Nintendo customer spreads the word...

Over at the Nintendo headquarters, the representatives don't view their consumers as "you," but rather as "we," or shall we say Wii.

Recently, a story has leaked about how incredible the customer service is at Nintendo. A child customer, Saska, was having troubles with his Nintendo Wii system and decided to give the company a call to see what they could do. Before even completing the hold message on the phone, a cheerful representative greeted Saska with a friendly solution: why not just bring the system down to headquarters, since you live so close? To his delight, Saska was welcomed at the headquarters in Redmond, Washington, by a life-sized Mario and other game characters. Within a half on hour of arrival, the company had his system completely fixed, saved all of his progress, and even reset his warranty clock. The boy was so delighted he wrote in to tell his story to the .

Whats ironic here is that the Consumerist is usually known for their flaws and tricks around companies. This piece, however, was a warm story which really gave Nintendo some great buzz. By utilizing their friendly customer service, Nintendo was able to overwhelmingly please a customer, whom in return spread the news to many people.

A simple task like this is just what a company needs to strive on. In earlier posts, I have mentioned how it is necessary for businesses like Nintendo to rely heavily on customer satisfaction in order to gain loyalty. This maneuver has done exactly that.

With Saska happy and ready to tell the world, so are the many other that he encounters. Already, there have been numerous stories and posts about the quality of care at Nintendo, for even I am participating in this Buzz.

When all is said and done, sometimes marketing does not cost a penny. Positive word of mouth from satisfied customers can be all that a company relies on.

To check out more, read the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Blog (WOMMA), Nintendo Makes Customer Happy, Gets Buzzed About.

No trespassing...

When telemarketers started to invade homes, people took it personally. When the Internet was flooded with pop-ups, Internet surfers were outraged. And email, we all know about email. The more marketers intrude on personal space, the more people will do to ban these messages. Recently, consumer advocates have gotten do-not-mail bills on the agendas of legislatures in more than a dozen states. These laws will not only stop unwanted messages, but will also become a marketer's nightmare.

Many states, including NY, have this legislation passing through their judicial systems as you read this. People are becoming fed up with unwanted messages and are blocking out more and more advertising.

In my opinion, this issue is going to take several years to process for it involves both sides constitutional rights. For consumers, people will argue that their amended privacy rights are being breached. And for marketers, they will say that they have the right to free speech and expression, protected by the first amendment.

In regards to this subject, Lori Schwartz, VP-director of Interpublic's Emerging Media Lab, said "Viral marketing is really overhyped. The word viral should go back to being a medical term." I, on the other hand, strongly disagree. Sure, there are a handful of companies that blast people with emails (enlarge this, make more with that, etc), but these businesses are the exceptions. What about the successors like Hotmail, Careerbuilder, and many more. People like Schwartz argue that advertising is becoming over-invasive, but I think viral marketing is just poorly-hyped.

Advertisers need to tailor viral efforts more towards the consumers needs. Of course, it helps to be shocking, surprising and filled with the unexpected. But in the long run, marketers should be trying to fulfill the single most important question for a message to reach, "what's in it for the consumer?"

Or perhaps, instead of entering people's personal space frequently, viral marketing can take a slightly different approach. Ad Week's Do-Not-Mail article explains a new "opt-in messaging" as a solution. This involves creating an online community and allowing marketers to invite people to join the excitement. This can be seen with Quicken and Turbotax services online.

In the long run, I do not see this as an end to a chapter in advertising, or even viral marketing. It will just be another roadblock to dodge, a minor pothole really. Take TiVo for example. Advertisers were in great fear over the thought of their pricey messages being skipped. But in all reality, the better tailoring of these messages have caused consumers to still watch these commercials, and with more interest, on their recordings.

For more information, check out this interesting article.