Lee Dunbar

Aug

9

In a post I wrote about a month ago, I outlined my frustration with changes made at the concession stand of a drive-in my family frequents. I shared that we have given up on the concession stand and were now bringing our own snacks and drinks. It seems we are not alone, and the owners may very well have noticed a decline in overall sales, as the drive-in in question has added a few lines to their website:

“We ask that you kindly refrain from outside food and beverage … “

Hot, fresh, spend half an hour in sweltering heat lining up to get it. No thanks!

Tags: Brand Experience Stuff, Business Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Design Stuff, Experience Design Stuff, Retail Stuff
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Jul

9

When you speak of control measures, the benefits to the customer are often overlooked. In actual fact, people are continuously looking for visual queues – and providing direction can facilitate a positive experience for your customers while avoiding confusion, anger, and even serious incident.

Last summer, my family traveled to the Eastern region of Quebec to go on a whale-watching cruise. To book your spot on the ship, it is recommended that you book through one of their partner sites (physical site), as there is very little parking at the dock. Once you arrive at the pick-up destination – in our case a restaurant – you receive your tickets and then a shuttle bus picks you up and brings you to the dock.

Once we arrived, we saw that there were two companies that shared the dock on the St. Lawrence River. One company had very clear signage, an area fenced-off to form a line and a person was staffed to answer any questions, control the line and provide information. The other company, the one we purchased ticket with, had – a dock.

Once we figured out where we were to go (with the help of the staff member from the other company) we stood near the dock entrance and people kind of wandered up and stood in line so we followed suit. Others followed and soon the line grew kind of haphazardly along a fence. After about 20 minutes in line, the cruise ship approached the dock. Staff disembarked and started taking tickets – and of course a whole group of people budded in line with no interference from the staff.

“Excuse me, there’s a line here,” a young man that was behind us said. “I don’t care,” was the response.

So we finally board and off we go through the St. Lawrence for what was a pretty amazing experience viewing whales. I was actually quite surprised with how many we saw and how close we were to them.

And now back to the dock. We disembark and again – complete confusion. There were no signs as to where you should stand to meet your shuttle bus and nobody was around to offer any information. We stood there with a group of people waiting for the bus. When it arrived – absolute madness ensued. People budding, jumping in front of each other and from where we were lined-up only one family that was actually in line got on the bus.

It actually took three missed buses and witnessing one argument between a ‘line-ee’ and a ‘bud-ee’ to finally get on – and that’s only because we (my family and another family that was waiting with us in the original line) specifically asked the driver to meet us at the far side of the parking lot away from the crowd.

It was a frustrating experience. No direction. No information. A lot of rude people.

We will go on another whale watching cruise, but I’ll tell you, it will be with the other company.

It would have been so simple to avoid all of the resentment, frustration and arguments that we witnessed on the dock. Simple control measures such as signage and a designated area to form a line – for the ship and for the shuttles. Such control measures would have contributed to an overall positive experience rather than the absence tainting what could have been one of the most amazing experiences of someone’s life.

Are there control measures that you could take to improve your customer experience?

Tags: Brand Experience Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Experience Design Stuff
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Jul

4

My family has been going to the same drive-in theatre five or six times a summer since we discovered it about four years ago. Last season new owners took over and at the end of the season they renovated their concession building so it would be ready for this year.

On the surface not much has changed. They removed part of the counter so that it is straight instead of a ‘T’ shape, and they removed an antique projector that sat in the corner of the concession lobby. One apparently small change they made has greatly affected the guest experience as a whole.

They removed three drink coolers that the previous owners used in favour of a self-service fountain machine. This of course would likely triple if not quadruple their margin on drink sales. However, this may not equate to more profit for them.

This seemingly small change has slowed service to an absolute crawl. Under the old owner’s system, guests would go to the fridges off to the side of the concession lobby and once they chose their drinks, they would join the line to pay and grab any other snack they may have wanted. Smooth, simple and efficient.

Under the new system everyone gets in a single line which first runs perpendicular, and then turns parallel to the new, straight counter. First there is the coffee station where you pour it yourself from a typical household coffee maker, and don’t forget to add your cream and sugar. Next stop, the popcorn rack where some of the best popcorn you’ll ever taste sits pre-bagged, warm and fresh. Right beside is the self-serve butter and popcorn salt. Next stop is the small counter-sized beverage fridge that holds bottled water and a small selection of juice. Next, the drink fountain machine, where two people at most take about forty seconds to one minute each to fill-up their drinks. Next we have a jar of pickled eggs and another of pickled wieners, dig those hands in there and pick the one you want! Next we have a small selection of candies and chocolate bars. And finally stands the cashier, where you pay for the stuff you picked, and you also place your order for hot food such as fries, hot dogs and burgers that you then stand in another line to pick-up on the other end of the counter.

