The test product being offered was a $140 faucet – not something that I needed terribly, but still enough to get me a little bit excited at the chance of getting it for $14.  Lowe’s told fans to check back in around 9:30pm EST to get the coupon code.  The first 100 people to redeem the code would receive the discount.  Those who didn’t get there in time were given a 20% discount code instead and were also clearly given the option to not buy the faucet.  They did a great job of letting people know what product was being offered and how the program would work in posts leading up to the 9:30 coupon code post.  Like hundreds (or more) of others, I brought up the link and started to go through the purchase process on Lowes.com before the code was released.  I was ready to copy and paste the code to redeem the 90% off (I had even gone so far as to register an account so all my shipping and payment info was saved).  The time came, the post loaded and I scrambled to go through the purchase process.  A measly 10-12 seconds after the code was released I had pressed the “Complete Purchase” button – and I was too late.

Both before and after the coupon code was released, the Lowe’s Facebook page was being flooded with comments and new fans.  There were clearly tons of people waiting just like me to try this out.  There were 100 lucky people who were clearly extremely happy.  However, post comments showed there were many more that were not.  Negative comments rained down on the coupon code post with people complaining about everything from the code not working to the product not being available to ship from their local store.  Remember – Lowe’s had handled the lead up to the coupon code post beautifully.  I couldn’t find a complaint that hadn’t been addressed in one of Lowe’s lead up comments.  They did a fantastic job.  But, let’s say 1,500 people (complete guess based on comments) were waiting ready to feverishly enter that code like I was.  100 people succeeded – 1,400 people failed.  That’s a lot of negativity to have to deal with almost instantly.  People didn’t seem to care about the rules or understand that they were just too slow.  They were upset.

On the other hand, I’m willing to bet that if I went through the registration process on Lowes.com to get ready for the code release, a high percentage of the other folks did too.  Again – another brilliant underlying aspect of this promotion.  In fact, if I were them, I’d start putting a “helpful tip” in my next lead up post telling users to register on the site for quicker transactions.  That’s a lot of data.

Is it worth pissing a lot of people off to gain this much interest, data and publicity?  Although it may not seem that way initially, my gut now after sleeping on it is telling me yes.  After all, it’s no different than the stampedes of angry people in stores on Black Friday.  They don’t hate the stores if they sell out of some ridiculous deal – ok… initially yes, but they get over it.  I don’t think people are going to hate Lowe’s if they miss out on a 90% coupon.  If Lowe’s continues to do a great job managing, I think this program will turn out to be a smashing success.

Do you agree?  Or do you think those 1,400+ angry folks that come from each missed deal will ultimately hurt Lowe’s?

Why is it that we can only come together as a country (in the slightest bit) for a month or two after a devastating tragedy like 9/11?  Even that event has turned into a major subject of division and argument.  We’re a people obsessed with hating the other side.  So obsessed, in fact, that we can’t open our eyes enough to take any sort of step forward.  There are so many common sense resolutions and issues that we face as a nation today that get overlooked or pushed aside because a member of a different party brought it to the table.  There are always going to be problems in this country.  We’re at a treacherous time in which our problems are piling up because more are arising than are being solved.  I’m not naive enough to think that all of our problems can be fixed with a snap, but I’m also smart enough to know that some can.

As you vote today (and please do), put the ridiculously hateful ads we’ve been plastered with out of your mind.  Think about the fact that if we don’t start coming together (at least on some things), we’re going to get left behind.  I’m not going to say I don’t have any strong political beliefs one way or another – because I do.  This post isn’t about politics.  It is about common sense.  It’s time to stomp out hatred and start solving problems.

Again – please vote if you have an opinion.  Your voice is important.  But vote for someone you want representing you and for values and agendas that match your beliefs.  Don’t vote against the person in line in front of you that’s clearly of the opposing party.  While you do, keep in the back of your mind that one of the biggest discriminatory issues facing the country has quickly become political party differences.  That’s sad and scary.

Let’s start accepting again.  Let’s stop hating.  Let’s get some shit done.

Most likely, consumers are only going to say something about your brand if they are passionate about it.  We all know how easy it is to share things these days.  It’s refreshing to see that a lot of the sharing going around is backed with a purpose to help others.  Never before has the “sharing is caring” cliche been more proper.  If someone sees a product or service that provides utility, they are likely to spread the word.  Social media just gives us another (powerful) vehicle for that sharing.  The brand with the most buzz, which rhymes with shmapple, has built its empire around passion.

Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love sharing music with others to discover new tracks or artists, and love giving people suggestions on new bands to check out.  At the root, it’s what Pandora has set out to do from the beginning.  It is no longer just “Discover New Artisits and Songs (that our robot is plugging into your playlist)”.  It’s now “Discover New Artists and Songs (that your friends are already listening to and are now sharing with you socially…. and all that other robot stuff too).  Facebook has given Pandora a well-deserved boost in usage by me, and I can almost guarantee that I’m not alone.

