Sky Deutschland: Kundenservice im Abschreibungsland 2.0

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Am liebsten würde ich diesen Post anfangen mit “Es war einmal…”. Denn es fällt einem schwer zu glauben, dass diese Geschichte in der heutigen Zeit nicht erfunden ist. Ist sie aber nicht…!

Es geht um den Kundenservice der Sky Deutschland Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. Und würde ich mich nicht seit mehr als einem Jahr über den Kundenservice wundern, so hätte ich mir diesen Post erspart. Es ist ein Fallbeispiel der ganz besonderen Art und Wert, geteilt zu werden.

Zur Vorgeschichte…
Vor einem Jahr wollte ich auf HD Receiver und Empfang “upgraden”. Ein Anruf bei der Sky ließ mich wissen, dass es derzeit keine HD-Empfänger für Kabelempfang gäbe. Deshalb könne man derzeit meinen Vertrag nicht gleich hoch stufen. Es würden Gespräche geführt mit dem Hardwarelieferanten HUMAX und solange müsse man eben dann auf seinen HD Empfang warten. Was soviel hieß wie, man könne eigentlich keine neuen Umsätze mit Kabelempfängern machen in Deutschland. Man fragte sich, wie eine Firma unter solchen Umständen ordentliche Umsätze schreiben kann.

Ungläubig gegenüber dieser Information versuchte ich mein Glück über einen Saturn Markt in München und siehe da: Ein Verkäufer am Sky-Stand berichtete nach einem ausführlichen Telefonat von der Option, dass ich zwei Wochen später eine Promotion nutzen könne, die mir den HD-Empfang und Erhalt eines HD-Receivers ermöglichen würde. Ich müsse nur am Telefon in zwei Wochen alles erklären und dann wäre ich auf HD-Empfang.

Zwei Wochen später bestellte ich am Telefon das Angebot, welches die Dame eingab und mir versicherte, in ein paar Tagen sei der Empfänger samt HD-Empfang da. Ich nehme es vorweg. Nein, er kam nicht… Er kam nie.

Wie ich später erfuhr, hatte die Dame nämlich offensichtlich gar nichts eingegeben (oder vergessen zu speichern), denn im CMS gab es zu dem Telefonat keinen Eintrag, als ich zwei Wochen später nachfragte. Auch drei Wochen später, als ich einen zweiten Versuch wagte, klappte es nicht. Wiedermals kein Eintrag auf Nachfrage. Das Special war inzwischen abgelaufen und ich gab auf.

Als ich noch einmal zufällig im selbigen Media-Markt war, fragte ich einen neuen Verkäufer, was man eigentlich mit Premiere Kunden mache, die immer noch einen alten Vertrag haben. Der Sky-Verkäufer sagte stolz, dass im nächsten Jahr alle Verträge -und es seien doch noch zahlreiche- auf Sky umgestellt und die alten aufgelöst werden. Das zweifelte ich an mit dem Argument anzunehmender schwindender Umsätze und hohem Kundenrückgang. Das könne Herrn Murdoch wohl nicht egal sein, bemerkte ich. Zu meinem Erstaunen erwiderte er: “Deutschland ist ein Abschreibungsland für Herrn Murdoch. Da machen Sie sich mal keine Sorgen. Springen die Leute ab, macht Hr. Murdoch das wenig aus.” (Staunen meinerseits.) Aha…!

Ich werde also mal abwarten, ob mein Vertrag nun im kommenden Jahr ausläuft.

Das alles geschah vor ungefähr einem halben Jahr.

Die Gegenwart…
Nun war ich vor einer Woche in London im Hotel und wollte mich auf meinem iPad auf der App auf Sky einloggen. Es war ein Champions League Abend und ich wollte den kostenlosen iPad Service “Alle Inhalte jetzt bis 31. Dezember 2010 kostenlos.” nutzen.

Einloggen ging auch, aber mehr nicht… Nach dem Laden der App gab es lediglich eine Trailer von Sky und danach ging nichts mehr…

“Auf diesem Kanal wird zur Zeit nicht gesendet ” teilte die App mir mit.

