For businesses
Reviews – it’s not all about the star rating
It's important to remember that reviews are a subjective opinion of a consumer's experience of a service or product, and for other consumers reading reviews, they don't just focus on the number of stars - they read the text of the feedback itself. So what makes a good...
Website reviews need to be transparent and honest
It's been a practice that a number of businesses have carried out for years, but a decision in the Auckland District Court last month puts into sharp focus the importance, and indeed, the legal requirement of presenting website reviews honestly and accurately, and not...
NoCowboys reviews – FAQs
Since 2006, NoCowboys has been New Zealand's leader in authenticated consumer reviews. With a robust and thorough feedback verification system, consumers can trust that the feedback they rely so heavily on is genuine and authenticated. For registered businesses,...
Guide the conversation
I read many, many articles, news stories, reports and academic papers about online consumer reviews. A casual Google search will bring up thousands of observations about the greatest consumer motivation to connect with businesses - legitimate, authenticated online...
The massive benefits of ethical reviews
Recently I was reading an article on business.com that got me thinking about a word that really describes the nature and vitality - as well as the huge importance of online reviews: ethical. I've talked before about trust and transparency and the ways that drives...
A healthy review profile substantially increases revenue for small businesses
A recent study in the US analysed the impact of reviews on revenue for small businesses and the results are extremely telling. Marketing and CRM software company, Womply, produced a research piece entitled "How online reviews impact small business revenue",...
Online reputation significant driver for potential employees
Reviews are obviously a major factor in driving customers toward businesses but they also massively impact upon job seekers' choices when selecting companies to work for. A study released last year in the US by indeed.com found that over 95% of potential employees...
The reputation economy
I was reading an article recently that discussed the exchange between raters and businesses and cited a paper by a marketing academic, who referred to it as 'the reputation economy,' and while that term has been around for a few years now, it got me thinking about the...
“Consumers don’t want to be guinea pigs”
Presentation is everything and more and more, online consumers are looking for particular things when they search for products and services online. If they don't see what they are looking for, then they are moving on to another business and product. For businesses...
Brand loyalty only goes so far
Since I was a kid I have loved airplanes and flying. Not that I can fly myself - just that I have enjoyed the experience of jetting between countries inside of some of the greatest engineering feats human beings have achieved. My father worked for Air New Zealand for...
Consistent marketing wards off invisibility
For a business to survive and thrive it needs to be seen – that may sound overly simplistic but it’s true. Being seen is the key to attracting customers, accruing revenue and sustaining growth. To be seen, a business has to market its brand, goods, and services and it...
Forewarned is forearmed
The rise and ubiquity of online reviews has also created a burgeoning industry in fake reviews. These reviews may achieve short term results but are worth less than nothing. Inflating or manipulating an online reputation is not only a huge example of bad faith, it is...
Consumers want recent reviews and they are looking for them more than ever
Each year BrightLocal releases its much respected Local Consumer Review Survey. Since 2010 it has become an important tool for analysing consumer behaviour and online reviews. The 2018 survey, released this week, indicates some interesting shifts in consumer...
When you can’t find real fault, pick on the haka
Is there anything that raises the ire of certain Northern Hemisphere rugby critics and fans more than the All Blacks' haka? Whenever the World Cup rolls around it's always the same, tired, ignorant, and insensitive criticisms of a tradition of our game that has been...
Guide the conversation
I read many, many articles, news stories, reports and academic papers about online consumer reviews. A casual Google search will bring up thousands of observations about the greatest consumer motivation to connect with businesses - legitimate, authenticated online...
If I could turn back time
Reputations are fragile things – they take many years to forge and can be destroyed in a heartbeat. In public life there has been a massive recent shift in the way that certain reputations are perceived and while some villains prosper, others are wiped from history....
Reputation on the line . . .
Well, if there's anything to make anyone feel a little bit older, it's the sooner than expected arrival of the latest installment of the Rugby World Cup. Without giving away my age, I can vividly remember trooping along to Lancaster Park in Christchurch, to witness...
The massive benefits of ethical reviews
Recently I was reading an article on business.com that got me thinking about a word that really describes the nature and vitality - as well as the huge importance of online reviews: ethical. I've talked before about trust and transparency and the ways that drives...
Honesty is such a lonely word
Despite everything, the quality we look for most in business is honesty. We all have an innate desire to believe in what we buy and who we do business with. While the world may look at times like a trust free zone, in business transparency and honesty are everything....
We don’t know how lucky we are, mate
My mum is sick, the sort of sick where you don't get better, and for the past few months my family has gone through the best of times and the worst of times. The worst because we are preparing to lose someone who means the world to us, and the best because we have all...
It’s boring winning all the time
All Blacks fans are a tough crowd and it’s getting all a little tedious. Two games against Australia in the past two weeks saw two fantastic contests– one a comprehensive, record-breaking loss for the men in black, the other a complete turnaround where they played the...
“it’s a freaking tree in a lake’
People are strange creatures - some us us miss the point entirely and some of us can never be pleased. A story I read online recently put that into stark effect - in a humorous way as well. A collection of reviews of our country's popular tourist attractions...
A healthy review profile substantially increases revenue for small businesses
A recent study in the US analysed the impact of reviews on revenue for small businesses and the results are extremely telling. Marketing and CRM software company, Womply, produced a research piece entitled "How online reviews impact small business revenue",...
Online reputation significant driver for potential employees
Reviews are obviously a major factor in driving customers toward businesses but they also massively impact upon job seekers' choices when selecting companies to work for. A study released last year in the US by indeed.com found that over 95% of potential employees...
