A critical part of the service design process is putting into place feedback loops which enable your customer to let you know how you’re doing. This is a delicate matter because you want to do it without disrupting the customer experience. That’s why we applaud Facebook and the way they’ve incorporated a simple feedback loop into their advertising.

Did you ever notice the little “x” at the top corner of a Facebook ad? I kept seeing these annoying ads for “Mafia Wars,” a Facebook game that appears to be wildly popular with others. Out of curiosity I clicked on the “x” up in the corner of the ad, having been conditioned over the years to know that clicking on an “x” makes things go away. That feature is standard user interface component for applications, or a way to get rid of an intrusive “overlay” ad that hides content below it.

In this case, the ad on Facebook was on the side of the page just sitting there. And being able to hit the “x” to just make it go away is a great idea. But before the ad goes away, Facebook solicits your feedback by asking “Why don’t you want to see this ad?” Your options are misleading, offensive, uninteresting, irrelevant, repetitive or other (in which case a text box pops up for your custom input.)

After making a selection, you see “Thanks for your feedback. Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users.”

There’s also the famous “thumbs up” logo at the bottom of the ad to show that you like the ad. (It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how many people click the “thumbs up” versus the “x” – and why.)

This is such a simple, yet powerful tool. Why don’t other websites integrate this feedback feature into their online advertising? The whole point of the web is that is interactive. “Ask and ye shall receive,” right? We all know that ads are the currency of the realm when it comes to delivering content. So why not do everything you can to get feedback from viewers as to what they like or don’t like, and why?

Smart move Facebook, and a great example of a powerful feedback loop for service design!

Longing for a taste of the good ol’ days? The John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History at Duke University just posted thousands of television commercials created or collected by the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency, from the 1950s to the 1980s. From American Express to Vicks VapoRub, they’re all here. (Did not remember the spots for Fluffo Shortening, but they’re all here too!)

Click here to jump into the time machine.

From Wikipedia: “DMB&B was established in November 1985 by the merger of the Benton & Bowles (B&B) and D’Arcy-MacManus Masius(D-MM) advertising agencies. DMB&B created the original Santa Claus icon for a Coca-Cola ad, as well as the slogans “This Bud’s for you” for Budweiser and “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” for M&Ms. They were acquired by Publicis and closed in 2002.”

These ads reminds us of simpler days, when advertisers could simply blast a clever message out through the limited media channels (NBC, CBS, or ABC) over and over and over, to win the hearts and minds of American consumers.Today, the challenge is much complex and requires actually listening to consumers and speaking with them, as opposed to at them.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen too many current-day ad agencies who are still stuck in the time machine, longing for the “good ol’ days.” This is where service design can help.

A lot of folks on the client side don’t know this yet, but most traditional advertising agencies – even ones with a shiny new “digital/on-line/interactive” department – are headed for a world of hurt.  Why?  Three reasons.

HISTORY
For more than 100 years, ad agencies have all operated pretty much the same way. Be clever, know how to sell, and get in deep with the client. Being clever is a good thing, as is getting in deep. But ad agencies are so focused on selling the client’s stuff – and have been for so many years – they are not very good at figuring out what people want to buy.  Consider the very terms that are used in sales and marketing: “taking market share,” “grabbing eyeballs,” “capturing customers,” etc. Even the word “brand” originally meant a red-hot piece of metal used to burn the identity of the owner into a horse or cow’s rump. Barring a few bumps in the road (like when big media mark-ups went away) the ad agencies have pretty much continued on status quo. But now that the power has shifted to buyers (as opposed to sellers), ad agencies continue to tap dance on an ice-berg that is slowly – but surely – melting.  So why can’t they change? (more…)