Ein Anruf bei der Hotline sagte mir, ich solle schnell eine Mail schreiben, denn für alle Onlinebelange und -mängel sei der Online Kundendienst zuständig. Der Telefonservice könne da nichts machen. “Hier sitzen zahlreiche Menschen für Onlineanfragen vor ihren Rechnern, genauso wie ich am Telefon”, meinte die freundliche Damenstimme. Gesagt, getan – die Anfrage ging an die Online-Hotline. Das war an einem Dienstag! Ich wartete also auf Feedback per Mail. Natürlich wartete ich auf ein Feedback in gewissem Masse in Echtzeit…

Feedback kam – am Samstag darauf. 5 Tage später. Per Post…! Kein Scherz!!! Nachfolgend der Brief – lest bitte selbst…

Jetzt fehlen mir die Worte im Zeitalter Abschreibungsland 2.0…
(Aus Datenschutzgründen wurden bestimmte Nummern und Namen aus dem Schreiben von mir entfernt.)

Spot On!
Sehr passend kommt mir da eine Befragung von novomind heute vor die Augen. Offensichtlich ist Online-Kundenservice in Deutschland immernoch im Hintertreffen. Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass es nach Ansicht der Befragten in 50% der Unternehmen keine Online-Strategie für den Kundenservice gäbe – geschweige denn im Social Web: Bislang würden im Schnitt gerade einmal 2% der deutschen Kontaktaufnahmestellen für Firmen in sozialen Netzwerken agieren, bei externen Dienstleistern wären es immerhin 5%.

Erscheinen nur mir die Zahlen für den Online-Kundendienst in Deutschland erschreckend niedrig? Ist hier nicht schnellstens Nachholbedarf angesagt? Oder greift der Deutsche noch gerne zum Telefon (wie auch ich zuerst)?

Bild: Ingrid Kranz / pixelio.de

The Social CEO – Study offers insight in Top 50 companies

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A new study “Socializing Your CEO: From (Un)Social to Social” by Weber Shandwick found out the majority of CEOs from the world’s largest companies —64%— are not social. The definition of “not social” means that the world’s top 50 companies are not engaging online with external stakeholders. It shows us that most of them are not doing publicly visible communications activities.

93% of CEOs in the world’s top 50 companies communicated externally in traditional fashion. These CEOs were quoted in the major global news and business publications and 40% follow the tactic to participate in speaking engagements to an external, non-investor, audience.

“Strong evidence exists that CEOs are not silent in these turbulent times. They are extensively quoted in the business press, frequently deliver keynote speeches at conferences and participate in business school forums. But when it comes to digital engagement externally, CEOs are not yet fully socialized, often with good reason.” (…) “As we continue to track the rise of the Social CEO and chief executives become more comfortable with the new media, we expect that this will change and change fast.” Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist, Weber Shandwick

The key research findings of a Social CEO were…

– Social CEOs lead companies with higher reputational status. Most admired company CEOs in the study had greater online visibility profiles than less admired company CEOs (41% vs. 28%).
– Social CEOs are multi-channel users when they engage online. 72% used more than one channel (on average 1.8 channels).
– 60% of Social CEOs were American-based companies, 12% were EMEA-based.

“There are several reasons why CEOs are not more Social. Time is better spent with customers and employees, their reputations are at an all-time low among the general public, the return on investment has not yet been proven, legal counsel tends to caution against it and anything that smacks of ‘celebrity CEO’ is a no-win. (…) In this increasingly digital age, CEOs should embrace the value of connectivity with customers, talent and other important stakeholders online. With 1.96 billion Internet users around the world, CEOs should be where people are watching, reading, chatting and listening,” said Gaines-Ross.

Spot On!
In their study Weber Shandwick recommends “six rules of the road” for CEOs to enhance their social reputation and interactivity.
1. Identify best online practices of your peers and best-in-class social CEO communicators. Then establish and stretch your own comfort zone.
2. Start with the fundamentals (e.g., online videos or photos). Inventory and aggregate existing executive communications for repurposing online.
3. Simulate or test-drive social media participation. Understand what you’re getting into before you go live. Start internally although recognize that internal employee communications spreads externally seamlessly.
4. Decide upfront how much time you can commit to being Social. It can range from once a week to once a month to once a quarter or less often. Be your own best judge of what feels right.
5. Craft a narrative that captures the attention of audiences that matter and humanizes your company’s reputation.
6. Accept the fact that Getting Social needs to be part of your corporate reputation management program. Purposefully manage your social reputation as well as your corporate reputation.

