Comments on: Great ideas: platforms for value creation v. platforms for creative executions?

By: How operations and marketeers can meet, indeed!! « Fredzimny’s CCCCC Blog

Sat, 02 May 2009 18:01:44 +0000

[...] wrote previously about the fact that this kind of marketing is much less sexy than other forms and therefore great examples are harder to find. So I thought I’d continue my list-making with [...]

By: adrian

adrian — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:53:30 +0000

@John and @Mark

I don’t think Apple used receipts to claim they were more green, they did it for a bunch of reasons which I think we’ve discussed. Wouldn’t we want to reward companies that take steps even if they are small ones?

By: Mark Dunn

Mark Dunn — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:13:50 +0000

Exactly right…Haake sees right through it…

“Apple is co-opting a cultural phenomenon. It has nothing to do with being green, and everything to do with collecting email addresses.”

I’m amazed that so many are easily duped by the ‘green’ disengenuity. If Apple really wanted to be green they’d give you a code to look the receipt up on their receipt website.

Not cynical…just more aware of the true nature of email marketing ploys.

By: stephanie gerson

stephanie gerson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:35:18 +0000

I agree that value is contextual, but “multiple dimensions of value” feels like a messy way to think about this. sure, Apple’s replacement of printed receipts with electronic ones helps consumers, Apple, and the planet, but it hurts the ‘receipt industry’ (producers of ink, paper; you get the idea). and sure it helps the planet, but zero paper waste does not = wholeheartedly sustainable (electronic still consumes energy, etc., sustainability can be defined by many different criteria; again you get the idea). so I guess I consider this more of a trade-off between values. value to whom? (consumers vs. receipt manufacturers.) value in terms of what? (paper waste vs. energy consumption.)

then again I’m in the middle of eating lunch so before unleashing any verdict, perhaps I should chew on rice and garbanzo beans less and chew on this more…

By: Adrian Ho

Adrian Ho — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:40:59 +0000

@brian right I forgot about the no-cash-register effect. I wrote a bit about that a while back but I agree that was genius. Transformed register people from reactive to pro-active salespeople.

By: matt jones

matt jones — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:20:07 +0000

Good stuff. I agree on two counts…

First, that electronic receipts are a great idea. It was something I touched on briefly late last year in this post… http://mattjonesblog.typepad.com/think_story_experience/2008/09/the-tumi-differ.html

Second, that this kind of thinking should absolutely be embraced and celebrated for the innovative, creative marketing it is. In fact, you could argue that it’s the glossy ads that should be omitted from awards categories, not super-smart bits of low-cost, high-value thinking.

By: brian

brian — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:04:10 +0000

there’s another meta-value in effect with the recent experience delivery @ Apple retail – the displacement of a central location with a multiplicity of engagement sites. for the transaction, there’s no check-out area; instead my transaction moment is portable, intimate and personalized to my location in the store. mimicing the transactional moment, the receipt moment flows as to how I want to reference my purchase – physical paper receipts, email receipts – or both. displacing the centrality of location across these experiential domains isn’t just cool – it gives Apple a greater (permission based) flexibility to be present in more places, in more contexts, and in more forms. so yeah – communications value isn’t just what you say – it’s also WHERE you say it.

By: Marketing ideas that create value « Don’t tell my mum

Marketing ideas that create value « Don’t tell my mum — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:16:36 +0000

[...] Ho at Zeus Jones wrote this in a thought-provoking piece at the beginning of the [...]

By: John Haake

John Haake — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:47:35 +0000

I guess I am a little more cynical than you. Apple is co-opting a cultural phenomenon. It has nothing to do with being green, and everything to do with collecting email addresses. Don’t get me wrong, good for them. It’s a great idea. But this is a tried and true marketing strategy. Thomas Frank wrote about it in “The Conquest of Cool.” I also included it in my 10 year old Masters thesis. http://www.johnhaake.com/Thesis.html

By: dino

dino — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:03:49 +0000

like the idea of an awards program, cool!

By: Links - 9th January 2009 « Curiously Persistent

Links - 9th January 2009 « Curiously Persistent — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:35:52 +0000

[...] Adrian Ho uses an Apple example to illustrate how fresh thinking with minimal investment can create value for all parties involved [...]

By: adrian

adrian — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:57:50 +0000

Thanks for the comments everyone, makes me wonder whether we ought to create our own awards program that does award value. Would be a great ad for what marketing is capable I think. Any interest?

@blaiq agree, it’s not the number of value streams but it’s the quality of value that’s returned. My observation was that great ideas tend to work on many levels. I sort of feel that I can tell an idea is really good if it keeps getting better as it gets thought through further.

By: Ciaran McCabe

Ciaran McCabe — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:56:21 +0000

The creation of multiple value streams is both spot on and very timely.
Great post.

By: Adam Ronich

Adam Ronich — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:44:22 +0000

Over the holidays I went into an Apple store bought a hard drive and had the receipt emailed to me. Fist off, I was impressed by the easy and convenience of the process, a remote credit card swiper and emailed receipt. No lines, check out right at the product. I was happy to give them my email address because it’s Apple and they have it anyway (it’s a .mac). I don’t know if I’d be as open with this option with a McDonalds, BP or Barnes & Noble. It has to be a purchase big enough with a place I trust enough. Plus I’m not sure I want my email full or receipts. Now if Apple created an app that identified receipts and filed them electronicaly in a folder for me, that would change things.

From an emotional side, it’s cool because it seems more personal and for some reason less of a transaction. It’s a confidence thing, like they’re more open to contact after the purchase in case I’d have a problem with anything. It’s what I expect from Apple.

By: blaiq

blaiq — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:45:29 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with your updated definition of what makes a good idea – with a minor tweak. I think an idea that generates at least one positive value stream without creating any negative value streams is a viable idea that deserves to be pursued.

In the emailed bill example, even if it only saved Apple printing and material cost it’d still be a great idea – simply because, that positive benefit isn’t being generated by spending money (often the problem when we approve ideas that require media spending) or by requiring greater effort or inconvenience from its customers.

Placing the stress on multiple value streams runs the risk of ignoring perfectly viable ideas that deliver just one value stream – but do it well.