The Kohl's Backlash: Will the Haw Shame Spiral?

Uh oh, I just got some Kohl's backlash from Mike over at mikespoints.com.  Apparently Mike likes to make points, but isn't really a big fan of, you know, thinking them through.

Over at his blog, he has questioned my integrity in dealing with the Kohl's photos.

"Paul McEnany/Hee-Haw Marketing made a trip to Dallas Kohl’s store around Christmas and found much of the store in disarray. And, from those photos, that store did look pretty bad — at that moment

But, for all we know, that may have been an extremely busy day, and atypical for that Kohl’s or any Kohl’s store. So, did McEnany go back later to see if the mess was a one-day deal or a pattern?

It doesn’t look like it to me.

And, while he may have received some great traffic, Kohl’s got a bit of a black eye. All because of McEnany’s jumping to conclusions."

Yes, Mike, it is totally MY fault that Kohl's got the black eye. 

So while he accused me of taking a snapshot of a situation, without properly investigating, he also forgot to actually read the comments from the multitude of others with similar experiences.  Nor did he read the multiple times I said I WOULD be going back to take pictures.

I am not a journalist, nor do I think most bloggers should be treated as such. I went into a store, and it looked like shit. What if it was a restaurant, and I took pictures of rats hanging out in the kitchen? Should I then just ASSUME it's a one-time thing?

It's not incumbent upon bloggers, or anyone else, for that matter, to become apologists for any company. Sure, we all have our good days and bad, but in most cases, you're not good every day, and then all of the sudden have a moment of pathetic disarray. If that were the case, I might have seen at least one person attempting to clean up.

Anyway, thanks Mike. Apparently I was in the mood for a rant.

The DMZ 3: 2 MINUS 1

The DMZ thrilla. This episode we gave our responses to Cam's post regarding the thin slicing meme. That's right, to show off our sweet innovation skills, we took a blog meme, and made it audible. As usual, we had a celebrity appearance from Own Your Brand's Michael Wagner.

Also, I must give a shout to Sean Howard over at Craphammer for also tagging me.

And now, are we done with the memes? Seriously, guys...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mediaplayer.swf

News You Can Abuse

In filthy retailer news, Walmart has now been Kohl'ed by another stealthy cell phone photographer. Umm, guys, can we start cleaning up our messes now?  Thanks to Random Culture for the tip...

In coffee and morning news, Coffee Morning Second Life is coming THIS THURSDAY, 8AM CST, and each Thursday following, to Crayonville. Mmmmm, virtual coffee....

In other coffee and morning news, Likemind comes to Dallas THIS FRIDAY, 8AM CST at Panera. Come drink coffee and enjoy, you know, the coffee.  And probably the conversation, too.

And in collaborative book writing news, uber-pontificator Joe Jaffe has opened up a chapter of his new book, Join the Conversation, to us, the conversers. To contribute go here. (I wonder if they'll leave in all my fucks and shits?!)

awesome photo from xiaomin

The Most Popular Dallas Marketing Podcast in the World is Back!

That's right people, it's back. The DMZ, and this time the injured list is clear, and we've got the full squad.  Thank god the Copyblogger will be rejoining.  We had significantly less groupies this week after missing our token celebrity, Brian Clark.

When? Tuesday, Jan. 16, 8pm CST
Where? Blog Talk Radio, Call (646) 915.8556
Huh? In this episode, it's all about the meme. We'll be discussing Michael Wagner's thin slice meme, as uber-daddy, Cam Beck wrote about here.
Why? Because we're cool like that.

And, just to fulfill my attention whoriness, if you dug the whole Kohl's thing, go here and digg it for realz.  And with that, I promise to stop replacing s's with z's, droppin' yo's, homey's, peeps, and yo homey's, because I've got to be more professional (and shit).

Tune In Saturdays: Field Music

Yup, Field Music, the British three-piece including the former drummer from the Futureheads, sounds like every other European critic-whore band in the world, which is probably why I like 'em.

It's just nice, minimalist and clean, without being dumb or boring. And they've got enough la la's and da da's to satisfy any Beatles fan.

From Stylus Magazine:
"Brothers David and Peter Brewis, along with third player Andrew Moore, craft songs that are complex in their simplicity. The ambition comes in the musical arrangements. These are songs that veer to and fro, frequently sounding as if they’re nearly about to run off the rails."

Complex in their simplicity? Well, music writer, your writing sounds non-sensical in it's intelligence. How bout that!

Alright, here's the video called A House is Not a Home, from their upcoming record, Tones of Town. More on MySpace.

Hurricane Kohl's! The Resolution, sort of.

Please know that it is our top priority to provide you, andall of our customers, a quality shopping experience. I’m very sorry that you recently encountered an unacceptable store environment, and from your pictures, clearly not up to our standards. I have advised our senior level management, they’ve been made aware, and they’re highly committed to addressing it. So, thanks again for letting me know. I do appreciate hearing from you and we do value your patronage.

