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When Public Apology Falls Short

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I’m noticing seriously short blog posts being published by one A-lister in particular and wondered, seriously, why I didn’t indulge in that practice just to keep the pump primed and everyone on the edge of their chair wondering what she’s gonna write about next.

That’s, seriously, the issue of late — the time I recouped since kidlet got back to school a week ago today already, has been seriously eaten up trying to catch up. No can do; cannot get ahead, cannot complete projects, cannot find the time to do serious writing. (How many times did I use that word in a few short sentences? That is your morning quiz!)

So, this seriously short blog post (due entirely to the last sentence as my excuse) is about this:

  • I am disgusted with the alleged role models in this country running for public office and or in public office.
  • I am disgusted with the fact that tax-payer-funded political junkets result in “booze-fueled skinny dipping” in Israel’s Sea of Galilee (done late one night in summer 2011 and just now coming to light).
  • I’m even more disgusted when a man running for Senate states and believes rape is “legitimate” and that women’s bodies can reject that kind of pregnancy.
  • I am disgusted with former Rep. Anthony Weiner who last year didn’t wow us with images of his package sent to women by text across the country.

You see, it doesn’t matter whether these men are Republican or Democrat. Each of them has had lapses in judgment; I have my view on which boils me more. And, there are so many more to add to this list.

What happens next, as President Clinton knows so well, is the public apology. Deb Weinstein writes about here relating it more to brand apologies. I commented and gave her an earful, and this is what inspired this post; my passion for a sincere apology and who’s going to regard it from the heart. If you want to read about brands apologizing, please do visit Deb’s blog, called Strategic Objectives; it’s an excellent read and I skirted her content entirely and went off on apologies in general. Thanks, Deb!

I dunno…this is what happens when my mind percolates without release and writing therapy.  Anyone want to toss in an opinion or two?

Creative Thermostats, Called Nest, Apple Style

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Credit: Nest.com

This post originally appeared Nov. 30, 2011 and is being resurrected in honor of Apple becoming the largest U.S. company ever, surpassing Microsoft, according to this morning’s Wall Street Journal.

In my favorite ‘zine, Fast Company, in its “Next” series, and within that there’s a story about a cool, coming-soon new thermostat inspired by the iPod’s first developer Tony Fadell. Tony used to work at Apple; made 17 versions of the iPod, then departed and is now all creative with a thermostat.

This story is a great next segment in my creativity series–about how you take a product every single house has one or two of and turn it into something innovative, interesting, worthy of notice, and trendy.

Fadell’s Nest–Learning Thermostat costs $250, and it’s differentiator is that it learns your preferences as you dial your temperature up or down. After about 10 or 20 twists of the shiny, artsy dial, the thermostat regulates your home’s temperature on its own. No more adjustments or forgets; automatic temperature control.

>>Attraction #1: I’ve tried to program my thermostat for morning, day and night, but it was too complex and was never reliable. I resort to manual programming about three times daily.

In the article, these interesting tidbits corroborate what I just said:

>>10 million thermostats are sold annually; only 11% of users actively program them.

>>Thermostats are “treated like a light switch, with people manually adjusting them 1,500 times per year,” said Fadell.

Fadell has plans to add his thermostat to other devices networked throughout the home, but he learned at Apple to build slowly, let people learn about the device, get excited, and then introduce new concepts.

Attraction #2: If my thermostat could tell me the weather in the morning at school bus time, that would be incredible. If the potential is there at some point, that’s cool. With the knowledge we have about Apple products and devices speaking to each other wirelessly, it’s not too far fetched for a thermostat to be included in the mix. And, it’s not a device I ever expected to think about; at all.

Fadell designed his product with one function — a dial that turns the temperature up or down. He took this from the iPod which has a scrolling dial to allow music logs to move up and down the screen.

Attraction #3: Not too many dials, controls, instructions, or complexity. Keep it simple for the masses.

Here’s where creativity really comes into play — in the packaging. Fadell’s iPod was packaged neatly and really cool. (I still have the acrylic boxes mine all came in.) He put his thermostat within packaging that includes a custom-manufactured screwdriver and a level indicator at back so people know if it hangs level on the wall. While this isn’t cheap,  Fadell says the “unboxing experience” contributes to ease of installation.

Attraction #4: When I bought my house, I installed my own digital thermostat with help from dad. I read the complicated instructions and told dad what to do with the color-coded wires. It was an ordeal and made me nervous because I’d never done that before. In fact, how many of you have? If I know Nest is plug and play for real, then I a) want one and b) become an automatic grassroots champion. (Ooh, just read that Nest offers a professional concierge service for installation!!)

Lastly, design. Like most things Apple that are techy, modern and cool, the Nest is also one neat device to look at. Silver edge, black inner circle with ocean blue inner circle and bold white, large numerals; not overly large. Fadell says he wanted a “symbol of hipness intended to be shown off like a badge and a jewel on the wall.”

Attraction #5: Take a look at your thermostat; is it a design element or eye sore in your home? When I remodeled my living room, I wished I had a more contemporary thermostat instead of the beige box I have now.

How is all this creative?

Look at all the steps Fadell and his team needed to strategize how to sell something no one replaces that often (albeit 10 million are sold annually). They really thought, creatively, about how to take a mundane product and turn it into something trendy, hip, green, and eco.

Those are a few reasons why you gotta appreciate Apple and all its offshoots who continue to bring us innovation in really creative ways.

