Kelly Mooney's blog about the online shopping experience from the customer's point of view -- MooneyThinks.com

Kodak Sails the Winds of Change

The KODAK legacy goes way back--back to the late 1800s, according to the company web site. And from gelatin dry plates and snapshot photography to KODACHROME Film, the INSTAMATIC camera and a kiosk in my grocery store, KODAK remained relevant to consumers' lives. But, many wondered if they would lead the digital revolution or be swept aside by it.

They've been playing online for a few years now, but not as aggressively as I would have expected from the KODAK brand. You may be familiar with the Kodak EasyShare Gallery, a web site where you can upload and store all your digital photos--and, of course, purchase them...printed on paper, T-shirts, calendars, stickers, mugs and puzzles. It's a great alternative for the slice of the market that doesn't mind paying a premium over at-home printing options made abundant by folks like HP. But what about the stacks and stacks of pictures that don't yet have an album or a home outside of shoebox in the back of a closet?

Well, if you're in Southern California or Southern Florida, you just need to stop by one of the KODAK Gallery Scan Van events with your stash of prints and they'll scan them for you while you wait. Depending on which part of the country you're in, the service costs either $24.99 or $19.99 for 200 prints, plus $.10 for each additional.

If you're up for a laugh and have a few minutes to spare, check out KODAK's Winds of Change video on YouTube. Apparently, originally created for internal purposes, they've since decided to share it with the world. Maybe it's their way of saying they intend to compete in the digital era, not be swept away by the winds of change.

Dell Opens Up to Ideas

Last week, Dell launched Dell IdeaStorm, a blog created by Dell "Where Your Ideas Reign". It's getting a lot of attention--in the trade pubs and even within the walls of Resource, where anything that remotely embraces the principles of Open Branding gets passed around and critiqued.

I think it's great that Dell has created a space where their customers can gather and talk to each other. Between the battery blow-ups and the call center mishaps, there are already scads of entries about Dell in the blogospshere--now Dell's given them a place to share their enthusiasm (both positive and negative) right on the brand's front porch. And, interestingly, IdeaStorm looks fairly unrestricted.

I clicked around and found some interesting topics. Today folks are talking about Dell's kiosks and whether it should abandon them for a true store, like Apple (some requested) or like Gateway (some lamented). The initial entry scored 800 points (points are accrued when someone promotes an entry) with a whopping 26 comments. Even more popular (at 1162 points) was the wall warts (Apple-style) versus power supply bricks (Dell) discussion, and topping that was the entry on Dell's Plant a Tree for Me program, with 5223 points.

IdeaStorm is an interesting evolution from Direct2Dell, the other company blog, which is written by Dell employees and designed to foster "one-2-one communications with Dell". The categories overlap, and even the topics, which can be commented on, emailed, and digged by consumers.

Two valiant efforts, but will they overlap? The second entry on Direct2Dell today is about IdeaStorm and what it is and what it's not. Direct2Dell has been around since last summer I believe, so it's still fairly new as well.

But wait, there's more. To complete the trifecta, there's  StudioDell, which lives on the Dell site, where you can watch videos about Dell or upload your own. No matter how you like to talk about Dell or what you want to say about them, Dell's making sure you've got the opportunities to do so.

Let's see if all this open dialogue can help Michael rebuild. My bet, is it's a good start. Stay tuned.

 

Starbucks T-shirts Part II: The Let Down

Exclusivity? Sure! Create cache around something special in limited quantities to drive up demand.

But if that's what Starbucks was trying to do with its My Starbucks T-shirts by designer Mychael Knight, it's going about it all wrong. If you saw my entry a couple days ago, Clothes Off Our Backs was auctioning off stylish Starbucks tees customized to a handful of celebs. Expensive T-shirts for a good cause.

At the same time, the coffee company promised a big announcement for February 15. So, I wasn't surprised to find on the site that I could create my own tee. It made sense with everything else they're doing. And I wasn't surprised that the shirts were gone as fast as they were. What did surprise me was how they handled it. "We're out of shirts." Seriously. There was the accompanying text that explained that the shirts were free (what?!!!!) and that they're gone and you should check back later. But what was so disappointing was that it felt like for no good reason. They make it sound like a supply problem, which I can't understand, versus an exclusivity issue, which actually makes me want one more.

C'mon Webkinz, They're Kids!

If you have a child under the age of 10, you may be familiar with the Webkinz craze. Small stuffed animals that come complete with a special pouch and secret code that permits entry into a web world for these fuzzy creatures. For a web-obsessed mom like me, this is a homerun toy! Except for the fact, that my 7-year old daughter, Riley, was in tears after a 30-minute failed attempt to compose a screen name (that hadn't already been taken). She scribbled feverishly on a stack of post-it notes every pet name she could think of, every friend, relative, and favorite color. No luck. "I'll never get to my Webkinz home!" Tears ensued. I'm surprised that the feedback didn't suggest a combination that would work. Seems a simple improvement, not to mention a significantly improved child/parent experience.

