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FCPNY
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Monday, November 21, 2011

It's my favorite holiday of the year...

Thanksgiving is, yes, my favorite holiday of the year. (Pardon the editorial slant of this episode). Thanksgiving has all the warmth and good will of Christmas without all the extra glitz and pressure. Why any holiday should have pressure is a question unto itself, but Christmas does. Why else would suicides and hotline calls go up dramatically in December each year? Thanksgiving has family, food, fun, football...and it is an All-American holiday. Thank the Pilgrims. Family first. Why then is American business trying so hard to ruin the day?


Black Friday is also an All-American institution and it was kind of fun to watch news coverage of the crowds stampeding into stores at 7AM, then 6AM and then 4AM...and now Thursday evening, 10PM. Some stores have opened all Thanksgiving day in recent years, like there is nothing special to the holiday at all. It's sad. One poor soul lost his life in a Black Friday WalMart shopping surge a couple of years back. Nothing is sadder than that.


Our friends at WalMart have used us to deliver their sale flyers each Thanksgiving, and each year we have been asked to sign a pledge/agreement to provide the utmost security of those flyers so that Black Friday specials would remain a national secret. And they meant business, too, if you were responsible for a leak. This year, WalMart leaked their own specials on their own site. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess. Even 42" flat screen TV prices aren't special anymore.


Hats off to employees of Target and Best Buy who have organized online petitions asking their employers to have a heart and open Friday morning, allowing workers to have the whole Thanksgiving holiday at home. A valiant but futile effort; it's way too competitive out there in the market to allow anyone to get the jump on you.


In spite of my obvious disdain for all of this, I am thankful to live in a land where such things are possible. Where government doesn't tell business what they can or can't do. Where you have a thriving competitiveness, even in a sluggish economy. And where people can freely voice their opinion about their beliefs and not worry about ramifications, assuming those Target and Best Buy employees don't lose their jobs for speaking out.


We at the Scotsman hope you have much to be thankful for this year.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

When you send a message, back it up with your actions.

Haven't posted in a couple of weeks -- been a busy time, but it's back to the blog now.


It's a beautiful November day in Central New York. I did my usual Wednesday drive from our Fulton office back to Syracuse at mid-day and as I was coming to the stop at the end of the off ramp, a local homeless guy was there with his sign. I don't want to sound crass or uncaring, but I have often thought there is a well oiled network of these guys and they have the best corners and locations in town allocated among them on some rotating basis. Only one person works each corner and you never see the same guy in the same spot two days in a row. The man I saw today didn't look familiar but his sign did. What caught me, though, is that he didn't pay any attention to me as I slowed down to stop. He appeared to be texting on his smartphone. No joke. I watched carefully to be sure that's what he was doing, and it was. I don’t think it was an iPhone4s, but it looked pretty new. I have to be honest with you: it greatly diminished the effect that his "hungry and homeless veteran" sign had on me.


There are a lot of good folks out there who are in trouble through no fault of their own who need our help. And there are others out there who are waiting to take advantage of us. No surprise there. It happens on street corners and it happens in business every day. Does the message you send to the market clearly reflect who you are, what you do and how you do it? Does it reflect integrity and awareness, and can you back that up with your daily actions? If you hang your advertising hat on being the best in customer service, does your staff back that up by paying close attention to your customers? If you will pardon the comparison, do they blankly text on their cell phones as the customer approaches the counter or are they waiting to greet them and make their best effort to help? I had a customer call me yesterday to share an experience he had with a couple of our staff people recently. Good staffers, too, but obviously not at their best on this occasion. I was glad he called; often a customer who feels wronged just walks away and you may never know there was a problem. We got the chance to fix this one. How many get away without an opportunity?


We're coming in to the busy season for most retailers and professionals; let's make it one of the best. Call us at 315-472-7825 or e-mail us at info@scotsmanmediagroup.com  if we can help you put your best foot forward. Thanks.