Have a great Halloweeen…from some of the Bazaarvoicees who dressed up (picture below):
Archive for October, 2006
Bazaarvoice Halloween Photo
October 31st, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Bazaarvoice for ClickZ Marketing Excellence: VOTE Today!
October 31st, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Bazaarvoice is nominated for ClickZ Marketing Excellence awards. This is an exciting honor for us. We enjoy working with all our clients to introduce new strategies of marketing WITH customers. We're learning a lot and producing great results. It's why I joined this adventure. It is truly excellent! 
Note: if you don't know or have time to vote other categories, you don't have to.
Industry Research Round-Up – Telling Metrics for Web 2.0
October 29th, 2006 by Brant Barton Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer
A few stats and industry research findings caught my attention over the past few weeks:
On 10/4, eMarketer reported on the stickiness of user-generated content sites in the UK. In summary, eMarketer found that the average minutes per visitor on sites like MySpace.com, Wikipedia, and YouTube.com was more than double the average for non-user-generated content sites – 141% more to be exact. In addition, average page views for UGC sites was a staggering 217 compared to 52 for non-UGC sites. While similar usage statistics for the US market weren't quite as dramatic, the UK statistics may signal a global trend, and US marketers know all too well that much of their growth over the next several years will come from overseas.
On 10/12, WOMMA reported on the Pew Internet & American Life Project's finding that 48 million consumers (35% of Internet users) have posted content online. The Pew report discusses content creation in the context of broadband adoption but it makes clear that user-generated content is not just for the "broadband elite" anymore. 48 million consumers is a LOT of people! Suppose you aren't a content creator yourself (seems unlikely if you are a regular blog reader!). The chances of your next door neighbor or co-worker or a casual acquaintance being a content creator – a blogger, a paid Flickr subscriber, an avid product reviewer, or all of the above – are extremely high. This fact has far-reaching implications for online businesses and brands that may become the subject of online content or that fail to provide a forum for content creation activities that are relevant to their customers.
Last, on 10/13, eMarketer reported on new data from Nielsen//NetRatings that indicated that almost half (46%) of MySpace's US visitors were 35 or older, while visitors in the 12-17 age group fell significantly in number (20% compared to 31.5% one year before). Usage metrics for these two age groups are still quite different and indicative of the different ways that they use MySpace, but the Nielsen//NetRatings numbers are telling.
Lately, it seems that each week brings a new onslaught of online usage and demographic stats that, at face value, seem to legitimize many of the new start-ups and "Web 2.0" business models that I read about on TechCrunch on a daily basis. As with "Web 1.0", there will be big winners (Flickr, YouTube) but 10X as many losers, so I don't read too much into the specifics of which sites are growing the fastest or attracting the largest audiences. Those stats can change on a dime. Just today, the Washington Post reported on MySpace's declining popularity among teens. What's far more important is the underlying tectonic shift in online consumer behavior and content consumption. The mainstreaming of social networking, much of which is conducted within a "community" of strangers, and the increasing preference for user-generated news, entertainment, and shopping assistance is at minimum a wake-up call for major brands that haven't yet dipped a toe in the water. Get on with it! I'm not suggesting a "follow the herd" approach, but I am strongly, absolutely, positively encouraging some honest and sincere experimentation – don't just pay lip service by starting a corporate blog! Mileage will vary, of course, but don't let the next evolutionary step in online marketing and commerce pass you by. As the industry research suggests, it's an exciting time to be an online consumer but an even more thrilling time to be figuring out how to seize this opportunity.
Millennials Are Socially Conscious Consumers
October 25th, 2006 by Brett Hurt Founder and CEO
The cover story of Tuesday's USA Today Life featured an article on the millennials. I have referred to them as the "IM Generation" on previous blog entries, borrowing Tony Perkin's naming. This story struck a cord with me on multiple levels, especially this part:
• 61% of 13- to 25-year-olds feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world, suggests a survey of 1,800 young people to be released today. It says 81% have volunteered in the past year; 69% consider a company's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop, and 83% will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible. The online study — by two Boston-based companies, Cone Inc. and AMP Insights — suggests these millennials are "the most socially conscious consumers to date."
This is a very good trend for Bill Bass and our friends at Fair Indigo (read Sam's interview of Bill here). Bill couldn't have had better timing on launching this new business.
This research also provides more context around Richard Branson's decision to donate 100% of profits from his travel companies in the Virgin Group to go towards the research of alternative, low-polluting fuel for travel. Regardless of why Mr. Branson made this decision, whether it is motivated to reach the millennials or whether it is an epiphany he had about his impact on the earth's resources or both doesn't matter. You have to applaud him either way.
The USA Today article talks about how this generation has grown up during the extremely trying aftermath of 9/11. And it has impacted their behavior forever. They are also growing up during a time where there are escalating fears about our footprint on the earth. I saw a variation of this article last night on Yahoo's homepage. No wonder they are getting more civically involved than any recent generation. Depleted of resources completely in only 44 years?
The opportunity here is for companies to both do good for the environment and reach the millennials (the next generation of 100 million consumers that are about to have serious spending power). I can't imagine a better set of ingredients for a positive word-of-mouth spark, and companies like Fair Indigo, Virgin, and Wal-Mart (see my previous post) are very smart to capitalize on this. It both feels right and you make more money – we need more movements like this in this post-Enron environment. Companies are facing a growing generation of the most educated, jaded, rich, and socially conscious consumers ever. If you aren't thinking about this yet, you should be. There is a massive market shift underway, but we are just at the beginning of it.
Now, to end on an optimistic note. I have said it before, and I will remind you again. I am a technology optimist. There are many opportunities here for new ventures to capitalize on alternative energy, nanotechnology, and biotechnology to both reverse this trend and become rich heroes in the process. Kleiner Perkins, the VC with the highest returns in the world, isn't dumb. Read this article about John Doerr in BusinessWeek. The opportunity is staggering and ripe for positive word-of-mouth.
And, finally, a special thanks to Kelly Mooney for giving the best keynote of the Shop.org Annual Summit a few weeks ago. Sam already wrote a summary of the Summit, but there was no doubt that Kelly's research on the "digital millennials" was the most insightful presentation of the show. I am honored to be speaking at her conference, iCitizen, tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.
Journeys of Courage and Wisdom — George Washington and C2C Marketing
October 19th, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
I’m on (or was on) a plane back from speaking at emetrics summit in Washington D.C. My presentation was on “How to Bring eMetrics into the Heart of your Business – 7 Principles”. This presentation had little to do with Bazaarvoice, but after many years at startups and Dell, I have a lot of experience and passion for culture and change leadership. Smart strategies and tactics are important, but getting others to move in the same direction is what puts the critical momentum behind growth.
In D.C. I spent a few days with my family experiencing our country’s history. I haven’t seen the memorials and museums since I was 8. It was a new experience now visiting Lincoln, FDR, Jefferson, and Washington. The fathers of our country had incredible wisdom and courage. They were the entrepreneurs of our nation. They led a level of positive change I can not fathom…only admire and appreciate.
We took an inspirational tour of George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. We saw where he slept, where he wrote in his journal every day at 5am, and the land where he rode 20 miles every morning as a hand-on overseer. I discovered that homes in those days were ‘open’ to visitors, even Washington’s. He sheltered up to 600 visitors to his house a year. My 6-year old son asked where they fit the big screen TV! I told him it was in the basement, closed to tours Maybe this tour wasn’t as inspirational for him.
I’m not sure how this relates to Bazaarvoice…not that it has to. However, it occurred to me that the executives of our client companies (and others) had the courage to begin a journey of C2C marketing. The logos on our client page are companies putting putting radical trust in their customers, and empowering their customers’ words to be their words in the market. In reality, they are putting trust in their suppliers, merchants, products, employees and company. In a world of C2C marketing the best companies and the best products win.
Ok, maybe all of this is not a stone throw to birthing a country, but if you look at this from a big picture, C2C marketing can make a big change in our country and the world. C2C marketing helps connect customers, helping them find the right products, help manufacturers' create better products, drive company growth, and helps companies evolve operational customer-centricity and make change. And that’s not all that bad!
Shop.org Summit — An Inflection Point for Online Retailers
October 18th, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Last week was Shop.org's Annual Summit in New York. It was a great show…2,200 attendees vs. 1,500 last year. Many new attendees. eCommerce is booming.
.
