Free Wifi via e-mail

It's nice that a store offers free WiFi, especially when abroad. However, needing access to my e-mail before being able to go online ... not so useful after all, is it?

But to be honest, it turned out you did not need the link to go online. After this welcome page, you could just go online :-) Maybe adjust the wording of the landing page a little bit.

Emoji: the new universal language

Emoji is the fastest growing language and continues to grow exponentially thanks to today’s smartphone technology. "As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop," says Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University (May 2015). Research shows younger generations are more comfortable using new ways of communication to talk to their parents or to discuss serious topics, such as abuse.

Emoji are understood globally, are an informal way to talk to consumers and can lighten the mood . It’s thus no surprise one of the trends in 2015 for brands is to use Emoji in communication, with famous examples such as McDonalds, Taco Bell or the #EndangeredEmoji campaign by WWF . Emoji even have a global celebration day: ‘World Emoji Day’ on June, 17.

In Belgium, 3 out of 4 smartphone owners  use Emoji. 1 in 3 does this on a daily basis. The most frequent users are (not surprisingly) the younger generations: 62% of youngsters, aged 18 – 24 use Emoji daily, this number drops to 44% for 25y – 34y. Elder generations are using Emoji as well (57% of 55y – 65y smartphone owners), but less regularly: only 1 in 10 smartphone owners (aged 55y – 65y) use Emoji on a daily basis. Of course, smartphone penetration is lower for elder generations as well.

Click on the image to view full infographic

Sources

1: ‘Abused Emoji’, http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/04/abused-emoji/ 

2: Emoji on Marketing Week, http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/07/21/are-emojis-becoming-marketers-go-to-global-language/ 

3: Endangered Emoji, http://endangeredemoji.com/

4: Research on 7400 Belgium consumers, August 2015, GfK Belgium

Digital at #RW15

Nog 6 dagen, 22 uur en 12 minuten. De applicatie van Rock Werchter 2015 telt af naar de start van mijn persoonlijke hoogmis van de komende weken. Vier dagen vertoeven op de weide, vier dagen genieten van verschillende artiesten in de Barn, Klub C en het hoofdpodium. Niet van de Foo Fighters, maar dat terzijde.

Mijn digitale zelf kreeg een extra boost toen aangekondigd werd dat de samenwerking met playpass uitgebreid werd. Buiten sneller binnen raken en een Facebook status posten, zal je nu ook met je werchterbandje kunnen betalen op de weide: een cash vrij festival.

A long way for a #cashfree society, but looking forward to a cashfree #RW15 - via @RockWerchter @PlayPass_EU http://t.co/UtPOAPpxYz

— Bert Hendrickx (@bhendrickx88) June 11, 2015

Ik registreerde mij, om vervolgens geen bevestigings e-mail te ontvangen. Dat kan gebeuren natuurlijk en ik contacteerde Playpass support via de opgegeven weg. Ik ben voorstander van korte en to the point support, maar "uw registratie was succesvol" in SMS stijl van een "no-reply" adres vind ik toch wel heel beperkt.

Voorlopig heb ik geen verdere info ontvangen op de toch wel relevante vraag: 'hoe en wanneer link ik mijn Paypal zodat ik geen cash moet meebrengen?'. Hopelijk moeten we niet met z'n allen op de weide gaan aanschuiven om de link met Facebook en Paypal te kunnen maken.

Als Playpass en Paypal niet werken, zal Herman me dan wat geld voorschieten, of zal je mobiel kunnen betalen met de bancontact app of SEQR?

Gisteren volgde dan het tweede digitale hoogtepunt: de lancering van de RW15 app. Wat. Een. Teleurstelling. Al dagen wachten we met onze groep vrienden op de app, zodat we onze favorieten kunnen aanduiden en we onze timelines kunnen vergelijken. Zo ging het vorige keer toch.

