… and the Kitchen Sync

Since the early 90’s, The International Housewares Association has sponsored a national Student Design Competition to recognize and encourage the talent of young industrial designers. There were 17 award-winning innovations for 2008, one of the coolest (eMarketing related) inventions tied for second place – the Kitchen Sync.

Noah Balmer, a senior at California College of the Arts, noticed that many people stored recipes on a computer but needed them in the kitchen so they would have to print copies or bring the laptop with them. Balmer designed Kitchen Sync to bridge the gap between the PC and cooking area. His invention connects to a home network and displays recipes in a standing book format on the counter. He has included washable, dual touch-screens allowing users to chat online about recipes… a great way to cook up social networking (and potential advertising).

Securing Data

Recent headlines have included the security breach of Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven Stores, where hackers managed to steal customer PINs – the most guarded part of a banking record. Based on initial gatherings it would seem that the PINs aren’t being encrypted properly while in transit between the ATM and the computers processing the transactions.

Investigators are still determining the number of customers impacted as well as how the hackers infiltrated the system – all that is known is they hacked into the ATM network through a server at a third-party processor, meaning direct contact with the ATMs wasn’t necessary. The approach is noteworthy, because historically there would be physical evidence of the tampering either at the machine or through the sending of phishing emails.

This breech is a warning to everyone, on a corporate level data security is paramount – every portion of the consumer’s profile is valuable to a would-be hacker or identity-thief. This is also an indicator that customer education is a valuable service, if your recipients know your communiqués; they are more likely to spot a phishing message and can be the first to alert you. Additional best practices would be to supply tips on avoiding common mistakes and to create a repository to research past emails/ alerts so that if a recipient is in question of the message they can quickly determine authenticity.

On a personal level, use your credit/ debit card wisely, monitor transactions and change your PIN periodically. As a recipient, pay attention to communications sent by your bank or credit card company – by knowing how notices are sent (email, SMS or print mail), their format and typical content/ voice you are in a better position to detect a phishing email or fraudulent claim.

What's in a name anyway?

That is the question I asked myself after reading about Yahoo Mail giving their email users a choice of new domains. Yahoo announced Thursday, June 19, that they are expanding their email domains to include two new choices - ymail.com and rocketmail.com. This will essentially triple the size of their free email service. (Second article also posted.)

According to Yahoo, their users want freedom of choice when choosing an email address, as it represents who they are as a person. If a username has already been taken, their users have to choose something else, or put a series of numbers after it to make it unique, like "sharmila4655" or "dogsrule957.” Now, Yahoo users who create new accounts will have more choices... for a short time anyway.

What does this mean to us email marketers?

• Email Deliverability by Domain – To track Yahoo deliverability in total, you may want to add some addresses using the new domains. As a best practice, take a look at your overall email list to see what domains represent the majority of your list. You may notice the ymail.com and rocketmail.com domains increase as users set up accounts at those new domains and perhaps migrate away from their Yahoo domain. As a result, we may see an increase in inactive yahoo.com email accounts as users migrate over to the new domains. (That is, if they are really unhappy with their existing "dogsrule957" email address and really want just "dogsrule.")


• Email Performance by Domain – For those who track email performance by domain, you'll want to add these new domains to your tracking so you get the full view of email performance for Yahoo.

What does this mean for everyone else?
If you have an existing yahoo.com email address, and don't feel it truly represents who you are, now is your chance to change it! Opt for something at rocketmail.com if you want to be hip and cool, or something at ymail.com for a more professional address. And, hurry up - the good names may already be taken!

Paper or Phone?

I don’t think we’ve had a week this year without news concerning the airline industry; their struggle with the costs of fuel, new mandates etc. are front and center in my mind… mainly due to the amount of time I spend on a plane.

Needless to say, any news outside of these concerns is what I read first – one of the most interesting stories of late is from the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Delta’s planned introduction of electronic boarding passes which will be read from the passenger’s web-enable phones. Domestic passengers will be able to check in through a special site and will receive an electronic bar code that can be scanned from the screen of their phone by the TSA via special scanners. Their hope is that these changes will ease the travel pangs of the business traveler, the airline’s target market due to the rising costs.

