Articles by Katie Leeman

I used to be one of those people who would read articles in major news outlets and be shocked at certain statistics. “50% of people in Oklahoma City don’t have high school diplomas!” “Eating strawberries reduces your chance of developing eye cancer by 67%!” “80% of married men cheat!” I’d scurry off to my friends and repeat what I’d read, devising how I’d need to change my lifestyle to ensure I didn’t end up with a bad case of psoriasis from eating cole slaw.

Little did I know what a mistake I was making. It’s fascinating how easily statistics and research data can be manipulated to present a very biased picture of what’s actually going on. As marketers, we need to champion the use of good market research as the base upon which all marketing programs are built, and be certain we’re building our research methods as effectively as possible.

Here are some tips to help you avoid falling into these all-too-common research data traps:

1. Be a skeptic. 

People tend to use statistics carelessly, and the actual research study that was performed is rarely linked to the article. A writer might not disclose whether a corporate sponsor paid for the research and is skewing the results. Before you run off implementing some new social networking strategy after reading an article claiming 67% of American households use Facebook and/or Twitter, do YOUR research. Dig out the research study and read it. With the Internet, we have the power to find these things. I hate to say, “Don’t believe anything you read,” but it’s often true.

2. Understand what could constitute bad research. 

Experiments are set up differently for many reasons. For example, you can’t force someone to start smoking, or drive without a seatbelt. This means that inferences have to be drawn based on an observational study of smokers, and—yes, you got it—that pool of subjects is already biased. The results from that group would not yield results applicable to a non-biased population. A randomized study usually provides less biased data. Observational studies should always have a control group, and sometimes they don’t. Worse, some studies completely falsify their data. Be aware!

3. Pay attention to sample size.

This is a very common trap. Studies often exaggerate the feedback from a very small data set as being representative of an entire population. If 10 people are giving you positive feedback about your new HR policies, be sure to be thorough in finding out if the other 500 employees feel the same. You often find wild swings in variation in small sets of data. Leave your ego out of it—collect enough data to be sure you’re your sample represents the entire population within a reasonable margin of error.

4. Everything regresses toward the mean.

Disappointing, I know. If you changed nothing, those outstanding click-through rates you got two months in a row after months of steady results are probably just chance. In time, all swings even out.

As marketers, we know how easy it is to design campaigns to manipulate people’s minds and habits. However, we have a responsibility to the consumer and to ourselves to use data correctly. Back up your claims. Use credible research. Collect enough data to make sure your conclusions are correct. Data doesn’t lie, and neither should we.

In my post a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about entering the Jim Beam Remake contest, where users submitted their original parodies and remakes of the new Jim Beam commercials.  

A few days ago, as I arrived home in the evening, I noticed a large envelope poking out of my mailbox. It didn’t have a return address. My boyfriend and I were so curious as to its contents, we ripped it open before we even got inside.

Inside were a Jim Beam t-shirt and a letter from the director of whiskeys, thanking the participants for sending in their videos. I was sincerely impressed by how classy and sincere the letter was. It seemed this person and her team had truly enjoyed watching the hundreds of video entries. She even stated she would do it all again, and hopes we would too.

In my post a year ago about Anton’s Cleaners , I talked about how customer retention works when companies let their customers know they care. It doesn’t need to be big, it doesn’t need to be expensive, but it needs to be personal.

To be honest, I’ve never had an ounce of whiskey or bourbon. But after having such intense brand interaction with Jim Beam, there is no way the Jim Beam brand won’t be at the forefront of my mind the next time I go into a liquor store to stock up for a party or to buy a bottle of liquor for a friend. And the next-best thing to going to bed with a bottle of liquor cradled in your arms is going to bed with a nightgown-sized 2XL t-shirt from Jim Beam. 

I was on vacation in Arizona when my friend Sara, a comedy writer and fellow comedian, sent me an email.

“DO THIS WITH ME,” it read, with a link to the Jim Beam website.

Jim Beam’s recent advertising campaign, shown ad nauseum on TBS during Celtics games, flashed through my head. They wanted users to create and submit their own videos, either inspired by or a parody of, the commercials. Sara was going to write a script in which I would get to parody the gorgeous girl who says she likes her man “a little bit hairy.”
I slammed back the remainder of my ice tea and replied, “Hell yes!” 

