The news that Google was creating a new entity to contain itself plus the company’s more speculative ventures came as welcome news to the investment community today -- and to armchair business strategists, as well.   Google will become a subsidiary of Alphabet (www.abc.xyz), which also will hold (and develop) a portfolio of products aimed squarely at the future. 

As the illustration shows, Google's vision allows it to continue marketing and growing its search business, YouTube, Google AdSense and other endeavors while Alphabet concentrates on creating leading edge opportunities, thus giving the company a mix of separately managed business units in different stages of development.  It's all very much in keeping with what Peter Drucker declared some time ago:  

                “Business has only two functions: marketing and innovation.”

Google’s move is not surprising given a 30-something friend’s recent hiring by Google after an exhaustive assessment process to determine whether he’d be a good cultural fit.   Apparently he is, because three weeks into the new job he’s off and running, although I don’t know exactly what he’s doing.  It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that he’s working on some high-potential Alphabet project given his unusual mix of talents and experience: a coder who can discern and dissect client problems with an eye toward solving them in a practical, profitable way.  He's also a talented graphic artist and has a mind that allows him to imagine products into being and help make them successful. 

I am reminded, in thinking about Google’s fascinating strategic move, of a quote by Bob Waterman in the landmark 1980s book In Search of Excellence -- something like “The best businesses are always in the process of becoming something new.”  I may not be remembering the quote precisely, but you get the idea.   It’s a perfect description of what Google is up to.

“As Sergey (Brin) and I wrote in the original founders letter 11 years ago,” says Google co-founder Larry Page in his introduction to Alphabet’s new Web site, ‘Google is not a conventional company’ …  we did a lot of things that seemed crazy at the time.  Many of those crazy things now have over a billion users, like Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, and Android.  And we haven’t stopped there. We are still trying to do things other people think are crazy but we are super excited about … (because) in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant ..."

Of course, the wags on Twitter are all about making fun of the novel company name, such as calling the new campus “Alphabet City”.  Or check out this would-be headline: “Google restructures under ‘Alphabet.’ - Corp headquarters to move to Sesame Street.  Bert & Ernie to be co-COOs.”

Yuk it up all you want.  To my way of thinking, Google has scored big with its new structure, and at the end of market trading today, investors appear to have agreed -- on an otherwise down day for stocks.  With the Dow having fallen more than 200 points on China’s currency revaluation, GOOG was up, somewhere north of 4%. 

Somebody in Mountain View must have been reading Drucker.

TakeAway:  Build on your present successes while investing in imaginative new opportunities that your future customers don’t even know they need yet.

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

sources:  http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/10/google-announces-plans-for-new-operating-structure.htmlhttp://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/11/why-investors-like-googles-alphabet-news-analyst.html

 "Flying commercial” brings up all sorts of mind pictures, most not all that appealing:

* waiting in lines
    - ticket agent lines
    - security lines
    - gate agent lines
    - boarding lines
    - baggage line
    - lines to get in other lines
* overbooking
* carry-on hassles
* cramped aisles
* cramped carry-on space
* cramped seats
* the seatmate crap shoot
* quarrels over seat backs
* make believe food
* bad air
* restrooms that are anything but restful
* weather delays
* crew delays
* tarmac delays
* late arrivals
* missing connections
* sleeping in the terminal

And that’s assuming the technical part of flying goes perfectly – all the doors get closed, the wings are securely fastened and somebody checks to see if there’s gas in the tank.

If I had a NetJets budget, I wouldn’t be concerned about such things.  But I don’t.  And most of us don’t.   Which made me perk up and take notice of this headline on Yahoo News:

           Airlines struggle to please the modern passenger.

According to the article, here are some of concerns expressed during this year’s meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade group for airline execs – keeping in mind that these weren’t complaints from passengers but observations and comments by the execs themselves:

• More passenger info is needed, especially on mobile devices.  One suggestion was to “offer passengers a behind-the-scenes view of their suitcase as it moves through the airport machinery,” although methinks that could create more concern than certainty.
• Give people a “nice, reliable experience at a normal price,” one exec said.  Another added: “Make my life easy,” which sounds great except that airlines appear to staff for ordinary flying conditions in a world filled with extraordinary events, the least of which these days is the weather.
• “Don’t give me a vanilla experience”, one panelist told the IATA gathering.  But is that so bad?  Because  when I buy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream, my expectations are met every single time.
• Another exec spoke of “managing” expectations, which seems like an especially worthy goal – as in no surprises!    Just over half of meeting participants thought the airlines weren’t “doing a good job meeting passenger demands.” 

