October 2008
34 posts
How much is a positive brand worth? →
Can you put a price on a strong brand? What is it worth? It’s a good question. Since the beginning of advertising, the business side of the media has tried to place a value on advertising in their…
September 2008
29 posts
Congrats to Jesse Berger...Crain's 40 Under 40 →
At SOZO | Pivotal we have some of the greatest clients in the world. They’re passionate about their businesses and they value the need for solid branding and marketing strategies. Jesse Berger, of…
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A new brand of football?
Since 2001, the Detroit Lions have established a very solid, unfavorable brand—horrible football. They’ve been joked about on all the late night talk shows and people who don’t even follow sports know that the Lions are the definition of a poorly run franchise. With today’s dismissal of CEO Matt Millen, could the Lions be headed in the right direction? Maybe. But the big...
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This Viper look-a-like is no Challenger, or...
So Chrysler today announced they’re going to produce an electric car in 2010. It’s going to look like the picture above, which looks like a Viper, which no longer looks cool at all. Did somebody at Chrysler just wake up to all the attention GM is getting from the Volt? Very unimpressive.
Lions' 75th Anniversary
While there’s not much more to say about this 0-3 start, maybe you’ll feel better reading about the past. My dad’s been writing a feature each week on the best Lions players by position for detroitlions.com.
“It was an embarrassment, the fans deserve better, and if I had the authority, I...”
– William Clay Ford…………..Jr.
“Matt Millen was speechless when a reporter approached him at halftime. He never...”
– The lede from Drew Sharp’s post-game column in the Detroit Free Press. Great stuff.
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Charging the mound...from first?
There are two things in baseball I absolutely can’t stand. The first being players arguing with the official scorer on whether a play was a hit or an error. (I’ll post more about this later—great topic!) And the second happened last night—hitters who stand over the plate like its a urinal, who get hit by a pitch and then charge the mound.
Don’t get me wrong, if you get beaned on...
I can't wait...
…to talk launch this new product/service that SOZO | Pivotal has developed. It’s all part of the branding world, but it focuses on a specific business niche. Today we came up with a really cool name that is sort of out there, but works perfectly. Stay tuned here and at the www.doesyourbusiness.com blog for more news.
Microsoft commercials about nothing apparently... →
Rumor around the web is that Microsoft has dumped the Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates spots. Microsoft PR is denying it, of course, saying it’s only a move into the next phase and Seinfeld was never…
Biggby Coffee: 100 stores and definitely growing →
Yesterday afternoon I stopped at a Biggby Coffee store (the one on Woodward, south of 13 Mile) for the first time. The visit set off a chain of events that blew me away. Biggby has an…
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Performance Pay
I hate when I see a professional athlete excel during a contract year and then subsequently fall below the level of expectations after the ink has dried.
The same can be said for CEOs of huge companies. They sign contracts with incentives based on how long they serve with a company and how the stock performs during their tenure, but what happens down the road after the company delivers on those...
SOZO | Pivotal launches re-designed web site →
It’s been a work in progress for quite some time and we’re happy to say the work is complete. SOZO | Pivotal has a new website! If you’ve visited before, the look will seem very…
December 2, 1995
That was the date of one of my most memorable Red Wing games. It was Patrick Roy’s last game in a Canadiens’ sweater after the Wings beat him and Montreal up 11-1—their worst loss on home ice in the team’s history. Former Hab’s coach Mario Tremblay left Roy in for nine of those goals before finally pulling him in the second period. A few days later the Canadiens traded him...
TwitterFeed test
See if this shows up on my twitter page.
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What if...
…there was a terrorist plot to hack into the web servers of all the major newspapers and manufacture stories that would bring down the stock markets and report other fictional events causing people to jump out of their windows in War of the Worlds-type fashion? We’d never fall for it, right? Then why did United Airlines stock drop 60% at one point today after a six-year-old story was...
Microsoft's new ad campaign →
Watching the Lions yesterday was painful. But it wasn’t as bad as watching the new Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld TV spot that ran during the game. If you missed it, you can see it here. This isn’t…
What's Worse?