Pandora is an easy example of the new Facebook Open Graph changes.  Sure, there will be privacy concerns – many of them not valid in my mind (cough cough opt-in cough cough).  But that’s a topic for an entirely different post, so don’t snap at me for that comment just yet!  It’s going to be interesting to see the amount of interaction on major retail sites like the early “Like Adopter” Levi’s.  Will retail see the same boost?  From what I’m seeing, it’s quite clear that the internet, as we know it, has officially changed. We don’t get to say that too often.

What are your initial thoughts?  Will you find yourself interacting with these participating sites more often now?  Do you see your friends having a significant impact on your internet activity and habits?  We’d love to know, so please share with us…

Happy laughing…

We can all easily predict that iPad sales will boom during the first few weeks of shipment.  There will be the customary wave of early adopters that have to have this groundbreaking product in its initial stage of infancy.  Lines will be long outside the Apple retail locations (much like the infamous iPhone lines)… but maybe not for long.  Here’s my take on why:

I think there is the potential for a sharp drop-off in sales after the first rush comes to a close.  I could actually see this dip level off at a lower ongoing sales figure.  Why?  Won’t the flocks continue to get their hands on this revolution?  Maybe not.  I think iPhone and iPod users have learned a valuable lesson with Apple products in the past.  If you wait a year (or less), a new and better version will be available.  There won’t be the same feeling of security for the early iPad adopters based on selling older versions on eBay for more than the new carrier-subsidized version costs… like we saw with the iPhone.  No contracts here.  The final reason – rumors.  More widespread than we’ve ever seen, the rumors of future additions to the iPad will only hurt sales.  I, for one, will probably be waiting for a camera and multi-tasking (among other things I’ve been hearing).

My advice to Steve and co. over at Apple – throw us the big surprise of including at least the camera when version 1 is released.  There are enough things that they will be able to add in future iPad generations that will keep people buying and buying.  If they do that, you can go ahead and change the title of this post to Huge/Huge/Huge.

There are a number of other ways to help the cause in Haiti as well.  Many organizations, like the Red Cross, are using social media and text campaigns like this to spur a grassroots movement that will lead to a larger number of donations.  Again, we highly encourage you to help support this cause if you are able.

UPDATE: The Salvation Army is also running a similar text-to-donate campaign.  You can donate $10 to The Salvation Army relief efforts by texting “Haiti” to 52000.

I’m not trying to take anything away from the importance of underlining the utility these tools can provide when supporting or spreading a cause. However, as we have arrived at the holiday season, I’m reminded of the most fundamental and outstanding reason for the tools: communication. Hopefully all of you reading this have the fortune of spending time with your loved ones during the holidays. Not everyone has that luxury. Obviously, there is nothing like seeing your family and friends during these days. For those that can’t, social media is providing many with opportunities to spend time with theirs in a very personal way – albeit virtually. This is a change from a few years ago, and it’s great to see new opportunities rising up almost daily.

I hope you all are lucky enough, like me, to spend time with your family and friends this holiday season. Wishing you all a very safe and happy holiday season.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to see Chris Brogan speak in our own chilly backyard (not literally of course – but just up the road) at the SM2Day conference. As usual, Chris had a lot of great things to say – from the need for brands to “re-humanize” to the idea that we’ve gone from “theater to theater-in-the-round” in today’s increasingly social landscape. There were two particular points that stuck with me during his talk. The first touched on the act of self-promotion and its sometimes adverse effect. The second was a smaller point made within a larger discussion topic: learning when you’d least expect it. I think these two points can be married in a few different ways, so that’s what I’ve set out to do in this post.

For a long time I’ve been a big believer in the idea that there’s far too much self-promotion out there today, especially in the social media space. Sometimes it’s in the form of a 10 minute introduction about who you are during a 30 minute panel or presentation or Q&A. Maybe it’s using tools like Twitter solely for telling people how great you are or how much good stuff you’re putting out there. Whatever it is, it’s frustrating as hell. Don’t get me wrong – I am all for some self-promotion and think it’s absolutely necessary in moderation. It’s fine to sip on a small glass of self-promotion every now and then. Unfortunately, there are far too many “self-promotion keg-stands” going on.

To Chris’s point, this type of promotion can be harmful. You can very well gain a lot more admirers from walking into a room and talking about the other person/people for some (or a lot) of your discussion or presentation.

Tying this into the other previously mentioned point… you can get a lot more out of this space focusing on things besides yourself. I think one of the best times to learn is when you are actually giving a presentation. If you’re speaking to a group of people regarding a specific topic, chances are (typically 100%) they are interested in that topic and have done some homework just like you. You might be surprised at what you can learn when a session, no matter how formal, is not taken up by self-promotion. The point of this social world is centered around interactivity and communication. It wouldn’t be right for me to tell a brand that two-way conversation is better than one-way messaging if I wasn’t allowing them to interact with me.

So, leave the promotion to others for the most part. If you are providing utility to someone, they’ll be sure to let others know – which will gain you more friends and fans (speaking of… Chris Brogan is the man and you should all check out his work and a talk or two if possible). And, the next time you have a conversation with a group or individual, place more focus on them than you normally would. They’ll think you are great and, heck, you might learn a thing or two.