What are passengers demanding?   Here’s how a reader named Mike put it in the comments section:

“THE DAMN SEATS ARE TOO SMALL,” agreed Mr. B (dramatizing his frustration by writing in all caps), “and the answer isn’t smaller carry-ons,” even as the IATA proposes new industry-wide standards for carry-on bags.   The small places in which we now are asked to stow our carry-ons seem to be getting more restricted while people are becoming more frustrated (sometimes even rude) as they seek a spot to stow their briefcase or backpack, often rows away from their seat, causing that much more confusion when it comes time to get off the plane.   And as dissatisfaction increases, seat room and restroom room appear to be shrinking.  

It seems absurd, but perhaps not altogether illogical,that “the two most profitable airlines — American Airlines and United Airlines — have abysmal customer service satisfaction scores,” according to a recent Forbes article, quoting Kendall Creighton, spokesperson for FlyersRights.org , which advocates for air travelers.   “An airline’s customer satisfaction levels appear to be inversely related to profits,” she says.  “The higher the profits, the worse the scores.  The more modest the profits, the higher the customer satisfaction.”   And now the government is proposing new emissions standards for aircraft, which would put additional pressure on price and profit.

According to the Forbes article, Jet Blue has the highest passenger satisfaction scores and the lowest profit margin.  Spirit Airlines, whose ironic tagline is Less Money. More Go, had the highest margin and lowest customer satisfaction, while “Delta and Southwest have managed to strike a balance between profits and happy passengers.”

I have a suggestion:  In the interest of communicating clear competitive advantage, each airline could post a simple graphic at critical passenger touch points, from ticketing through to the baggage carousel.  The graphic would consist of ten stacked rectangles, one each for the top 10 measures of airline customer satisfaction.  Each rectangle’s color would change as customer satisfaction ebbs and flows, from angry red for poor performance through shades of yellow to leafy green for superior performance.  Data could be gleaned from in-flight customer surveys taken every day, on paper, through passenger devices or even later online.   The information should include date of service, flight number / seat number and accumulate over time.

I challenge each of these airlines, in fact the entire airline industry, to put their heads together and create what might be called the Airline Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a numerical way of communicating the same info the colored rectangles do.   Perhaps the IATA will choose to lead the way.  Such measures surely will be more effective in raising airline industry expectations – and performance -- than making “standardized” carry-on bags even smaller!

TakeAway:  If your business, brand or product satisfies – even delights – customers, let the world know about it.  

Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

You’re sitting in a restaurant munching on a burrito -- dining alone.  You don’t have anything to read, so your thoughts wander. 

Maybe you think of something you have to do later that day – or think about the someone with whom you plan to do whatever you're going to do later.   You trace a letter on your drink cup’s condensation.  

Then a thought stirs to life …

That’s what happened to author Johanthan Safron Foer (Eating Animals) one day while enjoying a meal at Chipotle Mexican Grill.   

An idea was born – and he emailed Chipotle’s CEO about it:

“I bet (that some of the people who) go into your restaurants every day … have very similar experiences, and even if they didn’t have that negative experience, they could have a positive experience if they had access to some kind of interesting text,” Foer related to Vanity Fair’s VF Daily online column, quoting his email.  “So I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to just put some interesting stuff on (your cups)?  Get really high-quality writers of different kinds, creating texts of different kinds that you just give to your customers as a service.’”

CEO Steve Ells bought the idea.  High quality writers were solicited (10 out of 50 said yes).  And Chipotle’s new Cultivating Thoughts cups now stimulate their guests with a variety of short essays, fiction and comedy by authors the like of Safran Foer, Malcom Gladwell, Toni Morrison and Sarah Silverman.

The idea was one of those intuitive flashes we all get from time to time, only Safran Foer did something with his.  And what pleases him most is “800,000 Americans of extremely diverse backgrounds having access to good writing,” many of whom don’t have access to libraries, or bookstores.

The project was launched in May and is said to reach a million people per day in the 40 states where Chipotle has restaurants.  But the jury’s still out on what impact it may have on the chain’s brand perception and business.  Some say the highbrow writing is a mismatch to Chipotle’s demographic (give people credit for having a brain, eh?), although the chain is known for producing content that "aims to change the way people think about and eat fast food,” according to Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle’s chief marketing and development officer.  There's also a fair amount of angst being expressed online because not one of the first ten writers selected was Mexican. 

All in all, Cultivating Thoughts seems a splendid idea that’s bound to be taken up elsewhere with different writers and ideas.   

Stories anyone?

TakeAway:  Don’t let those sudden inspirations slip away.  The idea you have today may be your marketing success tomorrow.

