blog till you drop!
A cocktail of advertising, social media, and technology
Flushing out the recession – adding value through Social Media
Oct 28th
Here’s my first entry for this year’s Bathroom Blogfest 2009 which is all about ‘Flushing the Recession and Plunging into Forgotten Spaces.’
Don’t forget to check out the full list of blogfesters here, as well as the Bathroom Blogfest’s official Blog and Facebook Fan page
One of the key things in Social Media Marketing, is how brands can use different channels and add value to their customers. Now imagine you’re faced with a purchase decision, and suddenly remember this cool Facebook Fan Page / YouTube video / Twitter Feed, you’ll probably end up buying the brand that made you feel good, instead of a competitor product… well I do anyway!
Social media is a relationship channel and you could add value by sharing something to help your customers, or it might be by providing a customer with a chance to give you feedback, or simply sharing a joke with them!
Here are a few ways to provide value and usefulness to your customers:
- Listen to your audience online and let them know you hear them by making changes based on their feedback
- Follow the 90/10 rule: 90% of your messages will be about adding value, and the remaining 10% will be about promoting your brand and ‘pushing’ your marketing messages
- Be human – Social Media is about giving your brand a voice (or a face, e.g Zappos)
- Online messages spread fast – follow the social networking code of conduct and be nice (remember Habitat?)
- Every time you Tweet / Blog about something, ask yourself if it’s useful
- Ask questions, answer questions, retweet content your followers might find useful
What other useful tips could we add to this list?
Announcing the Bathroom Blogfest 2009
Oct 21st
The 2009 Bathroom Blogfest, now in its fourth year, brings together 20 bloggers from the U.S., Canada, the UK and India who will post at least once on some aspect of the theme: ‘Flush the Recession and Plunge into Forgotten Spaces.’ The topic is very much ‘open-ended’ so it’ll interesting to see what other blogfesters talk about!
The Bathroom Blogfest began in 2006 as the brainchild of Stephanie Weaver, and Susan Abbott, who wanted to connect with fellow bloggers passionate about the customer experience. The Bathroom Blogfest has now grown into a resource for retailers and restaurants that are looking for tips on how to create a better experience for customers.
You can stay up to date with the Bathroom Blogfest by joining our Fan Page on Facebook, and you can of course, follow us on @BathroomBlogfes.
Participating bloggers for the Bathroom Blogfest ’09 include:
• Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
• Reshma Anand at Qualitative Research Blog
• Shannon Bilby at From the Floors Up
• Shannon Bilby and Brad Millner at My Big Bob’s Blog
• Jeanne Byington at The Importance of Earnest Service
• Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
• Leslie Clagett at KB Culture
• Katie Clark at Practical Katie
• Iris Shreve Garrott at Checking In and Checking Out
• Julie at Julie’s Cleaning Secrets Blog
• Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
• Maria Palma at People To People Service
• Professor Toilet at Professor Toilet’s Blog
• David Reich at My 2 Cents
• Bethany Richmond at The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
• Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
• Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology
• C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer and Simple Marketing Blog
• Linda Wright at Lindaloo.com: Build Better Business with Better Bathrooms
I am absolutely delighted to be involved in this blogging event, once again, and I look forward to reading your posts ladies!
Shop till you drop! (but don’t drop when you shop…)
Oct 29th
Here we go! This is my first official 2008 Bathroom Blogfest post… and a mini-rant about these forgotten spaces around us.
Today I’d like to talk about discount clothing chains and their messy shop floors! I’d like to name and shame TK Maxx and Primark! If the credit crunch if biting you hard, these shops may sound like heaven, but I personally think they are an absolute disgrace.
Shopping is a pleasurable experience, and according to research, people who really enjoy shopping may be experiencing a shopper’s high, just like a runner’s high.
During a shopping experience, the human brain releases the chemical dopamine, a kind of natural messenger which is essential to the normal functioning of the brain, and which has a role in our ability to experience pleasure or pain. This explains why women shop till they drop, and max up their credit cards!
The above photo was taken in a TK Maxx at the week-end - the store does not look particularly appealing, does it?
Making cheap clothes available for shoppers with less disposable income is a great thing, but I think retailers need to really focus on the shopping experience. It’s a real shame they are taking the fun and high out of shopping…
As a reminder, this year’s participants include:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
Bathroom Blogfest ‘08 – Cleaning Up Forgotten Spaces Around
Oct 22nd
It’s time to get the Bathroom Blogfest 2008 going!
The Bathroom Blogfest is a week long blog celebration addressing the topic of ‘cleaning up forgotten spaces around us’ and how this affects the customer experience, starting from October 26 through to November 1, 2008.
The first ever Blogfest took place in 2006, and I’ll be taking part in this event for the second year running.
If you answer ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions, then you should definitely stay tuned!
- Do you take your retail experience seriously?
- Do you care about the messages your environment projects onto consumers?
- Do you want your customers to tell everyone they know about what a fabulous experience they had?
This year’s participants include:
Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!
Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating
Ann Handley at Annarchy
Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren
Kate Rutter at Adaptive Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology
C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer
The blogfest participants are primarily American (correct me if I am a wrong!) and it’s definitely a fantastic opportunity to discover great new bloggers, different retail experiences and find out about these forgotten spaces!
Bathroom Blogfest – luxury loos from around the world
Nov 1st
London’s first superloo opened in the West End last year – with a price tag of £5.
The superloo, a multi-million pound powder room on Oxford Street, is aimed at women who want to relax as well as use the toilet. The powder room features oversized, air-conditioned toilet cubicles for changing, deep seating, large mirrors, as well as ambient lounge music. Toilets are sterilised and sealed after every use and each cubicle comes with towels, soaps and hand creams.
WC1 is the place where stressed out shoppers and women on their way to a meeting or to dinner can relax, revive and be pampered.
Interestingly, it looks like the concept is spreading around the globe: Angelbe, which opened in December 2006, is a powder room operated by the West Japan Railway Company and located in Osaka’s main railway station. Like WC1, the space was designed to resemble a lounge, with chandeliers, soft curves and gentle lighting. Besides spotless bathroom facilities, Angelbe features make-up booths with comfortable chairs and well-lit mirrors, changing rooms and a separate smoking room. Since this is a perfect setting for relevant tryvertising, it’s no surprise that several companies have their products on offer in Angelbe: women can sample Shiseido cosmetics and use an array of hair dryers and straightening irons by Matsushita.
Point WC on the Champs Elysees in Paris are the first “luxury” public toilets featuring a toiletries boutique and “wellbeing” services. Disinfected by staff after every visit, they guarantee optimum cleanliness. Each cubicle is different: in “design”, “ethnic” or “chic” styles.
There’s no doubt that women across the world would welcome an inviting place to recharge while on the go, and they’re likely to take notice of brands providing the service.
WC1 (London) Angelbe (Japan) Point WC (Paris)