'Me' Products on Rise

(It's been so long since I posted that I almost forgot how!)

Interesting note in SuperMarket News today...

NAPLES, N.Y. (May 26, 2005) - People want goods and services that are customized to meet their individual wants and needs, and consumer packaged goods companies are trying harder to meet those needs. Thus the number of new products featuring the word "me" has more than tripled since 1999, reported Datamonitor's new-product database, Productscan Online, based here. The number of products that used the word "me" in their name totaled 53 in 2004, up from 14 in 1999. The trend is fueled by an increase in women's buying power and the share of single-person households, Datamonitor said.

The Blog Completes the Cycle

The Akron Beacon Journal ran a nice story today about business blogs. By that, I mean blogs that businesses use to communicate with their customers. SageRock.com, a local web marketing and SEO firm was prominently featured in the article.

Visiting SageRock's blog was a must after reading about their successful use of blogging as a business tool. I was greeted nicely with this post welcoming ABJ readers. It was a well written entry that picked up where the article left off. To add even more value, SageRock used the post to offer its services -- no strings attached -- to readers that would like assistance in setting up a blog for their own company.

Regardless of the number of people that take them up on the offer, SageRock completed the PR cycle flawlessly. The flow from the ABJ story to SageRock's blog to the engagement with prospective customers was unimpeded.

Very smooth. Very credible. Very genuine. Nice job, guys.

Bill Me Later

I received the following email from a consumer today:

I was wondering if yall [sic] had a bill me later? I was wanting to pay so much down then so much a month. Since I have no credit, nobody wants to trust me on trying to start credit. I have 2 small boys, and I am wanting to be able to get them a swing set and everything, and I can never come up with the money all at once to buy them the things that they need. They have nothing (literally) to play with in the yard. If you can help me, please e-mail me back, if not, I understand.

Yes, it's a sad story, and I am a compassionate person. But it still amazes me that someone would send this.

Five Ways to Get to Mars

The December issue of Wired was all about exploration. (Yes, I'm just a little behind on my reading.) It was full of cool stuff, as Wired usually is. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of propulsion systems that could be utilized to help us get to Mars. I vote for ion propulsion:

There are several ion engines on the drawing board. The most promising for a Mars mission is nuclear electric propulsion. Inside the unit, electrons are stripped from xenon fuel, leaving behind a swarm of positively charged ions rarin' to go. A negatively charged grid in the back of the engine accelerates them, creating thrust.
Pros: Fuel efficiency is so good that you can accelerate for weeks, instead of minutes, resulting in high top speeds. You could make it to Mars in a couple of months with one of these babies.
Cons: An engine big enough for a human mission would be a major power hog. One design calls for three nuclear reactors putting out a total of 12 megawatts, enough to power a small town.

The fact that this stuff is seriously being discussed is just awesome! I love to imagine what's possible in the remainder of my lifetime.

Help Wanted to Expand Free Speech Globally

There's a very worthwhile project posted on Dan Gillmor's blog:

A group that wants to assist free speech in authoritarian nations is looking for a technically savvy person -- a CTO or lead engineer type -- who can do a short term study, possibly leading to a longer-term job. This is a paying gig for the right person.

The project is intended, in its initial form, to make possible blogging that is impossible (or at least extremely difficult) to trace. One of the people involved calls it an "anonymous, anti-tyranny blogging service." If you're interested, please send e-mail to Jim Hake at jim@spiritofamerica.net.

Anonymous blogging has tremendous implications for social justice, and it should be fervently pursued. The persecuted church could really use a tool like this. Granted, it would only be effective in areas with appropriate internet access.

Alas, the resulting (or similar) technology will also be used to oppress. Terrorists will love it. So will sex slave traders, pedophiles and pornographers. I can feel the debate coming.

Confesssions of a Reformed East Coast Snob

Nice story at Yahoo! Finance by a woman who retired early and has had to adjust her lifestyle to the new financial realities. The best lesson here is that contentment is learned. Welcome to the real world, Ellen.

