Griping Online? Comcast Hears and Talks Back

Brandon Dilbeck, 20, a student at the University of Washington, was complaining recently on his blog, Brandon Notices, about Comcast’s practice of posting ads in its on-screen programming guide. Shortly afterward, he received an e-mail message from Comcast, thanking him for the feedback and adding that it was working on a new interactive guide that might “illuminate the issues that you are currently experiencing.” Mr. Dilbeck found it all a bit creepy. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Every blog your write, we're watching you'. Perhaps the Police should re-release this song for the blogging era.

This interesting article in the NY Times focuses on the challenges and opportunities facing brands as they reach out to consumers over social media with a special spotlight on Frank Eliason, Comcast's "digital care manager". Eliason monitors public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for mentions of Comcast and its services and is empowered to solve customers' problems. In the case of Comcast, while the overwhelming response appears to be positive, some consumers have found the practice "creepy" and have labeled it yet another ‘Big Brother’ tactic. (Ok, the Times quoted one!)

So should you not engage in social media? Hardly. We believe in respectful, meaningful and empathetic conversations with consumers.

As we've stated many times in this blog, engaging in a two-way conversation with your customers can be a vital prong in your digital marketing strategy. Consumers are blogging and raving (or ranting) about your products and your destination online with or without you. Not listening or engaging in dialogue is a critical opportunity missed not only to build deeper relationships but also for brand cache. Technology has now afforded us an unprecedented "direct connection" to consumers and according to Brian Solis, a new media PR agent quoted in the article, "if you don't respond, someone else will, most likely in the form of competition seizing the opportunity to convert your dispirited customers into new prospects."

So what can Comcast tell us about lessons learned? According to Eliason:

"We learn a great deal from our customers through this channel and we learn better ways to present information, and what the pinch points are in the relationship."

"...customers that had complaints but never reached out to us to correct them. It is so much better to see them have the service we intend.

"...companies should be where their customers are. Social media is just another channel, similar to the phone, chat or email."

"It makes it much more personal and it provides the opportunity to provide clarification when necessary....we do not do this from a PR perspective...My team concentrates on the customer experience."

Don't Want To Write A Blog? Have Someone Else Do It For You

With the Olympic Games just a month off, some brands are looking to extend their sponsorships with social media programs. Lenovo has created 100 athletes' blogs in an attempt to align itself with some less mainstream sports, such as field hockey and modern pentathlon. It gave the athletes laptops and video cameras to chronicle their preparation for the games.

"We wanted to do something that shows our tech prowess, not something that uses the Web as billboard," said David Churbuck, vp of global Web marketing at Lenovo. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great story from Adweek on computer maker Lenovo's digital strategy for the upcoming Olympic Games. Rather than start an 'official Lenovo Olympic blog', they reversed the thinking and have hundreds of athletes blogging for them. Give them the tools...blog, video camera, hosting, etc...and let them provide the content.

The reason I love this story is the thinking behind it and how it could apply to travel.

If you are a DMO or destination, you will more than likely (if you are popular) already have consumers / bloggers in your area who are blogging about you, restaurants, attractions (roller coaster 'nuts' love to blog), etc, etc. Rather than compete with them, why not create a certification program, similar to what Lenovo has done with these athlete blogs, and issue an official 'DMO seal of approval' for each blog.

Here is a secret, bloggers love to be acknowledged! Give them an 'official blogger for DMO XYZ logo' (see the Lenovo version at the bottom-left of this page), a little praise and recognition and aggregate these blogs into one large DMO blog site.

Lenovo has asked the participating athletes to show a "Lenovo 2008 Olympics Blogger" badge on their sites. Most have done so, said Churbuck. It isn't asking for any mention of Lenovo products, he added.

"I don't want to be in the position of telling them what to write," he said. "It's their blog, they can do what they want."

Just like that you have updated content, in a blog without a major time and resource commitment from your organization.

Of course, keep in mind that these bloggers are representing your brand, so ensuring professional, relevant and proper content is critical. But, an interview process (I would actually have them come to your office for the interview), a basic agreement and some solid research on the person should result in finding the most qualified bloggers for your site.

Perhaps you can start that blog after all.

Even More, More FREE Ways To Track Online Buzz

Back by even more popular demand, even more, more FREE ways to track your online buzz. If you missed any of the previous posts, you can find them here:

• Even More FREE Ways to Track Online Buzz
• Easy and FREE Ways to Track Your Online Presence...Plus, See What California is Up To
• More FREE Ways to Track Your Web Presence
• Quick Case Study: Google Trends

Okay, now for the good stuff:

Blogpulse:
Blogpulse from Nielsen BuzzMetrics is one of my new favorite tools. The highlight of the tool set is the Blogpulse search itself, which allows you to measure keyword usage in consumer-generated media (or CGM for you cool kids). So, we could look at some keywords for the 4th of July holiday...such as 'Fireworks', 'Hot Dogs' and for contrast, 'Christmas.'

Ah, it looks like Fireworks wins, by a pretty big margin. I wonder what 'fireworks injuries' looks like.
http://www.blogpulse.com/trend

Co.mments.com:
co.mments.com allows you to monitor comments (obviously) and replies to specific blog posts. So, for example, if a blogger posted a negative comment about your state, hotel or restaurant, you could simply copy and paste the post URL into the field and follow the comments via RSS or email. The service becomes especially useful if you are tracking several posts from multiple sites. Now if they could only find the negative comments for you.
http://co.mments.com/

BoardTracker.com:
Finally, boardtracker.com provides a quick search of message boards from hundreds of sites. While the data returned by boardtracker.com is not as segmented as I would like, the service will give you an idea of the conversations being discussed about your destination. I probably would not use the service to find and respond to consumers (too many threads!), but it can be a valuable service to stay in front of negative or positive PR situations. Oh, and my other minus on boardtracker.com is they categorize travel under 'Sports and Recreation.' But, still worth a look.
http://www.boardtracker.com/

Top 5: Our Favorite Posts

Since the Travel 2.0 blog just celebrated our one year anniversary, we figured a quick look back...for all you new readers...at some of our favorite posts, thoughts and stories was in order.

So, in no particular order, here are 5 posts that you should read.

...and for those of you who skipped out early that one Friday like 7 months ago, you should read these too.

Top 5:

1. Word of the Week - The Long Tail
2. When Fewer Clicks Are A Good Thing
3. Travel Trends - .travel, JetBlue, Privacy
4. Bloggers? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Bloggers!
5. Who's Been Clicking On My Banner?

Ah, so many great posts...hard to pick just 5.

Enjoy!

Random Thoughts: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

After all of the press that United, AA, US Airways, Silverjet, etc. have received in the last few months, plus all of the talk of 'staycations' (author's note, just for fun see how many times you can say the word 'staycations' in your next meeting...I'll bet 3), what does a company like Southwest do? Take out the Super Bowl-equivalent of online ads on the Yahoo! homepage and start calling people out.

While American continues to dig it's own PR grave...see this recent article about AA trying to recover from it...Southwest continues to fly along fee-free. The campaign, 'Fees Don't Fly' features a page within the southwest.com site that explains everything that Southwest doesn't charge for. The campaign and ad are refreshing, especially in the airline industry where each carrier seems to copy the next as fees are raised. Plus, who doesn't like calling out that jerk who always skips out on the bill.

Travel Trends - Paperless Boarding, Bankrupt Design, Bloggers

Paperless Boarding - It's about time! Last month the TSA and Continental Airlines announced they would continue rolling out the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program (it started last December) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Newark (N.J.) International Airport and Logan International Airport in Boston during the month of May. Finally, we can stop carrying around those super-secure boarding passes...not to mention save a fee more trees.

And, see that little square bar code on that gentleman's phone? That would be your standard 2-D Barcode...get ready for your phone to take over simplify your life.
http://www.tsa.gov/

Bankrupt Design - Personally, I always find it fascinating how defunct companies 'soften' their websites to explain why they left you stranded in Chicago.
http://www.maxjet.com/
http://www.ata.com/
http://www.eosairlines.com/
http://skybus.com/

What (or who) is a blogger? - Interesting stats from the Center for Media Research. Beyond simply promoting ourselves, you should know that these are the people who are increasingly holding high influence over your consumers. (here's a secret, most of your consumers trust bloggers more than you!)

