Where am I?

So you're on an underground/metro/subway/other urban rail transport system.  You know where you got on (probably) and you know where you need to get off or change (hopefully).  But do you know where you are whilst en-route?  Probably not.

Hong Kong's MTR has a lot going for it.  It's efficient, the ticketing system (Octopus cards) is incredible (more on that another time perhaps), and it gets you to places in Hong Kong faster than you might otherwise be able to get there.  What I found particularly fantastic though was the in-carriage maps.

So often, especially in cities I'm not familiar with, I have absolutely no idea where I am when travelling on public transport.  And this is not because of a lack of cognitive mapping skills.  Like on many other train systems, Hong Kong's MTR provides a route map within the carriage.  This route map goes one step further though.  It is not a static, sticker on the wall.  It has lights to indicate which stops you have passed, and which stop is coming up next.  It goes one step further still.  It lets you know whether you need to get out on the left side or the right side.  Genius.

No more standing in the middle of a crowd of people, deciding on your exit strategy, wandering which people you will have to elbow out the way to get off the train.  You can gently start making your way towards the correct door in plenty of time.  And no more having to enquire, sometimes in a foreign language, "Which stop is next?".  The map highlights it for you.

Augmenting reality. Using digital to make reality cool again.

When I told someone I worked in digital marketing they replied, "What? You sell fingers?" (boom, boom)

No, I don't sell fingers. In fact, whilst a lot of the work I produce digitally does eventually manifest in something real (like a product or an experience) much of what I do is very unreal. Perceptions are the original virtual currency, and much of the work I've done for Pepsi, Bacardi, Danone, Carlsberg and the like has traded in that currency alone.

How refreshing then to experience a site that connects the real and the virtual seamlessly.

Made.com allows one to buy furniture, not unlike any other online retailer. But in every other way, they are vastly different from other online retailers. And for that reason, I love them.

At this stage it's worth noting that I still haven't actually taken delivery of anything from Made.com. Yet even before fulfillment, I'm already a massive fan. How amazing is that? :-)

So how are Made.com different?

They use time as a currency

Their business model means there's significant time between order and fulfillment. Other companies find this a problem and see long delivery times as an embarrassment, hiding them away. But instead Made.com use this lag to their advantage: building drama, anticipation, affinity, connection and loyalty. They provide a countdown to delivery date and visual cues that help you to picture your actual product on its way to your door. A map and a nice description shows the path the product has gone through and it's current position. I like this.

They're are good value for money

We've got used to an Amazon.com next day delivery culture. We've got used to not having to wait for things. As a result, we inevitably pay a premium for this near-instant gratification. What Made.com have done is remind me that I don't, in fact, need everything by tomorrow. And by helping me realise that, they've helped me stop paying that premium. As a result, I've bought a product for a third of what it would cost in John Lewis. That's good value.

I find this really exciting. By merging real and virtual in a way that adds to reality, makes reality more tangible and more fun, the creators of Made.com have made reality cool again. And digital marketing that little bit more real. And my job just a bit more meaningful as a result. And that's a very good thing.

Burritos as big as your head

I love burritos.  In fact I love pretty much any Mexican food.  So, I was delighted to visit The Mission Mexican Grill (they know burritos) in Reading over the weekend.  The smell of the place, the sight of other people's burritos - it all whet my appetite.

When I got up to the counter to order, it reminded me of Subway - lots of things to choose from to go into your burrito.  I started getting a bit panicked - how am I meant to know what all the different fillings are, and what goes together best?  And then I saw the menu.  It is phrased in such a way that it intends to help you choose your meal.  Ignore it.  I read it, and my mind started boggling with all the available choices - you choose your beans (black or pinto), your main filling (chicken, pork, steak or vegetarian - more of that later), whether you want cheese (30p extra) OR guacamole (70p extra) OR sour cream etc.  In fact you can get all 3.

Best just to let your server lead you through.  If you get a chance to interrupt her that is - before you know it you will have a burrito as big as your head, no doubt with a few things you don't want (e.g. cheese, guac AND sour cream).

All this aside - the burritos are GREAT and you won't need to eat for at least 24 hours later.

Loving Sporcle

Another example of a site that does one thing really well, is Sporcle.

For the user, it's addictive, educational and fun. And for businesses it has potential for driving interest, awareness and affinity, not to mention the potential for conducting fast, simple research.

I put together this Sporcle in less than 30 minutes.

Most popular websites in the UK

It only takes 3 minutes to play, so give it a go.

Once again. Simple is best.

Parking tickets

How many times have you arrived at your airport car park in a rush?  Parked up in the first space you find, then run to get the bus you see coming towards the closest bus stop?  And completely forgotten to make a note of where you parked your car.

Then you come back to the car park days/weeks later and you can’t find your car.

It hasn’t happened to me *smiles smugly*.  But just yesterday I was on the bus back to the car park, and a couple on the bus could not for the life of them remember where they had parked their car.

