The Brand Man Speaks

Ford to attempt to bring new life to dying Lincoln automotive brand

In one last desperate attempt to revive the Lincoln auto brand, Ford will re-brand the division as a cross between a BMW and a Lexus. This seems like an insurmountable task.

Lincoln has essentially been dead for a decade with the primary buyers limo and town car fleets for use as private transportation vehicles. The products are old, stodgy, lumbering and remain one of "my father's Oldsmobile's". A car brand that should be put in the graveyard and forgotten.

The luxury sports sedan marketplace is very crowded these days. With Audi resurrecting itself over the past few years very successfully (the product is beautiful and stands out and performs) this niche is even tighter than ever. It would require a completely re-evented product line so extraordinary and exciting to find any place among BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Audi brands.

Even if Ford could produce some sort of miracle car over the next five years, it might be best to dump the Lincoln nameplate and start fresh given the amount of baggage the old brand still carries.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

TD Bank: America's Most Incompetent Bank

SEE UPDATE from 6/20/11 below

 

With unemployment unabated around the US, it might make one wonder why companies seem to be having a hard time getting good talent to work for them.

Here's a prime example of the problems facing consumers today that I personally experienced.

TD Bank recently bought out my small regional bank. My small financial institution was known for lots of personal care to individual and small business owners. I wasn't thrilled when I got a letter some months ago telling me that Mercantile Bank would become TD Bank. I was told to be reassured because TD Bank positions itself as "America's Most Convenient Bank" committed to outstanding customer service like no other bank in the US. Sounds good, but so do so many other positioning statements companies put out these days but fail to deliver on.

I was informed by a letter initially telling me that nothing would change with the acquisition; that everything would be seamless. This turned out to not be the case at all.

I received a call some weeks ago telling me my accounts WOULD BE CHANGING because my account numbers which I have had with Mercantile for over 20 years match accounts already in existence at TD Bank. I was informed to not worry because I would be receiving new account information well in advance of the turnover including new FREE checks.

Of course this did not happen. I had to do all the work myself as no information arrived as promised. I had to spend nearly an hour at my old branch getting things fixed...on two occasions.

With new account information and checks in hand I thought the worst would be over. Not so. I was then notified that my bank debit cards would be deactivated this week but again not to worry new cards were on the way and easy to activate.

No cards were forthcoming by the deadline and a call to my old original branch generated news that on Saturday June 18th I could come down to the bank and they would have the equipment to produce replacement cards. No waiting, no issues, easy and simple.

As you can tell from the gist of this account, I arrived at the bank this morning to find they were NOT equipped to do anything and won't be until next week "sometime". However, my cards were deactivated so for the meantime I am in limbo, "so sorry for the INCONVENIENCE" I was told from my "new" bank TD Bank which calls itself, "America's Most Convenient Bank".

I believe TD Bank is America's Most INCOMPETENT and INCONVENIENT Bank and needs to stop marketing itself otherwise because they are failing every step of the way. So BEWARE of this banking institution they talk with forked tongue. And bank ad spokespersons Regis and Kelly should think twice about being associated with this bank if they know what's good for them long term.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

 

UPDATE

The power of social media: I posted this upset with TD Bank here on my blog and on my twitter account. Within 24 hours I heard from top officials at TD Bank. They were extremely concerned about my experience and have made a major effort to resolve the issues quickly. They are taking action where appropriate to address the problems that led to my horrific experience. I am impressed with both their effort and the power of social media to get a major corporation's attention quickly.

EP

Mazda tries to rebrand itself as the "hand-made" attention to great detail automaker foulishly

In what the Brand Man Speaks believes is an unwise marketing and re-branding move, Mazda motorcars is running a new ad campaign based on the premise that it builds cars slowly with great attention to detail in a painstaking manner UNLIKE the rest of the mass produced automakers around the globe. Mazda wants you to believe it builds cars like Rolls Royce or Bentley. Ya sure.

This is a campaign that assumes consumers are stupid plain and simple. It is a flawed campaign idea and is truly laughable.

Aren't some models of Mazda just Fords with different veneers and marques on them? Yes this is true. So not only is the campaign inappropriate it is factually false.

