ETD: 823 Customer Service; More Ad Snafus; Exhibiting at Trade Shows
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Oct 5 11:12:48 GMT 2004
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0823 October 5, 2004
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Customer Service
[3] More Ad Snafus
[4] Exhibiting at Trade Shows
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Customer service never goes out of style. In fact, not only does it cement
your existing customer base, but it will help bring in new business. What
do you think?
I found some cute advertisement snafus with major corporations who go into
other countries. And we're talking about major companies. WARNING. Don't
have a mouthful of coffee as you read these ;-).
Many of us will be attending or exhibiting at trade shows this fall. I
found some interesting tips to add to our "Trade Show Tips and Pointers"
paper which has become a "bible" for trade show exhibiting. Tell us some
of your experiences and share your visits to upcoming shows.
81 days until Christmas. What are you doing this year to increase business?
Tell us about your business which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?"
site. http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have a
form there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed
this idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't
know anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Customer Service
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Yesterday I had an excellent experience with Microsoft customer service,
even though I was talking to a lady in India, and had a little difficulty
understanding her. But the service was excellent. Actually, anytime I
ever call Microsoft, I am impressed with the results (called 4-5 times).
This time we had an issue with out wireless network where two of our
laptops weren't connecting to the network, yet two desk tops and another
laptop were connected. Microsoft stayed with us on the line while we
worked through the issues, including conferencing with Linksys to get help
from them.
When they were finished they summarized the issues I had, and asked if the
resolved them. To me this is brilliant - identify the issues up front,
solve them, ask if they were solved and close the deal.
Was the Indian outsourcing a problem? Not to me, but it is to many. As
far as I am concerned, if they provide good service, nothing else really
matters (re: customer service - job loss may be another issue). Do your
customer support people do that in your business?
I had another pleasant experience at Jos A Banks where I was buying a
couple of suits. I had a personal shopper who worked with me to get the
right suits and matching accessories. Then the tailor did his magic, and I
asked if they would take in suits that I hadn't bought here (lost weight
and went down two sizes) and they said yes they do for preferred
customers. I brought in three jackets.
Needless to say, I was happy and, guaranteed, I will buy from them from
now on.
Good customer service goes a long way!
George
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[3] More Ad Snafus
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I always enjoy the snafus caused by major organizations when they try to do
similar ads in other countries. Here are some new ones, plus some old
favorites...
When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back, they
translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" pretty literally.
The slogan in Chinese really meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from
the Grave."
In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into
the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water."
Chinese translation proved difficult for Coke, which took two tries to get
it right. They first tried Ke-kou-ke-la because when pronounced it sounded
roughly like Coca-Cola. It wasn't until after thousands of signs had been
printed that they discovered that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole"
or "female horse stuffed with wax," depending on the dialect. Second time
around things worked out much better. After researching 40,000 Chinese
characters, Coke came up with "ko-kou-ko-le" which translates roughly to
the much more appropriate "happiness in the mouth."
Not to be outdone, Puffs tissues tried later to introduce its product, only
to learn that "Puff" in German is a colloquial term for a whorehouse. The
English weren't too fond of the name either, as it's a highly derogatory
term for a non-heterosexual.
Chicken magnate Frank Perdue's line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender
chicken," sounds much more interesting in Spanish: "It takes a sexually
stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."
Bacardi concocted a fruity drink with the name "Pavian" to suggest French
chic...but "pavian" means "baboon" in German.
A hair products company, Clairol, introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling
iron, into Germany only to find out that mist is slang for manure. Not too
many people had use for the manure stick.
When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese market, to their horror
they discovered that their slogan "finger lickin' good" came out as "eat
your fingers off"
Parker Pens translated the slogan for its ink, "Avoid Embarrassment - Use
Quink" into Spanish as "Evite Embarazos - Use Quink"...which also means,
"Avoid Pregnancy - Use Quink."
The Chevy Nova never sold well in Spanish speaking countries. "No va" means
"it doesn't go" in Spanish.
When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same
packaging as here in the USA - with the cute baby on the label. Later they
found out that in Africa companies routinely put pictures on the label of
what's inside since most people can't read.
The American Dairy Association was so successful with its "Got Milk?"
campaign, that it was decided to extend the ads to Mexico. Unfortunately,
the Spanish translation was "Are you lactating?"
Electrolux, a Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer, used this ad in the U.S.:
"Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
Colgate introduced a toothpaste called "Cue" in France, but it turned out
to be the same name as a well-known porno magazine.
When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery, "Fly in leather,"
it came out in Spanish as "Fly naked."
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as
"Suffer from diarrhea."
---
George
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[4] Exhibiting at Trade Shows
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It's trade show season once again. I was researching some material and
remembered the "Trade Shows Tips and Pointers" special report we have at
http://www.etailersdigest.com/resources/Specials/TradeShows.htm
I also found some others that are interesting.
The top 10 reasons exhibitors invest their marketing funds in trade-show
space are:
1.Collect qualified leads from prospective customers.
2. Launch new products or relaunch mature products.
3. Meet with current customers and build relationships.
4. Re-connect with former customers.
5. Conduct research among your target audience.
6. Showcase the expertise of exceptional staff (e.g. engineers) that may
have little customer interaction.
7. Re-energize your sales force with training activities around the event.
8. Find joint venture organizations.
9. Sell to other exhibitors.
10. Sell products/take orders for future delivery.
Before signing the contract as an exhibitor, be sure you know what the show
is all about. Ask the show organizers the right questions:
1. Describe the show and what makes your show different from others?
2. Who is the target audience? Decision makers? Buyers? Request
detailed demographics of last year visitors. Get job titles, company size,
how many people will be attending who actually buy your product category.
Has the show has been audited by an outside organization.
3. Determine what marketing tools the show organizer includes as part of
the basic exhibit package (e.g. Web listings and links to your Web site,
free attendance tickets to your prospective clients, etc.)
4. Do they provide lists of attendees from prior years to which you can do
your own preshow marketing? If not, forget the show.
5. Who has been invited to exhibit and who exhibited last year?
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2004/sb20040921_7013_sb018.htm?c=bwfrontiersep28&n=link1&t=email
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