“That’s strange,” I thought.  I’ve heard from two other companies in the last three days, all claiming to be “the world’s leading Internet marketing company.”

Did I call them back? Nope. If I can’t trust what they say in a voice mail, why would I trust their business practices?

It’s the puffery that threw me off.

“Puffery” means exactly how it sounds – exaggerated statements that, in actuality, no reasonable prospect would believe.  If you’ve been to a bar during ladies night, the pick-up lines you’ll hear represent puffery at it’s finest. “I’m the best at…”  “People say I’m the greatest.” You can almost picture the Leisure Suit Larry-type throwing out the lines.

The problem with puffery is it sets off people’s B.S. meters. You read things like “We’re the best in the industry” and, “We’re the world’s greatest at…” and you think, “Yeah, right.”  You don’t believe it. You can’t believe it. Especially when 1,000 competing Websites brag about the exact same thing.

The sad thing is, if you don’t know any better, puffy SEO copywriting can sound good when you’re writing it. Stumped for something to say, it’s easy to boast rather than provide benefits. “We’re the best.” “All experts agree!” “Work with the leading company in…” What these folks forget is that their readers want real information. They want to know the specific ways your product or service will help them. They want to know how you’ll make their lives easier. Not how cool you are.

When I posted my “World’s leading Internet marketing company” experience on  Twitter, I received some interesting responses:

And these Facebook responses, one of which from the always-wonderful @demib (someone who really can claim to be one of the top five SEO experts in the world):

How can you prevent puffery? Comb through your site and delete any comments containing unsubstantiated superlatives like “Everyone uses our services.” At the same time, boost your streed cred the real, effective way – by announcing awards, touting your testimonials and raving about your reviews.  It’s one thing for you to say, “I’m the best in the business.” It’s quite another when you have 50 testimonials raving about your service, you’ve won industry awards, you’ve chaired boards and you have scads of press clippings quoting you as the expert source.

After all, it’s one thing to toot your own horn. But it’s so much more effective when someone else does it for you…

It’s my 40th birthday.  I’m with my favorite search buddies and eating at one of Vegas’ hottest restaurants (and most expensive…we learned THAT after getting the bill.)  Drinks are flowing, food is flowing. It’s all good.

And we’re talking about Twitter. Really. On my 40th birthday. Sadly, I am not making this up.

As I’ve said before, I didn’t quite get this “Twitter thing” until Lee Odden from TopRank Marketing patiently led me through the benefits.  And then I got it. And then, the SEO copywriting light turned on as I realized its networking potential.

And then I became a Twitvangelist. It happens to the best of us.

Can Twitter be a waste of time? Hell yeah. But can it be a powerful way to make contacts and even gain business? Hell yeah. For the unconverted (and I know you’re out there,) here’s some Twittips to maximize your Twit-efforts (OK, I’ll stop now.)

• I was a Tweeting fool when I first started.  That was bad.  Once I stepped down from my fledgling Twitter addiction and focused my efforts, I realized that Twitter was good for a number of things: lead generation, learning about new SEO copywriters and discovering new resources. Heck, Twitter is even good for copywriting practice (quick, say something compelling in 140 characters or less!) If you’re a freelance online writer, check out “8 Ways that Twitter Can Grow Your Freelance Business.”   After reading this article and coming up with a business-case strategy, you’ll feel less guilty about your Tweet time. Trust me.

• Still not convinced that Twitter is good for networking? Dianna Huff sent out a random Tweet – and ended up making a valuable business contact (plus she got a cool tour of a flagship store!).  Dianna’s takeaway: “you can’t beat the connections that you make on social media — connections you would never make with cold calls, direct mail, or even an optimized Web site.” True enough. Discover more about how to use Twitter for business.

• Think about merging Twitter, reputation management and SEO.  It may make your brain hurt, but that time is…wait for it…now.  In a brilliant SEO move, Twitter tweaked their Title tags, meaning that your Twitter account may be ranking higher in search results for your name.  My first reaction was – cool!  Another way for people to learn more about me. But here’s the downside. Let’s say you’re at..oh, I don’t know…a Search Engine Strategies conference. And you drunkenly Tweet something random and stupid to 1,000 of your closest followers. Although it seems like a one-time stupid event, that Tweet will live on on your profile page. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Won’t you follow me on Twitter?  I promise not to drunk Tweet you. Really.

As a every-day SBUX addict, I was researching their latest loyalty program – the Starbucks Gold Card (which, apparently, is black – not gold. Um…?) For $25, I would get 10% off most purchases, free wi-fi for two hours, access to exclusive sales and what they call “member recognition” (strike one: I have to pay $25 on top of my daily coffee purchases to be “recognized?”).

