Raindrops keep falling on my head… Mobile Content at its Best

by Jen Drexler
Published October 8, 2008 in Tech

So a friend told me about a website today that will change my life (Thanks, Patty). Check out http://www.umbrellatoday.com for the simplest way ever to make sure you don’t get caught in an unexpected squall. Put in your zip code and it will tell you weather (homonym humor, get it?) you need to bring an umbrella with you or not. Even more genius is that you can sign up for text messages that will alert you on days when you need an umbrella at a time that you select. This site will officially make my life easier and a little more fun too. Brands like Totes should be wondering “why didn’t I think of that?”

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Best Un-Friends Forever

by Jen Drexler
Published September 18, 2008 in Tech

Just yesterday a client had to take a break from our phone call to read her email.  Her teenage daughter had un-friended her on Facebook.  She couldn’t even write to her daughter to plea her case because now as an un-friend she can’t contact her on the site.  All I kept thinking was that being un-friended is the virtual version of getting a door slammed in your face while you teenager shrieks “I hate you.” So if Moms aren’t welcome on Facebook are brands?  This isn’t a rhetorical question. I’m looking for answers

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A Lover of the Undercover

by Jen Drexler
Published September 4, 2008 in Moms & Family, Tech

I am a big fan of online communities.  My experiences have been almost entirely positive (barring the woman who faked being a twin mommy with pictures she stole off someone’s blog– yick).  There is a real kumbaya that happens when you connect with someone and then an even greater sense of satisfaction when you can engage in a “conversation” with them. But like IRL friendships these relationships have their own etiquette and subsequent baggage.  For instance, it is best to respond to your friends’ posts even when you are just piling on the compliments so your “friends” feel loved. 

But here is my confession … I also love to visit anonymous sites where people are brutally honest because they don’t have screen names to rat themselves out.  My favorite has to be www.youbemom.com . This site is the redheaded stepchild of www.urbanbaby.com who foolishly changed their message board interface and took away all of the fun.  On youbemom.com (or YBM) women (mostly from the tri-state area) are completely uninhibited because they are anonymous. You can just unleash your two cents and not suffer any repercussions. How liberating. It is like being able to tell your friend that she should stop dressing like she is 20 without her getting mad. 

Naturally some postings are very mom oriented (how to wean off ebf, nap drama, cold remedies) but many of the posts are social commentary in real time.  During last night’s Sarah Paulin speech I was lurking and this post appeared “Anyone else think that little Trig Palin should have been in nice, quiet, dark room getting some sleep as opposed to being passed around like that?”  It was if someone had read my mind and said exactly what I wouldn’t have said out loud. The responses are mostly helpful and almost always witty. YBM gets some heat because there can be some pretty snarky responses to otherwise innocent posts but these occasional flames are just the price to play to have a safe venue to say what you really think. 

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Off the Hook

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published August 4, 2008 in Retail, Tech

Well, now there’s a service that you can pay for to enable an undercover behavior you may have been doing for free. A new technology called Slydial allows you to direct your phone messages directly into someone’s cellphone voicemail so you don’t risk talking to them live. “Why?,” you say? You’ve never called someone after hours with the secret prayer that they wouldn’t pick up, so that you could leave the “I’m late, I’m sorry, I don’t want to” message and avoid a drawn-out conversation or possible recrimination?  

Let’s face it—thanks to a culture of bad customer service, most of us choose to avoid human contact and look at E-ZPass, self-checkout and online shopping as godsends. But in a world where we love the sound of our own voices, posting personal videos or blogging to perfect strangers (like right now), it’s funny that we shy away from hearing opinions in return.  Saying our piece is easy. Listening to someone else is hard. 

It makes me understand how challenging it can be for some marketers to feel comfortable in our research sessions, face to face with consumers. Behind the two way mirror, there’s comfort; the food’s better. But most of all, back there, without the risk of being confronted by female consumers, you can keep the listening under control and check your BlackBerry instead. Sort of like leaving her a voicemail about your brand and hoping she likes it when she picks it up in store. If only it were that easy to get off the hook.

Tags: Customer Service, Retail, Technology

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When Less is More

by Tracy Chapman
Published June 10, 2008 in Tech

Women have been telling us for some time now that they want to find ways to simplify their lives and choose products that make things easier. I know I want that, especially as I sit here trying to figure out how to make software work with my Vista operating system (talking nicely to it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.)

We’ve been saying for awhile now that we wouldn’t be surprised if consumers started paying a premium for products that had less features. While they might not be willing to shell out extra bucks to get less yet, a new study from Jitterbug, the manufactures of the simple cell phone, shows that they definitely believe less is more.  

In fact, 32% of cell phone users say their current cell phone service has more features than they know what to do with. And 73% of respondents prefer to pay only for what they believe they will actually use, compared to only 27% who want all the bells and whistles.( Jitterbug National Survey, May 2008) 

My only question is why is this being sold as the “Senior cell phone”?  I can tell you while I love my blackberry, there are days where I would be happy to go feature free.

Tags: cell phone, Jitterbug, Marketing to Women, simplicity

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