I have multi-fold interest in this announcement – as a passenger, I like the potential time savings. As a marketer, this is just another step towards making the mobile device more accepted. I’ve seen examples of how mobile devices are used overseas as debit cards, paying tolls and parking charges. I welcome that future in the US – mainly because I am a Smart-Phone addict. Finally I like the simple poll that was included in the article; I appreciate the phrasing of the responses and, best of all, I’m not alone with the welcoming of the eBoarding. Too bad I won’t be using an eBoarding pass on today’s flight.

Email for Emerson

I wanted to share a fun article for this Friday post… according to an MSN article by Anu Garg (founder of Wordsmith.org, an online community of word lovers) the first use of the word e-mail was in the 1800s, around the time of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Unfortunately, Emerson was unable to share early drafts of Transcendentalism with his editor… he didn’t even have a phone. But it would seem that Emerson and others knew of e-mail. At the time, e-mail meant enamel from the French word émailler which still means to enamel as in applications of glossy paint to pottery or metal etc. Consider the mail portion of the word to something akin to the mail in chainmail – one of the rings of which armor was made.

In a somewhat related topic, today’s SIA call will cover the latest in CAN-SPAM regulations… the newest evolution in the history of email, Ralph wasn’t invited.

Businesses Embrace Blogging

Well it’s no secret that we at the Email Yogi are blog fans, the approach is a great way to build your brand, increase your natural search and incorporate user generated content into your marketing mix. We also realize that the first step into the blog-isphere can be a difficult one – for many companies.

According to an article by Rich Karpinski in the June 9 edition of BtoB Magazine, only about 12% of Fortune 500 companies are running a corporate blog. The article went on to discuss more than numbers, there was a great deal of insight on best practices, the evolution and importance of the medium and how to measure successes.

We echo Karpinski’s best practices approach (listed in the print edition):

• Start Small – Start with monitoring conversations from customers/ prospects.
• Make a True Dialogue – You need a two-way conversation, not just a repository for your existing marketing materials.
• Find the right Mix – Dedicate a “chief blogger” and incorporate subject matter experts, executives etc. as needed.
• Maintain your Blog – Respond quickly to comments.
• Have fun – This ties back with the dialogue needed, state your POV.
• Don’t Stop – There may be more to enhance your blog – video, wikis etc. Keep adding as necessary to fit with your marketing needs.

In addition, we recommend monitoring other blogs to help you find your style and approach. Get out there and good luck.

Star Date 2000-Something

Today’s post is a glimpse into the future, our head developer, Rick Stroud, has developed an encore piece to his critically acclaimed CustomerPower named in Mitchell Report. Perhaps this fictional work is a glimpse into the future, perhaps an ode to the Kapur brothers or perhaps he has a case of spring fever. Hope you enjoy this Friday Fun!

Note to Self
001100101100Sun0dee1p it’s, me. I mean it’s you. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but this is not a hoax – this email is from the future you!

I’m not even certain if this email will reach me… YOU, I mean reach you. If it does, I’m not sure if it will be completely intact or mangled beyond recognition. I’m not even sure what date you will actually receive it, I’m targeting exactly 20 years ago today, but Praveen’s calculations have it arriving by as much as five years in either direction. So you could be getting this as early as the advent of SMS or as late as Sanjay’s conviction…

In any event, you must destroy this email immediately after reading. CustomerPower has just had a major breakthrough and is pioneering “Temporal Messaging,” the sending of messages across time. Rick’s team has finally figured out a way to target people who have Opened or Clicked on a message BEFORE they Open or Click! The applications are limitless, but the one rule is you must never email your past self.

I really don’t understand it, heck, I still don’t understand the Link Wizard and its been around since the late 20th century… but Rick tells me that contacting yourself in the past could cause irreparable damage to the space-time conundrum – continuum! But I have to take the chance no matter how dire the risk, too much hinges on you doing the right thing before it’s too late.