So, like a good social media chick, I went to the Starbucks Blog where they posted a “sneak peek” of the Gold card. Although the tone and feel is a little too…corporate…for my taste, the original blog post did a good job outlining the benefits.

But then the problems began…

Comments started rolling in.  People were (understandably) confused.  Did they need to combine their new Gold card with their regular Rewards card to get maximum discounts?  Why does someone need to pay to get a discount? What kind of cool insider “member recognition” benefits will they recognize? And why did the official Starbucks blog post specifically say, “so don’t be surprised if your barista isn’t up-to-speed yet!” (Great…so that means I have to pay for a discount AND educate my barista?)

So, let’s examine where Starbucks went wrong.

1. There were 128 comments about the initial post. Starbucks responded twice. That’s it.  Just two times – even while there was a whirl of controversy going on.  If you read through the comments, you’ll notice one customer who was incredibly excited about receiving a Gold Card get more and more discouraged with the Starbucks customer service process.  At no time did anyone step in and address his concerns.  I would venture to say that the process basically turned a would-be evangelist into a cynical detractor.
2. The official Starbucks response made it seem like a very elite group of people received a free card – and the rest of the registered Starbucks card users didn’t count.  Saying “Those that received the Gold card early were among our most dedicated and consistent registered card users,” is a slap in the face to people who (according to comments) spend thousands of dollars every year with Starbucks.  Heck, even I was miffed that I didn’t get a free offer – I’m in a Starbucks every day, sometimes twice a day.  It would have been much easier (and less offensive) to say that people were “randomly chosen.”  People won’t argue with random…but they will feel cheated if they don’t feel “special” enough.
3. They should have had a chart (or some kind of visual) showing the potential savings.  The big objection Starbucks needs to overcome is “I don’t want to shell out $25 for a loyalty card.”  For many people (me included) that is a big enough stop sign to halt the consideration process in its tracks.  If people are in coffee-buying mode, they probably aren’t in number-crunching mode…especially for early-morning Starbucks visitors who need that first cup to wake up. It would have been more effective to show in dollars and cents how the card would pay for itself in less than three months.
4. Saying that I, as a Gold Card member, would have to “educate my barista” is just wrong, wrong, wrong.  From a corporate communications standpoint, you’re basically saying that either (1) Starbucks can’t get their acts together to train their baristas properly or (2) their baristas are too slow to “get it (which is not the case – I heart my Starbucks baristas!) Either way, way to make the corporation look bad.  If I’m paying $25 for a loyalty card, I shouldn’t have to tell my barista how to give me my discount.  I’m typically hitting my store at 6am sharp – that’s not exactly the time that I’m eagle-eyed and in the mood to fight for an additional 10% off.

Unfortunately, this isn’t new behavior for the coffee giant.  Lisa Wehr discussed how Starbucks didn’t update their 2007 holiday podcasts, calling it a clear sign that “Starbucks was falling out of touch with their customers.”

I congratulate Starbucks with trying new forms of marketing to connect with customers.  They have a loyal following (me among them,) great brand recognition and their partners are awesome.  However, just as Starbucks would never let a barista walk away in the middle of a conversation with a customer, they should frequently check their blog posts and keep the conversation (or “connection” in Starbucks-speak) flowing – NOT walk away from a post just ’cause it’s posted.  Additionally, Starbucks should carefully consider their blog post wording – as experienced copywriters know, how you say what you say is exceptionally important. An innocuous phrase like “our most dedicated and consistent..customers” can actually alienate people if used the wrong way

Part of Starbucks new mission statement specifically focuses on “our customers” and “our neighborhoods.”  Now, it’s time to redefine “customers” and “neighborhoods” to encompass online communities and provide the same level of communication you’d find in any retail store. THAT would keep with the customer-service oriented Starbucks corporate culture…and it would help their online customers feel heard.

But here’s the problem. In a recent in-store promotion, the Starbucks writers fell into the trap that so many copywriters do – they let a headline get cutesy and take a back seat to substance.

I was waiting for my afternoon coffee when a customer grabbed the latest in-store promotional flyer for breakfast sandwiches. After a quick glance, she looked up and said, “You know, this headline doesn’t even make sense.”

I grabbed my own flyer (as did another customer) and realized she was right.  The headline:  “Wake up to a new toasty warm and savory delicious.”

