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High Horse Weekly

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

This week’s high horse:

Just because something is a good idea, or a tip, doesn’t make it a “hack.” “Hacking” means taking something and altering it in a way, whether that’s to be more useful/aesthetically pleasing/whatever. It’s for things that show true resourcefulness, like, I don’t know, making tables out of doors, or changing computer code, or something. It’s not a “hack” to find sale prices on furniture, or use Mod Podge to redecorate an Ikea stool, or buy bottled water for cheaper. That’s just silly.

The Power of Thank You

~ Rachel

I am obsessive about “thank you.” I was raised by a mom who said it to everyone who brought her food, rang her purchases, and worked at a customer service call center. It makes me believe that everyone is worthy of being thanked. (Ideally, thanked along with making eye contact.) Conversely, that it’s really diminishing when you’re not thanked at times that you feel you should be. Recently I’ve heard of that being an issue at work, or when you hold the door open for someone and they breeze on by*.
I’d like to think that people aren’t quick to thank in those scenarios because you’re just doing the job you’re getting paid to do, or because that guy could have opened the door himself and didn’t need you to do it for him. In those cases, I think it’s less about gratitude for the act in particular and more of a way of saying “I see you and I acknowledge the effort that went into this interaction.” And hey, everyone likes hearing that.

So, say thank you. No one feels worse when you do.

*My favorite thing to do when I hold the door for someone and they don’t acknowledge me is to say “You’re welcome your majesty” in a just-audible voice. Yep, I’m a winner.

Life Time Fitness Tiers are Lame

~ Rachel

From birth until age 30, I was a YMCA member. The Y was the best (out of 2 or 3 others) in Fargo, and my mom had been a member far before I was born, too. So, naturally, when I graduated from college and had to pick a gym, I looked no further than the Y. Some of the facilities were shabby, but you couldn’t beat it for price and convenience. When I got married, however, my now-husband was a longtime Lifetime member and had no interest in switching. The couple of times I had gone to work out with him, I was struck by all the ads on the walls, and the constant upselling you’re exposed to when you go to a Lifetime. But I had to admit the facilities were nicer, there was a location convenient to our home, and it wasn’t that much more than the Y per month. So I switched. Say what you want about the Y, but if there was a Y you wanted to go to, you could go in with no problem.

I still bristle at all the ads within a Lifetime, but they get easier and easier to ignore. What I have come to seriously dislike is their arbitrary tiered ranking of clubs. From lowest to highest prestige, there’s Bronze, Gold, Platinum, Onyx, and Diamond. [I’ve never seen a Diamond-level club. I assume it’s so fancy that they pay someone to do the exercises for you.] So, if I’m in a certain part of town running errands and want to squeeze a quick workout in, I have to make sure the club near me is at my level or below. This is annoying. Say what you want about the Y, but if there was a Y you wanted to go to, you could go in with no problem.

From a marketing/business perspective, I’ve been trying really hard to figure out why they do it this way. To me, it would make more sense to let everyone use the core facilities at any Lifetime (cardio, weights, aerobics) and then upcharge the crap out of them for the nicer stuff. But then, by doing a flat (higher) fee, I suppose they make more money since so many people are paying for the option to, I don’t know, hone their chip shot or whatever, but never exercise that option.

The thing is, I believe that even the crappier Lifetimes will eventually have to be updated and improved. And then the company will find itself in some sort of upper-class arms race to have nicer and nicer facilities at the top tiers to differentiate. I’ve just finished Blue Ocean Strategy, so I’m seeing that they’re continuing to compete in a red ocean where the only added value they offer is in fancier and fancier clubs. If that’s their strategy, I can only see them doing more and more for diminished returns. How much faux granite can one locker room hold? And how much will people pay for it? We’re about to find out. In the meantime, just let me use the damn elliptical at your fancy club. I promise I won’t make eye contact with anyone.

 

I Finally Understand Snapchat

~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

For my first post on my new site, I thought it would feel good to start with that confession.

I know that, as a marketing professional, admitting that I don’t understand the usefulness of an explosively popular social media app invites a lot of side-eye. But after years of understanding the general concept of Snapchat, I now finally understand why it’s actually fun and interesting.

My brain is wired to view things in a somewhat binary environment: Practical or not-practical. With Instagram private messages and plain ol’ texting, why on earth would anyone need an additional app to send photo messages to a select few? Yes, the allure of writing on the photo a la John Madden is pretty huge, but that alone didn’t let me see why so many people were dedicating so much of their time to breathlessly proclaiming Snapchat an important new part of the social sphere. It seemed to be the domain of youths, and I just wasn’t having it.

Then, I suddenly remembered that I had gone to business school and was smart enough to figure this out without a 16-year-old explaining it to me. I don’t know any 16 year olds, anyway.

First, it’s about network effect: Everyone around you is communicating by using a certain thing, so you feel compelled to communicate that way too. If you see your friends using Snapchat, then dammit you’re going to use Snapchat too. Case in point: I ended up downloading the app because I was hanging out with friends and they insisted I give it a try.

Second, and maybe most importantly: The medium is part of the message. We all know that the hierarchy of communication has shifted. Phone calls are most urgent (unless they’re from an unknown number), followed by text, then Twitter, and then on down the line to stuff like LinkedIn. Snapchat fits in towards the middle of the spectrium. Receiving a Snapchat means that the information is time-sensitive without being truly urgent. Like, “Hey, look at this! Don’t worry, this won’t be a bummer*.” What a relief, then, to see an alert on my phone and know that it’s a happy surprise, as opposed to a phone security update or some other nonsense. It’s also a more honest, authentic form of communication than, say, Instagram. Snapchats aren’t usually styled within an inch of their life and are more about fun and less about the self-aggrandizement you find on Insta. I can get behind that all day long.

So there you go. 30-something woman understands long-established social media tool. It’s the little victories, you know?

*Unless you have friends who are jerks. I, thankfully, do not have friends who are jerks.