Different Drummers

Kudos - Summit Brewing Company

A friend recently received this card from Summit when he purchased their product (thanks Kirstin!).  What a great example of addressing an issue with the consumer in mind.  There are a few things that stand out to me.

1. Established a personal connection:  Summit went through the expense to personally let their customers know that they were changing their bottle tops.
2. Listened to customers:  Although the solution did not match what customers were asking for (an easier twist off top),  they acknowledged the feedback and explained why they chose a different path.
3. Reinforced their brand positioning:  The communication allowed their brand to shine through.  The tone and statements such as "Please use an opener on our fine beers" reinforced their brand positioning.
4. Sent from an authority: It was signed from the President and Founder demonstrating a customer focus from the top of the company down.

Kudos to you Summit for a great customer impression.  Now if it would only get warmer so I can enjoy my summer Hefe Weizen with the new pry-off bottle top.

BlogHer 2010 - A brand's perspective

Gettington.com made its first BlogHer appearance this year.  It was a fast-paced weekend that went by too quickly.  In the spirit of blogging, we wanted to share our experience as a brand at BlogHer 2010.

From what I’ve read through blogs and tweets as well as the conversations at the show, the attendees had a variety of reasons for going to the BlogHer conference.  Among the reasons I’ve heard was to meet new bloggers, learn more about writing, catch up with old friends and learn how to monetize their blog. 

Obviously brands had agendas for the conference as well.  At Gettington, our agenda was to build awareness of our brand and connect with a powerful community.  We are just shy of our first year birthday – so yes, we are still a baby.  We sponsored the BlogHer 10 conference bag because it was a great brand fit to bring the BlogHer community a cause that we support and believe in – providing women choices.  (visit my earlier post on the BlogHer conference bag).

We also manned a booth in the exhibition hall.  We were surprised by all the BlogHer conference attendees who came by to either say Thank You for the bag and/or learn more about Gettington.  We marveled at the level of engagement by all the attendees.  Our experience was less about people coming through looking for swag and more about real conversations about who we were. 

We were so encouraged by the positive feedback about our business.  This was important to us as we are not your typical online shopping site.  We help consumers manage their budget by providing payment options.  Our shopping assistant shops along with you showing your payment options for each item that you add to your shopping bag.  We believe informed decisions are the best and don’t hide interest fees by clearly display the total price you will pay including interest.   And our payment options are a better choice than most store credit options (see for yourself – JC Penney is 23.99% APR and Target is at 25.24%) 

Our brand tenets center on choice, transparency and a healthy dose of fun.  Yes, we gave away some fun prizes – an iPod, Dyson DC-14 vacuum, Wii Sports Resort bundle,  Kitchen Aid stand mixer, Rachael Ray cookware, Paula Deen cookware, Wolfgang Puck knife set.  Goodie BagTM is our weekly fun.  It’s a great deal or even a freebie such as the Freeset bag.  All you have to do is register on the site to get your virtual Goodie Bag.

We are also thankful to everyone who took the time to write a note for the women of Freeset.  It means a lot to be able to provide them with the encouragement to make bold choices in life.  We’ll post a link to the digital scrapbook once it is completed.  Lara David (@laradavid) is pictured with her note to the women of Freeset.  Visit her blog as well.

I am very happy for the new connections too.  But I also realize that our view of the world from our booth may be distorted.  I’ve also heard about a few faux pas that brands can easily make (i.e. not every female who blogs is a mommy, not every blogger is interested in writing product reviews)  What is the best way to engage you at BlogHer?  Any suggestions on how to make an impact that works for you and for us?  I would love all your feedback (positive and opportunities) so that we can digest what we’ve learned and connect with you in the way that is optimum. 

Warmest regards from Gettington.com

Making it happen

Another year has started and this one is full of promise... 