Is customer orientation and focus the strategy for a succesful CEO future, or the social approach gaining reputation? Are there other rules you would recommend? How about the efficiency topic – gaining or losing time and productivity? Either way, let us know…

The way to the real-time future of marketing mix

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When you hear the term “marketing mix”, what do you think…? Pause! Think… Pause!

Does that sound familiar to you? For some of you it might. To others it blurs as they follow the hypes as new marketing topics that are shouting at them. Or did you listen to their silent tones? Isn’t it better to varify and understand the client before start creating a new marketing-mix.

Watching the latest videos on your Youtube channel, talking to “friends” on Facebook or following the latest conversations on Twitter is one thing. Drawing conclusions out of these conversations on the social web world is another. And taking actions like evaluating adwords versus email versus social network marketing or blogs versus micro-blogs) for your marketing mix afterwards is a third step.

Conclusions might also be that marketers realize that B2B people still read print preferably to online or love real face-to-face conversations. They might find out that these business decision makers think twice before they engage in conversations. Reasons might be social media guidelines or policies. Steps are needed (like social media monitoring) before you start understanding your own marketing mix could pay out (i.e. online and offline focus groups).

Other marketing opportunities have never died although social media still hypes. And there is a reason why the “marketing mix” phrase was created by Neil Borden some years ago. Not only as it is an easy to understand phrase. More as we use it in our daily business as marketers without even noticing anymore. It is in our DNA. It is a necessity. Will it ever be removed? I doubt it…

Isn’t it interesting that we never had something like “The ultimate approach to market your products and services”?

Obviously, there is none. In over 50 years nobody found one. Why that is? Well, the world is driven by human beings and their attitudes to become familiar and aware of new things is a dynamic process. Some people adapt quick, other slower. They prefer to get informed via paper. Some like online (via publisher platforms, social networks or blogs). Some still stay offline (as they are often on planes or trains). Others record TV news programs and watch them on-demand with their iPads. And then others use mobile readers or apps to stay up to date with their favorite brands.

Seeing the social hypes in our business world from an outside perspective, I sometimes get the feeling that marketers have to refocus on where users are in their “adaption of technology evolution”. And not invest all their money in one horse race. Or to use another business anology from a tactical HR point of view: Never let the whole sales team be on the same flight.

Where is the difference in marketing?
Is there one? If all your marketing budget goes on airport billboards and then an oil crisis comes up, the invest equals zero in terms of earn out. Or if you buy just one ad in a service provider catalogue on the web but the world uses Google and cannot find the provider in the first ten results, the budget might be wasted.

Some companies think investing in Twitter or Facebook saves their brands awareness in the future but forget that these sites go down once in a while. And then the data is gone or not accessible. Lucky are those who can be approached from other access points then – be it via a phone call (at most companies I am searching hours for a phone number), at an event promoted with social media maybe, at their corporate website, or the self-hosted community that is not on the popular social networks.

The cocktail of having different access points available, and those interacting with each other, is the marketing mix of the future. Although they might have a single target or focus the are aiming at, the marketing mix should be aligned to one common strategy: Engage the client.

Spot on!
As we are automizing our marketing more and more, we always have to keep an eye open which tools and trends are coming up. As technology evolves quite quickly, human beings tend to forget that they need to adapt their marketing mix accordingly. Having said that it does not mean they have to switch their marketing mix approach immediately. Watch out for the tipping point when your power buyers, your brand vangelists, start using different technology. This is the time when the “adaption of technology evolution” happens…

Infographic by InsideView: Social Media – Facts & Figures

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It is probably one of the best visuals created on facts and figures around the social web. InsideView put many stats together in one picture such as…

– history of social networks (missing Plaxo though which made me aware of the social networks phenomenon 13 years ago, apart from the leading Asian networks like Tencent/QQ)
– social profiles of the Global Fortune 100
– the world’s most popular brands and their social appearance
– social media reach and usage by country
– the leading B2B social media platforms

Nielsen study: iPad users open for ads

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When the the iPad certainly was introduced by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs it was said to be “a truly magical and revolutionary product.” This week I have bought an iPad myself and have tried to understand what the tablet is capable as a mobile business device. I cannot really say it failed. And a new study by Nielsen asking 5.000 mobile users shows us how the iPad is delivering businesses from the perspective of a new ad platform.