Rock Werchter ging nu echter in zee met Appmiral, een standaard applicatie voor festivals. Misschien efficiënter en goedkoper, maar voor de festivalganger toch een stevige stap achteruit. Mijn schedule ziet er als volgt uit op mijn toch redelijk groot scherm (5'5 inch):

Moest ik niet weten dat er drie podia zijn, de Barn zou aan mij geen frequente bezoeker hebben. Via diamant-icoontjes kan je wel je favoriete artiesten aanduiden. Dankzij @Ineswillems heb ik dat overzicht dan terug gevonden bij mijn profiel, in plaats van bij mijn schedule.

@bhendrickx88 twee pintjes en t is ok ;-)

— Ines (@InesWillems) June 18, 2015

Appmiral reageerde alvast op Twitter dat er begin volgende week een update van de app uitgerold wordt. Mijn persoonlijke voorkeur zou zijn geen beta-versie de weide wereld in te sturen, maar nu het toch zo is, alvast wat gratis advies:

• Integreer het plan van de weide
• Maak het 'schedule' volledig zichtbaar, of horizontaal met een duidelijke tijdsaanduiding
• Gebruik de Facebook login om te linken met vrienden en een gedeeld schema te kunnen zien
• Integreer een alfabetische lijst van artiesten
• Een desktop / web versie om je festival voor te bereiden
• Integratie met Playpass voor leuke (je bent X tijd op de weide) en nuttige (je hebt al € X uitgegeven) weetjes

Nog 6 dagen, 21 uur en 5 minuten tot #RW15, ik ben benieuwd!

My first ten days with the Moto 360

As you know, I have been looking forward wearing a smartwatch for quite some time. Last week, it was finally the time when I was able to order the Moto 360, Motorola's smartwatch. Combining stylish design and Android wear, it's my favorite smartwatch currently available. Allow me to share with you why I fell in love with a € 250 technology gadget after only a couple of days.

It was time #smartwatch #moto360 #androidwear #tech #toysforboys

A photo posted by Bert Hendrickx (@bhendrickx88) on Jan 6, 2015 at 3:14am PST

1) It's a watch, it tells you what time it is

Prepare yourself if you consider buying a smartwatch, people will ask you 'what does it do?'. There is however a short answer to that question: 'It's a watch, it tells you what time it is'. After all, smart or not, that is what watches are supposed to do. Motorola and Google kept this in mind while designing the user experience: no screen touches, no buttons, no voice commands ... you just turn your wrist as with any traditional watch you've ever had, and it shows you the time. 

2) It guides you during a busy day

As I have been using Google Now for quite some time already, my smartwatch didn't face to much challenges getting to know me. My smartphone and Google Now already told me the traffic in the morning, the weather, my upcoming meetings ... I don't get up with my watch on, so I still check my smartphone first. However during the day, I don't.

During the day, it's the Moto 360 that keeps me on track. It tells me I have another meeting in '30, or in '15, where that meeting is and what time I should leave from wherever I am at that moment. I don't have to worry about forgetting something, my wrist reminds me.

3) It offers distance from your smartphone

One of the initial ideas behind Android Wear is reducing the time we spend (loose) during the day by checking our phone far to often (i.e. for notifications). The Moto 360 provides a filter, reducing the need to pull out your phone. Notifications are pushed towards the watch immediately, allowing yourself to decide whether or not it is important enough to grab your phone. For me, it works like a filter during both office hourse (being more productive) and private time (no, or at least less FOMO*).

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl4Qne-RpcM

So far, the smartwatch basically offers a convenient way of using Google Now and your notifications on your wrist. There is room for improvement, for example Dutch voice commands, and actual useful apps are still rare. However, I'd like to share the MyShopi smartwatch app, one I actually use.

As stated before, I expect a smartwatch to guide me during the day, and to look like a watch. The Moto 360 and Android Wear manage to do just that. Sophisticated simplicity on your wrist, that is why I love it.

