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How Not To Do Business By AT&T

June 2, 2010 By David Jacobs

ATT Death StarThey’re one of the worlds largest and richest companies, and they have no idea about the most fundamental principles of business. Oh they think they know; it’s on their wall somewhere, buried in some mission statement or company goals. Plenty of lip service is given to it as it usual in large companies, but AT&T continues to treat their customers like dirt.

The latest and perhaps most shocking example is the story of Giorgio Galante, an AT&T customer who wrote emails to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson in part to complain about several aspects of his AT&T experience. After the second email in as many weeks, Giorgio received a phone call from AT&T’s “Executive Response Team” thanking him for his feedback and at the same time warning Giorgio if he continued to email the CEO he would be served with a cease and disist letter. Threatening your customer with legal action because he tries to communicate with an officer of the company is so shockingly dumb I am at a loss for words. Is that what they teach you at B School?

It’s not the first time, however, AT&T has acted in such a way. As they were being barraged by complaints about the poor network service AT&T said it was the customers who were using too much data and they would have to look into doing something about that. Yes, our service stinks and it’s your fault mr. customer, so I will have to find a way to penalize you for that. And in fact, AT&T has now found that way, this week announcing dramatic changes to their data plans for smart phones like the iPhone. Unlimited access is gone and customers now much choose between two data plans, both with data limits and charges for going over the limits.

How does AT&T get away with this nonsense? Because they have the iPhone, the most popular cell phone in the world and you cannot buy it from anyone else. Apple may have signed a pact with the devil on this one and like it or not, there is some blowback that Apple suffers from all this as well.

I believe something needs to change drastically in the mobile world. We can no longer allow companies to sign us up for long term (2 year) contracts and then treat us so poorly. Since all the mobile companies seem to be in league with each other on most of these egregious practices, it’s going to take some kind of government action to step in and fight for the American consumer.

In the end, I don’t know what AT&T is thinking on this one. Is Giorgio Galante a pest? Unnecessarily filling up an important CEO’s email with trivial complaints? I don’t care if he is a nusense . He’s a customer, he has a right to be a nusense. He deserves to be treated with respect. He deserves an answer to his questions, not a threat of legal action.

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Kids and Ease of Use in Technology

April 4, 2010 By David Jacobs

Any parent with kids probably realizes this, but kids are incredibly savvy with technology. They have no fear or preconceptions about anything, so they are willing to jump in and try anything. It’s one of the things that’s so beautiful about kids, before they get tarnished by the world.

I learn so much from watching my kids work with technology. I learn about the future. Having kids is like living with your own personal crystal ball. I also learn a great deal about user interface and ease of use in tech products. My daughter, when she was just nine, picked up my iPhone and knew just what to do with it, no instruction needed. That’s when I knew it was a most amazingly built device. I think every technology company should have kids employed in their labs to do their user testing. If the 5 year old can master it, you’re ready to ship.

Tyler Gray realized the same thing and put it further to test with his iPad and his 5 year old son Cash. I’ve included the video in this post, and here also is a link to the original Fast Company article.

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Goodbye Neighborhood Video Rental Store

March 21, 2010 By David Jacobs

It used to be we had small neighborhood mom and pop video rental stores. That gave way to the large, big box, mega retailers like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster. Hollywood Video is in Chapter 11 and now Blockbuster is hanging by a thread. Netflix was the first nail in the coffin. Now there is iTunes, Amazon.com, Boxee, and Roku among others. There’s just to need to drag yourself down to a Blockbuster and put up with their silly return rules, let alone hoping the title you want is even available.

RedBox has been a massive hit without large stores because they put their vending machines where people already are, like the supermarket. No extra trip or hassle required. And at $1 a movie, Blockbuster doesn’t stand a chance. It’s interesting that Blockbuster has watched all this go on in the past few years but has not been able to do much of anything about it. They’ve experimented with a few things, but halfheartedly and they have been failures. Someone at corporate didn’t want to hurt the mainline retail business, which was really bad strategy because that business is dead now anyway and they have nothing to show for it.

Blockbuster has misread and misunderstood most every new business reality of the digital age. There CEO talks a good game but somehow I doubt they will have the boldness and smarts to actually do what it takes to catch up. The only thing they have going for themselves is a still strong brand name. If they can just find the guts to capitalize on it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Cheap Trick Talks New Marketing

March 17, 2010 By David Jacobs
A CD Video Disc (playing side) produced in 1987.

Image via Wikipedia

Cheap Trick is a band that had it’s heyday back in the late 70′s and 80′s, but it has found a way to stay relavant in todays world despite monumental changes in the music business. While other older bands have been very slow to adopt the new digital marketplaces like iTunes, Cheap Trick has gone all in on new media marketing.