I wondered if this was a fill-in the-blank statement.  “Hmm, I can ‘wake up to a new toasty warm and savory delicious’…what?”  My imagination started whirling on the possibilities that had absolutely nothing to do with food. Sure, the photo clearly showed a breakfast sandwich. And the subheadline (which clarified the statement but didn’t grammatically flow) did say “Starbucks Piadini, Wrap and Breakfast Sandwiches.” But the freestanding headline statement – the first thing I viewed when I read the flyer – was all fluff and no substance.

What’s worse, the headline stopped three customers in their tracks.  We weren’t discussing the creamy hot goodness of our extra-hot soy lattes. Nor were we soaking up the Starbucks vibe. Instead, we were connecting over bad copy- and wondering why the heck a big brand could make such a strange error.

This is what happens when copywriters substitute good, solid writing with fluffy gimmicks.

Now, let’s talk about what could have worked…

Really, it could have been as simple as making the headline and subheadline flow. Such as:

“Now, you can wake up to a toasty warm and savory delicious Starbucks Piadini, Wrap or Breakfast Sandwich”

This headline makes much more sense.  I deleted “new” from the copy (typically a marketing power word) and replaced it with “now” (also a power word) to encourage the call to action.  I also added the word “you,” to personalize the copy.  This added two words to the original headline.

Starbucks could reinforce that this is a new product – plus hammer home the “healthy options” benefit by improving the subheadline:

Now, you can wake up to a toasty warm and savory delicious Piadini, Wrap or Breakfast Sandwich…

…New healthy breakfast choices from Starbucks

There are scads of ways to improve the copy (and I bet readers can come up with their own improved versions.) However, the bottom line is this: someone at Starbucks corporate should have nixed this headline before it hit the streets.

In general, Starbucks has had historically good copy that’s emotion-rich and gramatically correct. However, a verbiage blunder like this does nothing but reflect negatively upon their brand. Considering the negative press due to their recent store closings and the latest attack ads by Dunkin’ Donuts, it seems that Starbucks should evaluate their future messaging a bit more closely…

]]> http://www.seocopywriting.com/content-marketing/reputation-management/starbucks-coffee-and-their-breakfast-sandwich-blunder/feed/ 6 http://www.seocopywriting.com/content-marketing/reputation-management/terminal-5-trauma-british-airways-and-missed-reputation-management-opportunities/ http://www.seocopywriting.com/content-marketing/reputation-management/terminal-5-trauma-british-airways-and-missed-reputation-management-opportunities/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:59:33 +0000 Heather http://www.seocopywriting.com/?p=68 Just one week ago, I was returning home from an Amsterdam holiday. I flew into Heathrow’s brand-new Terminal 5 and happily boarded my plane.

My luggage did not.

If you’ve been tracking the Terminal 5-blues news, you’d know that it’s been estimated that 20,000 bags were stuck in Heathrow. Volunteer British Airways staff are manually hand-sorting them as I type. Reputation-management wise, British Airways is in deep doo-doo, with calls for the CEO’s resignation. And customer-wise, travelers are booking with other airlines, trying to avoid Terminal 5’s chaotic reputation.

Unfortunately, every business is vulnerable to a public relations nightmare (although British Airway’s is exceedingly bad.) The key is how you deal with it. British Airways can be remembered as “the airline that will lose your luggage,” or “the airline that had a glitch, but overcame it with great customer service.”

From a customer perspective, I’m frustrated. Here it is, seven days later, and I still don’t have my bag. The BA.com luggage tracking system is down frequently, and customer service doesn’t have any new information. I understand that this is an extraordinary situation – but here’s what would make me feel happier from a customer service perspective:

1. A dedicated mini-site (even a blog) focused solely on the lost baggage issue. 20,000 bags in backlog and missing bags seven days out would indicate that many, many people need help. It’s not like a site like this will hurt BA – after all, the luggage situation has made international news. But it would show that BA is trying.
2. Information about claims as they apply to this situation. Granted, claim information is on the BA.com site. However, it’s been implied that BA will increased the compensation amount for passengers stuck in the Terminal 5 fiasco. If I knew that British Airways was increasing the compensation, I would feel OK about buying a new pair of jeans rather than feeling resentful that I’m spending MY money because of BA’s baggage issues. Having updated information on the Terminal 5 mini-site would be incredibly helpful.
3. Updated general baggage information. If luggage is being manually sorted – and the database isn’t necessarily reflecting that – please tell us. If BA.com has reduced the luggage backload by 5000 pieces a day, please post it on the site. I feel much more comfortable in a control-free situation when I at least have the most accurate information.
4. An apology. It may sound trite, but I would love to see a dedicated Terminal 5 site with a big fat “We’re so, so sorry” statement right on the home page. Customer service has been excellent in relying this information – but I want to hear it from BA.com’s management.
5. A forum where people can ask general questions about the luggage situation. Granted, this would take some manpower on BA.com’s side. But it would be nice to have another way to contact British Air and learn new information without being put on hold for 10 minutes or more.

