If you’ve been on Facebook recently, you saw a series of one-word Status Updates. The word was always a color, and there was no explanation in the update: “Black”! “Tan!” “Pink!” Those among the baffled who Googled the subject learned that people (mostly women) were posting the color of their bras. Days later, it’s still […]
Arbitron, the ratings service that measures radio listening, recently launched — with great fanfare — a new device called the Portable People Meter (PPM). Before PPM, Arbitron used a diary system in which survey participants were supposed to write down the stations they listened to. The accuracy of this system depended on the accuracy of […]
Media writer Tom Taylor recently heard Starbucks executive Bill Black speak at an Arbitron conference. Taylor had this to say in his newsletter: Boy, does Starbucks study its customers, creating profiles of “Super regulars” who visit daily and produce 20% of revenue, spending over $1,000 a year at Starbucks. (They’re just 4% of total customers.) […]
The retail and airline industries are not, in general, known as bastions of great customer service. A constant onslaught of books on customer service, motivational speakers and consultants have had limited success in convincing stores and airlines to get better. So, what will convince them? A couple of stories in this morning’s New York Times offer […]