A Personal Brand Engagement Story
Feb
11
11
I am a lover of Timbuk2. Up to this summer my house had 3 out of the 5 available messenger bag sizes. Alas, my medium bag was stolen. Yesterday I had a longing moment for this beautiful Timbuk2 bag:
I wanted to replace the missing bag in my collection immediately, so, I asked @Timbuk2 if I could get a discount if I bought it immediately:
@Timbuk2 got back to me:
Timbuk2 will only give me a discount if I send them one of their bags that is in good condition. I don’t have one of those. The one I am replacing was stolen, and I’m not sending them my current in use bag. So, I was let down.
But, then a dark horse entered the race, Targus:
It is hard to argue with 25% off. Targus makes a really good looking overnighter/laptop case. I wasn’t aware that Targus makes bags. I’m in the market for something a little different, but I encourage you to find something on Targus and use the code “twitterlove” because they deserve props for effort.
The take home message about building positive sentiment
- Find a customer need (in this case a price point)
- Find a brand that misses a connection (a request denied
) - Offer a simple solution (if you like what I have here is a coupon)
Three simple steps that lead to me having something nice to say about Targus.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Feb. 11th 2010
February 11th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Cool story… Question? Where was Brenthaven when all this was going on? ; )
February 11th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Competing by undercutting your competitors’ prices is a lousy long-term business strategy. I actually give props here to Timbuk2 to not offering a discount just because someone asked; what a horrible precedent!
February 11th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
@Marina–you make a valid point. But, Targus sells a very different product line.
I think that it is savvy of them to court my business, because clearly I am at the point of action and in the market for a bag.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I agree with Marina. Most savvy business owners would agree with Timbuk2′s actions.
I can see your point about being at the point of action, but Timbuk2 doesn’t know that. If every one of their Twitter followers said that, they’d be out of business. Also, if they retweeted with a discount code, it’d seem unfair to all of the loyal followers who just paid full price. They could’ve private message’d you with a code but how is that scalable? They have ~4000 followers (I think). Perhaps, it’s not worth their time for one-off requests.
Also, how would they know that you are a loyal fan instead of an opportunist who just wants something cheap? If you know Timbuk2 at all, you know they aren’t considered a value-driven company like Targus or Jansport who have opening price points. Timbuk2, Crumpler, and similar brands would create price erosion (and cannibalize sales from other channels) if they handed out discounts at will.
One might say that while Timbuk2 isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong, it’s just that Targus did it right. That could be true. They may have just “stolen” a Timbuk2 customer, but if the customer was swayed by a discount instead of the product, it indicates that the customer was either a commodity customer (who considers products as easily substitutable) or a customer wasn’t that loyal to being with. It’s not a knock against you the buyer, but it just puts you into a market– a market that Timbuk2 may not necessarily want in the long-run.
The biggest rebuttal would be that Targus considers their messenger bags as loss leaders and therefore snipe indifferent Timbuk2 customers. Targus doesn’t mind the deep discounts because after all, they are a computer backpack company. The only thing I would say is that if I were an executive at Targus, I’d monitor the Twitter team very closely. Handing out discounts at will is not a long-term strategy.
I wanted to note that this would be a great opportunity for you to flip the story. Instead of saying how Timbuk2 did it wrong, you actually should note how it did it right. I would love to hear what the community has to say about this because I highly doubt that most business owners who have products built on loyalty would consider such a pricing strategy. And it’s not like Timbuk2 doesn’t discount using social media. They’ve done Twitter/FB appreciation discounts before but in mass to keep it fair.
This is the first time I’ve come across your site. From what I can tell, you seem to know your stuff. However, I think you might have elevated the wrong issue here. You don’t want to mislead your clients into thinking that you build a customer base through discounts. Discounts work, but not if it’s done on a whim.
I sincerely hope that your entry is more objective and less short-sighted.
And although it may seem like it, I’m not exactly a loyal Timbuk2 fan. I do like their products, but it’s not my style. I sincerely think you could be more fair and balanced in your assessment. That way, business owners like us can take you more seriously.
I look forward to your response.
(And please don’t let this be about credentials… I’ve been in marketing for a while now and I graduated from a top business school. I just want fair and honest discourse.)
February 11th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
@Marina @Carlos I think there are both good arguments here. I agree that offering a deeper discount is kinda like giving a crackhead $5 so he’ll stop bugging you… you’re feeding the habit setting a precedent that may lead to dissatisfaction later on. At the same time, I think the genius of Targus is that they were clearly out there listening.
In analyzing your tweet and Timbuk2′s response I don’t see any useful words that one would really want to monitor, Targus certainly wouldn’t want to monitor the word bag… way too general and would have data overload on their part. However, Targus almost certainly are monitoring what Timbuk2 is tweeting and thus utilizing Twitter for competitive research. All’s fair in love and war, I say.
February 11th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I am the Twitter and social media person for Targus, and wanted to address some of the concerns.
I just started re-launching the Twitter account this week (actually, two days ago). Part of it is to reach out to bag enthusiasts and people looking for a new bag. And part of that was setting up the Twitterlove discount code. It’s not a shot at the bow of any other companies, but a way for more people to experience our bags – with the lifetime warranty – and see that we are branching out the designs with new, cooler and funkier looks. (I like the Crave and there are new ones that aren’t out yet that I’m waiting for for my new bag).
And for Carlos, the 25 percent wasn’t to undercut anyone. It’s just that I like 25 percent more than 20 percent or 15 percent. It might be a Michigan thing. Or 25 was really a great year for me.
And I’m monitoring a bunch of different words, including messenger bags (man, people love their messenger bags).
Thanks for the kind words, and let me know if you have any questions.
February 11th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
@kelly — thank you for the impassioned response!
First, I am very familiar with Timbuk2 and have been buying their products for more than 6 years. I understand the quality/loyalty brand stand point.
Second, I don’t think that Timbuk2 has done anything wrong. They are a great company and clearly are engaging/friendly, but, I don’t meet the criteria for the recycle criteria. In the end Timbuk2 still has me as a customer, and now Targus has me too.
There is a specific reason that I chose the messenger bag pictured above–it fits my exact needs. None of the Targus line fit my immediate need, however, I now know where to start my thoughts on a new overnighter.
My specific desire to purchase was spontaneous and if it was 15% off I could have fit it into the budget immediately; so I asked.
Because Targus is monitoring the Twitter stream they found an opportunity to introduce their brand on a very positive note to someone who, as evidenced here, is willing to express appreciation for the offer.
February 12th, 2010 at 5:14 am
Thinking about a bag myself now. Been meaning to get one of these.
Thanks, Jeremy.
February 12th, 2010 at 7:08 am
Carlos great story and a great exchange of thoughts here. I won’t get into the discount issue with in exception, it’s not a great strategy long term but its a damn fine one in the short to get your name out there. Proof, I had not heard of Targus until this blog post….. I have now.
I would also say that what Timbuk2 did wrong was not ask another question to make sure the information, in this case a recycle discount, they provided could be used. Personally I find their message a little self serving. Hey look at us we’re cool, we have a recycle program but it better be our bag. Huh? As a rule I always tell my clients and staff to listen first, if you don’t fully understand the issue ask further questions to make sure what you are giving the end user is of help. Kudos to the Targas team (Jeremy) for listening and responding with an actionable response in a timely manner. Listen first, make sure you understand the issue, and then find a solution.
Great blog Carlos, thanks for sharing.