You see, President Clinton has named us to her cabinet as Secretary of Online Marketing, I thought I was ready for the position but then Chelsea announced her War on Spam. Similar to the War on Drugs back in the 20th century, the War on Terror and War on Obesity in the 21st century – she’s launched an initiative to save online marketing; I know this is all confusing, just know the House of Clinton and the House of Bush eventually bury the hatchet and in a power-sharing move now run the US as a combined monarchy. Trust me on this, it works. The amount we save on elections ads alone has paid for universal health care.

Anyway, as Secretary we have to solve the unsolicited mail problem. And all of the government’s models show that the first decade of the 21st century is the tipping point. It is up to us, up to you, to spread the word on best marketing practices and to get them adopted by all major online marketers. If you don’t, it could severely jeopardize email as an online marketing tool and make the real estate bubble burst of the early 21st century look like a minor hiccup. If you can increase participation in the Service In Action calls and triple the attendance at the Panel of Peers, you just might be able to reverse the trend and save the future world economy at the same time.

And Sundeep, don’t worry about Sanjay’s conviction; it will be rough at first, but as long as you quickly deal Sharmila’s power grab and Philip’s attempt to fill the vacuum in Sanjay's absence, everything will go smoothly. Sanjay will be able to run the entire eCommerce organization from within prison.

And Sundeep, the things you are going to see are amazing. Things you have never conceived of are on the horizon – after Oprah unites the major world religions, names herself Pope (Poperah Winfrey the First) and divests herself of her fortune (donating to technological investments for the benefit of the human race.) We are part of that – CustomerPower plays a crucial role in all of this and you are there to witness it all, 3-D holographic messages and Smell-Mail alone are going to revolutionize online marketing for decades. But you must ensure marketers in your era don't ruin it for the fut1ure…

A Smarter YouTube?

ComputerWorld’s Heather Havenstein, published an article yesterday about Big Think; a new video repository site aimed to spark exchange between academics, politicians and other thought leaders.

Big Think has supplied a network of experts in various disciplines (medicine, science and business) with webcams asking them to report the latest developments in their areas of expertise. Users would be able to ask questions and post their own content on the topics. Big Think’s goal is to create a global community of exchange among experts and those interested in their work; as a by-product creating a searchable repository of their findings.

Think of it as a credible post by an expert in the field… a smarter YouTube if you will. According to their site they have over 2,600 idea threads not bad for a start-up.

Read more of Heather’s article and let’s watch the success of this new Web 2.0 debut.

Blog in ‘08

The results are in… blog marketing is the number one topic that Dell Small Business Edge readers wanted expert advice about according to their recent survey. This topic was over Lead Generation, Referral Marketing and RSS topics.

So what do you need to get into the blog game? The top tip is read other blogs, there are millions out there on every topic imaginable, reading these can help you get a voice, see what others are doing and even help you craft your blog.

Additional tips are available in the 10 Essential Blogging Tools article, by John Jantsch, published by Dell Small Business Edge. There are also tips from yesterday’s The New York Times article, Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool by Marci Alboher, this article is full of stats for various industries and a great read for those looking to start out.

Hopefully, your New Year’s Marketing Resolutions include a Blogging Future.

CustomerPower named in Mitchell Report

DISCLAIMER: The following is a humorous take on recent headlines and the result of Rick Stroud’s idle hands. Don’t worry readers; he has a full project list for 2008. Hope you enjoy.

The recently released Mitchell Report from the US Senate concerning steroids and performance enhancements in Major League Baseball named several high profile players including Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. But in a stunning turn of events the report has also named NCR's CustomerPower. Former Senator Mitchell, himself a one-time professional baseball player and a known recipient of marketing emails, said the amazing performance improvements and enhancements in functionality shown by CustomerPower were too egregious to ignore. He continued that some level of improvement over time was expected as a result of better training methods, coding practices and nutrition. But the ease and margin at which CustomerPower has surpass previous milestones was 'making a mockery’ of other email service providers and could seriously affect the integrity of email marketing as a business.