*FOMO or the 'Fear of missing out' is a form of social anxiety, whereby one is compulsively concerned that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, profitable investment or an other satisfying event (source: Wikipedia)

The Cloakroom: your online personal shopper

As you could read in my previous post, the fashion industry is one of the industries heavily disrupted by digital transformation. New players like Zalando and Vente-Exclusive became very important very quickly, and it doesn’t look like offline fashion retailers have found a solution to this new competition just yet. The online shopper is quite rational and price-sensitive, something both previous mentioned retailers understand and use to their advantage. Traditional retailers are struggling to compete online and are failing to meet Zalando’s combination of price, product range and delivery options, or Vente Exclusive’s temporary offers.

Traditional (offline), mortar stores compete strongly on the shop experience, and the price premium consumers are willing to pay. The same product can be sold for a higher price because of a different (not per se better) instore experience, customer service or store image. An online price premium for a product will be very hard to claim, if not directly linked to a better service such as faster delivery. The challenge lies in creating a unique, online shopper experience, bridging the gap between on- and offline. “The Cloakroom” does just that.

The Cloakroom, a Dutch company, claims to combine (some of the) advantages of online and offline shopping. As I was in need for a decent holiday outfit, I decided to give it a try a couple of weeks ago. The set-up is quite easy: you register with some basic information and take a ‘style quiz’ where you select different pictures of models dressed in a specific style. For different occasions, you select different outfits (pictures) you would wear: costume, business smart, casual smart, sportive, chique ... Based on your profile, a personal shopper reaches out to you.

"Our mission is to help men build and maintain a stylish wardrobe in a manner that is simple and convenient." - The Cloakroom

I received an e-mail and telephone call from Ilona. She introduced herself and the Cloakroom, explaining that based on our facebook connection (pictures), our talk (needs) and my style quiz, she would select 3 outfits and send them to me in a box, free of charge. We discussed what I was looking for, price range and style, and my box was delivered only a couple of days later.

  

The box came with a personal letter from Ilona, instructions for products I wanted to return and a price list. Was I 100% satisfied with what Ilona sent me? No. Would it have been totally free if I would have returned everything? Yes. It is however hard to return everything, as it would feel like saying they did a terrible job, which they didn't. I decided to keep one outfit I really liked and returned the other products - transport costs are paid for by The Cloakroom in advance.

For the pieces I returned, the reason why was asked in order to improve the next box. For the pieces I kept, I paid the (offline) retailer price. If I looked for the exact same products online, I probably would have been able to save some money. Because of the concept, however, I was prepared to pay the online price premium. Combining this personal approach (who doesn't like a personal shopper you don't actually need to go shopping with?) with the advantages of online shopping (speed, convenience, no overcrowded stores) is a winning strategy for digital native (and probably a lot of other) men. It isn't a suprise that there are some competitors out there, Outfittery to name one.

The Cloakroom succeeded in turning an offline service into an online USP. Of course there is room for improvement, but I I'm hooked on the concept. I'm not a mirror-selfie fan, but I'll make an exception for Ilona. A late merry christmas, and let's enter 2015 in style!

Unpacking the digital consumer

With Future Buy, I researched the digital consumer anno 2014 for my employer, GfK. The results of this study are presented on different events such as the Ecommerce Xpo of last week in Kortrijk. Vincent Panneels (@20100panneels) attended this conference and wrote a review / summary of the presentation. You can find the slides and his summary below, enjoy!

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Unpacking the digital consumer, GFK’s Future Buy report presented at E-COMMERCE Expo

During its first edition, the fair E-COMMERCE Expo didn’t simply present booths of companies active in the e-commerce or digital industry. Seminars were also organized to enhance the offer of the event and we had the opportunity to follow quite an interesting one, a presentation of the Future Buy report, by Bert Hendrickx of GFK. Of course it was very summarized and quickly presented to fit the seminar format (30 minutes only), but it highlighted quite a few interesting facts.

