For customers
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...
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...
Come together
This week the very first Covid-19 vaccination was administered to a 9o year old in the UK. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was created in record time and offers a real sense of hope of being able to defeat a virus that has held the world to ransom for most of this year....
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Reviews are only valid and worthwhile if they are honest, transparent and real but more than that businesses need to be aware that in New Zealand, there is a legal requirement to present reviews accurately, and consequences if those obligations is not met. This...
Owning up to mistakes is a huge strength
The vast majority of unflattering reviews online focus on failures to deliver what was promised - whether that be for a product or a service. The substantial factor in all of this is that the uncomplimentary review is very often the last step a consumer takes when all...
Time for All Blacks fans to step up
When I wore a younger man's clothes I dabbled with playing rugby. For most of my childhood I'd played football, or soccer, as Kiwis call it. I had my masculinity attacked. Other kids hassled me and mockingly asked if I kissed and hugged the other players, as that's...
Too little, too late?
Since last Wednesday when the US held elections for president, congress and half of the senate, as well as a myriad of other public positions, the world has focused on the results as they came in, in fits and starts, until at the presidential level, Joe Biden had won...
Increasing customer value in your business
In business, growth is dependent on attracting new customers and ensuring that existing ones return. For repeat customers a significant factor is what they perceive to be the benefits of the purchases they make or in the services they commission. In most instances,...
How good it is to be lost in a crowd again
It's certainly been the strangest year most of us have experienced and much of how we go about our lives has changed. The Covid-19 pandemic has dominated our thoughts and actions and there is every sign that we still have a way to go, before vaccination and opening up...
Overcoming a recession will take more than great leadership
While it was surely one of the strangest election campaigns in living memory, postponed by a month because of the the Covid-19 epidemic, New Zealanders voted on Saturday (and in huge numbers beforehand) and exercised one of the most abiding elements of our personal...
Reputation is far too important to abandon to those who twist it
I think about reputation a lot. Not only as a concept or an idea but as an actuality that governs the choices we make about individuals, brands, businesses and politics. It's important to remember that reputation is all about perception, as it is created from the...
Auckland has everything – except for imagination
I've lived in Auckland for 16 years. I moved here from the South Island, never thinking at the time that I would be here this long. I've lived out west, east, and north and I've travelled all over the wide expanse that now constitutes the 'Super City'. My kids have...
Social proof and online reviews
In the psychology of marketing and consumer behaviour, social proof is a concept used to describe the actions and behaviour of consumers when exposed to online stories and experiences. In essence this is an outside voice or voices expressing what they think and feel...
The dos and don’ts of building an online reputation
Over the past five years I've come to learn most about building an online reputation from those who actually do it. I can read journal articles, news stories, industry research papers and blogs, like this one, but the greatest education I've had is from business...
All good things take time
I've come to realise one very important difference between businesses that value their reputation and those that don't. In essence it boils down to one very critical factor, that if managed correctly, garners significant returns, while if done incorrectly can be...
The benefits of really listening to positive feedback
I've written a lot about reviews - the great ones, the good ones, and dreadful ones. I've written about their appeal to consumers and the many benefits they hold for businesses. In this industry I fully admit that I am learning all the time and new thoughts and...
Covid-19 series 2 – yeah, nah
So, we are almost at the end of series 2 of Lockdown and the reviews aren't quite as positive as series 1. Where the first series created a sense of connection and togetherness against a formidable foe, resulting in a finale of real triumph and shared achievement,...
Reputations are too valuable to be left unchecked online
Working in the reviews industry is never light on surprises and constantly provides proof of what a diverse and incredible species human beings are. At their core reviews are stories, tales and observations of experiences with products and services. They can be dry,...
The benefits of the unreasonable negative review
I read an interesting article online recently that confirmed many of the things I already thought about a particular kind of negative review - the unreasonable one - and how useful and powerful they are for the businesses that receive them. The study, to be published...
Tipping our hats to the no cowboys
There are some professions that get a rough deal - that are perceived by some in negative ways because of past experiences or through word of mouth. Tradespeople are one such sector and in my opinion the vast majority of them would have to be some of the most hard...