The Nielsen findings from their new “Connected Devices Playbook” suggest that the iPad owners are more open and responsive to advertising than mobile users of other devices – even those of the iPhone. The study shows that iPad users are more likely to buy products after being introduced to ads. And 60% of the respondents of users across the iPad, iPhone and all other connected devices responded they were “OK with advertising if it means I can access content for free.”

The magic formula for making ads for iPad users effective are interactive features: 45% of iPad owners said they were more likely to click on ads that included multimedia than 26% of iPhone subscribers and 27% of other connected device owners. Isn’t this perfect news for the launch of Apple’s iAd platform?

What makes marketers even more happy is that iPad users indicate that they buy a product via their mobile device because of an ad. 24% of iPad users made an in-store purchase compared to 10% of those who use other devices. It seems that the iPad and other mobile devices might offer a helping hand as a revenue driver to all retailers or shop-owners. Nevertheless, we might ask the question whether this is as of the new product and the hype around it, or if this will last in the future. The final question could be how Apple will change their single app sales strategy to make the use of the iPad more cost-friendly for users.

So, who is the typical iPad user? The Nielsen study says they tend to be younger and more male than users of other devices like users of the Acer Aspire One, the Kindle, the iPhone, iPod touch or the Sony PlayStation Portable. 65% of iPad users were male and under the age of 35.

Spot On!
Sometimes it is funny when you read these studies and remember your own shopping experience. Some weeks ago, when the iPad was not even available I remember a 45 year old posh women rushing into the Apple shop. She did not even realize that the sales guy next to me was explaining the benefits of an iPad to me. She just asked when the iPad will be available, got her answer and rushed out with the same urgency she came in. The sales guy was shaking his head that day, saying some of our clients are weird. When you think about how eager she was to buy the product, I can understand that advertising is still effective… not only on an iPad.

Social Media study on digital natives released by Volkswagen and MTV

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The new international study “MePublic – A Global Study on Social Media Youth” by Volkswagen and MTV Networks presents some interesting insight into media use and value ethics in the group of 14-to 29-year-olds (digital natives). No surprise that they will respond to one of the findings: Young people want to see networking apps extend to the car… and Volkswagen already works on that app.

“With just under 500,000 fans on Facebook and over ten million visitors on YouTube since the company profile was set up at the end of 2008, Volkswagen already has one of the largest fan communities in the automotive industry. And together with our fans we are breaking new ground in the social web – as confirmed by the recent “App my Ride” competition where we gave prizes to the best developments for applications in car infotainment systems.” Luca de Meo, Group Marketing Head, Volkswagen AG.

The findings show the intensive use of new media and their commitment to brands by digital natives…
– 58% spend time on social networks on a daily basis
– 50% follow product recommendations in social networks
– 43% post their favorite brands on the social web

And the digital natives are well equipped to have best possible access to the new media.
– 94% have a mobile phone
– 92% have a TV set
– 75% an MP3 player

Obviously, there a country-specific differences as the “MePublic” the study lays open. In Japan 40% of the young people primarily use mobile access to their social network which already can be compared with some outlook on the mobile future. 57% of US digital natives use online sources prior to buying a car. In Japan it is only 38% as the young people tend to seek advice direct from the dealer.