Some of the good news:

1) Mom is past the first 100 days of her bone marrow transplant and she is doing great.  We still fret with every virus that comes in the house during the winter season and we still go back to Mayo frequently for check-ins.  But, overall she is regaining some of her strength, her hair is beginning to grow back and I think we are past the worst of it.  What a miracle to say you've battled cancer twice and won!!!

2) I'll be starting a corporate blog for Gettington within a week or so.  What that means is that I will have the opportunity to communicate more about Gettington in a setting that is more appropriate than a personal blog.  It also means that I will have more focus on sharing our progress and what makes Gettington unique.  I will still post here about professional and personal topics, but, most things Gettington will be shared on the company blog. 

3) I've anointed this year as the year that the entire family gets in shape.  Both Michael (hubby) and I have started fitness programs at the gym.  He is working with a personal trainer to set up a program that he would enjoy.  I've joined a group fitness class to create the accountability to get myself up at 5:15am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to do cardio training.  It is still in the painful stage of creating this habit as I would much rather sleep for another hour.  But, it does feel great at the end of the session.  I'm looking forward to the 90 day mark when this has become a new lifestyle.

So bring on this new year.  This will be the year of making things happen. 

Being Thankful

It's Thanksgiving and I'm about to head out the door to make the 1 1/2 hour drive down to Mayo.  Yes, mom is back in the hospital.  We think she has an infection but, we don't know what it is yet.  They are running a lot of tests as well as ensuring that she doesn't have Graft vs. Host disease.  That is when the transplanted stem cells begin fighting her body (the reverse of rejection when he body would fight off the transplanted cells).  Its been a long, bumpy road aleady.  The transplant seems to be going well, we are now in the phase of trying to repair her body that has gone through so much in such a short amount of time.  I can tell you that it is scary seeing someone who is very vibrant and active become frail and weak over a matter of months.  It's harder for her.  I know she is wondering if she will ever become the person she once was before the Leukemia.  At times, we all ponder the signs of aging - this has been 10 years of aging compacted within 3 months. 

However, I'm thankful.  We still have hope that she is going to pull through this ordeal and recover well.  It may not be 100% of where she was before, but, I think we would all be thrilled with 70%.  I'm thankful for my in-laws who have been staying with me since this happened in June.  It's been six months of their lives that they have given to us.  I know they have received so much back being around the grandkids, but, its still been a blessing.  And I'm thankful for my husband who left his job in Kansas City to come up here and be not only caretaker for the kiddos, but, has been my mom's caretaker too.  He's made sure that she takes the 13 different medicines at the right time during the day and gets her back and forth to Mayo and meets with the doctors.  Starting a new job and relocating is hard, but, having this situation on top of it would be impossible if it weren't for the support of my family. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

What will cause Twitter to fail

This has been a terrible week for spam.  And yes, I admit that I've been the culprit. 

My Twitter account was hacked two days ago. 

It all started innocently.  I received a direct message from a friend (who by the way works at Google) with an electronic site link.  Given that I'm now in retail e-commerce, I thought my friend wanted me to check out something cool that they are doing - so I clicked the link.  Now, for two days I've been spamming all those who follow me with direct messages. I did change my account password so I'm hopeful that the spam will stop.

I've been pretty vocal about spam and the negative impact it has on social channels.  Just check out my prediction about social media on ZDNET (before my account was hacked). So maybe it serves me right, that I get to live my prediction.  This incidence just reinforces my belief that social media channels will be diminished by spammy behavior.  I say spam behavior because even up-standing brand marketers can be unwittingly participating in spam by trying to get their message out into the social space without understanding that social media is about relationships not broadcasting. 

Here's some simple suggestions:

1) Make your brand/product word of mouth worthy and you won't have to trick people into seeing your message

2) Engage in listening and conversing.  Broadcasting is not a listening or conversation tool.  It is talking to people, not with people

3) Be real and authentic.  Trying to trick people into viewing your message is just wrong.