In this CNBC video, the band talks about how they dropped their record label and are doing all marketing and distribution themselves these days. They clearly recognize most of their money is made from touring and merchandise, not record sales. “Why do you give some of your music away?” asks the reporter with surprise. “It’s great promotion!” answers Cheap Trick.

An older band like Cheap Trick has virtually no chance for traditional radio play or prime locations at retail. The band knows their best chance to keep doing what they love and keep getting paid is to take full control over their own situation. They have also been very savvy in creating work for movies, video games and even Stephen Colbert’s theme music. Not only do they know how to market to their core audience, but embracing these new venues can open them up to new customers as well.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Comic Books and the iPad

February 5, 2010 By David Jacobs

iPadI’ve been saying this for awhile now, comic books on the Apple iPad are a massive opportunity. The large color screen is perfect for this kind of content. I would even argue that it’s a big strategic advantage the iPad has over the Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is the perfect device for black and white books with it’s superior e-ink display but when it comes to content like comics or color magazines, the iPad can do things the Kindle can only dream of. As a comic book lover, I’m pretty excited about the possibility of comics on the iPad and I would seriously consider getting one if for no other reason than to read comics.

There are indications now that Amazon may try to make a new Kindle with color and multi-touch technology, bringing it much closer to an iPad. I think it’s very dangerous for Amazon to rush headlong into a competition with Apple on their own turf. Maybe the smart play is to remain the dominant player in black and white e-ink technology and let Apple have the rest. Amazon’s strength has always been traditional black and white books, not magazines or comics. Here’s an even smarter play, make a full iPad version of the Kindle reader. Amazon needs to remember their focus, they are a bookstore not a hardware manufacturer. By making a great Kindle reader for the iPad, they stand to sell more books from their online bookstore, even possibly cutting into Apple’s store.

2010 will be THE year of the tablet computer as Sony has also said they want to enter this market. No doubt there will be others. 2010 could also be THE year traditional publishing makes the turn to digital distribution. People have been predicting the death of traditional publishing for years now. These new tablet machines go a long way to bringing that prediction to pass.

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Connected World TV: 2010 Trends

January 27, 2010 By David Jacobs

Sorry, I’m a little late posting this one, but here are the 2010 technology trends as I see them.

Quicktime Version

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When Companies Cannot Admit Failure

January 11, 2010 By David Jacobs
Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show. Cropped fr...

Image via Wikipedia

NBC took a big gamble when they moved Jay Leno to primetime and it obviously hasn’t worked out. Now they are canceling the prime time show and contemplating putting him back to late night, which itself is complex now as they gave his old job to Conan O’Brien.

What caps my hide about this story, however, is the way NBC has handled the news. NBC has said the show “didn’t meet affiliates’ needs” and that the show performed “exactly as we anticipated on the network.” NBC is saying here, it’s not our fault, the show was fine, blame the affiliates. The painful truth, however, which is clear to everyone is that the show wasn’t very good and very few people were watching. Critics didn’t like it and the general buzz was bad. So if the show really performed “exactly as we anticipated on the network.” that’s pretty sad and it’s no wonder NBC is the last place network.

I don’t know why companies feel they cannot admit failure. Customers will not punish you for failure, only continual failure and an inability or lack of desire to fix things. This is why AT&T is taking such a beating lately. Their network is failing in certain cities and they have been slow to correct the problems and even admit the seriousness of them. That’s what people are most upset about. Admit openly and honestly you have a problem and than get on it. Customers will be patient, for a time. But if you will not admit your failures and you issue trite press statements that smack of ridiculousness in the face of the facts, you will be punished. We are in a very media savvy society; people understand the game now. It would have been so easy for NBC to say something like, we are constantly innovating and pushing the envelope with our content. Jay Leno in primetime did not work the way we imagined so we are changing things up. We anticipate an exciting new line up, including our popular late night programming.

Bill O’Reilly likes so say his show is a “no spin zone”. The entire world is a no spin zone now. PR people are traditionally trained to control the story, even guide it if you can. A traditional PR approach to this NBC/Leno story would be to control the damage on what is basically a negative for the network. But of course the problem is there is no control anymore and there doesn’t even need to be any damage. By admitting your own failure and presenting a plan to correct things and move forward you take away the very weapon others could use against you. When the emperor has no clothes, he shouldn’t parade around as if he does. It’s a new media world now and we can all see you naked.

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There Is Nothing Magic About 140 Characters

January 5, 2010 By David Jacobs

Actress Kirstie Alley has launched a new social website Phitter which provides a community in which to talk about fitness, health and diet. It’s built on a Twitter-like interface allowing “Phits” of 140 characters.

