Archive for November, 2007

I’m sitting here watching Oprah with my daughter. I hardly ever watch Oprah, but this particular episode she was spotlighting a company called American Girl. If you own a company you would be doing your customers a disservice, if you didn’t spend as much time as you can, learning how American Girl is a true Lovemark.

Dolls are big business and American Girl seems to have taken it to a whole new level. I’m learning the lengths this company is going to create a life long customer. Here are some examples:

1. Each doll comes with a real book, not a brochure, about its life, based on some period of American history.
2. When you purchase a doll you can have a professional portrait taken with the two of you
3. American Girl has what they call a Doll Hospital. When your doll has an accident this department performs all the medical procedures necessary to fix the problem
4. Your doll’s lifestyle would not be complete without additional clothing, furniture and accessories.

Here’s where the Lovemark comes into play. They make buying an American Girl doll an experience beyond the customers wildest expectation. There is a social aspect to the products. The company is 100% dedicated to making sure their doll owners get the red carpet treatment. The value of one young girl convincing her friends to buy an American Girl doll is priceless.

Take time to wow your customers. Take time to listen to what they want. Take time to give them what they want. Learn from your customers. Use what ever social and viral marketing is available.

Centre Line
“The Pop Soul Jazz Funk Love Shuffle” (mp3)
from “Centre Line”
(Caprimusic / GLP)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

The shopping season is upon us. The time of year I dread most. I’m not a shopper. And I have a hard time being around people who are shoppers. Here is how I shop:

1. I need something new, say a dress shirt
2. There are a couple of stores I like to shop at, I’ve prioritized them, and I go to the first one
3. I go right to the clothing section
4. I quickly scan the area for something that catches my eye
5. I look for my size and a nice color
6. I look at the price tag, if its within reason I keep it, if not I put it back
7. I may or may not try it on. I know what fits me and I will wait until I get home before trying something on. I figure the odds are in my favor it will fit so why waste time trying something on at the store?
8. I repeat the process if I’m getting more than one item
9. Head to the checkout counter
10. Pay the cashier and I’m out

I rarely if ever browse. Once in a while I might mosey on back to the electronics to see what is new. I never buy, but I look. I hardly ever buy the impulse items. I feel accosted by all that crap and refuse to buy it. If you have kids you know what I mean.

Now, this is how my wife shops:

1. Spend hours looking at ads in the mail and newspaper. We subscribe to the newspaper the last two months of the year so she doesn’t miss any of the “good” ads
2. Take all of the research to the mall
3. Go from store to store, whether its on the list or not
4. Look at everything in the store, and more often than not walk out with nothing
5. Try everything on, at least 6 items at a time or more
6. Fill a cart full to overflowing
7. Spend the next hour putting most of it back
8. Stand in long lines for hours
9. Buy several of the impulse items because they would make great stocking stuffers
10. Carry ten bags around each weighing in at thirty pounds
11. Bring home more than you intended and spend the next several days deciding what goes back to the store

OK, some of that is exaggerated. But honestly, the shopping experience during this time of year is very stressful to me. I’m a go in and get it kind of shopper. It’s not that I don’t want to shop, it’s that I can’t stand fighting through crowds to get the big sale items. It’s just not worth it to me.

What about you? How do you shop? How does your significant other or friends shop?

Here are some great links I came across during this past week.

LifeHacker asks Does Google Make You An Efficient Time-Waster?

Russell Beattie posts Mobilized Bookmarks in Del.icio.us

Jesse Stay write Auto-Follow Those that Follow you on Twitter

Box.net opens up their API

Upcoming local events from Utah Tech Spotlight

Chris Brogan writes Elements of a Personal Brand (probably the best blog post you’ll ever read)

Zenhabits writes Top 10 Resources and Inspirations for Decluttering Your Home

Today’s prop goes out to Douglas Cootey. Douglas has been helping behind the scenes of PodCampSLC for the past few weeks, among a hundred other tasks. He was gracious enough to get a logo created for our event and is working on a few more projects.

The name Douglas gave his blog is pretty interesting, The Splintered Mind, and it recently won an exciting award, one of the Top Ten Depression blogs, and I ain’t talking about a depressing blog. Douglas writes about depression, ADHD and a few other things. He’s funny and has a very even tempered personality. Please take a moment and visit the blog and subscribe to the RSS feed.

Thanks for all you’ve done Douglas.