A final apology for all of you who received spam or even worse clicked on the link and now have been hacked as well.  I just can't apologize enough (I'm afraid to see how many people un-followed me!)  

However unless Twitter to get the spam significantly reduced, I am afraid that it will be their undoing. 

A mile of miracles

Those who have been following me here or on Twitter know that my mother was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia in July.  It's been a wild ride for us.  She is currently back at Mayo Clinic undergoing all the preparation for a bone marrow transplant.  She goes back into the hospital on Thursday to start another round of chemotherapy as part of the actual bone marrow transplant on October 9th. We are hoping that the bone marrow transplant and her recovery is our big miracle.  However, I can't help but be astounded when I look at all the miracles that have already occurred.

• Miracle 1:  She became ill in February when we were still in Kansas City.  The doctors there did not identify the leukemia.  It is a miracle for us because if they had identified the leukemia and started treatment I would not have taken the job here in Minneapolis and brought her close to Mayo Clinic.

• Miracle 2:  When she became ill in July, she went to a clinic as we had not yet found regular doctors yet.  The doctor she saw ran her blood counts and immediately sent her to the hospital for a blood transfusion. The doctor was well accomplished; a former chief of staff that now sits on the board of directors for the medical center.  It turns out that the doctor she saw was just filling in that day and does not normally see patients in the location she visited.

• Miracle 3:  The hospital she was sent to was a little scary for me.  It was a hospital further out in the country versus downtown Minneapolis.  Being unfamiliar with the hospitals here, I almost turned around in the car to take her into a hospital in the city.  (I did call the nurse on the way to try to change hospitals).  The miracle is that they did diagnose the leukemia and called for her to be transferred to Mayo Clinic.  I keep thinking that if I had taken her to a hospital in downtown Minneapolis, they may not have transferred her to Mayo and instead keep her at a cancer center close by.

• Miracle 4:  The fact that she is at Mayo Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the nation, is a miracle in itself.  This is the real reason why we ended up moving to Minneapolis.  The fact that I love my job is a bonus.

• Miracle 5:  Her brother is a perfect match for her bone marrow transplant.  This transplant will save her life.  Without it her chance of survival is 15%.

• Miracle 6:  The leukemia is caused by the radiation treatment from stage 3 cervical cancer five years ago.  It doesn't happen very often, but, it did happen to us.  While getting the leukemia is a big bummer. The miracle is that we had just passed the five year mark from the first cancer.  This is significant because the hospital board will not approve a bone marrow transplant if the patient has had evidence of cancer within the last five years.  If she was going to get leukemia this is the right time because she is still young enough to handle the intense treatment and just out of the time where she would not qualify for the transplant. 

 

• As you could imagine, financing hospital stays and involved procedures is not a fun ordeal.  Her insurance plan is a fairly expensive personal policy that covers only hospital stays.  Many of the doctor visits and expenses were not covered by her insurance.  We were able to get her approved for Medicaid given the extreme nature of her illness.  This is a HUGE miracle given the stress that the financial side of illness causes.  

• Miracle 7:  Not only were we able to get the Medicaid, but, they fast tracked her bone marrow transplant approval.  This meant that she was able to skip the second round of chemotherapy and go directly to the bone marrow transplant.  

There is still a long road ahead of us.  After the bone marrow transplant, she will remain at the Gift of Life Transplant House for the next 100 days to ensure that the transplant takes and that her immune system recovers.  The actual process is amazing.  If this is successful, she will have a new immune system.  The funny thing is that she will have to get all her immunizations over again, just like a newborn baby.  Her blood DNA will also be changed.  Her skin and hair DNA will be her own, but her blood DNA will be that of her brothers from the new blood cells that are created by the transplant.  

We've appreciated all the prayers and well wishes.  Please keep them coming.  This is the touchy part of the process.  I'm sure that I will have a few more miracles to add to my list.  I hoping for a nice even 10 with the last miracle being that she is cured!

