Reputations For Sale

Your Money Or Your Stars

Ratings are an increasingly important aspect of the way people use the Web, not just for products, but also for people. From Peeple's horrible model and PR disaster to Uber's get ratings or don't get work, not to mention AirBnB's approach, traditional management of project employees is getting outsourced to the wisdom of the crowds. This isn't even all that new, given the relative maturity of eBay in the marketplace, and the presence of power buyers and sellers on that site. But it is becoming more pronounced, and noticeable on a greater amount of buying decisions.

At first blush, this just seems inevitable, because it's just something that's under the hood of a disruptive technology. But just because something is inevitable does not mean that it's desirable, especially for the people without leverage, which would be the contractors. Rankings don't just put the power in the hands of the customer, they also create the potential for abuse that would be illegal in a traditional workplace, without the potential for counter-measures like unions or collective bargaining. And it's not as if you, as the provider, get more work or a better rate from glowing reviews. All you get is to stay in consideration.

As a consumer, the power of prior ratings is undeniable, to the point where low marks will more or less eliminate a product or provider from consideration for the vast majority of us. But as a provider, on a personal level, the change is very worrisome. I've spent decades going the extra mile for clients and co-workers, all to make sure that my network -- the only aspect of an individual career that can give you any degree of real job security, especially in careers in start-ups and other high turnover fields -- is large and eager to work with me again. But no advertising and marketing pro hits all the time. I'm sure that I've been on the wrong side of enough people to ensure that if my profession was rankings dependent, I could be a risk to not get future gigs, just from the actions of a handful of people. And sure, we're just at 1.0 in terms of this technology, let alone how people use it, but sometimes, v1 is all you get. I could easily see de facto blackmail from buyers who become aware of the power of a one star review.

So what happens next in a situation like this? Well, in other aspects of too much power being in a single metric, to put it bluntly, fraud. Advertising contracts that are purely cost per click inevitably led to black hat coding that produced fraudulent clicks. Five-star ratings and glowing reviews for products are already something you can buy from compromised people, with Amazon even going so far as to sue to try to maintain the integrity of their system. It's going to be even harder to police that sort of thing when it comes to a services provider, but just as fraud is inevitable, so are policing measures.

As consumers, what's going to happen is that ratings aren't going to be enough to make an informed decision. We're also going to have to become detectives and skeptical hiring managers, reading reviews with an eye for veracity, questioning a ranking if it has a suspicious amount of positive rankings for the amount of probable business, and maybe even doing a second pass through a more rigorous approach, like maybe checking references on LinkedIn, or looking at someone's Facebook or Twitter before giving power to their review. This will also be a time management problem, since some purchases are more important than others. Just taking the shortcut of lots of stars equal automatic purchase won't cut it.

That's the thing about disruptive technology. It disrupts more than just a single market. We haven't seen all of the ripples and impact from this wave yet.

* * * * *

Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

A Recession-Proof Consumer Category?

Selfie X2

This weekend was very busy around the house. (Don't worry, we'll get to the marketing and advertising soon.) I had my poker game on Friday night, and my eldest was holding a Halloween event the next day. My wife wound up working on both weekend days, and my youngest had an illness. Into that mix, enter a dog, seen above.

Minion, our 18-month-old collie mix, needs a lot of exercise, then peace and quiet, to be at his best. If there a lot of people around, it tends to activate his herding instincts and makes him antsy, but he's great around other dogs, because it lets him engage in brief and intense exercise. He's the kind of pooch that wants to play for about 10 minutes every 90, which doesn't always make him the best of choice for a busy family, but it works out well enough.

He's also a great companion, and borderline spoiled in that way that dogs after kids get spoiled, because a family member that doesn't need a college fund or driver's license, and doesn't engage in the usual teen drama, just has appeal for miles.

So instead of having him around when he wasn't going to get enough attention and just have issues, we chose to board him for a couple of days. We put him up at a local dog kennel and exercise facility that we've used before. He had a good time (the business has web cams), and when I picked him up this morning, he was in perfect health and happiness.

