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When the Customer Service Fits...



Last week I attended the Portland Advertising Federation's luncheon which featured two great shoe companies -- Nike and Zappos.com. In a nutshell, Steve Hill, VP of Merchandising for Zappos.com and Michael Benno, Sr. Internet Consultant for Nike.com, talked about the in's and out's of their e-commerce sites and their relationships with retailers, distributors and the like.

What really interested me was Zappos.com's approach to customer service. I've been shopping with Zappos.com for a few years and have always loved their fantastic customer service. In particular, I'm a big fan of their free shipping both ways policy -- it's like shoe shopping at the best department store but never having to leave your house. That policy alone is a no-brainer for becoming a loyal customer. But here's what else I learned:

  • If you order your shoes before 10 a.m. EST, you'll have them on your doorstep before you leave for work the next morning. I've never ordered that early in the day, but that's really good to know. Goodbye shoe dilemma.

  • Every employee that works for the company, whether you're the CFO, VP of marketing or an attorney, has to go through a two week call center training, followed by actually working in the call center for two weeks, and then staffing the fulfillment center for one week. It's a brilliant way to ensure everyone knows the inner workings of the company!

  • If after two weeks of working at Zappos.com, you decide it's not a fit (pun intended), they will pay you $2,000 to leave. Yes, they pay you to leave. They figure it's cheaper to pay you the money up front then to have an employee who jeopardizes customer relationships and doesn't embrace company values.
As if I needed one (or three) more reasons to be a loyal shopper!

-Kim Van Syoc

P.S. -- Zappos.com rarely does advertising, but they just rolled out a campaign in the bottom of shoe bins at airports countrywide. Right now they are in eight locations -- keep an eye out for their ads the next time you're stuck waiting in the security line!

posted on September 29, 2008


Good Visuals Speak for Themselves



-Jen Maxwell-Muir

posted on September 26, 2008


Brother's Day Campaign in DM News!

We've always thought our work was pretty awesome, but it's always good to see we're not the only ones who think so. A few weeks ago, PR Week gave a shout out to our Dagoba Organic Chocolate "Seed the Day" initiative.

Adding to the coverage list, DM News recently reviewed our Widmer Brother's Brewing "Brother's Day" campaign, a consumer engagement program that Maxwell created to celebrate brotherly love nationwide. Because Kurt and Rob Widmer started Widmer Brewing nearly 25 years ago we wanted to give brothers (and siblings) everywhere a reason to say "I love you" in a much more masculine way -- through a sucker-punch and a Widmer Hefeweizen.

In a nutshell, we're pretty psyched that our work was found worthy of review, however, we're a little bummed that the DM News guest reviewer overlooked two key elements of the program:

The campaign review stated that Brother's Day came first, then the Widmer campaign. In all actuality, it was the other way around. We worked hard to get August 11 proclaimed as the official "Brother's Day" here in the city of Portland and throughout Oregon as part of the overall campaign. First Oregon, then the world...

In addition, we raised money for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter by donating $1 for every Brother's Day e-card sent (just another way for brothers to show appreciation without any effort). While we didn't meet our goal of raising $5,000, we're not quitters. Widmer is still working hard to meet that initial goal by letting consumers send animated Oktoberfest e-cards -- they're just as funny and more importantly, they raise money for a good cause!

As Widmer would say, "Prost" (German for "cheers") to PR Week and DM News for showing us some brotherly love!

-Kim Van Syoc

posted on September 24, 2008


The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Nau

Last Tuesday a few members of the Maxwell team attended the AMA's presentation by Ian Yolles, Nau's Head of Marketing. I hoped to hear about what went wrong with a company that had it so right. I wanted to learn how they planned to recover from their swift closing (slamming) of doors.

Unfortunately, very little was divulged in the department of their closure. Yolles breezed over the death of Nau, touching on the lack of investment, bad economy and over-expansion. Yes, these were all factors, but I wanted more.

Instead we heard about Nau's magical birth, their organic word-of mouth marketing and their connection to the community. While these are all good stories, they are things that I already knew about the company, things that made me love them in the first place. But how could these aspects have worked more effectively for the company? What was missing from Yolles' presentation was the exploration of what will make this business model work. What were your learnings, Nau? Please do tell!

As a leader in this new business paradigm, I hope Nau can use their successes and failures to teach how this model can be sustainable (in the true sense of the word sustain, as in, stay alive). It would be great if Nau would lead an ongoing salon, a truly open forum, about what worked and what did not and how they're going to make it work in the future, because this is a business model that I believe cannot be laid to rest.