Setting up a Terminal 5 dedicated blog and creating content for it wouldn’t take much time. A smart SEO or reputation management expert could take care of it in half a day. And then, British Airways could point to the site and say, “See, we’re trying. We do care. And we’re doing everything we can to make this right.”

The one saving grace during this time? I have to say that British Airways customer service is excellent. Most of the reps I’ve talked with have been friendly and helpful – even though they are on the “where’s my luggage” firing lines. My only hope is that these excellent folks get some sort of hazard pay. They certainly deserve it.

Just called the airline to ask about my luggage. Apparently, 5,000 bags are being put on flights today. They can’t tell me if my bag was one of them. And so it continues…

Years ago, I had the not-fun feeling of seeing an article I had written sitting on a competing SEO company’s site (which will remain nameless.) The article was posted as if the SEO company wrote it. There was no byline, no link back to my site, no nothing.

I was pissed.

What’s worse is that the aforementioned scammy SEO argued that they owned the copyright! It wasn’t until that I showed them that the article originally appeared in a SearchDay issue did they take it down. So not cool. And did the SEO apologize? No. They said they took it down “because there was some confusion about who owned the copyright.”

It wasn’t confusing to me. That article was mine.

Unfortunately, the mad push to create value-added content makes good folks do really stupid things. Copy-stealers usually fall into one of three categories:

The “everything is free” copy-stealer. This person honestly has no idea that using your article would be harmful, bad or unethical. They just liked the article and wanted to put it on their site.

The unethical writer. This person “borrows” large sections of text in order to fulfill a current writing assignment. Although they may not copy the article completely, they will copy entire paragraphs and pass them off as theirs. What’s worse, they’ll sell their dupe article to a client. As discussed below, the client is then liable for the copyright violation.

The evil copyright violator. This person knows exactly what they are doing, don’t care and wait to get caught. I would lump the unethical SEO in this category.

Has this happened to you? If you’re wondering, copy a random snippet of text from one of your articles, paste it in the Google search box, put quotes around it and see what comes up. If pages are returned – be warned. Someone else may be using your content without your permission. Additionally, many site owners and writers use Copyscape (basic searching is free, premium is .05 a search with other goodies included) to catch the copyright violation.

So, what to do?

Most violators that I’ve dealt with have fallen in the first category – they didn’t mean to do anything wrong, and they are mortified when they learned what they’ve done. I’ve had great luck emailing people and saying, “Hey, take that article down. It’s mine.”

With other folks, it may be more of a battle.

Bob Ellis, partner in Conkle, Ellis, Fergus and MacDowell, LLP and whip-smart Internet attorney had this to say about the topic:

Whether your material is copied verbatim or whether it’s “adapted,” it’s still copyright infringement. Everything you create that is your original work (text, art, scribbles, scripts, etc.) is automatically copyrighted when you create it — no need to say “copyright (c) 2002″, no need to say “all rights reserved”. But having a copyright and being able to enforce it are two different things.

The best way to be able to enforce your copyright rights is to file a copyright registration for every piece of work you want to protect. Registration is easy – no attorney necessary – and fairly cheap: only $35 if you file online. The Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov will walk you through it.

What are the advantages of registration? Once you have registered your work, you have a legal right to sue infringers in federal court, to get an injunction ordering the infringement to stop, and to receive rather hefty “statutory damages” – that is, damages you don’t have to prove – as well as attorney fees. If you haven’t registered, all you can get is an injunction and actual damages, the ones you have to prove.

Any person or company that posts your work on their site is liable; not just the web developer who may have been the true culprit. If the only infringer is an individual without much money you could end up spending a lot of money for an injunction, and there would be no money for damages or attorney fees. If a major corporation infringes your copyright, a credible threat will probably produce a quick, favorable settlement for you, but if they are determined they could spend unlimited amounts on lawyers to grind you down and string things out.

An online service provider on whose servers the infringing copies happen to reside is NOT considered an infringer, but you can even send the service provider a demand that the infringing material be removed, and they are required by law to respond.

Copyright violation can be fairly common in today’s “the Internet is free” environment. The key is catching it – fast. After all, you’ve put time, money and effort in your content. Why let someone else use it for free and without attribution?