Truth in all its Glory!

As regular readers will know, I’m an advocate of truth and authenticity in our relationship with customers. However, I do think that the poor product marketers responsible for Quaker Instant Oatmeal have had to carry this a little too far – something you never thought you would hear me say!

Take a look at this:

“Artificial Fruit & Cream Flavors” plus “AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS”.

It struck me how different the two – at first glance – similar product packages were and I wondered if this was legal advice at work, or whether someone in the product department was being overzealous. As I said, I’m in favor of truth and authenticity in marketing and in product information, but I would hope for a little more creativity in presenting accurate information. As I pondered a little more, I started to think that maybe the two packages were so in order to try out different packaging.

But that’s a risky way to do it, live in the field. I always advocate quick and cheap ways to test ideas – like asking directly.

So what’s the lesson? Be truthful, but be creative. If you want to test ideas, ask customers directly.

It’s the Experience……

… that counts.

I was in Las Vegas for a client this week and they had booked the team into the Luxor (the Mandalay Bay where the trade show was, was full). As it happens I was driving – via the Mojave desert and a few days of photography on the way down, and Yosemite for more pictures on the way back (you can see the results at www.brearleyphoto.com) and so chose my arrival to coincide with a morning drive through the Mojave National Preserve. Big Mistake!

I got to the hotel at 12:05 and the line was huge – much worse than airline checkin. It took over 40 minutes to get checked in, and as I get to the head of the line, the usher pointed me to a clerk. I stood there for over three minutes whilst Amy completely ignored me and typed on the terminal. I get that she was completing something for the previous guest, but no greeting, no smile, no ‘I’m sorry, this is going to take me a moment’, I stood there, ignored whilst the people after me who were ushered to other clerks departed for their rooms. Eventually Amy turned to me. ‘I was busy’ was all I got.

It really is all about the people and their attitude to customers. It took four days and some exceptional experiences – such as the maintenance guy who fixed the internet and TV to appease some of the memory of checkin. Las Vegas is supposed to be ALL about the experience.

So I eventually get to my room, quite nice, roomy – but clearly not set up for a business traveller. The workable table has no power outlet within reach and when I power up my MacBook there is not a wireless to be seen. Hmmm. No Cat 5 cable or connector to be found. Hmmm. As part of the checkin conversation, I had mention that I needed an internet connection, surely that hadn’t been ignored too? I checked the directory in the room. No mention of internet. I call guest services. “There is a cable in the armoir, just pull it out and connect.”

There isn’t anything obvious, but I swivel the TV and root around and eventually, amongst the rats nest of wires, find a cat 5. I pull and get a six foot length of cable, and I find a connector box back there too, not connected to anything.

I connect everything and move my notebook to the small table by the bathroom where the cable will – just – reach if it is stretched across the room about a foot off the floor, and there is a power outlet close enough.

But eventually I get it all connected:

What a mess! I can’t get in and out of the room (or bathroom) without stepping over the cable. And the connection stops after 20 mins. The roaming maintenance guy I talk to offers to help and we quickly discover why the connector box was not connected – it’s faulty. We connect without the box – viola! He gets it replaced. He has restored some of my faith in the Luxor.