People often equate customer satisfaction with customer loyalty, which I find pretty perplexing because they are not the same animal. Case in point: For about 4 years I went to the same upscale hair salon here in Scottsdale and I saw the same wonderful hairdresser the entire time- that is fairly unheard of in the hair-dressing world. But I kept going, despite a long drive from my home, because I really liked the salon, but more importantly I loved the way Gusty (yes, that was her name, not short for anything, just Gusty) styled my hair. [Read more →]
There I am, at least once a week at the grocery store deli counter, waiting in some haphazard line, really more of a crowd or gathering, hoping everyone else is as fair as me and knows who got there in what order. The longer the wait the more milling and wandering occurs and the order becomes unknown again, which always leads some major rule follower to go the beaming red, much dreaded number dispenser. Why we do this is beyond me, when has anyone ever seen the deli counter person use this system and call out numbers? Never. Maybe they are afraid to yell out numbers? Not sure really. Nonetheless, now that somebody has taken a number, we all have to pull down a number, which later ends up on the floor. Well, today something truly amazing happen at my Fry’s grocery store, no they didn’t bail out another bank or airline- but close……
I’m starting to feel bad for Microsoft PR, who’ve been tasked with defending these Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. I just didn’t connect with the first ad, which barely mentioned Microsoft and didn’t do much to tell me why I should like their products in a competitive market. The second ad, which aired tonight, was more of the same.
The setting is a normal family. Gates and Seinfeld are staying with them to connect with “real people.” The idea is to show that Microsoft has connected with “over a billion people.” Bill and Jerry explain:
Bill: Why are we doing this again?
Jerry: Why bill? Because as we discussed, you and i are a little out of it. You’re living in some kinda moon house hovering over Seattle like the mothership. I’ve got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people.
I guess this is still a warm up act to the real thing, which will presumably get into more details on what Microsoft does and will do to connect people.
But here’s my problem. The idea of the campaign seems to be to show people how great Microsoft products are. The “real people” as they keep calling them are being reached out to so they can understand and grow to love these products.
But…If Bill (and therefore Microsoft) is not already in touch with real people, then their products may not be, either. By spending time with real people, the logic flow suggests they’ll be able to build better products.
In other words, Microsoft is highlighting the fact that they are out of touch. But instead of saying they’ll mingle with real people to build better products, the message seems to be that the real people need to get with the program.
In other words, I’m confused. Perhaps I’m just over thinking the whole thing.
Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation. They are a veteran software company, best known for their Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, but they have also ventured into… Learn More
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
This morning started like most others, dogs and kids up at 6:30am, lots to do to get the day started. Today my 3 yr old dressed herself!
She was SOOOO proud of herself, I couldn’t even consider telling her she looked like Cyndi Lauper- on a good day. In the spirit of supporting her independence, I exclaim, WOW sweetie look at you, quite fancy. And think to myself, thank goodness she is not going to school today. Of course for some added fun I say- You should go show your Daddy and see what he thinks. I hear her go into his office, and I wait for the reaction. To his credit, he said, WOW that is fancy, and then he said, your shoes are on the wrong feet, you should switch them…..
Rewind to Valentine’s Day 2007. My h-band drags me to the Apple store. He proudly says, pick out your new Mac for your Valentine’s gift. His excitement is barely controllable. Why you ask? He has his new Macbook Pro and of course he loves it. He has “switched” our entire house over to Apple gear. I considered fighting, this unnecessary change and disruption to my life, but know in the end this change is happening with or without my cooperation. I select a nice MacBook and off we go with our big white boxes with the happy fruit on the side.
The next day I head into the office, where there are several “fruits”- affectionate nickname for Apple users. They have already heard about my new purchase. Is there some sort of underground notification system among Mac users that let’s them know when one of “the others” has been converted? Anyway, they are overflowing with the same excitement my h-band had, this is strange. Each one offers to help me “get adjusted” to this new way of working. I don’t dare tell any of them, the first PC I used back in the 80’s- seriously, was a MacIntosh, they would really think i was the old lady in the office. I am determined to do it on my own. I am a believer that you can teach old dogs new tricks. Before my first day is out, each of the “fruits” stops by to ask me- Have you had your “Mac moment” yet?
I’m starting to feel bad for Microsoft PR, who’ve been tasked with defending these Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. I just didn’t connect 