                        -VP Public Relations, Kohl's Corp.

https://s3.amazonaws.com:443/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=18055&doc=hurricane-kohls-28058

Excuse me while I feel a little unsatisfied. After a few phone calls, that was the response (via voice mail) I received from Kohl's.  And, ever since, I've been sort of scratching my head.

Why even respond?

Now, she sounds like a very nice lady, as most PR folks are, whether they really are or not. But, seriously, I'm not the New York Times, and I think my rambling phone message made it abundantly clear that I'm not a skilled interviewer. Is that really the right response? Would no response have been better in this case?

Really, I have no doubt in my mind that nothing will happen in any store, even though this was obviously not an isolated incident. I doubt the representative leaving that message really has the power to push the right buttons to fix X and O problems like staffing. I realize they can't just say that, but, I can't help but feel empty from that message.

Take a look through the slide show. I've aggregated some comments from around the blogosphere in response to this Kohl's story, spliced with the bullshit spewed from the Kohl's website.

Anybody have a take on this one?

The First Time I Wanted to Marry a Phone

Do you ever get that feeling that something is so damn cool that you just want to hug people?  And by people, I don't mean just your girlfriend or mom, or whatever, but anybody you can get your hands on?

Graduated college? Landed some big, new client? Got a raise?

Watch out people, I'm about to get handsy...

But this time it only took a glimpse of the new Apple IPhone.  I think I'm too pathetically excited to really examine it in any depth, but holy shit, it's friggin' cool.

In other news...

My favorite Masi, Tim Jackson, got screwed by Saturn, making the cold day in hell before I'll buy another GM just a few degrees cooler. Gavin, Sean, and the Masiwife had some thoughts, too.

Likemind Dallas is here! Friday, January 19 at Panera Bread, 7839 Park Lane, Dallas, just west of 75. I'll explain more as it gets closer, but think Russell Davies' Coffee Morning, but branded.

And, Coffee Morning Second Life is also here! Sure, it's a little counterintuitive, but hell, so are most things. If you want some virtual coffee and real conversation join us over in Crayonville at 8am CST (9 am EST) next Thursday, January 18th. If you've got any questions, feel free to email CC Chapman at CC@crayonville.com. A big thanks to Crayon for stepping up and hosting!

Last, but not least, the wonderful CK and her bookie brain child, the Marketing Profs Book Club gets started tomorrow with our first book, Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.  Get on over there and join the conversation!

Ad Age has No Shame, they are without Shame.

Yes, I realize you've read this on every other blog, but...

For fuck's sake, Ad Age, naming the consumer agency of the year doesn't even make any fucking sense!

Ok, I'm settled. Time wins. They were timely, thoughtful, and whether or not they were link-baiting, they deserved them nonetheless. Everybody won.

Ad Age was in a lazy me-too frenzy, and in that weakened state, they reverted to the dumbass high school rule of action; Do what the cool kids do, then close your eyes and hope for the best.

In this age of advertising out of fear, thanks Ad Age, for giving us an example of why this industry stumbles so often...

Tune In Saturdays: Malajube

What happens when you cross the Flaming Lips with Mercury Rev and the Polyphonic Spree, then gorge them all on french toast, french fries and Labat Blue?

You get the confusingly named Malajube, pronounced as best as I can tell, Mal - uh - zhoob.

Pitchfork says,

"the inventive arrangements and zealous intensity of their second album make it difficult to countenance any suspicions of opportunistic hit-knitting. But their approach to indie rock is so resolutely of-the-moment that it seems filled with hyper-modern allusions. Malajube's music is labyrinthine, filled with multi-directional trapdoors-- some drop down to lower landings of the songs; some let out into realms recently conquered by other indie heroes (particularly of the Polaris Prize-nominated variety)."

To which I say,"huh?" Not that they're wrong, but it's just a long way of saying, "Hey man, I like those guys' music. They sound original!"

So, that's what I say. "Hey man, these guys kick ass, in an 'angry frenchmen, fuck you Bill O'reilly' sort of way, but happier."

Now, I must go smoke ze cigarette and put on ze black-and-white striped shirt and beret.  Cause that's how I roll.

Listen to more over at the MySpace page.

The DMZ 2: More Dugan Flavor

Well, Brian Clark apparently had to take care of his "kids" instead of having fun with the rest of the boys from the Dallas Marketing Zoo, so we trudged on, recruiting Kevin Dugan to take his place on the fly.

Below is Episode 2 of the Dallas Marketing Zoo. Luckily, Kevin picked up some slack for the Copyblogger, but, after lengthy discussion, we've decided to take Brian back anyway. Damnit, Brian, we missed you buddy. Also, our host, Scott Baradell, Paul Herring, and brand new dual-daddy Cam Beck rounded out the show.

This time we talked about just how much Edelman sucks, the Noka chocolate debacle, the best ads of 2006 and made some obligatory 2007 predictions. Hope you guys enjoy!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mediaplayer.swf