
This week’s 5 Forces Summary touches on topics ranging from one of the deadliest diseases in the world - diabetes, a new office for the White House, unemployment issues in Spain, a new study that links liver disease to pollution, and a new technology that improves electronic publishing by adding computer-readable labels to content.
Enjoy your weekends!
Hope you enjoy this week’s edition of the 5 Forces Summary. Have a great weekend!
Nothing beats feeling appreciated, and receiving a quick “thank you” is, more than often, all it takes. When I put a lot of thought into a gift for someone and don’t even receive a thank you for it later, I admit that I get very disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people that gives in order to receive - I don’t expect a handwritten note or a big production. But a simple “thanks” said aloud is all I’m really looking for. Knowing that someone liked what you gave - or at least appreciated the thoughtfulness - really makes me happy. Apparently many others feel the same way…
The people at smart USA — the car company that famously makes their cars so tiny you could fit two of them in a standard parking space– have recently experienced just how much people appreciate being thanked.
To reward those who had faith in the company early on, patiently waited for their cars to be produced, and bought vehicles, smart USA sent “Emergency Kits” to buyers. These kits each included a thank-you letter and three $5 gift cards to use at well-known coffee, gas, and book retailers. This cost the company a total of $492,440 because it sent kits to every purchaser of the 25,000 cars sold in 2008. The campaign has proven so effective, smart USA plans to keep it around. In addition, the company has chosen not do any traditional advertising.
The director of communications for smart USA, Ken Kettenbeil, thinks that mail has more power than any other media. Ken says, “We have received a lot of positive (consumer) e-mails forwarded from our dealers. We’re getting people thanking us for sending them a thank-you gift.”
With the economy as bad as it is and consumers changing their spending habits and being more selective in their purchases, the “little things” just may be make the difference. If you’re a company, reconsider investing the time (and money) into thanking your consumers for their loyalty. There’s something to the phrase: a little goes a long way.
Hope everyone is having a great Friday! Here are some recent articles that represent the 5 Forces – Globalization, Innovation, Im(migration), Saturation, and Personalization. See you back at Undercurrents on Monday!
Obama glides into old Europe with new U.S. image from The Christian Science Monitor
Globalization is often described in amoral terms, as if an interconnected world of trade and media is value-neutral. But Obama has been seeking to give moral content to the idea of globalization, saying that what is good for people in one nation is good for everyone.
Skype iPhone App Downloaded One Million Times In First Two Days from Boston.com
Since March 31, the Skype iPhone application reached a record of one million downloads and counting! (That translates to approximately 6 downloads per second, in case you were wondering.) The software allows consumers to hook up to alternative phone services, bypassing their cell carriers.
Ineligible Bachelors: Indian Men Living in U.S. Strike Out from The Wall Street Journal
Indian parents used to think it a plus to marry off their daughters to Indian men living in wealthier countries, including the U.S. and Britain. But as India has grown more affluent in recent years, the demand for overseas Indian grooms has been fading. While India’s economy is also slowing down, it is still growing, and layoffs aren’t as widespread as in the West.
Are You a Twit if You Don’t Want to Twitter? from MSNBC
Sociability fatigue is not just being felt by older folks who have lived most of their lives without the Web. As social networking grows, from stream-of-consciousness Twitter to buttoned-up LinkedIn, even some of the younger generation who’ve helped drive the growth of these sites could use a break.
Boomers Make Social Networks a Place of Their Own from USA Today
Social networking is fast becoming a staple for a growing number of adults as Web use surges. One-third of adult internet users have a profile on a social networking site, up from 8% in 2005, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
This installment of the 5 Forces Summary covers recent news from discussions on a new global reserve currency to a non-traditional way adoption seekers are finding potential birth moms. Let us know your thoughts on these articles in the comment section and as always check out past summaries here.
Read on for your bi-weekly dose of New Persuasion. Lots of interesting news this month, from new technology for targeted cable commercials to the announcement of Supermercado de Walmarts coming this summer. Have a great weekend!
Happy Friday, Undercurrents readers! It’s time again for the 5 Forces Summary. Check out these recent articles that highlight each of the 5 Forces of change. We’d love your thoughts on these articles. And, as always, past summaries can be found here.
Globalization
Job Losses Pose a Threat to Stability Worldwide from The New York Times
Worldwide job losses from the recession that started in the United States in December 2007 could hit a staggering 50 million by the end of 2009, according to the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency. The slowdown has already claimed 3.6 million American jobs.
Innovation
The Fast Company 50 from Fast Company
Fast Company released its annual list of the world’s most innovative companies. #1 on the list this year is Team Obama. Other not-so-surprising picks include #15 Facebook (down from #3 in 2008) and #22 Zappos (new to the list).
Im(migration)
Paths to American Dream Converge in Immigration Court from The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles branch of Immigration Court has 26 immigration judges. On average, each judge hears more than 1,000 cases a year. In the case of Nuria Perez Alvarado, a Guatemalean born woman who immigrated to the United States in 1987, the education she received while living in the United States is what convinced the courts to let her stay.
