Category: Uncategorized

The key takeouts:

After an internal draft memo was leaked that seemed to indicate Chevrolet’s management team was forbidding employees from using the brand’s “Chevy” nickname, LaMuraglia’s team used social media to clear up the misinformation and avoid a PR crisis.

— Video allows for greater authenticity. GM originally responded to the misinformation with an “official statement” — but bloggers and brand fans weren’t impressed. LaMuraglia’s team then stepped in and filmed an executive offering a plain-English, authentic explanation of what had happened and posted it to YouTube — which significantly reduced the online criticism.

— It’s about the message, not the production value. LaMuraglia’s video was shaky and lacked the production quality of a traditional corporate video — but because the message was genuine, it still worked just fine.

— It’s OK to say, “We were wrong.” LaMuraglia explains that it’s OK to admit when you’re wrong and that in doing so, you build long-term credibility with fans and critics alike.

In as few words as possible from Garry Tan himself:

First, hate the problem. This means you really connect with something that SUCKS A LOT and you know is a real problem. Come on people, we work in tech. There are a lot of things that are terrible. PC LOAD LETTER, what the heck does that mean!?

Second, ship the solution. The product. Get the smallest possible quantum and don’t boil the ocean. You don’t know whether your product is goodt il it’s out there.

Third, love your users. If you build it, they won’t come. Building consumer web startups is absolutely not like building a car, but that’s how we think about building them. It’s logistics and technology and mechanisms. No, no, no. It’s more like throwing a really awesome party. And nobody throws parties for people who they don’t love.

So that’s what I got in a nutshell. I can’t believe how many people have helped us along the way (and we are so far from done!) but it feels great to be able to give back and help more people get to fulfill their dreams.

Seattle is probably the biggest collection of amazing software engineers and product creators outside of the Bay Area — but they’re all locked up in massive vaults called Microsoft and Amazon. Come on out guys, the water’s fine.

Use a yellow price tag:

The purpose of this article is to find out the relationship between yellow price tags and consumer reference prices. A laboratory study was conducted among 150 respondents, who were put in an experimental purchase situation and their initial internal reference prices were compared affected reference prices. The results revealed that consumers perceive yellow price tags as presenters of discounts. A comparison of the mean values showed that yellow price tags influence the reference price and, moreover, a yellow price tag increased the reference price. As a practical outcome, the results of the study indicated that companies have the opportunity to increase the consumer’s reference price and thereby to raise revenues by changing the colour of the price tag without offering an actual discount.

Source: “Do Yellow Price Tags Matter to Consumers? The Relationship Between the Presentation of the Price and the Reference Price” from University of Tartu, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration