StealThunder Blog

March 14th, 2006

Anyone pondering the challenges of differentiation should check out a recent blurb in Reveries about Trader Joe’s. It’s full of nuggets. Like a really simple, clear customer profile that instantly clicked: “…people who are well-educated, well-traveled, and underpaid.” Or products from all over the world with unique stories, ultimately chosen for their potential to become “addictive.” And more.

I’m not really a Trader Joe’s guy myself—not that I am overpaid or anything…but they obviously know something about marketing.

March 11th, 2006

Meanwhile out there in the more mundane universe beyond the universe-unto-itself we know as Google, a couple of other things recently caught my attention. Specifically in the retail arena. “OK, I’m heading out to the store,” I announce last week, grateful for a break from the PC screen. The shopping list I’ve jotted has “Costco” written all over it, but I’m kind of in a hurry and decide I am going to pop in to the Smart&Final, which is a shorter trip. The shopping list doesn’t include a big screen TV, a vacuum cleaner, 12-packs of kids’ socks, or the new Harry Potter video; just food stuff and cleaning supplies, so Smart&Final seems to make sense.

Funny, the minute I decide on Smart&Final I feel a sense of…what is it? Remorse? Disappointment? I like the cavernous vastness and absurd package sizes of Costco. I feel at home there. How much am I really saving buying 100 rolls of toilet paper at a time? Who knows? I admit the one thing I dislike about the place is the often tedious waiting in the checkout line, the impatient guesswork about which line to get into based on how fast they’re all moving. Naturally, I typically end up in the wrong one…

So I enter the local Smart&Final and have to walk past the ckeckout, and as I glance up I see the little tagline on the checker’s LCD, right where it pays to be reminded: “The Smaller, Faster Warehouse Store.” So many of the companies we work with struggle to position themselves simply. They want to get to that nirvana of “one simple, repeatable idea” that not only sets them apart from everyone else, but helps the right customers love them. And there it is, sharp as “the discount broker,” or “the computer for the rest of us.” Smart&Final nailed it. And they nailed based on a need that stands out like a sore thumb, at least for a range of time-constrained customers. Get your bulk eggs or paper cups or refried beans, and get out.

Then again, does anyone even know about Smart&Final? Did their radio ads drive traffic for them? Is it on the right shoppers’ radar? And how much more do you need to pay to get “faster”? I’d have to dive into some data to find out. But “The Smaller, Faster Warehouse.” Yeah. What it is.

March 11th, 2006

Sure, I came, I saw, and I dismissed Google Video back when it first burst on the scene at CES in January. But give anything a couple of months, and opinions can change. It’s not that the “store” aspect of Google Video is stocked and ready to go. That part of the experience is still pretty weak.

But as a destination for watching videos, I discovered I was actually spending a fair amount of time on Google Video. That surprised me. Here I had my defenses up, figuring I’d never be a fan–and suddenly I found something to really like about it.

When YouTube pulled down SNL’s “Lazy Sunday,” there it was on Google. Same was true for the first 5 episodes of “The IT Crowd.” Cool. And when links to the CBS story on Jason McElwain, the autistic high school basketball player suddenly dried up, I was able to find it on Google Video. There was no denying it; Google Video was becoming my go-to source for videos that I couldn’t find, or couldn’t get, elsewhere. Thought it was time to say a few nice words.

Then, ironically, just as I was getting ready to write a “here’s what’s working about Video”, what I liked about it up and broke. At some point in the past few weeks the copyright police must have caught up with Google. Lazy Sunday–gone. IT Crowd–not a trace. (The basketball story is still up there, at least for now.) And in place of the links to the videos that once worked is a page that simply says: “We’re sorry, but this video may not be available. Try refreshing the page to see this video.” Nope, that doesn’t work.

It’s not that I’m pointing the finger at Google here; they’re undoubtedly responding to the same legal letters circulating at other sites. (Although it’s a little curious that there’s not a bit more explanation as to why these things have just vanished.)

Disappointed again. Guess it’s time to check out BitTorrent.