For comedians and humor appreciators of all persuasions, sites like Funnyordie.com and CollegeHumor.com are becoming an increasingly popular place to watch video creativity in action. It’s like an oasis of laughter in a web crowded with depressing political commentary sites and stay-at-home mom blogs. Besides being a great way to get exposure, it’s also a way to connect people across the country. And lately, corporate America has been starting to use user generated media to their advantage, too.

From Ragu’s “Great American Family” contest to the Brooks running shoe contest, companies are saying to their customers, “Hey! We value you! Come be a part of this with us! It’s fun!” On our commercial parody production team, we studied the original commercials, talked about effective ways to represent the Jim Beam brand, and forced our friends and families to watch the submissions as they rolled in. What better way for a company to build community, engender brand loyalty and market virally, all at one time? Customer retention happens when you make your customers feel like a part of your brand. And if you listen close enough, what your customers are saying can probably help you move in the right direction in the future.

It’s working for Jim Beam. They had hundreds upon hundreds of video submissions, ranging from brilliant to disturbed. (To the man whose cat inexplicably ate his wig during the video—I just want you to know your lingerie was really classy.) One guy even built a Facebook Fan page to advertise that he had entered the contest. Talk about word-of-mouth and social media in action! 

And as for our submission…well, we didn’t make it to the finals. Maybe it was because my character barfed into her purse. Maybe it was the mature lady mud wrestling. We’ll never know. But I do know that next time I throw a party, I’m buying some Jim Beam.

To say we’re heating up for another testy presidential election would be an understatement. This burner’s been on for months and we’re all overcooked. I loved the primaries, but by April, I was exhausted by the Democratic Party’s inability to choose a candidate, and by Mitt Romney’s embarrassing quest to purchase the White House. When it became clear that my pantsuited hero was out, I licked my wounds and placed myself defiantly in the undecided camp.

I am exactly the person both Obama and McCain want to sway to their side. Obama wants me to understand just how mentally unstable McCain is. How could he possibly not remember how many houses he owns?! McCain wants me to know how Obama himself said, in 2004, how he would not be ready to be president in 2008. How could you possibly elect such a celebrity 2008?!

But this year, something is different. Both political parties are making their pleas to me via the web, which is the information and entertainment tool I, and every single one of my peers, use more than any other medium. In past election years, I’d be lucky to catch an attack ad or two on television on the weekends. Now, it seems like I’m seeing new web videos released every few days. I’m watching as McCain compares Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and as Obama warns us that McCain will send more troops to Iraq. I can watch them multiple times (I said can, not want to) and send them along to my friends – something that was impossible with television ads.

Of course we can’t lose sight of the fact that this is still all politics as usual. McCain might not get my vote because he keeps coming out with better videos of key Democrats sounding off about Obama’s lack of experience. The point is that they’re reaching me and I’m watching them. And on November 4, I have to make a decision.

In a year packed with mostly forgettable ads, there’s one company people are still berating, for the second year in a row, for airing the Super Bowl’s worst ads.

We expected it – and CEO Vin Gupta promised it. Last year, the salesgenie.com ads “positively impacted” business to such an extent that Gupta followed the same tact this year. He even conceptualized the commercials and wrote the dialogue himself.

It’s not the bad accents, uninspired “storyline,” or even the crappy animation. It’s that the company came off looking cheap and low quality. And if the commercials made you curious enough to visit salesgenie.com, you’re in for a sorry surprise. Their Web site only enhances the low brow corporate image displayed in the television ads.

Moreover, isn’t it ironic that a company that specializes in sales leads – targeted selling to a qualified audience – would be so untargeted in their own sales campaign? Sure, they might have reached a million salespeople through their Super Bowl ads, but how many people who don’t give a damn about anything sales-related, saw those ads? Nearly 100 million – the waste was incredible. And for the $6 million spent on animated panda bears and evil bosses, they could have created a content-based, targeted private channel in which they actually create a relationship with their real prospects. How did a sales lead company, a company that sells to salespeople, miss that?

I like my dry cleaning strong. Strong colors, strong creases, strong chemical smells. I want to peel my ultra-heavy starched shirts right off the hanger and feel as though I’m wearing a brand-new shirt. I want to lift up that plastic veil and marvel at the sight of my born-again wool coats. I want to be sure that my linen pants were dipped in pool of industrial-strength Oxy Clean and then lovingly hand-creased by a strong and meticulous Russian woman.

