Client News
Minneapolis/St. Paul Marketing and PR agency and video production company|StoryTeller
The I Generation
Has anyone labeled this current generation of teenagers? I mean, we have Gen Y, Gen-X, Boomers, etc. How about this: Gen-I? It would be fitting, wouldn’t it? This group has grown up with the iPod, iPod touch, iPod shuffle, iTunes, iPhone and iPad. Heck, if they have $100 a year, they can even have a me.com account. My question is, will this be a generation that has the ability to think of anyone but themselves first? You say, well, at least there’s YouTube, but even their moniker is “Broadcast Yourself.”
United Airlines Customer Service Wins in Lost Bag
Did you know that the airlines check 2MM bags daily and 99.5% reach their destination on the same flight as their owner? Sounds like a small number of incidents, doesn’t it? .5%? That leaves 10,000 bags (.5% of 2MM) that make their way into luggage la la land, or otherwise known as destinations of an unknown kind.
I recently was one of the “lucky” 10,000 that experienced what one could have thought would be a luggage nightmare. My bag inadvertently made its way to Vietnam instead of Detroit! An honest mistake, huh? They have what in common? Fortunately, I was visiting family and my sister and I happen to be the same exact size (she might tell you she weighs 5 pounds less but close enough!) so she adorned me from head to toe with her clothes, making my luggage fiasco much less problematic than if I had been virtually anywhere else.
The reason I feel compelled to share this experience is that I think United Airlines has what is coming to them… praise and an acknowledgement of outstanding customer service. I know you were guessing that I was going to use this forum as an opportunity to vent my frustrations. On the contrary, United Airlines did most everything right by the “keep your customer happy” handbook.
- They apologized up front appropriately and assured me they would locate my belongings
- They kept me informed. The minute they located the bag (albeit 56 hours later!) they notified me and told me where it was and when they anticipated knowing it’s arrival
- They were forthcoming with suggesting I go shopping and save my receipts (a nice by-product of being inconvenienced I might add)
- They were so apologetic that upon the safe and sound return of my bag, they promptly called me to discuss compensation
- WIthin 24 hours after bringing closure to my situation, they had emailed me a credit voucher for future travel.
In every business, small or grand, mistakes happen, frustrations surface, and when this occurs customer service is needed every step of the way. I think much can be learned from my recent experience with United.
My mantra has always been, “mistakes happen, but it’s how you handle them as an organization that makes or breaks our future relationship”. United, despite my international mishap, I think we’ll be friends a long time.
Happy Halloween – from JibJab
The Annoying Orange, the Old Spice Guy, Susan Boyle. We know all of them thanks to online video. It’s really tough to predict what will go “viral” – but the really popular videos have a few things in common. They make us laugh, make us smile, and maybe even make us think. They’re also unexpected and can be HUGE time-wasters!
The folks at JibJab have created viral traditions with their cartoons that you can customize. Right now you can turn your coworkers, family and friends into dancing monsters for Halloween. I couldn’t resist the chance to create our own StoryTeller Monster Mash. There are 7 of us – so we got to try on a couple of different roles in two different videos. Enjoy and Happy Halloween!
MSP Magazine – Best New Restaurants
According to Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine, Aperitif Restaurant & Bar in Woodbury is one of the hottest new restaurants – and we agree! With a warm, comfortable atmosphere and a delicious menu inspired by the flavors of Italy, Spain, France and Greece, Aperitif is the perfect place to grab a drink after work or have a nice dinner.
Check out what MSP Magazine has to say in their November issue:
Clear, Concise Conversation is Key
While looking through this morning’s Star Tribune, I came across an article titled, “The Case of the Shrinking Ad.” I was interested in it not because of the title, but because of the photo of the Old Spice Man that went along with it. The article looked fairly short, so I decided I could give it a quick read.
The article explains that just like advertising budgets, attention spans are also shrinking. Research shows that a 15-second ad spot holds more peoples’ attention than a 30-second spot. The number of 15-second television commercials has jumped more than 70 percent in five years.
“It used to be that the most valuable thing on the planet was time, and now the most valuable thing on the planet is attention,” says John Greening, associate professor at Northwestern University’s journalism school and a former executive vice president at ad agency DDB Chicago.
