The JaffeBLEND Blog

Boobs, the Customer Life Cycle and Old Stock

One of the areas of marketing I was and am always so passionate about is the Customer Life Cycle. Why? Because it just makes sense from the perspective of companies/brands/products building RELATIONSHIPS with customers rather than making things that sell.

One such company who do it well are Rigby and Peller.

 

On the purchase of breastfeeding bra's, you get a discount for your first purchase of "normal" bra's. Someone, somewhere figured out that eventually women stop breastfeeding, and since the shape of their breasts change (sorry if this comes as a shock to you), they need new bra's. Useful for the customer and for Rigby and Peller, Kerrrching!

Alas, I was disappointed when buying some underwear there today. I had 3 panties (or briefs or knickers depending which word you use in your country) and each were priced differently: 17.95, 19.95 and 21.95. WHAT?? When I discovered this, I asked the sales lady who seemed just as mystified as me. She checked with the manager, who sheepishly explained that "old stock was priced lower and new stock was subject to the stronger Euro"). I'm sorry, but when did your stock issues become MY problem? If they were really smart they would have:

- offered me all 3 for the price of the lowest and admitted that you simply cannot price the same product in 3 different ways AND

- re-pricing all stock at the higher price and increasing overall margins

A company simply should not expect a customer to pay 3 different prices for the same commodity. Currency fluctuations and inventory are NOT the customer's problem and retailers should not expose their clientele to this. 

A final digital note: while R & P are well ranked in Google, if you type the name in with any variations e.g. "Pellar" instead of "Peller" or with ".co.uk" instead of ".com" you do NOT get redirected. Surely companies should be anticipating typo's and claiming these URL's? Or am I the only dumb cluck who doesn't immediately always use Google....? 

The Future of Content

In the past, we were slaves to content. We had to be glued to the TV on a certain day at a certain time to catch our favourite programme, and then we had to endure breaks with advertising (well at least we got a chance to go to the toilet!). We accepted it. That was the deal and hey, Dallas and Dynasty were worth it (not to mention the A-team, MacGyver and Family Ties) – ok, so now you probably know how old I am. I come from a generation where content was only streamed in English on alternate days in South Africa, and from 6 p.m., so we actually used to watch the TV test picture with the clock counting down the minutes in anticipation.

The deal then gradually changed with the advent of 3 things:

1. Devices that allowed us to record programmes – from the simple VCR to the Hard disk recorder (PVR) and TiVo/Sky boxes
2. Illegal content distribution on peer-2-peer networks like LimeWire and eMule
3. DVD's with entire TV series (allowing for content bingeing!)

The new generation and newly evolving current MacGyver generation gradually realised that they no longer had to accept the old deal – we could watch what we wanted, whenever we wanted, how much we wanted and on whichever device. Personally I find that I can stomach a maximum of 3 episodes a time on a DVD (having ploughed through season 2 of Mad Men and 30 Rock).

The "any device" part has still been challenging for consumers but I recently have been experimenting with 2 devices which I can highly recommend and which have significantly impacted my content viewing experience.

1. Apple TV

This is really a hard disk with a tiny remote that allows you to access iTunes and iPhoto content (photos, movies) as well as YouTube. It couldn't be easier to install, and now I download movies (in HD!) as well as my favourite TV programmes. Even better is the use of a pal's US credit card so I get the latest and greatest TV from the US iTunes store. Naughty but nice! I hardly use the YouTube access although the photo albums I have on my Mac are also 'synced' via WiFi with my Apple TV so I can share photo albums seamlessly with friends on the super huge plasma in my living room. This product gets a massive thumbs up from me for ease of use and the extent it has enriched my personal content viewing experience.

One niggly point to note is that, for some reason, you need to have your Mac on the same time and the Apple Remote operates my Mac menu as well as the Apple TV menu (weird??).

2. Slingbox Pro

I actually had a Slingbox already but never got it to work via the web as it could never communicate with my old router. After months of gathering dust, I gave Sling Media another chance, with the help of their upgrade programme as I desperately wanted to access my Skybox from abroad ("necessity is the mother of invention"). I purchased the Slingbox Pro and hoped I wasn't making a huge mistake (otherwise I'd flog it on eBay).

A Slingbox is essentially a device that allows you to stream content from say a Sky box and Apple TV to your laptop and mobile WHEREEVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD as long as you have an internet connection. How cool is that? So basically when I'm in South Africa at the end of the year for several weeks, I can watch all my favourite UK programmes from the comfort of my bedroom. There's even a nifty iPhone app (of course).

This was somewhat trickier to install than Apple TV, but only because I have an Orange Livebox router which is troublesome (as is everything from Orange - sorry, I still have a chip on my shoulder). Having said that, I called the Sling Media helpdesk, and after one ring got a super smart guy on the phone who helped me in nano-seconds to get everything working perfectly. And please note, I am absolutely terrified of connecting multiple cables especially when they have names like scart, HDMI, component, s-video and composite. I am ready to buy shares in this company, heck, I'm ready to get Sling Media tattooed to my forehead as I have NEVER EVER had such a superb customer experience from a company, and coupled with a simply ingenious product, I predict there will be a Slingbox in many of our homes moving forward.

In fact, I was recently complaining on Twitter how long I had to wait for Season 2 of Mad Men. A kind Twitter follower of mine offered his Slingbox access code as he'd recorded for his brother who was on duty in Iraq. Although I ended up buying the DVD set (as he no longer had the initial episodes), this example demonstrates the convergence between social media and new technology which really empowers viewers globally – from a Mad Men fan in London to a soldier in Iraq from a hard disk recorder in the US.

So bottom line, I am extremely excited about the progress in content delivery and hope you'll give these devices a try. I've seen the future of content ... and it's in my living room!