The study “MePublic” states six user types based on criteria such as frequency of use, motivation and goal. Amongst those the characters for a “pro-social” world are i.e…
– Mediacs: most active and demanding, technically literate, strongly committed, always looking for something new
– Crewsers: social networks = place to meet up with friends
– Funatics: spectators = like to observe, but are not very active themselves

Spot On!
Generally speaking, the study shows that social networks have been added to digital natives perception of mobility. They want to be available when the are driving. When 60% of the 14-to 29-year-olds are convinced that the significance of mobile social networks will increase over the coming years, it speaks a clear language. If you fear the digital natives are “tweeting and driving”, Volkswagen takes the fear of you: “The driver’s safety remains the top priority.” This nice PR message comes along with the ambitious word about their next iPhone app called “Dieter App”. “The planned application assumes the role of the co-pilot and loyal companion and is in line with the wish for a personalized vehicle expressed by the young people”.

Is this a new approach to humanize a brand perception? Installation of apps that appear like human charaters? What do you think about the study findings?

B2B study: Content tactics marketers are using

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Content in the B2B space continues to be… king. Especially since Social Media conquers the interest of users and consumers, companies have to establish a good content strategy in order to attract the interest of their audience properly.

Junta42 and MarketingProfs, supported by American Business Media and the Business Marketing Association, made a research with over 1,100 North American B2B marketers from different industries and company sizes to understand their thoughts and trends on content topics. The study “B2B Content Marketing: 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” is probably the most representative survey about content marketing in the business-to-business (B2B) space for now.

Most companies know the importance of content marketing and make use of it as much as possible. Nine out of 10 organizations market with content. These marketers are using eight content tactics on average. The most popular tactics are social media (excluding blogs) (79%), articles (78%), in-person events (62%) and eNewsletters (61%).

The budgets for content marketing rise. The responding B2B marketers allocate almost 26% of their overall marketing budgets to content marketing initiatives and programs. A good portion, 51% of B2B marketers, plan to increase their spending in content marketing over the next 12 months.

Still, there is no real understanding of how to measure the effectivness of the different tactics. The “confidence gap” is quite large.

Of the 79% of B2B marketers who challenge social media, just 31% of marketers think they use this tactics effectively.

The full study can be downloaded here.

Spot On!
It could be interesting to know who you think produces the most relevant content for the B2B space. Is it the publishers, bloggers, or already the companies themselves with their PR departments? And who will it be in the future? Looking forward to your statements…

dmexco 2010 – Flashback in Tweets & Quotes

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The main message of the dmexco 2010 can be concluded as follows…

Marketers have to face the fast dynamics of a changing advertising industry. The new topics they will be tackling in the future are predictive behavioral targeting, multiscreen targeting, augmented reality as well as mobile device advertising and … of course Social Media.

Facing the social web challenge, this means marketers have to look for conversation with their clients, whilst still being authentic, honest, human, friendly, open, conversational, responsive. Business relevant topics are not meant to cross their minds such as contact management and generation, quantitative ROI measurement or sales-driven aspects – and I am not even talking of lead nurturing. At least from a social media user-perspective…

Respect to all marketeers who can make this challenge happen in the future!

My flashback…?
Doing the co-moderation of the conference program was a very exhiting and interesting job. It gave me the opportunity to talk to great marketers (Sidney Mock, Spil Games and Manish Mehta, Dell Inc.), real thought-leaders of the Internet industry (Russell Buckley, AdMob Inc. and Tom Bedecarrè, AKQA) and just fabulous web personalities (Harry Huj, Pepsico Investment and Dean Donaldson, Mediamind).

As there was not much time to look around the halls and the booths, I would like to summarize the event with the 10 tweets and quotes that represent the value, the mood and the atmosphere of dmexco from my perspective.

Future
1. dmexco 2010: The vision of the leaders http://bit.ly/bRyrlQ via @MkDirecto

Augmented Reality
2. Never heard of “augmented reality”? Check out the Museum of London case study http://bit.ly/aucZ4Y via Kaizenadv

iPad
3. Study #iPad Effects: “80 per cent use the iPad predominantly at home” #dmexco #research (translated) via tomorrowfocus

Gaming
4. Sidney Mock, Spil Games, counts 650 million online gamers worldwide via dmexco (More gamers than Facebook users…).

