Archive for September, 2008

Every bit of communication is open to scrutiny

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

In the internet age every piece of communication between you and your customer is open to scrutiny.

Electronic communication is scarily permanent.

Websites like HelpHound are a record of people’s thoughts on your business.

And anything you write on your website or any email sent to a customer could come back and be used against you.

I’m currently listening to a replay of a consumer show item on BBC Three Counties Radio. A customer spent several thousand on artificial grass for their garden, and their children get static shocks from it. Unfortunately the supplying company has not helped them sort it out, and the radio station has been involved for a few weeks now.

The company hasn’t yet been named (yet), but emails between the company and customer have been read out as part of the “evidence” that the product isn’t right. If I ran that company I would want to get this sorted out ASAP, before it escalates any further.

How would you feel if emails sent by your staff were read out on a radio station’s consumer show?

Using secrets to launch highly anticipated products

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Google has demonstrated several times clever ways to launch new products.

When it launched Gmail, you could only get it if invited by someone who already had it. And users only had 100 invites each.

Restricting the availability of Gmail in this way made it a “must-have” product with some people clamouring to get it. It also made those who already had it proud to be part of the club.

Two days ago Google “accidentally” launched the marketing early for its new browser Chrome, which it hopes people will move to from Internet Explorer and FireFox.

Ignoring the technical improvements Chrome has, they’ve done a pretty smart thing. There are thousands of people across the world waiting to see what Google will do next, and by supposedly letting the cat out of the bag early, they may have succeeded in generating more publicity than with a ‘normal’ product launch.

A smart way to generate word of mouth publicity.

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