Be consistent

There were quite a few key facts that were presented. Such as

• Belgium still seems to be behind its European neighbors when it comes to E-commerce (92% of people do think so).
• Three out of four also admit they already filed a complaint against retailers or companies through different medias
  • 58% through email
  • 33% over the phone
  • and 25% used the corporate website

The arrival of smartphones allowing to combine different medias in one device, had actually one great impact for companies. Your consumer doesn’t care about the way he is in contact with your company. But he cares about the fact that all communications he has with you, must follow the same consistency.

Consistency needs to be applied on all channels of communication. And that is the essential impact of omnichannel.

Also, be sure that the omnichannel approach is coming to your category. Maybe today some categories are more impacted. For example, it is the case for fashion or technical goods. Those categories experience more the impact of pure players (e.g Zalando, Bol.com…). But in the future, all categories will be impacted even the ones who seem behind today (e.g. Healthcare, education, automotive…).

Who is the Xtreme shopper?

Actually, consumers using mobile to do their purchase or interact with companies and retailers, needed to be analyzed a bit more. For this study, GFK took a closer look at the group they qualify as Xtreme shopper. These are consumers you need to consider for the future, as they are young and here to stay. GFK uncovered three key findings

• Staying away is the new loyalty: A happy shopper doesn’t necessarily come back to your online store if he is happy with his purchase. However, if one has a bad experience with your shop, one necessarily will never come back.
• Offline drives on experience: real physical stores need to play on the experiences a shopper cannot have online. So far, being stimulated with smell, taste, or touch are not experiences one can enjoy online.
• Make online more personal: Online stores have many different information, even unique personal information about their customers. So online retailers should take advantage of the information they have in order to make the shopper’s experience more personal and tailor-made.

Don’t forget your mainstream shopper

Very well said by the speaker. Online is here to stay, but don’t forget the mainstream shopper visiting your stores. From this short presentation, we learnt a few key points from the study about online shoppers and e-commerce. And these will certainly bring more fuel to the engine of the “clicks and bricks” debate. In my opinion, the future will be successful for the companies and retailers who still think of making unique experiences of both online and physical stores. Just remember, consistency is key.

source: http://20100retail.be/en/articles/27/unpacking-the-digital-consumer-gfk-s-future-buy-report-presented-at-e-commerce-expo 

The (Social) Science of complaining

I wrote this post originally for the GfK blog. GfK is a global market research agency, and my employer. You can find the original post here.

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Remember that time you wrote a letter and sent it to your energy provider because you were unsatisfied with your bill? The digital evolution has caused a lot of changes in the (corporate) world, while the rise of Social Media has taken away the role of ‘gatekeepers’, holding off information, or complaints.

3 out of 4 Belgians have complained at least once, and more and more these complaints are taken to Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. They reach out, not only to manufacturers, retailers or service providers, but also to millions of other consumers. This requires a whole new approach from the company to the complainer.

While more traditional channels are still the most popular way of voicing complaints in Belgium, Social Media is definitely on the rise. E-mail (58%), telephone (33%), and corporate websites (25%) are the most popular channels due to the easier access for the elderly. It might not come as a surprise that the younger generations (even up to age 44) turn more towards Social Media.

In general, 6% of Belgian consumer has used Social Media to file a complaint to a company, just under the United Kingdom (7%). However, of all youngsters (15 – 24) who have send out a complaint, 18% used Social Media to do so. Facebook is the most popular platform amongst all generations, with Twitter being second. Other social networks (Instagram, LinkedIn, Google + …) are almost never used, however they are also on the rise with consumers under 25 (3%).

Social Media as a megaphone after not being heard

We took a closer look at the complaints shared via Social Media. Half of them were ‘fresh’ complaints, where Social Media was used as the preferred channel to reach out to companies. The other half of the complaints via Social Media only ended up there because of no or insufficient reaction on earlier attempts via other channels such as telephone or e-mail.

