VerveCast

If you’re in the product delivery business, it’s probably a good rule of thumb to actually deliver your product when it’s ordered. Sounds simple. But have you heard about the giant 1-800-Flowers Valentine’s Day 2012 ordeal? What a disaster. Apparently, this February 14, the company failed to deliver hundreds of orders. I can only imagine how that affected households across the country.

As you’d expect, the flowerless customers took to social media with their rants. The company’s Facebook page was bombarded with posts from unhappy customers saying things like, “TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SERVICE USE ANY OTHER COMPANY/SITE,” and “Thanks for deliverying (sic) my girlfriends flowers 2 days late. Thanks for only sending 9 out of the 12 roses and thanks for sending 2 dead flowers. Thanks for ruining Valentines Day.” Its Twitter account is seeing similar messages.

After reading the messages, I’m actually starting to feel sorry for the customer service reps (more likely social media/PR peeps) over there who are tasked with responding to every negative comment and attempting to fix the orders. From what I can see, it looks like they are actually doing a pretty good job of staying on top of the responses. (I keep picturing the red-eyed employees in one huge room, hovering over their computers, eating doughnuts, and pulling out their hair.)

So, what happened? Maybe this was a computer glitch? Maybe it was a staffing issue? Who knows? The point is… we should know! 1-800-Flowers should have come out with a public statement as soon as they discovered the problem. Some sort of explanation should have been set forth by a trained company spokesperson (read: PR person ghostwriting for company spokesperson). Although explaining the situation probably wouldn’t have completely repaired the dissatisfaction with the missing orders, it would have at least helped the public to understand how something like this occurred and, more importantly, what safeguards are now in place to ensure it will never happen again.

Last year, we at Z2 began searching for a better way to communicate internally. We were using iChat to communicate one-on-one (and still do) and of course were sending out the traditional company-wide emails, but we were looking for something more interactive—and fun. We soon discovered the joys of Yammer.

Yammer is kind of like a social network for businesses—think of it as one main Facebook wall in which everyone can post. You can even download a Yammer App on your smart phone to get updates when you’re away from your computer, if you so choose. The program works perfectly for a smaller office, like ours. It keeps us all on the same page in terms of meetings, schedules, client news, and more.

The ‘more’ typically includes things like photos of our pets, YouTube videos, funny quotes from co-workers, etc. One example, below.

If you’re a small business and looking for a new way to foster internal communication, we suggest you check out Yammer.

A couple Z2 staffers had the opportunity to spend time at the impressive World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas earlier this week with one of our newer clients, Putzmeister America… and it was a blast.

Over the past few months, we have worked on many projects for the show, including the booth itself, brochures, product videos, press kits, sales sheets, and much more. It was great to see it all come together, and to help Putzmeister stand out at the event. A special thanks to the Z2 staff for the hard work that went into the show, and to our client for a valuable new partnership.

We at Z2 are huge fans of The Pfister Hotel—not only because it’s a client of ours, but also because it is just such a darn amazing place. One of our favorite projects we work on with the hotel is its Artist-in-Residence program. I mean, how many hotels do you know of that have an artist creating work right on site?

The hotel is currently in the process of selecting its next great artist. This year’s finalists are Pamela Anderson; Matt Duckett; Albin Erhart; Hal Koenig; Brandon Minga; and Timothy Westbrook. Now the public will help choose the next artist.

Beginning this evening, you can visit The Pfister’s website and Facebook page to vote for the artist you’d like to see as the next artist in residence. Votes can also be cast via Twitter (#ArtistInResidence). Voting will end Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, and the selection committee will announce the next artist in residence soon thereafter. The public vote will equate to one seat on the selection committee, influencing the final decision.

If you’d like to check out work by the six finalists, head down to Gallerie M, inside InterContinental Milwaukee, for January Gallery Night, taking place this evening. You can cast your vote right there! And don’t forget to stop by The Pfister to say hello to The Pfister’s current artist Shelby Keefe, as she hosts her final Gallery Night in the space. Stick around The Pfister afterward for a fun reception and live entertainment. Hope to see you there!

By now, you’ve probably at least seen the new Facebook Timeline layout. (Maybe you even recall getting a sneak preview of it a few months back in a blog post by Pete.) I recently switched over to the new layout myself. Personally, I find it a little less user-friendly, but maybe that’s because I’m still getting used to it.

To my point… I just came across the first example I’ve seen of a business/organization using Facebook Timeline for marketing purposes. The Israel Anti-Drug Authority created a fictional profile of a guy that depicts what a year of his life would look like while using drug, versus a year of clean living. That was the concept at least, however, it really only goes back to Dec. 1, 2011. Although the execution fell flat, especially on the druggie side, which turned out a little cliché, the idea behind using the timeline in this way is creative.

This got me thinking about the potential uses for Facebook Timeline in terms of marketing and branding. The platform would be great for showing a company’s history, product innovations, major events, etc. Although Facebook has not revealed details on Timeline for brands just yet, I’m guessing it will follow this initial rollout for individuals. In the meantime, it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities.