Experience Manifesto

www.jetbluehostage.com

Nothing says "I love you" like being held hostage on a frozen plane with the man you love, 99 strangers, 4 other people you happen to know, 4 screaming babies and 3 rambunctious kids running about, nothing but chips and soda for sustenance, faulty power, unreliable direct TV and overfilled sewage system for 11 hours.

That's the header for a new web site that went up after the weather fiasco that seemed to really take a toll on Jetblue. Once the darling of the airline industry, they took a huge hit last week when a seemingly small amount of snow took their whole schedule and seems to have shot it all to hell! As we said in Everyone's a Critic, people won't hesitate to share their bad experiences with the world if you give them the opportunity. And they seem to be particularly harsh when you set the bar high, as JetBlue has done. While many flights were delayed last week, JetBlue was either hit much harder then everyone else, or they weren't prepared for what happened. But given all of the press the airlines received last year when they had people waiting for this long, you wouldn't think that someone like JetBlue would make the same mistake again so quickly.

And, as you can expect, our elected officials jumped in to help! As reported by the Seattle Times:

The strandings revived calls for Congress to enact an airline customer-rights law.

Rep. Michael Thompson, D-Calif., said Thursday he planned to introduce a bill that would address delayed flights, time on the tarmac, cancellations and lost or damaged luggage.

The airline industry beat back a similar push for legislation in 1999 after agreeing to adopt a voluntary customer-service initiative.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Thursday she will introduce a bill to give passengers the right to get off the airplane if it's been on the ground for more than three hours past its scheduled departure time.

"No one should be held hostage on an aircraft," she said.

Expect to see more of this story in the future! But remember, if you're not delivering on the story you tell, someone's ready to start a web site to trash you!

Link: www.jetbluehostage.com .

Link: Advertising Age - Management's Misjudgement Gives JetBlue a Black Eye.

Link: 10-1/2 hours on tarmac: JetBlue has a red face: Nation & World: The Seattle Times.

Mayor: Ban ‘nitwit’ guerrilla marketing - Local & Regional - BostonHerald.com

As we predicted earlier this year, if we continue to annoy people with advertising, they'll continue to strike back. And it doesn't matter if you think this was a real threat or that the folks of Boston over-reacted, the potential impact will be the same. Just look at what happened to network TV after Nipplegate! Not everyone felt that this was the panic that Boston reported, just look at what the Seattle spokesperson had to say:

"In this day and age, whenever anything remotely suspicious shows up, people get concerned — and that's good," King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said. "However, people don't need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger."

Given that this promotion had been in several other cities and it now seems that that they were in Bost0n for a week or two prior to this whole fiasco, it's hard to know what triggered the sudden reaction. Many people on the boards I'm reading think that it was called in on purpose just to start the press going and, if that's true, that would be a much more serious issue. I mean, it's one thing if this just got out of hand. It's totally another thing if they actually created the panic.

Of course, even if the rumors are completely false, there's still lots of complaints about how long it took them to fess up. That delay only adds fire to the rumors that it was a little more calculated then it would appear.

But, as I said at the start, real or imagined, the more we piss people off, the more they're going to look for more control. And part of that could be legislation, which wouldn't be good for any of us. Yes, we want people to be talking about and engaging our brands, but it shouldn't mean closing down an entire city! Sure, it's easy for us folks in NYC to laugh about how silly the folks in Boston were being, but if it were our bridges and roads shut down, it would be a different story. And yes it's true, that even if Turner has to pay the $750,000 fine, they got a great deal on a media buy this week. But, if the final cost is an elimination of a marketing tool, would that make it worth it?

In the end, I don't think we'll actually see legislation. It will be just too difficult to define exactly what a nitwit guerilla campaign is! But it will have a more immediate impact on what we do every day. Clients will be more risk-adverse and that will just make it harder for us to do our jobs. If it turns out that they actually planned on creating this fiasco, then that will make our lives even harder. Let's just hope it was dumb luck.

Calling it a threat to public safety, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is now pushing to ban all guerrilla marketing campaigns in the wake of the covert advertising scheme that sparked chaos across the Hub.

Menino told the Herald he had discussions with Time Warner honcho Dick Parsons and Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent yesterday in which he expressed his dismay. Turner hired New York guerrilla-ad agency Interference Inc. to promote the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and OK’d the company’s underground marketing tactics.

“This nitwit technique has no place in our city,” Menino said last night. “This nitwit guerrilla advertising paralyzed the city for 14 hours. It’s unacceptable.”

Link: Mayor: Ban ‘nitwit’ guerrilla marketing - Local & Regional - BostonHerald.com.