Tags:  Chipotle Mexican Grill

Brian Faulkner is a content writer and Key Message expert.  He helps clients come up with words to set their businesses, brands and products apart and attract the customers they want most.  His strategic insights, and the words that go with them, have made a significant, often immediate difference for client companies over many years.  His "sweet spot" is smaller to moderate sized consumer products, retail, service and manufacturing companies that may have struggled to find just the right words to position their business, brands or products to competitive advantage:

>  blogs to establish you as the knowledge source / authority in your business category
>  case stories that communicate your sales successes and invite prospect inquiry
>  testimonials that showcase customer / client satisfaction in 1-2 short sentences
>  positioning statements to guide business development & marketing
>  landing page copy to set your business or brand apart in a compelling way
>  tagline development to attract the interest of your most qualified prospects

Brian also is a three-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer and narrator of UNC-TV’s popular Our State magazine series, on the air since 2003.  

There are three kinds of car buyers.  One loves to kick the tires and joust with the dealership.  They are in the minority.  Another knows just what they want, has researched pricing and secured financing – possibly with a credit union.  This buyer shops dealers online and hones in on their transaction like a laser, taking delivery with limited exposure to dealer shenanigans.

But most of us still take the weary path, driving from car lot to car lot looking for the vehicle, price, trade-in allowance and financing package that either suits us or that we finally accept because we need a car and our patience has worn thin.

The second and third kind of car buyer, the traditional kind, now has another option – that is, if they live within reasonable driving distance of Atlanta (or can fly in): Carvana, a purveyor of late-model mid-market and luxury pre-owned vehicles that delivers buyer’s purchases through a novel “vending machine” not far from Georgia Tech. 

The vending machine concept (their storefront actually resembles one) sets Carvana apart from other online auto buying sources, as does an eye-pleasing, easy to navigate web site.  Prospects can even test drive their would-be purchases virtually before plunking down their bucks and showing up at the vending machine with an access code.  And if they need financing, that’s available, too -- the people backing the venture have years of experience running dealerships and in consumer finance.  All in all, Carvana seems organized for success, which begins with offering clear savings for its customers.

“The average consumer spends more than 20 hours and overpays roughly $3,500 when purchasing a car due to antiquated dealer sales practices,” declares a post on Carvana’s friendly and informative blog (http://blog.carvana.com/sample-page/the-back-room/).  That said, the firm claims to save $1,500 per car by not having a dealership, which they pass along to their customers.  A brief comparison of price on their Web site with those advertised for similar models with comparable mileage by dealerships in my area suggests that Carvana’s price is lower – a difference that could evaporate rapidly if a prospect has the time and patience to negotiate a better deal locally.  

Time and convenience are other Carvana differentiating factors, as is what they call a 7-Day Test Drive, essentially a post-delivery No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee.

Customers can pick their car out from the comfort of their home, then fly/drive/walk to the company’s vending machine and take delivery there.  Inventory selection seems to consist mostly of silver and white 2011-2013 sedans or SUVs with the occasional red F-150, Mustang, Camaro or Jeep thrown in.  If they live within 75 miles of Atlanta, there’s free home delivery, or buyers can take delivery of their new ride in the traditional way.  For an additional $199, people who live within 76-250 miles of Carvana can have their new car trucked to them and delivered at home.  Buyers more than 250 miles away are invited to fly into Hartsfield and be picked up at the airport.

There would seem to be a vast market for the Carvana concept, since the typical car buying experience has been long due some transformation.  It isn’t the answer for everybody – maybe for most car buyers, people who like to see, touch and drive before they buy and who appreciate local service.   But all in all, it’s a refreshing concept that Carvana’s customers seem to like – witness this high compliment from a satisfied buyer, who said:

“If Apple invented a way to buy a car, this would be it.”

I admire this innovative idea -- and the visionary thinking that led to it.  I also appreciate Carvana’s spiffy online presentation and their copywriter, who has a mischievous (but restrained) sense of humor.  That could be the work of company president Ernie Garcia, if his recent blog post announcing future delivery of Carvana cars by helicopter is any clue.

A whole new way to buy a car?   Sure.  But I wouldn’t lay awake waiting on the helicopter.

TakeAway: Is there an idea lurking in your mind that could revolutionize your business category?      
Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

Brian Faulkner is a content writer and Key Message expert.  He helps clients come up with words to set their businesses, brands and products apart and attract the customers they want most.  His strategic insights, and the words that go with them, have made a significant, often immediate difference for client companies over many years. His "sweet spot" is smaller to moderate sized consumer products, retail, service and manufacturing companies that may have struggled to find just the right words to position their business, brands or products to competitive advantage:

>  blogs to establish you as the knowledge source / authority in your business category
>  case stories that communicate your sales successes and invite prospect inquiry
>  testimonials that showcase customer / client satisfaction in 1-2 short sentences
>  positioning statements to guide business development & marketing
>  landing page copy to set your business or brand apart in a compelling way
>  tagline development to attract the interest of your most qualified prospects

Brian also is a three-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer and narrator of UNC-TV’s popular Our State magazine series, on the air since 2003. His distinctive voice has been heard on many hundreds of radio spots and client projects since the 1970s.  People say he sounds a bit like Charles Kuralt, which Brian considers a welcome but happy illusion.