The Senator admits his report is based primarily on second hand testimony, but damning testimony none the less. The Senator interviewed current customers, CustomerPower programmers and competitors. Mr. Z of (Company Withheld) was quoted as saying that the improvements in responses to support calls was “staggering.” Previously a call might get returned promptly and a solution would quickly follow, but recent responses had shattered all previous records. Mr. Z refused to accuse the support team directly of taking illegal substances to improve responses but did go on record as saying the responses were “suspiciously prompt and thorough.” When directly asked for a response, Rick Stroud of NCR eCommerce admitted the support team was prompt but denied being suspiciously so.

Apparently ruffled by the question, Mr. Stroud indicated he had only given the clients what they wanted. "If responses are too quick and thorough," he said, “customers bear some responsibility.” He continued, "yeah, we responded quickly and customers thanked us, what did they expect us to do? Not continue to improve; they know we are here to please them."

When asked if she could confirm Mr. Z's allegations, another customer, Ms. T. of (Company Withheld) issued only a two-line statement through her attorney indicating her version of events would soon be available in her own tell-all book, Inside the Panel of Peers: What One Online Marketer Saw.

Unfortunately, the enhancements in CustomerPower are not limited to only support call responses alone. Senator Mitchell names the vast improvements in overall functionality now included in the CustomerPower Solutions as a culprit. He liberally uses the term “unnatural” to describe how NCR's email marketing solution had transformed itself in only a few years from "a skinny email application called PostMaster" to "an industry leading multi-channel marketing solution." He indicates that the tremendous improvement in functionality may have initially gone unnoticed by clients as it was “secretly” deployed first for banking clients and then clandestinely worked into the interface for retail customers. This is not the first time NCR eCommerce has been accused of leveraging its expertise across industries and these recent allegations are sure to fuel renewed calls from competitors to “break up NCR” as they are simply unable to compete with the multi-industry behemoth based out of Dayton, Ohio.

Some of the most damning testimony in the report comes from CustomerPower Developers, though they maintain they were taken completely out of context. Both Saji Damodaran and BK Ajith admitted that NCR eCommerce management had continued to stress quality, innovation and performance and they had occasionally been given substances to ingest while programming. But they had been lead to believe these substances were merely donuts and recently included “holiday treats” sent by happy customers. When asked for samples of these “treats” for laboratory testing, Philip Looney, an NCR support rep, joked, "if you are looking for a donut around here, you had better be looking before Devasayaham shows up or you won't find anything." Apparently Mr. Looney does not understand the gravity of the charges leveled against his company.

The investigation ultimately took a turn to the bizarre with an interview of Mr. C of (Company Withheld). When pressed for a comment regarding the enhanced solution, Mr. C repeatedly requested to not be put in this position. Saying the Senator did not understand how truly powerful CustomerPower was nor the forces he was dealing with. Quote from Mr. C, "They track your every activity, doesn't the Senator understand this? Opens, Clicks, Bounces and Conversions. I once complained to my ISP of an email being Spam, and CUSTOMERPOWER KNEW ABOUT IT, they know everything, Timestamps, Bounce Codes and Order Amounts. I've said too much… I have a family and kids to worry about."

When asked to clarify his comments, Mr. C did not return calls and is reportedly vacationing with his family out of the country. We approached Sharmila Sorenson the head of customer support for the NCR eCommerce Team (and former CustomerPower client). We requested she explain Mr. C's comments and the truth behind CustomerPower's performance improvement and enhancements. The pixie-like Ms. Sorenson said "The Truth, you can't handle the truth," and then launched into a bad Jack Nicholson impersonation.

This sordid tale of pursuit of excellence at any cost can only end with depositions as key managers of CustomerPower are expected to be called to testify before Congress. Also clouding this already murky matter is how the Senate's other investigation into alleged ties between NCR eCommerce and the nefarious Kapur Crime Family of India will be played out. Anonymous sources have leaked the Senator hopes to get one of the Kapur brothers to flip on the other for a lighter sentence in the pending case, though at present, that appears unlikely.

