blends a day. After the heavy-up promo push is over, sales will most likely fall to less than 10 USDs (units sold per day). The operational complexity is too intense to justify keeping such a beverage on the menu when it sells less than 20 USDs.

Thanks for clueing me in on who originally said this. Howard Behar has said pithy sayings, but this is one I didn't know he quotes from Henri Bergson. Again, thanks for schooling me.

Jake ... given all the chatter, I decided to Flip-out. Got a Flip. Took some video. Hooked it up to my Mac. Drats. Major Incompatibility. Could view video but couldn't edit video. Couldn't use iMovie HD. Couldn't use the Flip editing software. Something to do with Leopard. Called Flip customer service. Downloaded a patch of some sort. Didn't work. Emailed with "level 2" tech support. Incompatibility remained. I gave up. Returned my Flip.

Instead, I bought a 4GB memory stick. Stuck that stick in my dinky Canon PowerShot and shot video. Edited that video easy-smeezy style using iMovie HD. Not sure how much video I can get with the 4GB stick, maybe 60-minutes max. Video quality seems to be better in my Canon than the Flip.

Net/net ... the Flip didn't work for me. Still cool though.

Matt ... thanks for link love to Brand Autopsy. Glad you find it worthwhile reading.

Jon ... think about it, the departments where WFM's products have short expiry/freshness dates are in perishables, meats, seafood, dairy, and prepared foods. Nearly all of those departments do not use the LCD pricing display. These electronic signs are almost exclusively in the packaged goods section of the store. Most packaged goods have a long shelf-life.

COST SAVINGS is the biggest advantage to using these LCD pricing displays. It simply takes less labor time to change prices with the LCD displays.

As a former director of National Marketing for Whole Foods Market, I can attest to the company being too busy operating its stores than to mine customer data from these LCD pricing displays.

Jon ... the smart thing about these LCD price tags is the RFID technology. Instead of tediously having to change price tags when items are on sale or when the price changes, all Whole Foods has to do is enter the price change on a computer and the LCD price displays will change.

The dumb thing about these LCD price tags is the poor readability. I have trouble reading the small LCD screen due to glare and the screen being flat on the shelf. To read the price tags, I need to bend down and then the black type on gray background still makes it hard to read. If the screen was tilted, then the glare would be reduced and readability increased.

I've talked with a few Whole Foods team members (employees) and while they like the LCD price tags, they say customers are having a hard time reading them.

I'm not sure Whole Foods is doing the flexible pricing dealio that you suggest. They could. But I doubt they are tracking and reacting to customer spending habits in the way you suggest.

Thanks for the link love Jake. Glad you found my prezo worthwile.

Oh my that's reads like a "Snake Oil Social Media Salesman" pitch.

Tony ... first off, thanks for the link love to Brand Autopsy.

As a marketer, I have learned more about marketing and growing a “built-to-last” business from Rick Warren’s PURPOSE-DRIVEN CHURCH book than I have from any other book, seminar, etc.

Rick talks at length about the issue of transfer growth and how he “… makes no effort at all to attract Christians from other churches to Saddleback.” This jibes with your thinking on trying not compete with other churches and instead, achieve organic growth by reaching the unchurched.

This is a brilliant strategy for marketers marketing anything from cars to coffee to Christ.

From my experience, the unbranded customer has a freer mind not inhibited with past experiences and will be a more vocal evangelist for the brand. These previously brand agnostic customers will be more vocal to share their story with others because the brand has helped them to actualize their aspirations of living a better life. Same goes, albeit on a much more powerful level, when the unchurched becomes churched.

Kevin ... thanks for the link love. The Chaos Scenario isn't a new book but rather the title of an article that appeared in last week's Ad Age. The pulled quotes are from the article. However, I would listen to NPR story Bob Garfield, the author of the article, filed. It's a way worthy listen.

Oh yeah , I agree that Garfield should have substituted "advertising" for "marketing." Good call.

Jake ... I too am bugged by the notion of applying traditional mktg measurement thinking to WOM.


My take is we need to concentrate less on measuring the affect of WOM and more on measuring the effect of WOM. Quantifying the impact of WOM should have less to do with WOM Units and more to do with driving Sales Units.



Marketers will be able to better champion WOM tactics for corporate buy-in if we can clearly show WOM drives sales at a more cost effective rate than does so-called mass advertising.

My thin-slice approach likes Option Four. Why? Well, it showcases the interdependence that must exist for a collection of people to become a community.

Blogging ... tipped? Naw, not yet.

Blogging ... crossed the chasm? Yep.