Saturation
A Tale of 140 Characters, Plus the Ones in Congress from The Washington Post
In a speech to a joint session of Congress on February 24, President Barack Obama told America “we will rebuild, we will recover.” As he outlined his plans for economic recovery, members of Congress “whipped out their BlackBerrys and began sending text messages like high school kids bored in math class.”
Personalization
Future Foods Willl Cater to Personal Health from CNN
At an annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, experts said, “In the future, people should be able to tailor their diets and supplements to their particular biochemistry.” J. Bruce German, professor and food chemist at the University of California - Davis states that, ”In a consumer-driven food world, the industry would focus its goals on improving all aspects of the consumer’s health. People would receive dietary recommendations based on a very specific individualized health assessment, taking into account age, sex and medical history.”
Welcome to the second installment of our 5 Forces Summary! The New Persuasion team has chosen the following five articles to highlight the forces that we believe are driving transformational shifts around the world. In doing so, we hope to provide you with a better understanding of how we look at the world from a New Persuasion perspective.
Note: In observation of Presidents’ Day this Monday, we’ll be taking the day off - check back for a new Undercurrents post on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
I am a big believer in second chances, which is why I was especially happy to read this article in the New York Times about the impact drug courts are having across the country. According to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, 70,000 offenders are in juvenile or adult drug courts at any given time nationwide, “the fastest-spreading innovation in criminal justice– giving arrested addicts a chance to avoid prison by agreeing to stringent oversight and addiction treatment.”
Offenders sent to drug courts represent a small fraction of addicted criminals, but these courts provide them with an opportunity to sign up for 9 to 18 months (or more) of extreme supervision by a judge, including group therapy, mandatory sobriety testing, and random drug testing. The intent of these drug courts is to emphasis true personal transformation. Many judges, like Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, feel that these programs serve as interventions that actually work. In fact, studies mentioned in the New York Times article have shown that drug courts have reduced repeated bad behavior by 8-10% nationally and as much as 26% in New York State alone. (Needless to say, NY taxpayers are thrilled.) Quite a few addicts say they never could have done it on their own, and brag that “drug court saved my life.”
Many lawyers, however, have a completely different take on the situation. A number of them feel that defendants’ rights are infringed upon because of the need to acknowledge guilt (or agree to a plea bargain and sentence) in order to enter the court. This means an addict may go to drug court in order to avoid prison, but may also be trapped by a guilty plea if treatment fails and he/she is expelled from the program. Some critics also worry that drug courts will use up scarce treatment slots at the expense of other addicts who desperately need help.
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, one thing is for sure: the courts are recognizing that one size does not fit all, especially when it comes to drug treatment and sentencing. While it’s no secret that we’re used to having things personalized nowadays - our Facebook pages, our medicine, our bodies, our beds – personalized criminal sentencing is a particularly interesting new example.
When I signed up for FiOS service back in November, I was thrilled, to say the least. I loved the internet speed and was overwhelmed with the deluge of TV channels. However, I recently noticed an error on my bill and have accepted that the honeymoon phase is most likely over.
While I value the service Verizon gives me, the customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Every time I call Verizon, they always ask for my phone number, regardless of what I am calling about. I know that when I enter my Verizon Wireless phone number one of two will things happen: they either assume I want to talk about my cellular service and forward the call to Verizon Wireless, or they look at the “978″ area code and transfer me to the New England regional office. The latter happened earlier today.
The first operator whom I spoke with was really confused that I could live in Arlington, VA with a “978″ number (Massachusetts). Why this was confusing in this day and age, I’m not sure, however, the representative proceeded to transfer me to five different representatives - each asked for my number, I might add - and all of them informed me that I was at the wrong place and forwarded my call. Every time I reached someone new I explained the situation to them, but it appeared to make no difference.
Frustration.
But then I had an idea. I lied. It’s unfortunate, but I simply told the next customer representative that I actually did not have a phone number. Without a phone number, the representative had to ask me for my Verizon Account number, and then we were able to address the issue quickly and with no other problems.
While I was fully satisfied with the “friendliness” of the representatives, I value my time, and I take issue with the process (or lack thereof) they use to organize calls and accounts. Like my personalized license plate, my phone number is a little piece of my identity- it says I’m from Massachusetts and I’m proud of it - and I’m not going to change my number to make Verizon a little bit easier to talk to. It used to be that area codes identified the state/city/county of the caller; in today’s world, however, that function is outdated. The FCC established phone number portability so consumers could keep their numbers without maintaining loyalty to a provider. The rise of VoIP phone service has also contributed to the death of the area code.
So, Verizon, if you’re listening: make a simple change - ask for the account number from now on, not the phone number!
Our culture is shifting all around us. In Undercurrents, we present our observations and insights about where our society is heading.