I led a panel at the Web 2.0 Boot Camp the first day of the show where we shared new technologies to help online retailers reach a market who are ignoring advertising and marketing. From Meebo that provides instant messaging within a web site to Dotomi that customizes ads based on their last visit to your site to Allurent that presents product content in an ‘alluring’ way! The one day “boot camp” for Web 2.0 was a showcase of strategies, tactics and technologies to reach the increasingly connected, informed and over-advertised market.
I will go on record to say this Shop.org event was an inflection point for retailers…or perhaps better put, a wake-up-call. Over the past year there have been topics at other shows related to consumer generated content, social media, Web 2.0 and word of mouth. However, at the event last week I think we've reached an apex. This is the largest event of the year for Shop.org. The event started with an entire day focused on Web 2.0, followed by the regular agenda with four of the top speakers Shop.org invited (not including Brett or myself) who talked about word of mouth and how the market is different now.
- Seth Godin (author of Purple Cow, Small is the New Big) – Advertising and spamming don’t work. What’s left? Getting referenced by others by doing something unique.
- Barry Schwartz (author of Paradox of Choice) – There are too many choices. Help customers filter and reduce choice.
- Kelly Mooney (President of Resource Interactive) – Millenials are multi-tasking, short-attention-span, trust-one-another shoppers
- Bryan Eisenberg (author of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark) – Customers are in control. No longer like Dog’s responding to our commands of advertising…they are like finicky cats.
Kelly Mooney had a fantastic presentation featuring video diaries of Millenials who are the new bulge of spending power. In the words of one young shopper, “I’m trained now to ignore ads”. Eyetracking heatmaps confirm this. Interestingly, these young buyers want to ‘fit in’. They won’t buy without looking for justification, whether that be from their friends or from people like them. This is consistent with the Edelman study that found “Trust in someone like me” has tripled in the last 2 years.
I believe the behavior to turn to others for shopping advice is a common theme for all shoppers today. We recently released the results on a joint study with iPerceptions and CompUSA that uncovered 81% of CompUSA visitors believed ratings and reviews were important when they are researching or planning a purchase.
These are exciting times. We (and our clients) are learning, experiencing, evolving, growing and optimize C2C (customer to customer) marketing. And at some level, the new strategies for this new market are not just relevant for retailers, but all B2C, B2B, manufacturers, and service companies.
Bazaarvoice Secrets for Shop.org Annual Summit (NYC, Oct. 10-12)
October 4th, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
If you're going to Shop.org Annual Summit next week in NY (Oct. 10-12) come see meet the team at booth #120. We have several announcements, case studies and demos to show you.
You can also come to a panel or roundtable we are hosting at the Web 2.0 Bootcamp (pre-show event) and during the summit. Here's our schedule if you want to print this.
And, for a select few people who read this (you can tell your closest colleagues) we are going to perform a unique display of ecommerce wizardry. Come by our booth and we will guess your conversion rate. If we get it wrong, we have a special 'under-the-table' giveaway for you (limited supply)!
Oh, and one more thing (this is like the peeler in the ginsu knife commercial, but better!)…
This is not announced anywhere else. Bryan Eisenberg (speaking at the conference) will be signing and we will give you FREE copies of his new best-selling book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, at our booth (#120) on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 1pm and 4:15pm breaks. He may be guessing some conversion rates as well!
See you there!
10 Questions with Bill Bass, Fair Indigo Apparel CEO (former SVP Sears / Lands’ End)
October 3rd, 2006 by Sam Decker Chief Marketing Officer
Fair Indigo, the brainchild of former Lands' End / Sears executive and eCommerce guru Bill Bass, launched it's online business on September 16. The company’s motto is "Style With A Conscience." Fair Indigo's aim is to "pioneer a change in the apparel industry" by putting the people who make the clothes first.
As a pioneer in new apparel merchandising strategies at Land's End, and later Sears, Bill knows eCommerce. And more to the point, (especially for his business!) he knows how to sell apparel online.
We're proud to have Bill and Fair Indigo as a Bazaarvoice client. Within weeks from signing with Bazaarvoice, we launched with Bazaarvoice Ratings and Reviews. Fair Indigo is possibly the first branded apparel manufacturer / retailer to feature ratings and reviews.
Bill shared some information about his new companies and his thoughts on why reviews is important for Fair Indigo and its customers…
1. Tell us about your new company, Fair Indigo. How did you come up with the idea? What's your story?
One of the people I had worked with at Lands’ End started drinking fair trade coffee and wanted to buy some fair trade apparel – that is clothing made by people are paid fair wages and treated well. Turns out there weren’t any fair trade clothing companies out there so we decided to start one. It wasn’t easy finding factories that paid workers fair wages, but over the course of the past 18 months we found some of the best factories and co-ops in the industry and worked with them to meet our quality and wage standards.