Bloggers, Please Add Comment Luv Plug In

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By Jayme Soulati

I’m a serious blogger. I like to visit others’ blogs with some basic plug-ins and comment systems that allow me to share my latest blog post. I love the blogs I visit with LiveFyre and Comment Luv or another similar plug in that links back to my latest post.

The primary reasons are twofold:

  • I am visiting your house to give you some love; might you give me some love back?
  • I want to know the latest blog post of others who comment so I can zip over to a new blog and see what’s happening.

I’ve gotten pretty pressed for time these days and find it nearly impossible to visit blogs as much as I used to. I feel badly about this and understand that many a blogger has a tit-for-tat mentality — I won’t come to your house unless you come to mine. I wish there was a check box somewhere with a plug-in called Kilroy Was Here so I can cross off my name in case I don’t want to leave a comment. Maybe you have Clicky and you can see my IP address showing up on your visitor analytics and you know I’ve stopped in. But, that’s asking a lot.

And, so, on this Saturday if or when you might read this, would you perhaps consider adding a plug in that features latest blog posts so we can give one another a bit of love?

Just askin’…thanks!

(Photo Note: This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post, but I have to show off my poppy from my garden; that’s big love!)

 

 

Google, Frommer’s, Zagat and Content Marketing

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from +Amanda Blain

Did you see the news? Google is carrying forth with its strategy to become a content marketer with the latest acquisition of Frommer’s travel guides for $25 million. In the world of travel guides, I wonder if that’s a lot of money? When you look at what Facebook paid for Instagram; it’s peanuts.

I, for one, love Frommer’s. It’s my travel guide of choice along with Lonely Planet. Last year, Google bought Zagat Reviews, and you begin to see the strategy unfold with its launch, too, of Google Flight Search.

Talk about becoming content kingpin in the travel and hospitality industry over night, eh?

So, what does this say about search engine Google now owning hot travel sites where hotter content rules? Because it can, it is diversifying in a sector that caters to a wide demographic from teens and tweens to mommies, business folk, seniors and great seniors.  How smart is that for a strategic move?

I don’t have to tell you that Google has opened up new and huge opportunity and successfully diversified its interests; much to the chagrin of Yelp and Yahoo!

What’s Your Google Strategy?

Here are some tips you might parlay in your own neck of the woods:

  •  If you’re @RalphDopping or @PattySwisher who work in the architectural fields, perhaps their firms might join forces with a construction company or launch their own. Small construction is still a good bet (versus building high-rise office structures), and perhaps architects can earn a greater piece of the pie.
  • If you’re @KaarinaDillabough who works as a business and life coach, is there a way to boost business by developing killer content that encapsulates tips for the stressed mommy entrepreneur? She can build a new channel that way; open new doors.
  • If you’re @NeicoleCrepeau who owns Coherent Interactive, a digital web shop with marketing analytics, perhaps she could partner with Soulati Media, which brings solid PR experience to marketing teams.
  •  Adam Toporek diversified his brand; I watched the whole thing. He decided to refocus his brand new blog on customer service and went dark awhile as he rebuilt the site and now targets content specific to that topic. Now, when I write my customer service stories, I always shoot them to him as they fit better on his blog than mine.  What’s he done? Become a content expert in that sector, just like Google is doing in hospitality and travel.

Very cool.

More Fast Company Social Media Cover Story Disappointment

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Credit: Jayme Soulati

By now, you’ve seen the Fast Company cover story, with tongue in cheek and not in check, about social media being “kinda” sexy. It’s the tonality and a few other things in question for me. If you’re late to the party; it’s not too late to see it here.

I wrote about this Monday and wasn’t happy or unsurprised that PR is getting short shrift at the mahogany table (said Barrett Rossie in blog comments) by others in the digital space AND Fast Company.

What gave me pause when reading the story start to finish was the entire tonality of the piece as well as one word choice in particular by a Fast Company staff writer, I presume (there are no bylines for the featured tips and secrets).

In comments Monday, Geoff Reiner, of Clarity for The Boss, and I were chatting about the disappointment with that kind of sub-quality wording, IMHO.

People who read Red Head Writing know and expect her to use this language in all of her post, something I’d never do and gasp upon reading a blog like the link provided. If you don’t like it, “her house, her rules,” as she always shares.

While it doesn’t sit well with me ALL the time (I’ve been known to use the f-bomb for emphasis in an adjectival sense), what bothered me about Fast Company was my stupid expectation, the props I ALWAYS give that publication, and subsequent let down as a result.

Fast Company Poor Editing

Here’s the passage; you can be the editorial judge:

“So how does a brand be intimate with a person? It’s a major mindfucker. Brands want Facebook ads to look more like the rest of their stuff; to put this new thing in an old shape.” (Fast Company, Insider’s Secret No. 2, Facebook to Ad Creatives: Help! Please!, September 2012)

So, the crux of the matter is the following, and Jenn Whinnem also raised a great point about journos and bloggers related to respectability and credibility:

Should nationally published magazines be upheld to greater standards than professional bloggers? Is the tone of this cover piece the way Fast Company itself gets invited to the table as a content marketer/blogger (thanks Ralph Dopping for that thought)?

I laud this publication every week in blog posts because I relish its content for its ability to generate blog fodder and mojo for me as a professional blogger. This cover piece on social media, although providing great inspiration for many a blogger, isn’t what I had in mind.

What say you?