After a recent move, I decided to frequent a nearby location of the Zoots chain. “They have a delivery service, shoe repair AND in-store tailoring!” I salivated. “Boy, I bet they’ll crease my pants with pride. I’m there.”

And so began my year-long lukewarm affair with Zoots. At first, I was just vaguely dissatisfied with the fact that when I dropped clothes off, it was at least four days before I could pick them up. Then, I began to notice that the receipt they gave me for pick-up never had the cost on it. And the clothes just never…felt clean. More than anything, I just couldn’t shake the thought that they were trying to dupe me into paying more for what was truly some mediocre cleaning and even more mediocre service. 

So, my recent decision to try another dry cleaner was indeed premeditated. I packed up my silk shirts and tailored pants and headed to another local chain called Anton’s. I dropped my clothes off with ease, was told they’d be ready in two days, and received a pick-up receipt that had the cost of the cleaning prominently displayed. I was already off to a better start, I mused as I left the store.

About three days later, I reached into my mailbox to find a mysterious package with a hand-applied label and a stamp. I took a closer look and discovered it was a cheery, beautifully designed welcome package from Anton’s. I eagerly tore the package open and saw it included a welcome letter highlighting store locations, a bevy of coupons and a card with dry-cleaning tips, among other items.

Anton’s chose the precise media channel, direct mail, to reach me, and right after I had a very positive experience with them. The excellent timing, the variety of useful materials enclosed and the attractive, welcoming packaging all worked together to make me feel like they truly cared about serving me. They noticed I was a new customer, and they sent me a package to show they appreciated it. That’s perhaps one of the most simple, yet most important keys of customer retention – just showing you care. And no matter what people say about the death of direct mail, if it’s as well-executed as my package from Anton’ was, a simple $1 or $2 mailing might just earn you a customer for life.

Zoots may have cared about my business, but they certainly never showed it. And now that I have Anton’s to re-fresh my creases, I’m one happy customer. 

It was early on a Thursday morning in Nashville, and sunlight streamed into the hotel lobby, glinting off the silver serving trays filled with pastries. A well-coiffed man walked up to the SunTrust Committed to Growth event registration table. He greeted me enthusiastically, shook my hand firmly and introduced himself. He was an entrepreneur and business owner and, from the looks of him, most likely a successful one. 

Suddenly, his winsome smile darkened. He leaned in toward me, his thick southern drawl even more pronounced. “Now. Whom do I speak to about my dissatisfaction with SunTrust?”

A stout, smiling banker to my left stepped forward. “Hi sir, now what’s the problem?” The banker whisked the man off into the crowd, attentively listening to his issues.

In that moment, it struck me what a gift this was for SunTrust. To have a customer call you while angry and for you to scramble to band-aid an unsavory situation is one thing; for them to show up in person at your event and to give you the chance to repair a bad relationship face-to-face is another.

King Fish Media, in partnership with Profitable Channels, has been producing and managing SunTrust Small Business Growth seminars for the past several years. After every event, I hear this comment in various forms: “Gosh, it’s so good to be able to connect with prospects and current clients face-to-face.” It’s the personal touch that makes a relationship thrive, and in an industry that’s as dry yet as personal as banking, it’s essential for customer retention.

The value of live events extends beyond just delivering informative, relevant content to your valued customers. It opens up endless possibilities for customer service and stewardship that other media channels don’t provide. Although at times difficult to accurately measure, it’s clear that a timely, well-produced live event is often the most impactful channel through which customers can fully grasp your commitment to them.   

By the end of the morning, the smile on the business owner’s face at the SunTrust seminar couldn’t have been more genuine, and the banker sent him off with a flourish. He returned to his banking colleagues are remarked, “Now that’s good stuff.”

I hate Volkswagen. No, I take that back. I loathe Volkswagen.

Now, mind you, when I purchased my 2000 VW Passat seven years ago, I was in love with it. The sunroof, the luxurious leather seats, the Tiptronic transmission, the deep blue exterior – I was in heaven. I felt like I was driving a truly magnificent piece of German machinery.

Then, two years into my ownership of my beloved chariot, and, coincidentally, at the end of my warranty, things started to go wrong. The check engine light came on. I took it in to be fixed. They turned the light off and told me nothing was wrong. It came on again the next day. I took it in. They turned it off and told me nothing was wrong. Rinse and repeat for five straight years.