2. How is Fair Indigo different than competitors or alternatives?
We pay the workers who make our clothes fair wages rather than minimum ones. For the first time, customers can now buy fashionable, high-quality clothes that were made by people who were paid and treated fairly.
3. Given your experience at Land's End and Sears, what are the top two or three lessons you've learned about online merchandising?
Customers don’t have the ability to try on clothes when they are buying online, so we have focused on helping customers make sure that they get the clothes they want and aren’t surprised when the package arrives on their doorstep. We developed new tools to help customers zoom in and see the detail of the clothing. We made sure that every item is pictured in every color. We are adding customer reviews so shoppers can see what other like-minded (and like-bodied) people have thought about our clothes. And finally, we back everything with an unconditional guarantee: customers can return anything, at any time, for any reason for an exchange or refund. You might notice that none of these have anything to do with what products are featured on the home page, what products are pushed through email, or anything having to do with upselling – all areas that most companies tend to focus on.
4. Based on what you've learned, and since you call all the shots now, how will you do things differently? Where will you focus? What will you NOT do?
I actually don’t get to "call all the shots". We are an employee-owned company, we all sit together and don’t have offices, and there are frank, open and honest discussions about most of the things we do. Luckily we worked together for many years before starting this company and have a shared belief system that traces its heritage to Gary Comer’s founding principal for Lands’ End: take care of the customer, take care of the employees, and the rest will take care of itself. We merely extended this a little by adding "take care of the people making the clothes". A shared belief system leads to quick decisions and blessedly short meetings.
During a visit to Seattle several years ago I spent the morning visiting a company that relentlessly focused on its competition. In the afternoon I stopped by Amazon and was struck that I constantly heard them talk about their customer but never a single word (nor thought, as far as I could tell) about their competition. When I mentioned this to Jeff Bezos he stated that a company can either be competitor-focused or customer-focused but it can’t be both. I think he is right. We choose to be customer-focused. That is why we like customer reviews.
5. You are one of the first apparel manufacturers to offer ratings and reviews…why is it so important to Fair Indigo?
Vanderbilt University completed a study a few years ago that showed that customers trust reviews by other customers more than expert reviews. This rings true because I find I also trust customer reviews and they are always the first place I turn when I am shopping for something new. At Fair Indigo we want customers to find the clothes that will be just right for them. Customer reviews along with great visualization technology is the best way we know to make it easy for customers to find the best clothes.
6. Why do you believe Ratings and Reviews will increase sales?
It really isn’t about increasing sales, it is about making sure customers find the right clothes and aren’t surprised when the package arrives. That better customer experience might translate into increased sales but that would be a by-product, not a goal.
7. What impact do you anticipate reviews will have on your product design process?
We have a customer focus group that currently gives us feedback on our styles and designs, but logistics limit it to people who live near our headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Reviews on fairindigo.com will open up that process to all our customers.
8. Are you concerned about negative reviews?
I don’t think anyone gets too enthused about their bad grades getting posted for the whole world to see, but we would much rather have someone find out that a size isn’t running true by reading it on fairindigo.com while they can still adjust their order rather than having the item arrive in their home and then put them through the hassle of returning and exchanging it.
9. How do you anticipate using reviews in your customer communications?
I don’t see us using reviews as a marketing tool. They are really more of a customer service tool. We do plan on integrating customer reviews into our retail stores (our first opens here in Madison on November 1, 2006). We will have a kiosk in every store where customers can scan the barcodes on our clothes and up will pop customer reviews as well as information about the factory where the garment was made.
10. Anything else you'd like to add?
If I say no, do you change the title to "Nine Questions With Bill Bass"? Just kidding.
We founded Fair Indigo to provide style with a conscience, to give customers an option of well-made, stylish clothes that were crafted by people around the world who were paid fairly and treated well. We also want to make it easy for customers to shop with us so we launched as a multi-channel company with catalogs and stores (ok, a store but more to come) as well as fairindigo.com. We think making customer reviews available through every channel possible will make it easier for customers to shop with us and ultimately be a better customer experience.