China
5. Harry Hui (Pepsico): “Los consumidores chinos se mueven a otro ritmo”. http://bit.ly/czFA8x via lpittol85

Social Media
6. Great interview with @ManishatDell (my boss) about the value of social media for #dell from the dmexco conf. http://bit.ly/9pjxaF via DennisMSmith

Facebook
7. Joanna Shields: “Marketing develops from a one night stand towards constant connection and ongoing conversations.” #dmexco #Facebook via dmexco

Mobility
8. Dean Donaldson shows the relativity of the mobile progress, reading out a SMS he received during the Mobile Debate. It tells him how expensive roaming is and explains how ISPs limit mobile opportunities like in the AOL age some years ago.

Future Media
9. The future of the media is mobile. Shame *none* of the world’s design/PR agencies have realised: http://cot.ag/dolCIO via Adam Westbrook

Summary
10. Tom Bedecarré, #AKQA, is excited about #dmexco: “What a high energy event with so many people!” via dmexco

Spot On!
After sharing my view, I would appreciate to get your ideas and thoughts. What did you think of dmexco 2010? How did you like the conference program or the debate hall concept? What was positive and negative? Did any of you use the blogger lounge? If so, what did you like or miss? Looking forward to your feedback…

PS: Next dmexco?: Cologne, September, 21. and 22, 2011 !

Foto Credits: Horizont

Money, Money, Money – Facebook users follow brands for discounts, and Twitter for social badging

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Some days ago, we could read that Facebook is becoming kind of an outlet for brands to engage with their fans and which brands scored the best. A recent survey from ExactTarget and Co-Tweet now shows product discounts and “social badging” are the main motivations for “liking” brands on Facebook.

43% of Facebook users interviewed said they “like,” or are fans of, at least one brand on Facebook. Among those, 40% admit that the reason for staying friends with the brands is to receive discounts and promotions. Interestingly enough for me is that already 39% state they do so to make their brand affiliations public versus 23% of interviewed people said they follow brands on Twitter for social-badging purposes.

Some more findings of the study is basically saying that marketers are “welcome as participants on social networks” as long as it supports free enterprise, not because they seek out interactions with marketers on Facebook.

Further key findings on ExactTarget’s study Facebook X-Factors why people like brands on Facebook…
– 34% like brands in order to stay informed about company activities
– 33% want to get updates on future products
– 17% are more likely to buy after liking that brand on Facebook

Again we can see in this study that Facebook is definitely more a platform for women than for men to keep up relationships (63% vs. 54%), connecting with old friends (68% vs. 56%), and managing their social lives (41% vs. 34%).

As the top performing brands on Facebook are named…
Oreo (Nabisco): Top among deal seekers across all age groups (Facebook drivers: coupons and freebies).
Wal-Mart: Top among cost-savings opportunitiy seekers across all age and gender.
Victoria’s Secret: Top among especially Millennials as of new product offerings featured.
iTunes: Top among Millennials as of highlighting new movie and music releases.
Dove: Top among women based on their iinitial “Campaign for Real Beauty”.

The findings are based on a survey of 1,506 consumers age 15+ in April 2010 and consumer interviews among 44 people in March 2010.

Can Facebook Fan Pages become the new brand websites?

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One of the latest articles of AdAge highlights the reach of the biggest Facebook fan pages of brands.

The article makes clear that many marketers have more success these days with their social media presence than with their traditional “owned media” – their brand sites. The question arises if the new “owned media” will become the Facebook sites where companies invest a lot of effort in these days. In just one year the shift from “onsite to offsite” becomes obvious when we can obey that Coke’s brand website and NabiscoWorld.com are showing a massive decline in traffic figures based on Compete data. Only Starbucks seems to maintain their brand sites web-traffic with significant e-commerce traffic success.

Many marketers are still not quite sure how and in which way to get engaged in all the social media hype. And if they do, a recent study by the Brand Science Institute shows that 73% had to show ROI figures after 12 months, although only 27% had a clear understanding of who their customers are… and probably none of how they interact on the social web. And 92% (!!!) were not aware of their Facebook dependency…

Why Social Media Projects Fail?! – A European Perspective

View more presentations from BSI.

The expectations are high on social media… and especially when Facebook becomes part of the social media strategy. Posts like those of AdAge suggest that Facebook fan pages will become the new brand sites, or at least replace the importance of traditional brand sites.

And now to the experts… What is your take on this?