I’ve had the secondary air pump replaced three times and it needs to be replaced again. The dealer’s current explanation for the check engine light’s annoying glare (and deafening beep if I accelerate quickly) is that I drive in puddles, which is causing water to get in the pump. I told them if their cars couldn’t withstand the rain, I’d be better served investing in a goat to transport me to work every day.

Curiously, there is one thing that has prevented me from pushing my car into the sea. It arrives in my email inbox every month and despite my addiction to deleting emails, I don’t delete it. Rather, I open it up and read every piece. It’s the monthly VW newsletter from my local dealer, rife with articles about the newest 2008 Passats (“offering more value than possibly another any European sedan,” I am pleased to read) coupons for oil changes and tips on where to find the best fall foliage.

I love this newsletter. I’ve read every one, top to bottom. I click on every link, poring over the articles on engine upgrades, photos of the newest models, and pieces on where to go whitewater rafting. I mentally calculate what it would take to trade my car in for a new Jetta or Toureg. Temporarily, I forget how frustrated my car has made me, how I routinely beg friends and family to steal my car in the night, how I’ve denied the car its overdue inspection sticker for the past three months. Every month, I want a new one, a better one, one that will whisk me away to the best theme park in New England.

I’m no stranger to custom publishing. We create customer retention newsletters just like this at King Fish Media. In fact, our work for Compass Bank just received a MIN award for integrated marketing. I know this is all created for my demographic. But, working for a marketing firm, I usually feel I am immune to marketing methods in my personal life. I’m surprised at how powerful one piece of communication, so carefully crafted, so compellingly put together, can make me want to take another drink from the tainted water fountain. But, it does. It’s working. Quality, relevant content delivered to the right person can clearly have a magical effect. VW has created its own private media channel for me and for my fellow VW owners, using custom content to help build a high-affinity relationship for customer retention.

So, now it’s only a matter of time before I walk into my local dealer with a problem and walk out with a beautiful new solution. For two years, anyway.

“It looks like your payment was misplaced, so we had to turn off your electricity. We have no proof that you sent it. I can’t backdate payments. This probably ruined your credit. I know it’s 95 degrees out and you’re sweating to death in your house. There’s nothing I can do. Maybe you own a fan? Thank you for calling First Electric Company! Have a great day!” rambles the robotic customer support representative, barely stopping to listen.

As you slam down your phone and your dog whimpers in the sweltering heat, you yell, “How could they lose my payment?! They didn’t even listen to me! I AM HOT!”  

Whether it’s a snotty salesperson, a condescending technical support representative or a negligent front desk agent, we all know what it’s like to be treated badly by someone who is being paid to help us. As we seethe in anger over being mistreated, we have several options. Our doctors would recommend a brisk walk so we can clear our heads. Our inner fatties demand ice cream. The road-rager in us demands we get in the car and see how many other drivers we can drive off the road.

But what do most of us do? We complain. Loudly. To anyone who will listen. And increasingly, that includes posting about our experiences online.

No matter what you’re angry about, there is a site on which you can post about it. Having issues with your faulty Hyundai? Post on furiocity.com, where the site logo is a frowny-face emoticon. Have major beef with Capital One? Take a gander at caponesucks.com, where over 6,000 registered users complain about being mishandled by Capital One. Feel that you were wrongfully arrested? Grumble about it with fellow inmates on screwedcentral.com, where they will also gladly host your complaints about the government.

So how do companies control the negative feedback? As media becomes more and more instant, the need to know what people are saying about your company is critical. The impact of one bad experience broadcast on the internet could potentially expedite customer churn and cost you millions of dollars in lost revenue. I came across one extremely angry man who claims that a pest control company killed his dog and is trying to send his wife to prison for writing a bad check. If that isn’t bad PR, I don’t know what is.

It may be easy to brush off angry customers as being crazy, but that tact might not be the right one to take. In most industries, there is very little difference between competitive products, so customer service has become the great differentiator. It is critical that someone in your marketing organization monitors these sites and monitors what people are saying online about your brand. In addition, it would be a wise move to provide your customers with a clear and easy-to-use forum for sending their disputes and complaints to you directly instead of sending their rage directly into the void. 

The bottom line is that you’d better start listening, or else the rest of the world will first.