Targeting September 1 for Gettington.com launch

With our push into a production environment last week the next question is naturally "When will Gettington.com be ready for public consumption?"  Well curious readers.... we are on target for a September 1 go-live date!  

I know!  Terribly exciting isn't it?  There is a lot of work between now and September 1.  We are still putting in the Goodie Bag^SM, and completing 44 other items for the go-live date.  And there is even more work on the plate for after the go-live date. 

The reality is that we will never be done. We are already looking at new features that will make shopping easier.  We fully expect and are planning for great feedback from customers to guide our future development efforts.  

While we will never be done, it is always exciting to think about how we can serve customers better. 

Until September 1. Or better said, see you in 20 days!

Our First Gettington Goodie

The Goodie Bag^SM is about reward and I'm so excited about our first goodie because the rewards are multi-fold.  Our first goodie will be a Gettington shopping bag as a free gift with purchase.  But this is not any shopping bag, it is a FreeSet shopping bag.  It is eco-friendly and Fair Trade certified. 

 

However, what makes this bag special is that FreeSet is a program that changes the lives of women in India.  These are women who now have a choice because of the bags that they make (and Gettington is about providing choices which is a great reinforcement of our brand).  Here is a little snippet of the FreeSet organization philosophy. 

 

Freeset exists specifically to provide freedom for women from the sex trade, women who were forced into prostitution by trafficking or poverty. These women didn't choose their profession — it was chosen for them.

Now, they're being offered a real choice. When they choose to work at Freeset, they can start new lives, regain dignity in their communities, and begin a journey towards healing and wholeness.  Read more about FreeSet here (the FreeSet story).

 

At launch, we will be rewarding our customers by giving away a free Gettington FreeSet bag with their purchase (for a limited time).  It is a wonderful bag made of jute and generously sized to handle everything from groceries to toting around odds and ends for the kids or office.  By giving this bag to our customers it also allows us to be part of the FreeSet story - doing good not only for our customers but also women in need. 

I hope that everyone feels as good about receiving the bag as I do about giving it!

Pushing into Production

We just hit a momentous milestone because we are moving the Gettington website from a test environment into a production environment this weekend.  Today was the Go/No Go decision point.  We are a Go! 

We are not quite ready to make the site public, but we are on our way.  This move into a production environment means that we can start counting down the weeks to launch versus the months. 

Here is a quick sneak peak of the home page.  The graphics are not yet final, but it is great to see the site come together.

The Brand Experience

Let me first say that I'm a huge proponent of The Experience Economy.  Simply stated, the theory is that we have moved from an agriculture based economy to a industrial based economy to a service based economy and are now in an experience based economy.  The experience economy proposes that companies must orchestrate "memorable events" for their customers.  Think Starbucks and Walt Disney.  Both deliver not only a cup of coffee or roller coaster ride but an overall brand experience.  You can read more on wikipedia or buy the book.

Just last week Andy Sernovich posted about his experience purchasing from BlueFly.  What impressed him was the bag that the product was delivered in and the ease of the return by including the shipping label.  He felt that it enhanced his upscale shopping experience with BlueFly - a perfect example of the experience economy at work. 

I'm also a fan of the Brand Autopsy series Would You Miss?  The series explores whether we would miss a brand if they went out of business through a series of evocative questions.  My favorite question is:

Does BRAND X forge such unfailing emotional connections with its customers that they would fail to find another BRAND that could forge just as strong an emotional bond?

So as I sit with the unique responsibility to develop a brand I have been thinking a lot about what would create such an unfailing emotional connection with our customers?  We will not have everything completely locked down because I want customer input to develop and guide our future.  However, I have created the brand framework for Gettington.  This brand framework is critical because it defines each one of our decisions going forward.  It sets the roadmap on how we operate. It guides the direction of our brand experience.  

So in the fashion of Brand Autopsy's "Would you miss" series, What say you?