The Detroit Lions or that Microsoft commercial with Gates and Seinfeld? I just saw both. Posted with LifeCast
Google At Age 10 →
mischadehart:
Google vs. Microsoft
It kind of makes me sick how quickly 10 years passes.
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My iPod's pissed at my wireless card
The other night I was working on my laptop with an AT&T wireless card and listening to my iPod. For some reason there’s an invisible funkiness that floats in the air from the card making the iPod wheel jump and skip. I turned off the connection on the laptop and the iPod worked fine.
Not sure why this is happening now as I’ve used both before at the same time.
I’m thinking...
Sarah Palin
I was really impressed with her speech and delivery last night at the RNC.
Behind the scenes of a magazine feature story. →
Publishing a magazine is somewhere on my list of things to do before I die, so I’m looking forward to following this blog…
PLEASE READ: Orbitz sucks a little less
Well, I called Orbitz this morning and got everything sorted out. They handled re-booking the room with the hotel. It took 30 minutes and who knows if everything is actually taken care of. They supposedly couldn’t send me an confirmation that this was resolved. I’ll find out next week.
I can’t help but wonder why the online chat rep couldn’t have handled it the same way...
Question of the Day
What team is going to sign Tatum Bell? He brings too much baggage to an organization.
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PLEASE READ: Orbitz sucks!!
Apparently, you can't book multiple rooms and then cancel only one of them on Orbitz. Check out this conversation...It's absolutely absurd. Help me spread this blog post around the world so everyone can be forewarned about this. I'd really like to see a guy like Seth Godin see this. (Sorry about the spelling errors in the dialogue.)
As you can see at the end, I was essentially hung up on.
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Chat InformationThank you for choosing Orbitz! My name is Charlena. How may I assist you?
Charlena: Hello!
Dave: i booked two hotel rooms and I need to cancel one of them.
Charlena: Was it prepaid Dave?
Dave: Not sure. my conf number is LNZXVG
Dave: paid on credit card. I went to the cancelation page and i just want to make sure i don't cancel both rooms, just one.
Charlena: I show that it is, so changes cannot be made. They require a rebook and cancellation, so both rooms would be cancelled.
Dave: what if rooms aren't available or the rate goes up?
Charlena: You can check that and rebook before canceling.
Dave: That's absolutely horrible customer service.
Dave: Especially if I already have to pay a $50 cancellatio fee.
Charlena: I can waive it if you rebook with us.
Dave: it shows rooms aren't available at that hotel.
Charlena: Is there another option for you?
Dave: No. I want to cancel one room and keep the other.
Charlena: I'm sorry, but that is not possible with a prepaid reservation.
Dave: Then why can't I cancel them both and be assured I get the room I want back.
Charlena: We always recommend that you rebook before canceling for this reason.
Dave: There's nothing available! But really if I cancel both rooms, there's one room available.
Charlena: If the hotel puts it back on our site, yes.
Dave: Do you realize how ridiculous this is?
Charlena: I did not make the rules.
Dave: Can I speak/chat with the person who did?
Charlena: You can call us at 888-656-4546 and speak with a supervisor.
Dave: You can't call the hotel and have them save me the room?
Charlena: I could not make them do anything, no.
Dave: What kind of technology is this? In the past, I've been very pleased with Orbitz. If this can't be solved quickly and easily, why would I ever use this site again?
Charlena: Can someone else go?
Charlena: Can someone else go?
Dave: Are you kidding me?
Charlena: Orbitz has certain policies. I'm sorry that it upsets you.
Dave: I'm actually just very surprised that Orbitz can't simply cancel one of my rooms. If this was 1946, this would be easier. I thought technology made things easier.
Dave: I can't wait to share this conversation with everyone I know. I can't get over how some companies still think they can get away with treating their customers this way.
Chat InformationChat session has been terminated by the Orbitz Customer Service agent.
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Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise... →
Great article in Wired about the guy who makes sure everything in the Star Wars world remains consistent across all mediums. It’s not just movies, but books, video games and comic books.
I’d like to ask him about the subtle differences I’ve always wondered about between Darth Vader’s helmet in A New Hope and the shinier, more menacing looking one in the next two movies....