(www.faulknerproducerservices.com)

Part 1:  Wednesday Morning, June 18, 2014

Like other observers today, I eagerly await announcement of a new Amazon smartphone.  Speculation abounds regarding:

a) the foolishness of Amazon in launching a smartphone into a category chock full of well-established, innovative competitors;

b) the brilliance of doing so because of an unanticipated feature than upends the market.

I’m going with number two.   Because Amazon is ceaselessly innovative and flush with confidence born of transformational moves that have earned them dominance in a categories from book selling to online sales of just about anything you want as the de-facto 21st Century Wish Book. 

They must have something cool up their sleeve.

My first thought, way out here in speculation land, is that Amazon is about to introduce a soon-to-be-ubiquitous new appliance that is nothing less than a handy tool to help people buy more stuff from them.  Either that or they’re launching just a pretty-good phone to get a grip on the market before launching their groundbreaking device.  Whether sooner or later, Amazon’s new entry will be a game-changing purchase appliance there’s no name for yet that will glue even more of us to the amazing Amazon money machine.

Part II, below, was written after the Amazon announcement.  Did I nail it?  Halfway nail it?   Or nowhere near nail it – in fact, come up so short that my speculation looks silly and sophomoric?   You decide.

Part 2:  Thursday Morning, June 19, 2014

It’s called the Fire, and Amazon’s new superphone has folks buzzing – and boosting Amazon’s stock price. 

Initial online business comment about the new phone is all over the board but leans toward the mystified, especially in light of the device’s high price and limited distribution.  Sure there’s some “expensive groundbreaking technology,” a new 3D imager that allows users to look at objects with a more dynamic perspective and get into games in more immersive ways. 

But, to me, the Amazon launch feels more like a market test than a do-or-die bid to outdo Apple and other well-entrenched smartphone brands – an experiment.

Here are some questions I’d want the experiment to answer were I Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Will sales of the new phone be limited to early adopters?   Or will Fire’s array of “cool factor” features (including more efficient, more intuitive ways to interact with the device) attract a broader base of consumers to AT&T stores?  That's the only places people can buy the Fire, at least as of July 25th. 

Will a price in line with the iPhone 5S elevate the new phone’s positioning?  Will pricing inhibit or enhance sales?   Will the ultimate price for the new Amazon product eventually slide down toward zero as it evolves into that ubiquitous Amazon purchasing appliance I speculated about above?

Most important: will users buy more stuff from Amazon right away, using the new phone’s built-in Firefly app, since its 3D feature now makes it easy for shoppers to identify products they want and order them in seconds simply by holding down the Firefly button.   The camera can identify "over 100 million items,” says Bezos, “including songs, movies, TV shows” and apparently some things as challenging to identify as exotic fruit or as simple to discern as a jar of branded peanut butter or magazine cover.   

All in all, it’s an intriguing launch by a company that’s unafraid (and wealthy enough) to test its mettle in new markets, even if some previous Amazon market innovations have been less than an overwhelming success (witness Kindle Fire’s miniscule share of the tablet market).

So keep watching.  Fresh Amazon surprises no doubt await – even as competitors across all channels seek to create competitive advantage of their own with groundbreaking sales and distribution schemes.

TakeAway:  Innovation is fleeting.  So protect your innovative product or service by building a wall around it in the consumer’s mind that competitors will find difficult – if not impossible -- to break through.
Content © by Brian E. Faulkner

Tags:  Amazon.com, Fire, Fire phone, smartphone, iPhone 5S

Brian Faulkner is a Key Message expert.  He helps clients come up with words to set their businesses, brands and products apart and attract the customers they want most.  His strategic insights, and the words that go with them, have made a significant, often immediate difference for client companies over many years.  He thrives on strategic communication problem solving, complex subjects, new ideas, concepts-as-products, challenging marketing situations and demanding deadlines.  His "sweet spot" is smaller to moderate sized consumer products, retail, service and manufacturing companies that may have struggled to find just the right words to position their business, brands or products to competitive advantage.

Brian also is a three-time Emmy award winning Public Television writer and narrator of UNC-TV’s popular Our State magazine series, on the air since 2003. His distinctive voice has been heard on many hundreds of radio spots and client projects since the 1970s.  People say he sounds a bit like Charles Kuralt, which Brian considers a welcome but happy illusion.