Service Marketing example - we need a recovery here!

Chat Transcript
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You have been connected to ~Nathan Y.
~Nathan Y: Welcome to T-Mobile Chat service. My name is Nathan and for your reference my rep ID is 13-20804. First, please allow me one moment to review your question.
~Nathan Y: I can definitely help you out with that Roger.
Roger Devine: Hi. I currently have an Even More Plus (no contract plan) and a Nexus One phone. I'd like to upgrade to a Family Plan and reserve one of the new G2s
Roger Devine: Can I do that?
~Nathan Y: You can add a line and change to a family plan.
Roger Devine: Cool.
~Nathan Y: You would have to wait until Oct 6th.
Roger Devine: That's what I would like to do. Can I switch to an Even More family plan
Roger Devine: oky
~Nathan Y: Unless you are upgrading a current line to the G2
Roger Devine: I can upgrade my current line to the G2
~Nathan Y: One you are on the Even More PLUS, you cannot go back to the Even More.
~Nathan Y: You can add a single plan as the second line with the Even More though.
~Nathan Y: But a family plan will save you more money in the long run.
Roger Devine: Alright. But can I move to an Even More familiy plan?
Roger Devine: I never was on an Even More plan before
~Nathan Y: You are on the Even More PLUS.
Roger Devine: I know
Roger Devine: you said I couldn't go back.
Roger Devine: But I was never there to begin with.
Roger Devine: I came from AT&T
Roger Devine: because they made me crazy
~Nathan Y: Yes but you started as Even More PLUS.
Roger Devine: I'd like to put my wife, my son and myself on an Even More Family plan with a contract
Roger Devine: Is that not possible?
~Nathan Y: You can open another account with the Even More.
~Nathan Y: With new phone numbers.
~Nathan Y: You can get up to 10 lines.
Roger Devine: no. I need to keep my number; I use it for business.
Roger Devine: and I need to transfer my wife's number from AT&T
~Nathan Y: But you can get a family plan Even More with the other two lines on a separate account.
Roger Devine: I still need to not change numbers
Roger Devine: And my son is 12, and I wanted to take advantage of the "free for a year" promotion for kids
~Nathan Y: Your 4407 line is on the Even More PLUS plan, it cannot get the Even More plan.
Roger Devine: so his line wouldn't count as a second line, would it?
Roger Devine: Oh.
~Nathan Y: Any new lines can get the Even More plan.
Roger Devine: So the answer is no; I cannot do what I want to do here.
Roger Devine: You won't consolidate my existing account into a Family Plan.
~Nathan Y: If you want three numbers on the Even More plan, you would need to open a separate account with new numbers.
~Nathan Y: You can as an Even More PLUS family plan with your current line.
Roger Devine: huh?
~Nathan Y: To answer your last question.
Roger Devine: I think a word was missing in your answer
~Nathan Y: I apologize for any confusion.
Roger Devine: So T-Mobile would rather have me move my wife and son over onto a no-contract plan?
~Nathan Y: Not necessarily.
~Nathan Y: But to do what you want to do, you would need to cancel your current line.
Roger Devine: I don't understand the business logic behind not allowing me to move my existing number from Even More plus to Even More
~Nathan Y: If you want three lines on an Even More plan.
Roger Devine: T-Mobile did not subsidize any phones for me
Roger Devine: I've been a good customer
Roger Devine: Why the barrier?
~Nathan Y: I understand.
Roger Devine: But you can't do anything about it.
~Nathan Y: Those are the rules that apply to the Even More PLUS plans.
~Nathan Y: I apologize for any inconvenience.
Roger Devine: And rules are rules
Roger Devine: Do me a favor and email this conversation up the line.
Roger Devine: I appreciate your time and effort, and I know that you did not make these crazy rules.
~Nathan Y: You can contact our Customer Relations at:
~Nathan Y: T-Mobile Wireless
P.O. Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380
Roger Devine: is there an email address?
~Nathan Y: In the long run, paying full price for new phones and going with the Even More PLUS plan would save you the most money.
~Nathan Y: Since the monthly plan is cheaper than the even more plans.
~Nathan Y: No email, sorry.
Roger Devine: Okay. Thanks.
Roger Devine: Amazing.
Roger Devine: I'll print this out and send it.
~Nathan Y: Again, I apologize for any inconvenience.
Roger Devine: But I'm probably also going to use it as an exhibit in the Marketing class I teach, during the unit on service marketing.
~Nathan Y: I understand your frustration.
Roger Devine: Thank you. Better luck with the next chatter.

WTF?

I teach marketing for a living, live in the same city (well, metro region) where Nike is, and have spent much time talking to people who work there (and at their compeitor, Adidas), and I have no, absolutely no, idea what the point of this ad is.

Seriously, damage control? Is the message "we're peeved at Tiger, and so we thought we needed to publicly shame him ourselves?" If so, well, what it makes me think is that Nike is paying Tiger enough money to get him to embarrass himself. Which isn't the same thing.

Is the message "Like a father, we are going to stick by our Tiger, but we are going to ask him some Hard Questions"? If so, will anyone NOT see through that?

What marketing goal are they trying to accomplish - that has some outside chance at success?

Downward product-line extension: is Basic the new black?

I had not seen this particular brand-extension coming from P&G yet. But it's a pretty good bet that if P&G is trying to protect their flanks (so to speak) from the discount- and house-brand end of the market, that they believe that "the new frugality" is likely to stay around for a while.

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com

Here's a link to one of my favorite videos on marketing; I do usually show it in class on the first day of each term, but if you haven't seen it, do so now.

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com

PR consultation

A week or so ago, I requested a free whitepaper from a PR distribution service. I am planning a new PR strategy for my software company, and the title ("7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any
Economy") was appealing enough.

I knew I would get on their house list, and I expected an email follow-up. I always read these, simply because I write autoresponder emails for our company, and like seeing what my peers are doing with this vehicle.

Here's an excerpt from the follow-up I received the next day:

Thanks for requesting 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any

Economy.

If you respond to this email in the next 4 days -- just
hit reply and let us know what day works best for you (see
availability below) -- we will schedule a free ten minute
phone call for you to discuss your press release needs with
our Editorial Director Heather Fuller, who has edited over
ten thousand press releases.

Please be assured that this consultation will not be a
thinly disguised sales pitch. It will consist of the best
intelligence Heather can supply in a ten minute time
span. We'll even help come up with possible press release
ideas if needed. There is no charge for the call but please
be advised that the call must be strictly limited to 10
minutes. No commitment. No obligation to purchase anything.

AVAILABILITY: Heather is available most business days
between 12:45pm and 1:45pm Eastern Time.

Please let us know what day you would be available. We will
confirm scheduling and exact time by email.

So what did I like about this?

• First, the availability block at the end. It makes the offer feel very "real" - they have scheduled someone for an hour each day to handle these requests. The fact that they have only scheduled an hour increases the plausibility with me - if the person was available full-time, I'd assume that it was really not that person's full-time job to edit press releases.
• Second, the offer to help come up with press release ideas - this company KNOWS my pain point here - if they are helping small companies distribute press releases, they know that coming up with real, valid, appealing press release ideas is hard for us - and that we probably don't have an agency on tap to help (why else would we have downloaded their whitepaper?)

So, into the swipe file it goes. I may decide to put a pitch like this into an email autoresponder sequence I publish - I could offer a 10-minute consultation with an auction consultant on procurement ideas. Scheduled from 10:30 to 11:30 am, Pacific time, Monday through Friday. Matter of fact, I think I'll do that now.