According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

- 53.7% are male
- 44.7% are married
- 28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
- 10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the "general population"). Ethnically:

- 69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
- 12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
- 3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
- 20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2).

Although Bloggers are more likely to use new media, the analysis finds that more conventional forms of media trigger their Internet searches. Magazines, at 51.6%, rank highest, followed by:

- 48.8% reading an article
- 46.1% broadcast TV
- 44.5% cable TV
- 42.5% face-to-face communication
- 39.7% newspaper

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes "Bloggers are a diverse group and not who you would expect..."

http://blogs.mediapost.com/

Travel Trends - Blogging While Traveling, Forms, yatt'it

Have Blog, Will Travel - One of the ways I keep up with the Arizona Office of Tourism's social footprint is by subscribing to several Google Alerts on the subject. FYI, you will see some interesting things written about your state / city / attraction. But I digress. The other day, I came across a blog currently being written by an Irish family who decided to take 3 kids and a RV across the U.S. for 6 (count 'em, 6!) months. Aside from the fact that it is amazing that technology allows them to share the entire trip with relatives and friends thousands of miles away, in near real-time, the blog is a fascinating read as well as an interesting look at how travelers perceive your destination. One of many, I am sure, but really, 6 months...you owe them a quick look. We can only hope they make it to Wally World.
http://freerangetravels.blogspot.com/

Did you fill out a form for that? - A lot people don't like forms, count Luke Wroblewski as one of those people. Website blog A List Apart brings us an excerpt from Luke's upcoming book that discusses why forms are bad and how you can start to get rid of them. Of course, for a DMO or attraction or airline that needs a physical address to fulfill that brochure you ordered, getting rid of forms is going to be tough...okay, impossible...but Luke does provide some pointers to at least make the process less painful.
http://www.alistapart.com/

Join our Social Network too! - You mean you are not part of your favorite hotel's social network? Well stop writing posts on your GE Microwave / Blender social network (those blendies are so last year) and point all of your free time at yattit.com. Hyatt launched into the social networking world last year with this travel tip / recommendation site which combines Gold Passport members, concierge advice and Frommer's information. I think the idea of including tips from the on site concierge staff is great, same with subsidizing the content offering via Frommers, but the site seems to be coming up a bit short. So far this year there have been a grand total of 2 tips in the Phoenix / Scottsdale section...2 tips in 3 months...not exactly the up-to-date insider information I am looking for. Again, it all goes back to critical mass. If you don't have enough people populating your UGC site with content it will slowly fade away. Perhaps Hyatt should have focused more energy into providing (for example) text message alerts during your stay...the concierge could send you a text if they have show tickets or a great dinner reservation or a tee time. Anything besides another social network. I already belong to 489 of them...one more is just too much.
http://www.yattit.com/

Now You Can Take Us Seriously

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to Laura Bly from the USA Today to contribute to her recent story, 'Blogs start a dialog between travelers, those serving them' (See next post). Needless to say I was quite humbled to speak with Laura, the idea behind the blog was simply to inform and provide insight to our peers...let alone become some sort of an expert.

We spoke at length about blogs, challenges in consumer relationship building, the recent Southwest news, the difficulty in starting a blog and why more tourism agencies don't have them.

To which, Laura pulled my singular quote from the piece:

But official forays into the blogosphere remain scarce — with good reason, says Troy Thompson of the Arizona Office of Tourism and the blog Travel 2.0. "We talk about all these new technologies, but maintaining a blog takes a good chunk of time," he says. "And you have to be open and honest … a lot of people haven't gotten past the idea that there can be negative comments."

Those experienced readers know that Mo and I would have said a lot more than that quote, but alas, you can only fit so many words into a printed piece. Which is also why our concise blog name, Travel 2.0: Interactive Trend Report, was left on the cutting room floor.

I will have to request that ahead of time for the next interview.

Responding to Negative News Via Your Blog

...Southwest Airlines discovered that this month when its 2-year-old Nuts About Southwest blog fielded some 300 public comments about a proposed $10.2 million fine by the Federal Aviation Administration and accusations that the airline flew at least 46 planes without required fuselage inspections. >>Full Story

Thoughts// As many of you know, Southwest Airlines has been facing some tough scrutiny over the past several weeks due to reports of fines and missed inspections. These are very serious allegations that pose a huge challenge for any corporation and it's public relations staff. On top of that, the airline, in it's fun loving way, also promotes a popular blog about all things Southwest.