It’s space Jim, but not as we know it
I've been thinking about virtual space for a while - not only because it is the strange, necessary and contested space of digital marketing - but because of the disappointing manner in which some of the more gargantuan online entities have shifted and melded to become...
Job boards and NoCowboys – what’s the difference?
One of the questions I will regularly be asked about NoCowboys is, what is the difference between what we do and a jobs site? It's a good question and one that illustrates the contrast between online reputation marketing and leads apportioned from jobs posted by...
Consensus, consensus, consensus
Sometimes I find myself just going 'wow', when I think about how much the world has changed in the past six months and how it continues to alter and shift as we all negotiate our way through the social, cultural and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Each day...
Why does Facebook get a free ride?
For a while Facebook has described itself as a social network but in truth and reality it is barely that at all. It is a marketplace, an advertising platform, and as we have discovered in the past few years - a purveyor and seller of personal information, a tax dodger...
Easily manipulated and poorly monitored . . .
A recent story in the New Zealand Herald highlighted the huge pitfalls in the US owned search engine monopoly's review practices. Google reviews are not monitored, they are not screened, and they are difficult to remove if manipulated. This can lead to huge harm to a...
Why do I need to register my business with NoCowboys?
Marketing a reputation online is essential. NoCowboys' authenticated online reviews are the difference between being seen and chosen as a business that is trustworthy, dependable, with high quality services, and products, or being invisible. Over 90% of consumers are...
We cannot go backwards
While we may always have known, and were told that Covid-19 may well come back after a 24 day spell of no cases, the past few weeks has brought us all back down to earth, with a crashing thump. More than that, the trust that many Kiwis have had in our institutions has...
Act local – promote local
Bulletins are a great way for businesses to connect with their customers to increase their brand reach and to advertise new services that they are offering. We are all used to them and while a few can be irritating, most are thoughtful and informative. Recently we...
We’ve had leadership – do we need politics?
New Zealand has done what most of the nations around the globe could only have dreamed of at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic - reduced active cases to zero for a stunning 19 days, with a fraction of the deaths, even though each and every one is a heartbreaking...
Colmar Brunton releases corporate reputation index results
Last month Comar Brunton, in conjunction with Wright Communications, released its annual index of New Zealand's most trusted companies. "Wright Communications’ managing director, Nikki Wright said Colmar Brunton’s polling during the COVID-19 lockdown showed many of...
Thank the stars for online!
All over the world, as many people stay at home, under varying levels of lockdown or self-isolation to combat the spread of Covid-19, one of the saving graces has been the internet. I'm not specifically talking about the seemingly endless access to entertainment as I...
Working at home – win win for businesses and employees?
Working at home is by no means a new thing but it has certainly increased due to necessity over the past few months, in the new, Covid-19 reality. Mainly to curb infection and to maintain productivity and functionality, businesses that were able to conduct operations...
Level 2 and beyond
On Monday, 11th of May, cabinet will meet to decide whether New Zealand eases lock down restrictions and moves down to Level 2, in 48 hours. In all probability, the low number of new daily cases that we have seen in the past few weeks, as well as the overwhelmingly...
We sure know how lucky we are
I've riffed on John Clarke Fred Dagg's (John Clarke) song "We Don't Know How Lucky We Are" before. It's a great song and shamelessly parades all of the things that Kiwis prize about ourselves and our country, while also satirising the Muldoon era of the...
The devil makes work for idle hands . . .
In the middle of the four week Level 4 lockdown, I, like everyone else around New Zealand, have had to confront the element of time in this new but temporary reality. I work at home as it is, so work has not been a problem, or should I say, a huge readjustment. After...
Coronavirus – the good, the bad, and the ugly
For the first time we are witnessing a truly unique event that is affecting the whole world - a pandemic that is incredibly infectious and has altered the way that human beings conduct their lives, business and behaviour. Like other catastrophic events, we see the...
When times are tough, an online reputation is everything
For the past few months the dominant global conversation has been about the coronavirus (Covid-19), and while cool, rational, and informed heads should prevail to provide responses and strategies, the absolute opposite is true. Depending on what you read, or watch, we...