Create a Plan for Holiday Shopping
I’m a Christmas person. Always have been and always will be. For me, this holiday can’t come soon enough. Now that we are more than halfway through October, talk of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and even New Years is deemed socially acceptable.
Well, for most people anyway. There are still those out there who throw up their hands and exclaim, “Don’t remind me!” when you mention the fact that Christmas is just a mere 63 days away.
Then there is the, “How am I ever going to afford the iPad my 5 year-old wants this year?” response and the, “Uhhhh… how am I ever going to find enough ugly sweaters to get me through all the parties I have to go?”
But as public relations and marketing professionals, I feel we are the most well equipped group to handle these stressors. Just think about the holidays like you would a marketing or PR plan.
Music Video Done with iPhones
First, the back story. A New York City band called Atomic Tom recently had all of their instruments stolen. A major setback for any band, right? Not in this case.
Flash forward to October 8. Instead of using the thievery as an excuse and giving up, they came up with a fantastic solution. They gathered up their iPhones (7 in all), boarded the New York City B Train (which travels over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn), and recorded a live performance of their latest song, “Take Me Out”. And not an acoustic version either; they each used different iPhone apps to act as their instruments. The remaining three iPhones were used as cameras to capture the performance, which was edited into this music video. 
I’ve used this space before to promote the use of high quality cameras and images in video, no matter what the final destination will be, whether it is DVD, a video blog, YouTube, whatever. I’ve also stressed the importance of using a tripod, framing your shots nicely, and the like. This video breaks all of those rules, and then some. And yet, I love it. It captures the raw feel of a live performance (and the fact that it’s taking place on the New York City subway!). The sound quality is fantastic, which is obviously important in a music video. I am also fascinated by the way they are able to use their iPhones as instruments. I knew Apple had a lot of apps, but I had no idea there was anything like this.
What a great blend of creativity, ingenuity, technology, and talent. I hope their never-give-up attitude pays off for them (at almost 2 million views on YouTube, I would say it has!)
Broadcast News: The Movie and In Real Life
In the movie “Broadcast News” (1987), 
there is a part in which Albert Brooks character, “Aaron Altman,” says to Holly Hunter‘s character “Jane Craig” the following about William Hurt‘s character “Tom Granick,” “please don’t take it wrong when I tell you that I believe that Tom, while a very nice guy, is the Devil.” He goes on to explain that, of course the devil isn’t going to look like a devil, he’ll be attractive and nice and helpful and that he won’t really do anything evil, “he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance…Just a tiny bit.”
That part of the movie resonated with me as I was reflecting upon the television news business and the changes that have occurred over the last 25 years. Clearly, much of the mainstream news media has gone to an “infotainment” format as competition for “eyeballs” has increased with the internet. There are seemingly more “Tom Granick” type of people in the media (flash over substance) and a watering down of coverage to make news easier to “digest” for the general public. In other words, to me, the movie “Broadcast News” has taken on some qualities of George Orwell’s classic “1984.”
When I first watched “Broadcast News” in the theaters in 1987, the most memorable part of the film was Albert Brooks flop sweat while reading the weekend news (still one of the funniest scenes in the movie). However, watching it again some 23 years later, I found myself marveling in the prophetic nature of the flick and wondering how, or if, the mainstream media will ever get back to a higher standard of news.
Lunch with Jeff Prouty of The Prouty Project
One of the most enjoyable part of our work is meeting new people and making new friends in various businesses. We’ve recently crossed paths with a wonderfully creative and interesting strategic planning group called, The Prouty Project. Jeff Prouty, a former Price-Waterhouse guy, is the CEO and founder. He’s also one of our new favorite people. Jeff and his team work with CEO’s, upper level management teams and boards of directors to help them dream big and then reach their dreams. Their mission statement says it all: “We exist to creatively stretch leaders to achieve bigger goals, bolder strategies and better collaboration.
Media Training 101: Fact or Fiction?
It’s no secret to those who know me that I’m enjoying my post-television news career. What I don’t share quite as quickly is the, previously unexpressed, appreciation for the work that is done by those in the news business. The revelation occurred after listening to clients talk about what they believe are “truths” about how the media works. One of the joys I have in our work is helping those same people understand more about how the media actually operates. Part of that process in our media training is something we call, “Media: Fact or Fiction.” Here’s a snippet: