2008 June

Pulling a Fast One

Posted On Jun 30, 2008
| 3 Comments

The “Falsity in Advertising” award for the week goes to Disney’s DVD division, for their wonderful “Fast Play” technology. “Fast Play” is supposed to be a way of helping small children get the movie started with a smaller number of clicks. In practice, it serves to infuriate this parent because it locks you into a series of previews, and locks you out of jumping straight to the main menu.

Common sense would indicate that pressing “Fast Play” would take you straight to the movie. So “Boo” to Disney, for holding my family hostage for a barrage of previews and advertisements all in the name of “convenience.” My five-year-old does just fine inserting the DVDs, and didn’t need your tweak.

[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Disney, Fast Play, marketing[/tags]

Brevity

Posted On Jun 26, 2008
| 2 Comments

“There are volumes one can write about brevity, provided the author doesn’t understand how to properly employ it.”

- Ike Pigott

- Inspired by Chris Brogan and Liz Strauss on Twitter, where attempts at brevity sometimes succeed.

Journalisim

Posted On Jun 25, 2008
| 8 Comments

I like the Cranky Geeks, but the irony here is too delicious not to share. The title of this roundtable discussion is “Do bloggers need training in journalism?”:

At the very least, let’s get them spell-check.

[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, journalism, blogging[/tags]

Countrywide Acclaim

Posted On Jun 24, 2008
| 7 Comments

I took a call from a telemarketer the other night. (My wife was walking, the kids were somewhat calm, and it wouldn’t crimp my style, so I took the call.) The man at the other end was asking if I would be interested in hearing about lowering my mortgage interest rate. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother, but I had the time and the curiosity.

I did think it odd that I would then be transferred to someone else. Not sure what the financial arrangement was, but I did end up with an agent for Countrywide Mortgage (which already has our note.)

The agent (Jason Cline) was professional and understanding, and ran a check on our credit. He then plugged in the numbers on conversions to 15 and 20-year mortgages. What I heard shocked me.

“To be honest, Mr. Pigott, there’s nothing we can do that would help you. The amount of your percentage drop would be so small, you’d end up paying off your house faster if you just applied the same amount on your current mortgage.”

In other words, what he said was “Despite what might be in MY best interest to move you to a closing on a different contract, it wouldn’t benefit YOU in the least to do so.” For all the talk about Social Media (and the marketing thereof), here were the principles in action. Put the customer and the customer’s needs first. Countrywide isn’t the first to do this — Progressive Insurance has made a nice living providing quotes for several competitors, even when those quotes beat their own. It’s relationship marketing, and it works because I now place Countrywide in a much higher level of trust than the rest of the pack.

So, Countrywide… if you’re listening, give Jason a big pat on the back. Maybe even a raise. I’m sure that for every one of me he lets go, you’ll get a couple who appreciate the integrity and transparency. You might not get them the first time, but you’ll get them the next time and every one thereafter. You sure got my attention.

[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Countrywide Mortgage, economics, marketing[/tags]