The Human Fund

MSN/ Bizrate.com published an article earlier this month that listed the Five Holiday Scams that are growing in popularity. As consumers and marketers we need to be cognizant of the scams to insure that the work we do throughout the year isn’t compromised in the 12th month.

Two entries on the list struck a cord with me, the first was Spam Solicitation. Many spammers take advantage of the increased volume of emails and the accompanied holiday pressure for personal gain. As eMarketers, it is important that Spam/ Phishing responses are in place to quickly respond if necessary. The posting of emails on your site is also a proactive technique that could eliminate potential issues.

The second was that of Fake Charities; I of course immediately thought of George Costanza’s Human Fund charity – for the non-devotees, George gave fake donations to the nonexistent charity to save money on office gifts. While that’s a hilarious take, there are fraudsters out there. For information on how to avoid being duped by a fake charity (and the other five scams) visit the Bizrate site.

Happy Festivus everyone!

Cyber Monday – The Results

The numbers are in; according to comScore Inc., consumers spent $733M online this past Monday. A figure that represents a 21% gain from 2006’s Cyber Monday and an 84% increase in daily online spending totals from the past four weeks.

Additional numbers indicate that the percentage of online buyers is up by 38% from a year ago, despite the average dollar amount decreasing by 12% per buyer.

Will this prove to be the biggest online shopping day for 2007? Last year, December 13, ruled out making the 2006 Cyber Monday #12 in terms of the busiest sales day. Meaning that it’s not too late for eMarketers to capitalize on the market! Visit comScore or our friends at Yahoo! for additional info on the sales figures and consult the Yogi for additional campaign tips.

Phish on Friday: Free Gift?

MySpace has been in the news recently thanks to an identity-stealing virus masqueraded as a $500 Macy’s gift card.

The scam targets younger users through an email that appears to be from one of their MySpace friends. The embedded link redirects the recipient to a fake MySpace log-in where they are asked to re-enter their username and password. The phisher then takes this
Information to scam their friends with excessive SPAM, without the user even realizing. There are believed to be thousands affected by this scam – which has now been corrected, according to MySpace representatives.

As mentioned in yesterday’s article, the lesson here is to be cognizant of the information put on the channel and to make sure your web safety best practices are applied through this channel as well as online.

Happy Friday!

Spear Phishing

Scammers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated; yes, there are those who still pump out the countless faux-prescription drug offers, but some have taken a smarter approach. In a recent ComputerWorld article, Barbara Darrow explored the realm of C-level attackers – the snipers in the SPAM game.

In the article, Darrow explains how Spammers collect company and personal information on upper management – it’s a combination of data from your website and investor relations info combined with personal information from social sites liked LinkedIn. These C-Spammers then create an email that appears to be from the target’s direct report, colleague etc. The goal is to make the message appear to be from someone legitimate, so that the target will open and (unknowingly) deploy the virus/ worm via the included attachment.

According to Darrow, these attacks are on the rise for three reasons:
1) Execs are reading their own emails – rather than depending on an administrative assistant.
2) Emails are often being checked via a hand-held device, which is less secure
3) Social sites are on the rise, and there are more details out there than ever before

To combat these attacks you must first know they exist, other steps include the strengthening of network security (i.e. use the VPN or integrated portal to connect to access the network). Finally, be wary of social networking, you can participate (and benefit) without giving away everything.

“Women” are to “Tech Support” as “Men” are to “___“

I suppose this ranks right up there with stopping to ask for directions; a recent survey recounted in today’s PCWorld showed that men are three times more likely to try and solve an IT problem themselves. The writer, a man, didn’t expand this to include the amount of further damage associated with these attempted repairs…

The article continued, pointing out that women are nearly 50% more likely to consider their data (including photos, music etc.) as priceless and take precautions against losing this data.

Just passing this one along blog-fans… something to consider the next time your “PC” is to “rock” or “hammer” or “doornail.”