Losing when you haven’t lost is hard to take
Cricket is a marvellous game. It's a contest of skill, patience, aptitude and derring do. It's also sometimes as cruel as all hell. The final of this year's World Cup saw the Kiwis and England play out what well may be one of the most intriguing and dramatic one day...
Etiquette is not a universal truth
Etiquette is a strange concept. While some would think that there was a right way of doing something, based on their own notion of manners or social niceties, others will have an entirely different point of view and will act accordingly. Driving is a great example,...
Cafe owners’ reputation garners unwanted attention
Hospitality is a hard industry to work in. The customer is always right and customers are pickiest about what they eat, where they stay, and how they are treated in the process. I've worked in hospitality, many years ago, and I can still remember being summoned to a...
UK regulators in mission to stop the sale of fake reviews
With every innovation comes those looking to exploit it through manipulation and fraud. Online reviews are no different and the unscrupulous go to great lengths to make money out of the sale and dissemination of fake reviews. In the UK, the Competition and Markets...
How free is our freedom of expression?
Yesterday a Christchurch man was sentenced to 21 months in jail for disseminating the video posted to Facebook by the perpetrator of the March Mosque attacks. His conviction has raised issues and questions about hate speech and free speech and the rights of...
We want the world and we want it now!
The other day I was driving through a part of Auckland I used to live in, when I first came up from Christchurch, many moons ago. The small assortment of shops remained the same, all apart from one glaring omission - the video store. What had now become yet another...
Reviews keep a business on its toes
Last year I had a conversation with the owner of a large plumbing business about online reviews and the ways they helped his business. Apart from the usual generation of more enquiries through online searches where the reviews and five stars were visible, he told me a...
“If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention”
A story in recent weeks got me thinking about the nature of our human species and the ways our evolution appears to be falling behind the fearsome speed of technological innovation. Be warned - this piece contains no spoilers but will further the odd generalisation....
Kiwi leadership grabs global attention
Now that the Australian election is done and dusted and Scott Morrison and the Liberal/National coalition returned to power, it's a good time to pay some attention to a story that emerged a few weeks ago, regarding our cousins across the ditch and their preferred...
I’ve got a golden ticket
Along with millions of children (and adults), I was enthralled with Roald Dahl's magical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the subsequent 1971 film, starring the ethereal Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Children love many things and two of the most enduring are...
Boeing has a lot to do to restore trust
For decades, Boeing has been a leading light in the aviation industry, with a focus on technological advancement,, efficiency and safety. But in the past six months it has struck a potentially devastating issue with one of its aeroplanes after two fatal crashes that...
Great businesses deserve great customers
I was talking to a business owner the other day, and he was telling me about a recent experience where he had sighted a job and gave a customer a verbal quote. This 'lead' had come from a jobs board site and he costed the job and gave an estimate, that he was told by...
Air New Zealand tops reputation lists in NZ and Australia
For years our neighbours across the ditch have laid claim to Kiwi successes and achievements - think the mighty Pavlova, Crowded House, Russell Crowe, Phar Lap, Lamingtons, and lolly cake. This year, again, they have voted our national airline their most trusted...
Creating a powerful symbol for a new Christchurch
Symbols are powerful things and can transcend their intended purpose to create new meanings. Buildings are a pertinent example of this. One building, more than any other over the past eight years has generated huge debate and discussion. Christ Church Cathedral in...
The reputation economy
I was reading an article recently that discussed the exchange between raters and businesses and cited a paper by a marketing academic, who referred to it as 'the reputation economy,' and while that term has been around for a few years now, it got me thinking about the...
“Consumers don’t want to be guinea pigs”
Presentation is everything and more and more, online consumers are looking for particular things when they search for products and services online. If they don't see what they are looking for, then they are moving on to another business and product. For businesses...
Time for a change but not right now
When the Super 12 competition was being created, I was a student in Dunedin. I was raised in Christchurch and was a huge fan of Canterbury. After a few years at Otago, I developed split loyalties - between the team I had grown up with and a new one representing my new...
The best little country on Earth
Last week I was in Paris, waiting with thousands of other Eurostar commuters for more hours than usual to queue for trains back to London. French customs officials were striking to show what travel would look like in a post-Brexit world, and I had a lot of time to...
Hatred will never trump tolerance and love
I'm currently in London and woke up on Friday morning to the unbelievable news that there had been a shooting at two mosques in Christchurch - a city I have lived in for 28 years of my life. Like most Kiwis - at home and around the world - I have followed the news of...
Zip codes and sea monkeys
When I was a kid I used to love poring over the advertisements for toys, magic tricks, and gimmicks in the back pages of comics. There were two items that myself, and my friends coveted the most - sea monkeys and the 1000 piece US Revolutionary War set. One thing...
Brand loyalty only goes so far
Since I was a kid I have loved airplanes and flying. Not that I can fly myself - just that I have enjoyed the experience of jetting between countries inside of some of the greatest engineering feats human beings have achieved. My father worked for Air New Zealand for...
Pointing fingers at other other generations is never a good idea
Inter generational verbal warfare has always struck me as a particularly dumb idea and this week an Astralian CEO of a multinational company created a huge amount of damage by deciding to stick the boot in to millennials. Muffin Break general manager, Natalie Brennan...
Lime Scooters need to earn public trust
Every newly introduced product is going to have the odd teething problem, and Lime Scooters have proven to be no exception. Since they were released on New Zealand’s streets and pavements last year, Lime Scooters have come in for a healthy dose of media attention...
“Build it and they will come”
There's been a lot of talk recently about Eden Park. The future of the stadium is in serious doubt and requires substantial financial investment and support. Auckland ratepayers are being asked to take on $40 million in existing debt and $64 million maintenance costs...