A Vendor That Gets It

I cannot find a link to the original story, but in the last issue of Inside Business there was an article about the founders of IdeaStream Products. I believe these three guys came from Manco (now Henkel Consumer Adhesives), a company made famous for its ability to form long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships with Wal-Mart and other major retailers. (Manco founder Jack Kahl released a book last fall. I have not read it yet.)

IdeaStream is interesting because they are building their company around the process of selling to major retailers as opposed to their products. In fact, they didn't invent a thing. They started the company first and then went looking for products to sell. IdeaStream interviewed designers, inventors and manufacturers eager to reach the major retailers and then selected three product lines that fit the bill. This sounds completely backwards, but it works because of the way retailers operate today.

IdeaStream began with a desire to meet the needs of big box retailers and established this as their creed. IdeaStream's value is not purely caught up in the product. It's in understanding how big box retailers run their businesses. Retailers' core strengths are operating productive stores, marketing them well, and efficiently moving products from point A to point B. Good vendors understand and know how to manage the rest: product development, consumer research, category analysis, ROI, etc.

Yes, the channel has changed, but more importantly, the roles of each channel member have been completely altered. The diagrams in all my old business textbooks are completely obsolete. IdeaStream gets it and is building a business based on this newer way of doing business.

Vendors Don't Get It

This morning's Supermarket News headlines featured this item. These links don't last long, so here's the whole thing:

ARMONK, N.Y. (February 22, 2005) - A global survey of more than 100 retailers and consumer products companies shows a disconnect between the two groups that could threaten productivity, according to IBM Business Consulting Services here, which conducted the survey. Only 9% of retailers surveyed by IBM felt their suppliers had a good understanding of their business objectives. Retailers expressed low satisfaction with suppliers in areas like consumer insight development and promotional design and execution, according to IBM. "Having historically focused on the consumer as their only 'customer,' consumer product companies must now seek ways to better understand and provide added value to their retail trade customers as well," said John Breuer, Consumer Products Industry Partner, IBM BCS, in a statement. "They have to balance the rapidly evolving needs of savvy consumers with powerful retail customers who are demanding exclusive services, pricing and products. To do that effectively, CP companies must redefine the way they do business."

The quote in bold (my emphasis) is full of truth. It's not good enough to make a good product these days. That's just the starting point. Like it or not, selling to large retailers -- and gaining access to their customers -- is about much more than that. If that's the distribution path you want, then you better do your homework and be prepared to play by the new rules. 

The Value of Fact Checking

For all the talk about whether or not blogs are reliable news sources in and of themselves, one thing cannot be argued -- their value in fact checking the mainstream media. The Brad Blog posted this little allegory yesterday. Brad and I definitely don't agree on a lot of things, but this post transcends that fact.

If a blogger had not noticed this error, then how long would it have taken CNN to correct it? Whether this was careless journalism or just an honest mistake, a blogger performed a valuable service here. It happens everyday. Blogs create an efficient form of media accountability, and it happens from both sides of the political spectrum.

Companies Still Blow Off Online Customer Service

More evidence that many companies ignore online consumer inquiries:

Though the web site has become an important tool for introducing prospective customers to a company and its products, many brand-name manufacturers are tarnishing their reputations by providing poor online customer service, says a new report from the Customer Respect Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm.

In a recent analysis of more than 2,000 web sites of consumer product manufacturers, the organization found that 37% of companies did not respond consistently or at all to online inquiries.

And when inquiries were addressed, just 51% of responses occurred within one day, the time frame deemed acceptable by users, the Customer Respect Group notes. Another 34% of companies responded within two days, and the remainder in more than two days. In total, only 36% of inquiries—including those that were ignored—were answered within a day of being sent.

I first commented on this last summer, and it still makes my blood boil. There is perhaps no truer indicator about how a company really views its customers.