The new system is terribly inefficient. I watched the cashier as I stood in line and I would estimate that about 60% of her time was wasted because of the log-jam at the fountain machine — and to a lesser extent the other self-service stations. As a result the line is long and slow, and the people in the line-up frustrated. Some, like me, gave up entirely. We now bring our own food and drinks.

And that’s my point. This is absolutely poor customer service. The new owners were thinking of margin, and their convenience rather than the customer’s experience. At the end of the season, when sales are tallied they just might find better margins on their fountain drinks, but I suspect that they just might find that a number of people are forgoing the concession stand for their own thermos of coffee, cooler of drinks, and bag of snacks. The concession food is a lot more expensive, and with their new system a lot of people won’t have the patience to wait for their snacks while they miss the movie.

Anything you do in business needs to follow a design process — and the most important aspect of any design — is the experience you create for your guests. You do this successfully and the profit will come.

Clearly, the new owners didn’t think about the implications of their new design. Hopefully they will do something about it — and while they are at it, they can improve the situation with their bathrooms, but that’s a story for another day.

Tags: Customer Service Stuff, Design Stuff, Experience Design Stuff, Retail Stuff
Comments: 1 Comment

 

Jun

24

The Round-Up

June 24, 2008

What happens when Google and Disney get together to throw around a few ideas? You get the Walt Disney World Resort available on Google Earth in 3D. The project features over 1,500 fairly detailed 3D models of buildings and attractions in all four theme parks and more than 20 of Disney’s Resort hotels. I had a lot of fun scrolling around — what a great way to allow your guests to move around and explore the park when they are either planning or dreaming if a trip to the most magical place on earth.

Montreal is the first North American city to role out a self-service bike rental system. Users will be able to pick-up a bike at one location for a nominal fee and drop it off at another location which are dispersed around the city.

More search engine election fun. A blogger has launched a Google bomb attack on McCain. The strategy was designed to raise the rankings of negative news stories about McCain. Yes, the same strategy you use to raise the visibility of your organization, can be used by your competitors to raise rankings of negative stories or reviews about your organization, officials, staff, or product. It is a good strategy to continuously monitor your own brand, trademarks and product category keywords. It can be as simple as subscribing to a comprehensive Google news alert.

It also seems that people are messing with page views and video ranking on YouTube. In an effort to make it the most viewed video, a blogger has created a refreshing web site that is increasing the number of views of Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend video.

Tags: Advertising Stuff, Brand Experience Stuff, Community Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Design Stuff, Experience Design Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Search Engine Stuff, Web Stuff
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Jun

17

Round-Up

June 17, 2008

According to CBC News, 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly “reclassified” as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland. Wonder if swimming in toxic water or catching toxic fish will be ‘experiences’ marketed by the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Genepax, a Japanese company, claims that it has invented a car that runs only on water. In fact, a litre of water will power the engine for about an hour at a speed of 80 km. Add that to the two engines that run on compressed air, and we have some promise for an alternative to fossil fuels.

 

Sony develops green flat-panel TV to woo ecological consumers. So watch your HD hockey and golf with a guilt-free conscience.

Anyone who has purchased a flat-screen TV in the last couple of years has likely been shocked by the price of the Monster Cables that the sales person will inevitably try to talk you into buying. Now, I have found something even one better – a $500 cable from Denon!

Tags: Community Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Retail Stuff, Technology Stuff
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Jun

12

I own a lot of music. A lot of DVDs too. I have invested thousands of dollars over the years — if you think about it, you probably have too. The artists, producers, labels, writers have all made their money. Yet, it could be illegal for me to copy the media I have purchased onto a device so I can listen or view it? Seriously!?

An article by CP states that:

“The amendments would also make it illegal to copy a compact disc or DVD to a personal digital device such as an iPod – even if you’ve paid for it – if it involves breaking so-called digital lock to make a copy. People caught hacking digital locks or uploading copyrighted material to file-sharing websites would face penalties of up to $20,000.”