What has been extremely interesting over the past few weeks is to observe how Southwest has used the blog during this story and what the user / reader reaction been.

For example, take a look at the post titled 'Southwest Airlines Continues Internal Audit' and the 88 comments that follow.

I would expect Southwest to respond with the tone (via posts) that they have used so far. This is a serious issue and for numerous reasons (let alone legal ones) you cannot have just anyone writing about the incidents on the blog. However, that 'corporate' tone just does not fit on a blog, so the posts do stand out a bit...and to some readers seem like 'spin' or a 'cover-up.'

As far as the comments, about what you would expect...half of the readers are irate, half would still rather fly Southwest than any other airline (count me in the latter half, seriously $25 for a second bag?).

Fortunately for Southwest, they have built up a sizable amount of consumer trust and goodwill which should see them through this negative news cycle.

And keep posting away to start rebuilding that lost consumer confidence.

Travel Trends - Mexico, Internet by State, Virgin Charter, Bloggers

Viva Mexico! And Pacifico! - A good map-based creative execution from Pacifico Beer. The site allows visitors to click on the little yellow bottle caps to explore the site, which consists of videos, photos and plenty of good-looking people having fun with a Pacifico! In all seriousness, even though this is a beer-related site, the use of the map, video and design elements could translate very well into a tourism site. Giving away beer to tourists...a sure fire way to increase visitation!
http://mexicoviapacifico.com/

U.S. Internet Usage by State - Some good stats courtesy of eMarketer. Turns out that the most internet users, at least in terms of total households per state, are in some of the smaller states such as New Hampshire and Alaska.
http://www.emarketer.com/

Virgin Charter - Virgin Charter, the online charter jet booking service from do-everything Sir Richard Branson, has recently launched for public use. The site allows you to book charter jet service online and fill those 'empty legs' that most private jets fly.
https://www.virgincharter.com/

Bloggers Are Better Than You - We just could not resist this story from TechCrunch. A new study has found Bloggers are better adjusted and live healthier, happier social lives. The research, from Swinburne University of Technology found that “people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who did not blog” after a two month blogging period when compared to people who do not blog. The good news also extends to users of social networking sites, with the study finding than any online interaction makes users “feel less anxious, depressed and stressed.” I feel better already. How about you Mo?
http://www.techcrunch.com/

If The TSA Can Start a Blog, Why Not You?

The Transportation Security Administration, perhaps best known for blue-gloved screeners who don't tolerate jokes, launched a blog Wednesday called Evolution of Security, which promises to be written by a collection of TSA employees including a frontline screener, technology developer and a TSA analyst. >>Full Story

Thoughts// For those of you who did not hear about this a few days ago, the TSA has launched a public-facing blog to promote an open conversation with the traveling public. Insert your own 'take off your shoes joke' here. As you might expect, the blog contains updates written by a handful of TSA staffers and contains hundreds of comments...if not thousands by this point.

As odd as this idea sounds, I give the TSA some major credit on this one. They opened this line of communication, and are promoting it, knowing full well the blog would receive hundreds of moronic comments from anonymous users who are upset at everything. Plus, once you start something like this, there is no going back or shutting it off...that would just further the negative image that most Americans have of the agency.

That takes some dedication...or craziness.

It will be interesting to see how this blog affects the view of the TSA in the mind of the traveling public. For all of those 'I don't want to take my shoes off' comments, there are already some constructive posts on the blog.

So, if you want to be part of the solution, step up and post a useful comment...instead of just complaining every time you are in the security line.

Bloggers? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Bloggers!

Target to the blogosphere: you’re irrelevant. That was the message the cheap-chic retailer seemed to convey in an abrupt e-mail message to ShapingYouth.org, a blog about the impact of marketing on children. Early this month, the blog’s founder, Amy Jussel, called Target, complaining about a new advertising campaign that depicted a woman splayed across a big target pattern — the retailer’s emblem — with the bull’s-eye at her crotch.