Link: NJ.com: NewsFlash - 2 men released from jail in hoax case.

Link: Soflow - View Forum - The Boston Bomb Scare Was *Not* Viral Marketing - Version 1.3.1.

This Blog Sits at the: How Vince really feels about Jen (secrets revealed?)

Another take on authenticity from Grant McCracken. He’s got a number of really great essays on his blog, so take some time and and do some reading!

We can see why authentic is overtaking genuine in these circles. Genuine is too often merely nice. When we apply the term to something more than nice, we are usually giving praise for the extent to which the person so called has performed the social emotion in question in precisely the right way. (He told me he was sorry my dog Rickey had died. He seemed so genuine!) Genuine is about being true to your responsibility to saying and doing and of course feeling the right thing. Being genuine is distinctly not about being interesting, unexpected, spontaneous or unorthodox. That's authenticity's job.

Link: This Blog Sits at the: How Vince really feels about Jen (secrets revealed?).

Authenticity Goes Mainstream

Right after we sent out our 2007 Predictions, we got an e-mail from Neil Crofts in the UK saying:

I have been writing about and working with authenticity for five years now - so I was delighted to see your prediction for the future.

I would like to quote it in my weekly authentic inspiration e-mail that I send out to around 3000 subscribers and just wanted to check that you are OK with this?

It will also end up in my blog at www.authenticinspiration.co.uk

I was excited to be sharing our thoughts with the world and readily agreed. And Neil's blog is quite good, covering quite a range of thoughts on authenticity. So clearly, authenticity will become more & more important as brands look to differentiate themselves. So take a look at what Neil has to say and see how you can use authenticity to help you in your brand efforts.

Link: Authenticity Goes Mainstream.

Prediction 8: Everyone's a Critic

People like to critique you and today have no problem sharing their critiques with the whole world.

Sure we talk about how every consumer wants to co-create, but many times they really just want to critique. Expect to see lots more blog posts from people who want to tell you what you're doing wrong. And a small percentage will actually be willing to step up and tell you how to improve on what you're doing.

Prediction 7: You need to E-tail Your Retail

If I can do it on your web site, I should be able to do it in your store.

It's time to e-tail your retail. And we don't mean moving all of your retail operations online. But it does mean that your retail needs to be e-tail compatable.

Think about it. I'm on your web site, looking at something cool and I think Hey, I should show this to my wife, and I can click on the Share with a Friend link. Off it goes and now my wife & I can both look at the same item. But in your store? No chance for that to happen. I can't share any of the in-store experience with someone not there.

Prediction 6: The Socialization of Place Continues

What happens when the social elements of things like myspace leave cyberspace and enter the physical world? Can and should brands use their physical space to help facilitate social interaction in the real world?

As we've been writing for some time, we believe that there could be a significant change in the use of retail space, going from inventory management to social experience. With online retail up 24% this year, people are becoming much more comfortable with the buy today, receive tomorrow world of retail.

Prediction 5: Retail Grows in Importance

Retail spaces will become even more important as a connection point between the consumer and the brand.

And while that will mean a boom in traditional advertising methods like digital signage (click here to see how we feel about that!), it will also create greater opportunities for brands. More and more brands will create their own Retail Experiences and/or Pop-up Retail, as they realize they need a deeper connection with their audiences. Sure, creating cool online activities are important, but at some point you need to really touch the brand. With more and more retailers cutting back on their in-store experiences, the store may not the best place to interact with the brand. In fact, during a recent web cast for POPAI, 100% of the participants said they get better information online then they do in-store.

Prediction 4: The Advertising Backlash Grows

As the consumer becomes more empowered, expect to see additional litigation and regulation as people strike out against advertising and its continued encroachment into every aspect of our lives.

Many people today probably don’t remember the early days of fax machines when they would ring all day & night with unsolicited advertising. It didn’t take long until a law was enacted making it illegal to send unwanted faxes to people (although, it was recently amended) and it is possible that we will start to see legislation relating to advertising in 2007. Sao Paulo banned all outdoor ads and UK banned junk food ads in kids TV and that’s only the beginning. As we start to interrupt the consumer at every turn, without bringing them any real value, we should expect them to strike back through any means possible.

Prediction 3: Technology Continues to Engage

The use of emerging technologies will continue to accelerate in 2007 as we scramble to find new ways to communicate to our audiences.

OK, this one is a no-brainer. Technology is now in every aspect of our lives and it's time to pull your head out of the sand. Even my Mom is becoming more technology savvy and the younger audiences will demand it. So, stop being afraid and start exploring what's out there. And remember to go to Emerging Technologies to see the latest technologies that we think are cool!