In this day and age of the algorithms, everyone including me is gaga over algorithms. However, algorithms have limits, especially in matters of inalienable rights such as healthcare, education, liberty and justice. For instance, if algorithms are applied to increase healthcare insurance costs for select individuals/organizations based on sex, age, past use of health benefits, […]
What happens when the economy goes south? Well, the obvious stuff — as consumers and as businesses we buy less, postpone major purchases, waste less, and try to develop a sense of financial aikido to defend ourselves from an unforgiving market. One of the things we get really good at is stretching dollars by keeping […]
Well, “nag” is a strong word, but here’s an interesting site that will keep you electronically engaged. A friend of mine pointed me to I Want Sandy (www.iwantsandy.com), a web assistant . Sandy is very nice, for a figment of my digital imagination, and sends timely, pleasant reminders to my email inbox and/or my mobile […]
A million years ago (well, 1978) I was at the Museum of Modern Art in New York enjoying an exhibition put together by then-curator John Szarkowski entitled “Mirrors and Windows.” The thesis of the exhibition was that photography was either a mirror of what was around the photographer or a window into the photographer’s or […]
Back when my day job was advertising, the Holy Grail of advertising was WOM: word of mouth. If your spot or print ad could generate positive WOM (“buzz” in those days was something only insects did. By the way, this was only 8 years ago), it was golden. I just blundered across an eMarketer report […]
I recently took my 6-year-old son to the Ringling Brothers Circus and was really impressed with the focus on the customer. Buying tickets from Ticketmaster was comparatively easy (though the nanoseconds you have to actually make the purchase could be extended), and printing out your tickets ala airline e-tickets was great, but the really impressive […]
I have a Starbucks card, given to me as a thank-you by some folks at school. I don’t drink coffee (after drinking 7-8 cups a day my first year at the ad agency, I gave it up forever), but I do drink tea, Izze, and eat chocolate chip cookies and iced lemon loaf. Oh, and […]
Look around. What are people doing? If you’re at work reading this, chances are pretty good that you and all those around you are banging away on a keyboard, that you’re interacting more digitally than you are humanly. Admit it: when you’re in a meeting, how often are you more focused on checking your email […]
I learn a lot talking with customers, but I learn a lot more talking with lost customers. I think losing a customer should hit a company like losing a friend or lover hits a person: you should (usually) just feel darn bad about it. But even losing a customer can be turned into a good […]
A few weeks ago, right before school started, my six-year-old son and I went to Herseypark amusement park, in Hershey PA. It’s about a three-hour drive from home, so going there was a commitment, and expectations were high, particularly since going there with his older brother and sister had been a ritual that we absolutely […]