The Shopping Trolley Stare Down!

I am a huge fan of Target - like the rest of the world - and rarely have a bad word to say about them. However, on Saturday with only 12 days to go before Christmas, I witnessed something quite surprising. On going into the store with my family we found a crowd of people all standing around waiting for a shopping trolley - there weren't any left inside the store. At the same time there were a few of the Target employees standing around watching us! I could almost read their minds - 'why don't those lazy people go outside and get a trolley?' 'It isn't my job to bring in the shopping trolleys so there isn't anything I can do about this'. It probably wasn't their job to do it but how happy would all of those potentially loyal customers have been if a couple of employees had rushed outside to help bring in some trolleys. We would have been impressed that they were willing to step outside the parameters of their normal jobs to help us out on a day where most of us were already stressed out and tired in the Pre-Christmas rush.

What this experience convinced me of is that the type of service that demonstrates a store's or an individual's willingness to go above and beyond is often the service that makes the deepest and longest impression on the customer.

Perhaps retailers and other service oriented companies should start challenging their employees to do one thing that is outside their normal job description on a daily basis!

Our Kid's Future is Paying for The Bail Out

I was out with a friend yesterday who is a teacher. I guess we all knew that we were paying for the bail out of the banks and the auto companies but personally I hadn't yet got my head around how. So this friend of mine informed me yesterday that they are trying to get some of the money anyway out of the education system by demanding as much as $1 million or more out of each and every school district. This is a total and utter disgrace and I am hopping mad. Our education system is already suffering in comparison to some of our international counterparts and now we want to make it even worse?

Perhaps this is why the bail outs are so wrong. We are trying to prop up institutions in the short term and paying for it with the future of our children and our country.

When will it end?

Apologies to anyone who noted (quite rightly) that this particular annoyance has very little to do with shopping. I just had to write about it because it seems so wrong.

Totally Asanine!

I normally only write on my blog once a week, but I just read something that compelled me to get scribbling.

We all know by now that the three big US. auto companies are in serious trouble and are looking for solutions to make themselves more profitable. However, it seems to me that one of their biggest problems is that their brands aren't in the least bit fun or glamorous compared to their international competitors - with a few notable exceptions. From my perspective, three of their most interesting brands are Saab, Volvo and Hummer. They all have unique and interesting brand profiles and may not be bought as often as a Chevy Malibu but do a lot to prevent the brand seeming completely out of touch.

Now I read that one of GM's survival strategies is going to be to kill off these three brands. Are they mad? Clearly. No, if I know anything they are going purely by the numbers and the fact that none of these brands are really big sellers. However, they are completely ignoring the fact that all three of them do a great deal to prop up the image of the GM brand that overall reeks of being staid and boring.

Well done GM - another step in the wrong direction.

A Great Cause!

I love it when a company supports a cause that I believe in, but unfortunately it doesn't happen very often. Cynicism sets in when a company claims it only uses environmentally friendly packaging and then you hear that behind the scenes its production practices are actually negatively impacting the environment. As a woman, I am also a big supporter of the Susan Komen Foundation but looking around it sometimes feels like that is the only female cause out there.

So I was thrilled when I read about Tide's Loads of Hope program aimed at helping disaster victims from hurricanes. Tide isn't claiming to change the world with its program, just to give people who have lost their homes the sense of hope that comes with being able to wear clean clothes and with that maintain their dignity and optimism.

Tide sets up Clean Start stations in disaster areas, where people can come and wash their family's clothes for free. It is a truly great idea. Not only is it the sort of thing that a lot of people overlook when thinking of how to help disaster victims, but it is totally connected to what the brand does best - clean clothes.

I would love to hear about other cause related marketing efforts that other people feel are really well designed.