Now, to the marketing and advertising.

True wages for most American households have been stagnant or worse for decades now, but what hasn't been stagnant is the amount that we spend on our pets. Instead of just selling on price, pet food makers have continually upped the seeming quality and marketing, going for more organic materials and specialized products. In the past five years, there's also been an explosion of pet bakeries to go with the food, and now, dog spa treatment.

There are cheaper kennels (many, honestly) than the one we use. I won't get into the specifics on what was spent here, but I have no doubt that the facility is a profitable business, even on the customers that don't spring for the full services. Stuff like spa days for dogs are, of course, not a necessity, or something the dog requests. Instead, it's a matter of making the owner feel good, and doing something special for a companion. The market segment just keeps rising, with seemingly no end in sight, especially with more affluent households going for pet ownership.

I am, personally, a dog guy. I have had them for nearly my entire adult life, from purebreds to strays, and never the same breed twice. I've also lived with all kinds of other pets (gerbils, rabbits, cats, lizards, birds, fish). I like taking care of them, think that the benefits outweigh the costs, and get many of my ideas for business and creative while taking Min on his daily walk.

But throwing undue money at them is silly, in ways that seem prone for backlash at some point. My guess is that there will be some kind of pushback as comedians and social commenters call specific points of insanity out at some point, but there hasn't been up to now, and there's no reason why there should be a sudden change of priorities. Frankly, we love our pets a lot more than we do our fellow citizens.

Maybe smartphones, which seem to have the same level of affection for many of their owners, will start to gate the purchasing. But those same devices are used so often to share pictures of our companions, and maybe even publicize the services via social media.

* * * * *

Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Introducing Scroober, Ad Blocking For Outdoor Ads

Scroober 2.0

NEWARK, NJ - A new start-up is turning heads here in the greater New York City area. Scroober promises to help provide ad-free options for users who want to do without the intrusions of outdoor advertising.

The Scroober app works by giving consumers who are being bothered by outdoor ads the opportunity to summon Scroober Hired Goons(TM), who either stand in front of the offending ad, or take more aggressive action against the placement.

"For us, it was a no-brainer after the success of ad blockers," said Scroober CEO Tony "Fat Tony" Toney. "Outdoor advertisers take up a lot of mobile bandwidth by blocking cell phone signals. Plus, dey get in the background of selfies, so we feel completely justified by being uh, whadyacallit, disruptive. Yeah, disruptive."

Scroober works through direct donations from its users, who also have the option of tipping. Some customers have complained about what Scroober refers to as surge pricing, which tends to happen when the Scroober associate is much larger than the customer.

"I love the convenience of Scroober," says a client who requested to remain anonymous with an increasing amount of desperation in his voice. "My Scroober associate was extremely professional, prompt, and direct. Also, surprisingly good with buzzwords, really. I don't think I'm going to be able to use the word 'synergy' for a long, long time."

Since Scroober's associates are independent contractors, the company avoids legal liability and health benefits. "Ah, dat's allright," says contractor Antonio "Knuckles" Anton. "I likes setting my own hours and living by my own rules. I gets lots of exercise and fresh air, and I know I'm doing good for my family. Besides, when youse hit a billboard, it don't hit back."

"Outdoor advertisers have kind of brought this on themselves," said online advertising professional and fourth-wall breaker Dave "Tony" Mountain. "Their failure to control frequency, respect the privacy of their users, and simply not make ads that were good enough to avoid the general public's desire to want to not see them made something like Scroober an inevitability. But maybe they'll use this as a magical way to make better outdoor ads."

"What our investors like about Scroober is how it gives local craftspeople in your area -- your dockworkers, carnies, nightclub personnel, substitute teachers and copywriters -- the chance to add to their revenue stream," said CFO Anthony "Numbers" Anthony. "Plus, dey get to do something they love, which is, uh, disrupt. Yeah, disrupt."

* * * * *

Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.