If only they’d kept a note of where they’d parked their car!  But who is organised to have somewhere to write this information down when they’re catching a flight?

Enter the latest in parking tickets – on the reverse there is a space to write your parking area and row number down.  All you need to do now is make sure you have a pen to hand!  User experience is all around us.

Cinema e-tickets

This is so simple, yet it pleased and surprised me.  Not bad for a Friday afternoon.

We planned on visiting the cinema on Friday evening to see INVICTUS.  We had planned on going last Friday evening as well, but when the film was sold out when we arrived.  This week we thought we'd book it in advance.

I rang the cinema to book tickets, and the process was super smooth.  As soon as I got off the phone, there was an email in my inbox confirming my purchase.  I had not expected this (I don't think I've ever had an email confirmation when booking tickets on the phone before - normally you just turn up with the credit card you used to book, and pick up your tickets in the cinema).  I was quite impressed (clearly, I'm just easily impressed).

Also, the confirmation email had one of those weird square barcodes on.  It turned out my email was also my ticket - the usher scans this at the screen entrance, and voila.  No queues.  Brilliant.

Oh, and INVICTUS was pretty good too.

Mice, mice, baby.

Alright stop, collaborate and listen.

Catching mice is a good experience. Last week, my American Idol viewing pleasure was interrupted by a small field mouse scuttling past behind the TV. My initial frustration at the little rodent soon gave way to a rush of excitement, anticipation and competitiveness.

I've never been into fishing, but after spending a weekend catching mice, I've got a better idea of the appeal of such sports:

1. The strategy around placing the trap (a humane one, of course)
2. The nuances of bait choice (genre and size)
3. The waiting... oooh, the thrill of the waiting
4. The anticipation every time you stop to check the trap, and then
5. The exhilaration when you see the trap door down and the little fella scuttling around inside.

There can be few household chores that are more fun.

Bottom lines

I love innocent drinks. I love the drinks themselves and everything the brand stands for. Few companies deliver such a consistent and compelling brand experience. They manage to do what most FMCG brands can only dream of, simply by being real.

Now they've asked their customers to write clever lines to go on the bottom of their bottles.

Conventionally, packaging would be the exclusive domain of the agency contracted to design it. Battles would be fought over exact colour pallettes, layouts, copy, promotions and legal requirements. After space had been allocated for bar codes and nutritional information - members of the marketing team would haggle over the remaining space.

Innocent however, take a different view.

They have identified an area of packaging that no-one has considered before.
They have worked out that the best messages are often subtle messages.
They have worked out that making a customer smile more important than anything else.
They have let their consumers own the brand.

As a big advocate, I've obviously submitted my idea already. And here it is:

"I see you, baby!"

No doubt, it will be short-listed next week and immortalised in biodegradable plastic soon therafter. I'll keep you posted.

Online returns: it doesn’t have to be a black hole

Buying things online can be a risk.  What if you change your mind?  Or the product doesn’t quite match your expectations?  Your heart sinks.  There are so many obstacles standing in the way of you getting your money back, or getting the product you really want!  You have to trek to the post office, stand in a long queue, and then you have the reputation of the Royal Mail to contend with – is the package actually going to get back to the right place?

So often, when you buy a product online and you have to return it, you get little, if any feedback throughout the returns process.  You constantly have to check your bank account to see if the refund has been made, or you have to contact the seller to see if they have received the item you have sent to them.  This simply adds to your levels of frustration with the company (especially if you’re returning an item which is faulty, or not what you expected from their description in the first place).

I recently had to return some spare parts for my Hoover vacuum cleaner.  Whilst not flawless, I had a comparably good experience on www.espares.com.  In-between buying the parts and receiving them, I actually decided to purchase an entirely new vacuum cleaner (it’s a long story, but essentially the aforementioned Hoover emitted a distinct burning smell accompanied by sparks whenever it was first turned on).

On the confirmation email that I received from espares.com when I ordered the parts, I noticed that you had 14 days to return items and there was a handy link to the ‘Refunds and Returns guide’.  I followed this link, and arrived on a Hoover branded page with information all about returns.  I discovered that, in order to return an item, you need a ‘returns authorisation’.

I didn’t have a this ‘returns authorisation’, so I phoned the customer service number given on this page, explained my situation to the friendly man on the other end of the phone and was given a ‘returns authorisation’ number along with instructions of where to post the items.  The process so far had been hassle free, and I was a happy customer.

Espares.com didn’t stop there though.  I logged into my email account a few minutes after the call, and there was an email confirming our conversation including the vital ‘returns number’ and details of where to send the package.  I felt reassured that they were now expecting my return package, and that I had all the information I needed to complete the return.

A couple of days later, I received another email from espares.com confirming that they had received the returned parts, and on the same day I received another email saying that they had refunded the transaction.

This may seem like a lot of emails, but they were impeccably timed.  Receiving feedback throughout the returns process reassured me that my refund was being handled quickly and efficiently, which in turn gave me confidence in espares.com.