Well here’s my thought. If they are going to make it illegal for me to put my own collection on my device (does the music I already own have this lock?), I might as well download music from P2P sites, right? They are both deemed to be potentially illegal under this bill and one costs me more money than the other. So the value is in the downloading.

More money? That’s correct, more money. Most people don’t know it, but when you purchase blank media in Canada, you are paying a tariff that is distributed to music publishers, writers and performers. Since I am sending money to these people — should some sort of service not be provided? I pay a tax on media, I should be able to download music and place it on this media, no? /sarcasm

Now, potential criminals like me aren’t the only ones who object to this farce. The very musicians whose copyrights are supposedly protected under this bill don’t agree with it.

“But the Canadian Music Creators Coalition slammed the bill, characterizing it as “an American-style approach to copyright. It’s all locks and lawsuits,” according to Safwan Javed, coalition member and drummer for Wide Mouth Mason.

“Rather than building a made-in-Canada proposal to help musicians get paid, the government has chosen to import American-style legislation that says the solution to the music industry’s problems is suing our fans,” said Javed.

The coalition of nearly 200 Canadian acts includes household names Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Broken Social Scene, Matthew Good, Billy Talent, Sloan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41 and Sam Roberts.”

I am often curious how well a number of these collectives and lobbyists really reflect the wants and needs of the people they claim to represent. This is a pretty good indication that there just might be fractions within this collective group.

I think most artists realize that their success is built on relationship-building. Connecting with their fans. Most record industry suits, it seems, feel that success is built upon wringing every single cent out of people (musicians and fans alike), and developing conflict rather than a relationship with fans.

I am all for people getting their due. The writers, artists, producers, labels — they should all get their fair share. But to deny a person who PURCHASES their product the right to copy it to a different device is just asinine.

Anyway, Michael Geist does a much better job interpreting the new law than I ever could.

 

Tags: Brand Experience Stuff, Community Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Technology Stuff, Web Stuff
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May

24

The Round-Up

May 24, 2008

I happened upon a great, great idea. Apparently “solar trees” have been popping up in parking lots. These “solar trees” are in-fact solar panels mounted on poles in parking lots. They capture energy for use on the grid while providing shade for the vehicles in the parking lot. Here’s an older article on Wired that describes how Google is using solar panels in their parking lot to meet about 30% of their power requirements.

Ever wonder who’s calling you? I was curious about a number that had called me about twenty times over a 48 hour period. Upon Googling the number, I came across this great service that allows you to enter a phone number, and if others have reported it, you will see who has called you and add them to your blocked numbers list.

I guess there are people who always need to be entertained. A couple Belgians have developed a video game played by — wait for it — peeing in a urinal. That’s right, if relieving yourself is too boring, you can now virtually slalom down ski slopes or kill aliens to pass the time.

Speaking of which — does ‘away from the Internet’ anxiety kick in while commuting to work or taking the family for a drive? Well, along comes .Car. Web content delivered to your dash. Just what we need. More distractions while people drive. You know there is some good in a service like this such as finding amenities while traveling. But you also know that there is some bonehead that’s going to ram into the back of you because he’s too engaged in the great video he’s watching on YouTube.

Mashable Photoshop? “The appeal of extending one’s app with lightweight, cross-platform, network-aware widgets is so obvious that we were busy building support in my first app some eight years ago–and we had to build our own Flash Player clone to do it!” John Nack, product manager at Adobe wrote on his blog.

Tags: Community Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Design Stuff, Experience Design Stuff, Funny Stuff, Neat Stuff, Technology Stuff, Web Stuff
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May

23

It’s not often that we get an inside view of what it is like being a Disney character. LAmag.com has an article by Dave Gardetta outlining the hiring, work conditions and eventual dismissal of Brandon Pinto – aka Captain Jack Sparrow – at Disneyland, California.

On the auditions: “Thirty-seven actors showed up that day, four of us in costume. Only eight were chosen for the next round. We were told we would be auditioning the next day at Disneyland. When I showed up, there were now 23 guys—15 that had been pulled from in-house auditions. There was this assistant who would come in and pull people one by one—“Steve, can you come with me?” Then you’d never see Steve again.”

On being “Captain Jack” at a Disney Park: “Disney warned us we were going to have a lot of horny women coming on to us. They were also worried about girls. I heard Disneyland had an Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was very flirtatious, and they finally pulled her because men found her too sexually arousing and were acting out.” In the summer of ’07 we went to Quebec City for Les Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France and a Captain Jack  — who seemed to be independent of the festival — showed up on the street. Let’s just say that he definitely drew the attention of the females in the crowd, so I can see why Disney management trained the Jacks on how to act in these situations.

On Disney policies: “When training started, I found out the park allowed mustaches but had a no-facial-hair policy for all employees. I had the Jack goatee, and I threw a small fit. No facial hair for this character? Why would you want to glue on a mustache in summer? You can see the glue!”  I found this part especially amusing — they wanted him to shave his real goatee so that he could glue on a fake one. Although I do have to say that we met Captain Jack at Disneyworld and his goatee was very real. He allowed the woman that was in-front of us in line pull it to verify that it was indeed real. Then in true Jack style, he teased her husband for his lack of facial hair (he was a very good Jack by the way).

On the Disney hierarchy: “There was a ranking system in the dressing room: If you were a princess, you pretty much got that long mirror wall. For some reason the Jacks always ended up in the back corner.”

On the implications of social media: “If a character does something a parent believes is wrong, that’s the video that ends up on YouTube. I was on YouTube after I sat in a lady’s stroller. It’s something I often did, and parents would laugh and take pictures. But management came to me and said, “It looks like you’re sitting down on the job, and we can’t have that.”

On the “dismissal”: “You’d hear that it sucks to work for Disney. They’re Nazis in Mickey hats. But I’d thought, “How bad could it be?” By the time I got fired, half of me was relieved. I was getting sick of constantly being barked at about what to do. It was a month before I went back to the park. I missed it. At first I thought it would be a Walk of Shame, but everyone was very nice.”

You hear stories about how strictly Disney adheres to their ‘brand’, and while I certainly take this with a grain of salt, a lot of this story would certainly show this to be the case. In any case, it is certainly an interesting story.

Tags: Brand Experience Stuff, Customer Service Stuff
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Apr

28

Monday Round-Up

April 28, 2008

Disney has announced the winner of its Chief Magical Officer competition. Congratulations to Justin Muchoney who took the prize. And of course, if you, like thousands of others, applied for this position and are still interested in working at the Most Magical Place on Earth, (or any other Disney property for that matter), you can head over to the competition’s sponsor, Careerbuilder, to view open Disney positions.

A piece of our cultural lexicon holds on — the New York Times profiles what is thought to be the last pinball machine manufacturer. They are able to stay open as their market shifts from the arcade and pub to the rec room.

The University of Texas has discovered a new source of bio-fuel. To me, for a whole host of environmental, social and political reasons, it is clear that we do need to find new sources of energy — clean energy. And I don’t think that there is one answer or one technology that will satisfy our needs. It will take a combination of technologies and behavioural changes.

Spam is turning 30! Happy Anniversary! While I detest spam — as both a consumer and marketer, I also appreciate legitimate use of email marketing tools. Opt-in newsletters, service reminders, news updates and subscription notices are all useful communication between organizations and subscribers. Always try to offer value in your communications.

Disney invests money in public transportation to help get its 62,000 employees to its Walt Disney World parks and resort properties. As the country’s largest single location employer, its important to guarantee that service to the parks will not be reduced due to budget cuts.

Here is a story about a woman who was falsely accused by the RIAA of music piracy. She is now taking the RIAA to task for their questionable investigative procedures. Good luck Tanya!

Speaking of the RIAA, since the success of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails releasing their music online for free, there is a hint in the air that Metalica may follow suit (pun in tended).

Tags: Brand Experience Stuff, Business Stuff, Community Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Neat Stuff, Technology Stuff
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Apr

7

Monday Round-Up

April 7, 2008

Facebook and three music companies are teaming-up to create a new music site. The site would allow for streaming music as well as the option to purchase songs. There is even some thought that they are considering an unlimited subscription service.

Neuromarketing takes consumer behaviour to a whole new level.

Apple suing the “Big Apple’s” over the GreenNYC logo.

One of Dell’s key points of differentiation was the fact that they built custom systems on demand. Now, they are taking a more mass market approach by pushing standard prepackaged configurations. They are also using retail outlets, (I have even seen them in my local Wal-Mart), as a distribution channel – abandoning their direct-to-consumer model.

Tags: Advertising Stuff, Brand Experience Stuff, Business Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Retail Stuff
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