An Open Letter to Marissa Mayer:

Dear Ms Mayer:

You are the very well paid Chief executive of a major search engine who is highly respected and admired by many both on and off line.

I cannot understand why a company of Yahoo's stature needs to hijack my web browser so that each time I open a new window, I see Yahoo Search.  Then when I must spend time attempting to reset my browser preferences, it is coded it in such a way that my browsers (Chrome, IE) go right back to the Yahoo search page.

I expect these tactics from fly-by-night web businesses who need the traffic.  Is Yahoo really that desperate for traffic that you must stoop to hijacking personal browsers to gin up your traffic numbers?

It is annoying and frankly very low brow.  You are paid quite a bit of money to "attract" visitors not "trap" them.

These tactics only result in frustrating me and turning me against the Yahoo brand and frankly in today's world a "brand" is all you have to differentiate Yahoo from any other search engine.

I doubt you will personally read this letter, but I write in the hope that the sycophants who surround you will attempt to correct the situation.

Looking forward.

Sincerely,

Martin Amadio

What Makes a Drink Worth $25?

Back in the early 80's I was working in Chicago. Around that time the Palm restaurant opened a location in Chicago in the Drake Hotel, around the corner from where Playboy magazine had its offices at the time.

The Palm was a great after work hangout for people in the publishing and advertising businesses in Chicago. Since I was on a 1980's style expense account, I was there several times a week after work and got to know the bartender and maître d'. Their names were Frank and Glenn.

Both had worked for the Palm in New York and moved to Chicago to open the new location. Frank, the bartender, was the perfect host for an after work crowd looking to network. He would routinely introduce me to other people at the bar who might of have similar business interests and vice versa. In other words he was much more than a bartender. He was like a master of ceremonies bringing people of similar interests together to enjoy a few drinks after work and helping them make connections.

I left Chicago in 1985 but always remembered the time I spent at the Palm in Chicago. In the early 90s I moved to New York City and one day I walked into the Palm Too on 2nd Avenue. As I walked in the door and headed to the bar, there was Frank from the Chicago Palm. He greeted me with a hearty, "Hello Marty" and proceeded to set me up with a very drink I had been drinking back in Chicago years earlier. He made me feel welcomed, important and like an old friend. I went to the Palm for drinks and dinner whenever the occasion warranted and Frank always made me feel special.


The Palm is an expensive place to drink. I can't remember how much drinks cost, but with tip it could easily run over $20. It may even be higher today, but the way I was treated made it worth every penny. Geographic circumstances have prevented me from visiting the Palm for nearly 10 years. However, when I think about customer loyalty and customer experience, I always think about Frank and the Palm.

This is the epitome of customer experience and service. I could have had drinks down the street for much less, but I went to the Palm because of the way I was treated. They delivered an extraordinary customer experience. I have always believed that people do business with people. If you and your staff can make connections with your customers, you can bridged the gap between price and value.

Today we live in an omni-channel world. Many of the things we buy can be bought virtually anywhere, anytime. What are you doing to insure that customers come away from transactions with your business happy, satisfied and feeling like they are more than just another cash register ring?

Aim to create fans and not just customers.

P&G is Making a Long Term Mistake Shrinking Its Agency Roster

The headline reads:

P&G Plans to Cut $500 Million in Agency Fees by Shrinking Its Roster

This decision is a result of procurement departments commodifying creative. 

The adage that, "You can't manage, what you can't measure," is why "non-media" spend is under attack by a corporate mentality that believes creative is interchangeable, These "accountants" recognize that media can be measured and managed and therefore negotiated for the best procurement value. They do not have a metric or method for valuing creative. 

Granted,, there are many excesses and overlaps in the agency world.which could be consolidated for better value, but great creative cannot be strictly measured or valued by procurement departments under the direction of CFO's. 

When a company is manged to a bottom line, instead of to a standard for the short term benefit of share holders it is only a mater of time until a smarter, better or cheaper competitor eats their lunch. This is why private label products are so successful today. With no creative and little marketing, private label products are eroding the market share of companies like P&G. 

CPG companies must understand that in the 21st Century they are no longer just selling products but are actually marketing machines creating demand. 

Today,money should be spent on creative marketing in the same fashion which product development was at one time. When companies think like this, it is no wonder that the position of CMO is valued as it is in the C-Suite, at the board level and ultimately on Wall Street.

Read the article here.

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