After venting a bit of my frustration around the office, I found that I wasn't the only Webkinz parent in the building. The others had made it past the screen name hurdle, and were enjoying the experience with their kids, but pointed out a few other oddities like Today's Events, a screen that itemizes activities you can participate in by the hour. Not surprisingly, the schedule doesn't start until 4pm, but oddly, it runs until 11pm. And it's set for EST, so I doubt that this is talking to the families on the West Coast. I can see the parental role in the whole thing more clearly now--the 10pm-11pm activity is getting free KinzCash for the kiddies to spend on their animals.

Google's Logo Gaffe

Google, one of the great open brands, keeps us amazed by its speedier search results, relentless innovations and its gutsy acquisitions. They even celebrate holidays with fun and whimsical manipulations of their very own logo. Except yesterday, the logo police must have taken the day off or indulged in too many sweets to catch this faux pas. Oops.

Gap Eases the Change of Season

While I've been receiving get-ready-for-spring emails since the middle of January (Old Navy, January 16, "Spring's Coolest Swimwear for Baby" to be exact), I have to say it's still pretty tough to imagine light-weight clothes and rain gear, especially at a time like this where some of us are digging out from a couple days of snowfall.

Let's face it. Retailers have a tough job figuring out how to motivate shoppers with holiday hangovers and accompanying bloated credit cards. Which is why Gap's latest effort to bridge the seasons with its "wear now, wear later" page for women is noteworthy (despite the CEO shake-up). The page shows a grid of 6 winter looks that, when you roll over them, transform to spring styles. The premise is why wait to wear spring styles when you can layer them up and enjoy them now. The feature even has a short little caption to describe the over-arching trend, for both seasons.

Once you roll-over the "now" picture and get "later" look, you also get the option to shop either one.

This really works for me. Even though I can't yet part with my turtlenecks, I'm thinking about tees, shorts, and  dresses. Or, maybe it's just that spring break is only  30 days away? Could it be that I'm counting the days? Brrrrrr.  :)

Personalization Wears Well at Starbucks

In this recently dedicated age of the consumer we're seeing more and more brands open their doors -- not just to their stores and web sites -- but to their brands, and let consumers in -- to be a part of it. And if the ability to walk into a Starbucks and get the barista to make exactly the drink you want--with or without the fat, caffeine, dairy, whipped cream, syrup, ice, you-name-it--wasn't enough, now some folks can wear their Starbucks order on their shirt.

And by "some folks" I mean celebs who presented at the Golden Globes. The playful shirts (designed by Mychael Knight of Project Runway) are signed by their owners (i.e., Jenna Fischer, Masi Oka, Tina Fey, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Hudson) and up for auction at Clothes Off Our Backs.

Feeling left out? Don't fret too long. According to the Starbucks web site, they'll be announcing "MORE exciting details" on February 15th. I think Starbucks is going to start making you feel like a celebrity later this week.

Pier 1 Celebrates Its Good Deeds

To promote or not to promote?

That seems to be the big question for companies conducting philanthropic initiatives. During our research for this year's Holiday E-commerce Watch we observed a lot of brands giving a mention to their charitable relationships. But none went as far as Pier 1 did earlier this week in this email.

While I've heard first-hand from companies their apprehension around giving the impression of "showing off," I have to say I admire Pier 1 for making a bold statement--celebrating, even--their commitment to helping others.

iTunes Helps with Gift Card Recovery

As gift cards attract a growing percentage of our attention and our dollars--not just at holiday, but throughout year--it's great to see a bit of evolution on the back-end, meaning from the gift-giver's perspective. And with all that's coming out of Apple these days, it was only appropriate that it came from them.

It started with a regretful note from a friend who'd misplaced the email with the iTunes gift I'd sent her months earlier. She'd tried to resolve with Apple on her own. While they couldn't reissue the card, they gave her personalized attention and helpful instructions to share with the me, the sender.

All I had to do was log into my Apple account, find the order in my order history, and click on the link that said "Resend". And just like that, Apple managed to turn a problem into an opportunity that made me love them just a wee bit more.

Guerrilla Marketing Deepens the Generation Gap

As the anxiety levels diminish in Boston and Turner Broadcasting faces the ramifications of its Aqua Teen Hunger Force guerrilla marketing campaign across that city and 9 others, I'm sure I'm not the only marketer with questions...

• At what point did the folks at Interference Inc (the marketing company taking responsibility for the debacle) think that placing any type of mysterious, flashing electronic device near a bridge or subway or airport was a good idea?
• Why did it take the officials in 10 major cities 2 or 3 weeks to notice these mysterious, flashing electronic devices?
• And how big and complex has the generation gap gotten? How many Digital Millennials snickered in the background as their parents discussed--with great drama and concern--the Ignignokt-faced bomb scare.

Through the lens of the Long Tail we can see the power of niche content for niche cultures, and with the number of media outlets growing exponentially, this is just the beginning--despite the news that the mayor of Boston is trying to ban all guerrilla marketing campaigns in the city.