“Targeting crotches with a bull’s-eye is not the message we should be putting out there,” she said in an e-mail interview. Target offered an e-mail response: “Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets,” a public relations person wrote to ShapingYouth. >>Full Story

Author's Note: Not travel related but very relevant.

Thoughts// While this story is not as egregious as the infamous Wal-Mart "flog" (If you're not familiar with it, read about it here), it is nevertheless one that leaves you very confused. For all the buzz about the "conversation economy" and engagement with your audience, Target is apparently not currently using new media (at least blogs) to reach out to consumers.

I concede that monitoring the blogosphere—not completely unlike traditional media monitoring—can be exhaustive, time consuming and unpredictable due to the the difficulty in gauging the honesty, integrity and accuracy of a particular blogger. However the blogosphere is a microcosm of the real world; what people say about you and your products matter; this is all the more important when the person doing the talking (or blogger) is reputable. Not acknowledging, monitoring or participating in a medium that is a real time pulse of consumers is puzzling indeed.

Or perhaps we all have it wrong. Maybe Target does see the value of new media and is using the question from ShapingYouth to spark a firestorm of conversation in the blogs about the brand? Now that would be turning a challenge into an opportunity!

Curious about how Arizona and Oregon monitors online conversations? Read the two part blog, "Tracking Your Social Media & Blogosphere Presence" from the Trend Report in November.

Editor's Note: We could not resist adding a photo from the 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.' For more, read the history of the 'stinking badges' line on Wikipedia.

Travel Trends - TripAdvisor, YouTube, Customer Service

TripAdvisor Shows Off New Look In U.K. - TripAdvisor U.K. rolled out a likely preview of an upcoming site refresh for the state-side travel review site. The updated site, launched in the U.K. this month, features a cleaner look and addresses some of the usage issues that have begun to affect the growing content on the site's homepage. While the new look is not guaranteed to be rolled out on TripAdvisor.com, some of the new design will surely make it's way to the site.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/

Put the YouTube video on Google Earth - Ah, good old synergy. Google announced earlier this month that users of Google Earth will now be able to upload and view YouTube videos linked to specific locations within the program. So, if you are searching Google Earth for the Tower of London, you could also watch related videos from the area around a specific location.
http://www.reuters.com/

I Heart Zappos - A fantastic story circulating online about the power of customer service and blogging. A normal woman...a writer, cook and blogger...writes a simple entry into her blog about an extremely positive experience with online shoe retailer Zappos.com. People read it, email it, pass it around...and now, if you search for the words 'I Heart Zappos' in Google, you receive 223,000 results, most of which about this story. Public relations and viral marketing that you just cannot pay for. Plus, great customer service at it's best.
http://www.zazlamarr.com/blog/

What People Are Doing Online

Thoughts// A very interesting chart from Business Week based upon recent Forrester Research. The data breaks down the internet audience into six groups (Creators, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators and Inactives) and then compares each group by age. Not surprisingly, Critics and Collectors span a wide age range, while Joiners are much more focused on the younger end of the specturm. (Click the image for a detailed view)

Word of the Week - Vlog

A video blog (vlog) is a blog that is primary comprised of video. Regular entries are typically presented in reverse chronological order (exactly like a blog) and often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata.

See our 'Word of the Week - Blog' post for a full definition of a blog.

Word of the Week - Blog

A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.

The easy of use and structure of blogs provides users with the proper tools to create, maintain and publish blogs…as opposed to simple ‘homepage’ sites such as Yahoo Geocities, which could require HTML knowledge from the user.

(See this site as an example)

PR Newswire to Offer Comprehensive Blog Measurement Tool

PR Newswire today announced a partnership with Umbria, a market intelligence company that specializes in blog research and consumer generated media (CGM) for market insight, to provide clients with a comprehensive blog measurement tool that allows them to assess the impact of online consumer conversations about their company, products and brands.

Thoughts// A major challenge with the growth of blogs has been the limited tracking capabilities from a media value perspective as the article explains: “The advent of citizen-generated media has both delighted and confounded public relations professionals.” This new tool, dubbed ‘PR Newswire's MediaSense™ Blog Measurement’ will allow clients to track blog posts around a press release or a news topic, and monitor how these conversations grow and wane. The article includes additional detail, including a sample report.