Just another case of a brand that can't find its way so it makes dumb stuff up which ultimately will not reflect well with consumers.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Online shoppers increasingly rebelling against shipping fees

Consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping for all their needs from day to day basics to exotic offerings. With the cost of driving going up rapidly and forcasted to remain relatively high for some time to come, shopping from the convenience of ones home or office is very appealing.

What consumers say is NOT appealing about the experience is shipping fees. Numerous studies including one my firm recently conducted show that online buyers are increasingly making decisions based on shipping costs. In addition to price shopping specific goods across sites, people are investigating shipping costs before clicking the "buy now" button.

Consumers say if it is hard to find out the shipping costs in a few easy steps, they assume they will be high and look elsewhere for the goods. Obviously, sites that offer flat rate low cost or free shipping options are getting more play these days. Amazon's Prime club which costs $79 a year ensures its loyal shoppers that a high percentage of items shown on Amazon.com will be offered with a free two-day shipping guarantee or for $3.99 next day service. This is proving a valuable tool to keep consumers shopping at the online retail giant's site.

Consumers are most upset with online retailers who charge shipping fees that mount up to more than an incremental 25% over the item purchase price to deliver the item to your home or office. They particularly are angered by high fees combined with extremely slow delivery times (7-10 business days or more) which can mount to nearly three weeks in some cases. Additionally, some sites won't process and ship an order for upwards of 3-5 days further delaying receipt of the item selected.

Other concerns include difficulty tracking the shipment process of orders. Most sites do an above average job providing consumers with access to details about actual shipping and delivery times. However, to save money, an increasing number are using dual services to send out your purchase. One example. The initial item is shipped through UPS but UPS drops it off at your local post office for final processing and delivery. This can add a day or more to a normal UPS shipment and increase the likelihood you will not easily be able to track your shipment because two services are involved. Companies that use this shipment method give unsually long delivery windows (I've seen up to two weeks between the first day of possible delivery and the last) which only serves to frustrate consumers.

Based on the recent study results, it seems important that online retailers pay more attention to shipping as an important driver in the purchase decision process and not treat it as having little relevancy to buyers.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

 

No Surprise: Consumer Reports study says Americans fed up with poor customer service which is rampant in this country.

In a new customer service study just released by Consumer Reports, Americans say they are totally fed up with poor customer service and find few companies doing a good job.

As a branding expert I have commented frequently on this subject identifying it as one of the key areas companies can make a difference in people's lives (and build brand loyalty). However, it has been clear for the past decade that companies treat customer service as an expense and not a revenue generating opportunity and with tightening of corporate belts, pay little attention to this area.

64% people of people polled have walked out of a retail store for not being able to get assistance. Do you have any idea how much money that adds up to? Sometimes when I read about the woes of retailers who blame poor sales on the weak economy I counter that retail sales would be far better if stores even tried to help consumers BUY products in their stores versus losing them because staffers just are indifferent to consumer's needs/inquiries. 67% said they have recently hung up on a phone call to a business concern prior to having their problem addressed because of either extremely long waiting times to get help or incompetent (often outsourced overseas) customer service agents.

Retailers who focus on (low) price over anything else like Wal-Mart and Sam's Club top the negative service list. Southwest Airlines and Apple are rated the best with customer service.

I recently walked out of two stores; West Elm and Office Depot, because after searching for help in both retail concerns, I could find no one willing to address my inquiries. Additionally, in a second visit to West Elm to simply buy two bowls to replace recently broken ones (by visiting guests) I also walked out again because in a nearly empty store (of customers)  two check out people were pre-occupied with an involved dialogue with one customer and the 6 (yes 6 I counted) other staffers I saw could not be bothered to assist me some of whom were walking around the store doing virtually nothing (I could see). After waiting nearly ten minutes to pay for the two items I publicly stated to all I was walking out because the service was so deficient. And did so.

If retailers want to see improved sales in a slowly improving economy the first thing they must do is take customer service (leading to customer satisfaction) seriously as a revenue generator. Those that do will easily take market share away from those that do not and recover faster and build greater loyalty with customers as they open their wallets wider in the next year.

Do you have a good or bad customer service story of recent vintage? If so, send me a comment.

Watching out for you everday.

Eli