In the world of online forums, blogs and social media that I prowl around, it's not uncommon to see spats arise and be played out publicly between individuals (particular between more techie minded users - sorry developers yes that means you).  For a serial spectator like myself, sometimes they can be very funny, sometimes they provide a nice diversion, but more often than not they are a bit sad and embarrassing. Mostly they are insignificant.  

It's certainly not the kind of behaviour you'd expect businesses to get caught up in.

So last week it was interesting to observe two brands I respect succumb to such foolery.  Howies & Finisterre got into their own little online ding-dong, played out on their blogs. (I have to declare being a loyal customer of both, having a bit of a fetish for UK-designed technical clothing).

Finisterre started it, with a blog post moaning about Howies bidding on their name on PPC, seeing themselves as the aggrieved underdog.  'How could they', the blog said (I'm paraphrasing to keep it short), 'target us as a fledgling brand. They should support us little guys rather than try to wipe us out'. Oh, at the same time they point out how Howies has sold out to 'the man', being now owned by corporates.

Howies then responded, publishing their actual PPC stats claiming that bidding on the brand name actually has resulted in hardly any business anyhow, itself an implicit put down, saying they've tried to call Finisterre but that they've been avoiding their calls.   

Both posts were accompanied by the usual range of comments, from the considered and unconsidered, through all flavours of bias.

The rule on this kind of thing: whenever there's a bit of public mud-slinging, neither side comes off particularly well.

Both brands quickly realised this, and did what they should have done in the first place: had a chat on the phone.  They had used their blogs like the worst type of email exchange - getting into a silly little argument that never would have arisen if they'd have spoken. At least they had the sense to end it fast.

Finisterre has stamped 'case closed' on their blog post. Howies has removed it from their blog altogether. This may do a pretty good thing of covering things for the future, though for those couple of days it was very visible to most of their advocates, those who follow their blogs and social media.  It was a bit like overhearing an argument between a couple you are friendly with: you learn things you don't want to about both them and in general you could just do without it.

Both still make very nice clothes though.

Image from Majento

As a business, you’re going to want a really nice looking website, right? All the ease of use/navigation and a nice slick interface filled with animation and effects. Of course you do. We all do.

Forget your budget for a second and let’s say you get that site. The creative juices start flowing and the possibilities are almost endless. It’s going to be the best site ever. Finally it’s completed and you couldn’t be happier with the results. It shows just how cutting edge your business is. You might even say a cut above the rest. Excitedly, you go to show your decision-maker what he/she has paid for and-BAM-it looks awful. The formatting is ruined, the effects don’t work and subsequently, you cannot even navigate around.

How can this be? It looked GREAT on your machine. Then the penny drops - they’re viewing in Internet Explorer 6. So are most of your colleagues. So are many of your customers. You go back and have the site amended so it is compatible with IE6. Everything needs to be simplified, possibly even working from the ground up, and suddenly your site looks no better than that of your competitors…

But why is IE6 such a big issue for websites, and what can you do about it?

Wow -  if you want a really poor user experience try using the Blackberry App store for the first time.

I have 2 phones, and iPhone for home and a Blackberry we use as a work support hotline.   I decided today to check out the blackberry app store.

Now, you'd have though that Blackberry, being a little late on the app scene, would be trying hard to make their app store as successful as possible.  I'm left feeling they actually don't want anyone to use it at all. 

First up, no instructions for first time users.  

Second, lots of messages about my OS being unsupported (*of course* i'm on a mac).

Third, when you click sign in you this:

Offputting or what?

I persevered (wondering if I've just signed away a kidney or something), then I was asked for both a ScreenName and a UserName - what's the difference?  How many names do i need?

It turned out my screen name needed to be a valid email address.   So I entered one.   Then it said it was invalid.    It wasn't.

I gave up.

A client of ours has a large salesforce using Blackberrys.   We are considering whether an App could be useful for them...  but after this experience I wonder if anyone would even be able to download it in the first place?

Come on people at Blackberry, do you actually sign up yourselves?  Has anyone noticed this mess?

I've just seen this recent cross-industry survey into B2B Buyers use of Social Media which compares how decision makers use various types of media through the process of making major business purchases. Good to see some solid research in this area. You can see a quick description of the research here. It revealed that word of mouth was second only to visiting supplier websites when identifying and selecting a supplier. Everyone knows that WoM is important - it was the level that surprised me - it was used by 45% of those surveyed for indentifying potential suppliers and by 40% for actual selection. Around 70% of these people considered WoM to be very influential. It struck me that, since social media is effectively 'word of mouth' and its usage for business is increasing - especially in the up to 30s age group with around 25% already using Twitter and blogs, there is a strong case for believing social media will soon become a key method for B2B purchasing decisions as more buyers seek the opinions of others on line. Businesses adopting a marketing strategy that encompasses social media will increasingly reap the rewards as late adopters' share of online 'voice' decreases.

One note of caution - the report also revealed business users' concerns about the accuracy and reliability of information gathered through social media along with the increasing volume of information to wade through. It seems certain that buyers will become more selective in where they look online. I think it's true that many companies/brands are putting out information and opinion based on existing information found on the social networks and expecting it to work for them. It's a reasonable approach up to a point, but me-too content is as weak as me-too products. I bet the biggest winners in social media marketing will be the ones who put a big effort into creating original content to become valued voices in their industry.

With the London Olympics on the horizon and the World Cup only a few months away, there are reams of evidence that we truly are a sports mad nation. Ever since I first worked on the Samsung brand, I came to realise just how sacred sports sponsorship can be to a company. The scrum for Chelsea tickets was a sight to see, and that's before their agencies got anywhere near them! This scene reverberated across many of my clients - Land Rover and English rugby, B & Q and sailing and Vodafone and cricket, the list goes on...