It’s no wonder then that one of the main drivers of using Social Media as a compliant channel is to (finally) get into contact with the company: 1 in 4 did not receive any or a sufficient reaction via other channels, also 1 in 4 states to use Social Media as a ‘last resort to get into contact with the company’. This is linked directly to the fact that people use Social Media as a form of ‘peer pressure’: almost 4 out of 10 states ‘reaching as many people as possible’ as an important driver.

Speed is however the most common reason to use Social Media: not only do consumers expect faster response (42%), but also a faster actual solution (33%). At last, Social Media is perceived as more convenient than other channels (29%). These drivers behind Social Media usage are the same regardless age, gender, social class …

Complaints via Social Media are likely only to grow over time. Today, half of those complaints however could have been avoided if sufficient earlier follow-up via other, more traditional – private – channels would have taken place. Because of the social aspect and the disappeared gatekeeper, Social Media is driving companies to handle complaints faster, better and with more open communication.

One Hundred and Forty

A Tweet is a 140-character message posted via twitter. One Hundred and Forty characters. 140. That is the absolute maximum.

If you want your content to be shared via twitter, foresee a tweet-button that shows a message of 140 characters. Or less.

Market research agency GfK (free publicity for my employer!) and Facebook did research on device switching behaviour during online activities (visiting websites, shopping ...). The results were picked up on different online blogs. As it should be, a tweet button was available to share the content.

I decided to share the results of the research via my twitter account.

But then this happened ...

The second blog I read, also had a share-to-twitter functionality.

I even had 33 characters to add my own thoughts or hashtags. Guess which one I shared?

#Facebook and @gfk_en research finds 42% switch device mid-activity http://t.co/weaGzvctvQ #mrx #custexp

— Bert Hendrickx (@bhendrickx88) March 7, 2014

Tweet seats

Zaterdag (8 maart 2014) treedt Ali B op in de Arenbergschouwburg van Antwerpen (meer info). Drie gelukkigen kunnen het optreden gratis bijwonen. Hoe? Via drie gereserveerde tweet seats.

Tweet·seat (de; m; meervoud: tweet seats)

1. Gratis toegangsticket voor een event in ruil voor het regelmatig posten van twitterupdates.

Drie gelukkigen mogen gratis naar het concert in ruil voor regelmatige updates over het concert via hun twitterprofiel. De opzet bestaat er in mensen die geen ticket konden bemachtigen toch te laten meegenieten van het concert, de tweets mogen immers gekleurd worden met videos of foto's. Toeschouwers worden aangezet om ambassadeurs te worden van het concert, Ali B en de schouwburg.

"We bepalen hun mening niet. Als ze iets niet goed vinden, mogen ze dat ook melden.’ - Kim Geerdens (woordvoerster)

Dat sociale media er voor zorgt dat mensen die niet aanwezig zijn toch bepaalde events (deels) kunnen volgen is uiteraard niet nieuw. Tijdens of na een optreden, presentatie, festival ... is er massaal veel media online terug te vinden. Zo waren we vorig weekend allemaal aanwezig tijdens de oscars.

If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

Twitteren (of facebooken, of snapchatten, of ...) tijdens events gebeurt echter vaak spontaan, en zijn zo'n tweets niet meer waard dan een betaalde tweet van Jan Modaal? Als natuurlijk per optreden drie personen aangeduid worden om de sociale wereld te entertainen, kunnen we vanaf nu wel weer gewoon met onze eigen oren en ogen genieten van wat er zich op het podium afspeelt.

Brisbane man forced to watch concert with his eyes after forgetting mobile phone. Full details: http://t.co/JKOIHoDNMO

— The Shovel (@The_Shovel_) December 9, 2013

Contact forms

I try to contact my former operator via an online form, but can only choose ‘I am a client’, ‘I am not a client yet’. What about ‘I was a client’?

First contact

After filling in a demo request for an online app, this is the e-mail I received from company X. Great & useful e-mail if I want to buy the product, isn't it?

A missed opportunity to send me (relevant) info & gather information about me (the possible customer) and my (buying) intentions.