First of all, every “F” sound on the site is replaced with a “ph” which is incredibly annoying and amateurish. I’m sure it was as cute idea in some board room or living room or where ever this thing was conceived but in practice it just doesn’t fly. Second of all, I don’t know why it was built on a Twitter-like platform. Twitter is the hot technology of the moment but that doesn’t mean it’s the answer for everything. The site wants to be about community, but there are actually very few real community features on it. Twitter, in and of itself, is not a community. If they wanted more of a real community a much better choice would have been Ning, which allows you to build real community based sites easily. Ning sites can have message boards, video, audio and chat.

Another odd thing is the prominent message in the top logo that says the site is “A gift from Kirstie Alley”. Well, thank you Kirstie for your generosity.  Usually it’s classier to be more humble about such things. She didn’t exactly cure cancer or anything.

People are so infatuated with Twitter, microblogging and 140 characters but you must realize, there is nothing magical about 140 characters. It is not the path to enlightenment nor the key to the fountain of youth. It’s just another technology, good for some things, not good for others. I am hearing a little too much Twitter is everything, Twitter is all I need. Blogging and RSS are dead. Please, stop it already. Twitter is great, I love it and use it daily, but some things cannot be expressed in 140 characters. Some things deserve a longer, more thoughtful treatment. If you are not blogging as much because you’re Twittering so much, I would say you have it backward. Blogging should be the main course, Twitter the appetizer. Keep things in perspective and remember when you Twitter your Tweets go into the Twittersphere. When you blog, your posts live on your site, forever. It’s content that helps your SEO and brings perspective customers, partners and employees to you. Never forget, the sale is always made on your site, not on a social network. Your primary objective is to drive traffic to your site and blogging is the most effective way to do that. Twitter, yes, but dont’ forget to blog.

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Operation Chokehold Seeks To Punish AT&T

December 17, 2009 By David Jacobs

A World of Hurt

AT&T has been in hot water with their customers lately. Spotty network coverage in critical areas like San Francisco and New York have customers angry. Add to that comments made by AT&T CEO of mobility last week that blamed customers and their heavy data usage for the problem and things are just getting worse.

Dan Lyons of Newsweek who writes as “Fake Steve Jobs” wrote a blog post positing that if iPhone users all used data heavy apps at the same time on a particular day it would choke the AT&T network as punishment for their poor service and lack of respect for customers. Dan may have written the post with tongue in cheek but some of his readers think it’s a great idea and it’s been gaining steam across the Internet.

Teachable Moment

Parents often call this a teachable moment, and if this plan goes off it certainly will be.

Lesson 1: You cannot hide from your customers anymore. All of your faults will be exposed and spread widely among friends and foes. The opportunity is in your reaction and response.

Lesson 2: Be very careful what you say because customers are listening and your words will be amplified and once again spread widely. AT&T’s implication that they may penalize customers for heavy data usage went over like a lead balloon and was the spark for this latest outrage.

Lesson 3: Never, ever blame your customers for your problems. Payback’s a bitch so they say and your customers have many ways to hurt you now. A nasty letter to the editor is the least of your problems.

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Digital Books and Digital Music: Parallel Futures?

December 15, 2009 By David Jacobs

Stephen Covey

Amazon.com has scored it’s first big win in securing exclusive electronic rights to publish Stephen Covey’s popular business title 7 Habits of Highly Successful People on the Amazon Kindle. As ebook competition heats up among the Kindle, Barnes and Nobel Nook and others, these companies will seek more exclusive deals with popular authors to gain an advantage for their platform.

I think the really important news, however, is Stephen Covey experimenting with self publishing his own titles, at least the electronic versions. Reportedly the royalty split is more favorable and I’m sure there are other aspects Covey gets more control over with self publishing. The music industry is already going through this right now as many artists are seeing less and less value in the traditional record company. Artists can record, produce, distribute and market their songs all on their own and keep more of the profit and control. Now we can see the first steps of this happening in the publishing world. Stephen Covey is a big name and a best seller. If he can show success with this model, others will likely follow.

It’s not as likely this self publishing senario will flow over into traditional paper bound books as there are real costs there for printing and distribution, unlike electronic books. In fact, Covey says he has no intention at this time of changing his paper book publishing setup. Popular podcast book author Scott Sigler, though, is running a very interesting self publishing experiment with his hardbound book called The Rookie. The Rookie is not the typical horror novel Scott is famous for and as such his publisher Crown Books was not interested in putting the book out. So Sigler started taking pre-orders for the book online, utilizing his lage fan base and social network marketing. Sigler was diligent, making this an exclusive limited print run at a specific price that insured everything was paid for. With some luck, Scott may make a small profit as well.

Self publishing isn’t just for blogs anymore, the whole book industry is about to go through a major disruption in the next several years. More book readers will be released. Tablet computers that may display full color magazines are likely and more. If publishing is to survive they will need to figure out how to utilize this new technology for themselves. If they grip to hard holding onto the old models, they will suffer the same fate as the music industry.

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