Although I'm still mourning for their spring closure, I am interested in seeing how Nau evolves and pushes forward under the parent company Horny Toad.

-Molly Cooney-Mesker

posted on September 16, 2008


The Hunt for Chuck Barris

This week our team had the great pleasure of hunting the halls of The Kennedy School for clues on a quest of collective problem-solving. Hidden in the artwork of the historical building were answers to a series of puzzles and questions created by our client Portland Walking Tours. The newest "tours" offered by the company are actually fully-customizable corporate team-building Hunts. While we weren't the first group to run a new Hunt, we WERE the first to play with the company's fancy Hunt iPhones which dished out clues, challenged us with the crazily addictive Bubblewrap Game, and instantly uploaded the pictures we took to the team photo site.

Our office may be a bit "short in the tooth" to catch the Chuck Barris reference, but all three teams managed to finish the race with heads held high. Even though I wasn't on the winning team, a celebratory pint afterward healed the sting of coming in second.

Check us out!

-Erica Erland

posted on September 15, 2008


Trying to Re-ignite That Creative Spark


After a seven year hiatus, the Portland Creative Conference was back to business as usual this past Saturday, Sept. 6. Jen Scott and I decided to attend this event and I think I can safely say that we both had a great time, and were inspired by a few of the conference's exciting speakers.

While there were certainly highlights, including an extended pre-screening of LAIKA's upcoming big-screen film "Coraline" (which I will be seeing opening night), the creative process behind CROW Clothing's founder damali ayo (whose compostable hoodie I will soon be buying--on a sliding scale, nonetheless!) and getting to hear about one writer's entry into the world of comics at my old, awesome place of employment, Dark Horse Comics. These were all truly inspiring speeches.

But I think probably the most creative for me was Michael Curry of Michael Curry Design. If you are not familiar with his work, check it out. I wasn't until Saturday, but I am seriously in shock and awe that such an amazing workshop exists right in our own Oregon backyard. These aren't your ordinary puppets! What I really took away from Michael's speech was one thing he said he does in his creative process: he makes himself clear away all the clutter and go with his gut thoughts. By giving himself this opportunity to have a "first look" at the project, he usually comes up with more creative ideas then if he sees what other people have already done before him.

I think this is something that we as creators need to not be afraid of in marketing and public relations. Don't worry about what campaigns came before--take a fresh look at what is in front of you, more than likely it's a better idea (or at least starting point) then you may think. If it happens to come close to what someone else has already thought of, well, as Michael said, that sometimes happen, but you'll know that it came from a place of originality.

-Christina Stewart

posted on September 09, 2008


Putting New Meaning to the Phrase 'Biker Chick'

Maxwell recently welcomed a new member onto the team. Perhaps more than any Maxwellite she represents what Maxwell is all about. She keeps us engaged with our community, encourages us to eat locally, stay healthy and be adventurous. Please meet our little red office bicycle, complete with basket and bell.

Also, Maxwell is proud to have a small but fierce team participating in the Portland Bicycle Transportation Alliance's Bike Commute Challenge during the Month of September. We are more excited than ever to be a part of the Portland Bicycle community as it continues to grow and flourish.

-Molly Cooney-Mesker

posted on September 04, 2008


PRWeek Recognizes Maxwell('s) PR


A few weeks ago Jen Maxwell-Muir was featured in Ad Age, and today Maxwell's work was recognized by PRWeek. Not to toot our own horn or anything, but its lookin' like we're pretty awesome...

Today's story highlights Dagoba Organic Chocolate's "Seed the Day" campaign, a consumer engagement program Maxwell cooked up to show the brand's support of the growing urban gardening movement. Because Dagoba's chocolate is inspired by and infused with exotic culinary botanicals, we're sharing ingredients as a way to inspire people to garden. Consumers can visit the website to sign up for free seeds, upload pictures of their garden, share ideas for the next Dagoba bar and enter to win free chocolate for a year.

In addition, our sampling partner MusicMatters has hit the streets of Chicago, Boston and San Francisco handing out chocolate bars, herb starts and seeds to lucky passer-bys. The Dagoba team here at Maxwell couldn't be more proud of how this baby's turning out!

-Sam Burton

posted on September 03, 2008
  This spirited, open forum by Maxwell PR staff members, studio mates and colleagues features people who are, in our opinion, doing the right things to get people talking. You'll see us rave about organizations building communities and rant about those who are missing obvious opportunities. We sprinkle in a little marketing and PR rhetoric from time to time for extra vigor and enthusiasm, and will share observations and insight based on our own experience honing our craft every day.  
 

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