Delta Continues to Disappoint

February 27, 2010

So, here is the entirely unsatisfying result of one of my conversation threads with Delta.  For what amounts to $500 of a problem, they are willing to walk away from me as a customer.  Wow.  Canceling more than $2,000 in upcoming booked flights today… Dear Mr. Dubner, Thank you for your e-mail to Delta Air [...]

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More on People Like Popular Stuff

February 24, 2010

I wrote my post today about how knowing what is popular reinforces and exaggerates the impact of popular media.  Then I read the NYTimes.  There was an article, Water-Cooler Effect: Internet can be TV’s Friend, that reinforced the assertion.  The article shows that social media is a great source for what is trending in popularity – [...]

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HomeGain lessons from the Dot.com Crash

February 24, 2010

Brad Inman published an interesting post on his blog the other day. He described how, in the spring of 2000, his head of business development identified that their cost of customer acquisition was $400+ and their revenue per new customer was about $12. He describes how he radically shifted his tactics to “have more checks [...]

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The Power of Social Marketing ( or People Like Popular Stuff…)

February 24, 2010

I guess it should not be surprising, but I read an interesting article about marketing for media products that I believe is applicable for almost all products. In Marketing in an Unpredictable World, Duncan Watts and Steve Hasker talk about how “hits” produce disproportionate levels of revenue and profit for many media companies. Think of [...]

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Delta Customer Service (Redux)

February 21, 2010

Back in November, I wrote about a good experience with Delta customer service. Well, now I am a truly pissed-off Platinum flyer. Indulge me while I vent publicly. Yesterday was a mess – mostly due to Mother Nature. We started our morning in Vail, CO in a pretty good snowstorm. At 5:30 am or so, [...]

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Media Consumption Log

February 12, 2010

Yesterday, I decided that I would write down all of the media I consumed during the course of the day. While it is a single datapoint (not even a personal trend), I think it is telling. So, here is what I wrote down: 6:45 am – Check email on Blackberry, read NYTimes and WSJ alerts [...]

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Data Up, Newsstand Down

February 9, 2010

There were two articles in the NY Times today that, in my mind, are tightly linked.  The first, “As Data Flows In, the Dollars Flow Out“, describes how much consumers are paying for electronic subscription entertainment like Netflix, xBox Live, DirectTV, Cable, Internet conncetivity etc. This chart nicely shows the increase over time.  It is [...]

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Deal Specificity

February 7, 2010

I was reading the article in the NY Times about the conflict between Goldman Sachs and A.I.G. about mortgage securities payments that in the end totalled $14B. While the conflict is not surprising, Goldman stood to be paid billions if the value of bonds A.I.G. insured declined and A.I.G. had every incentive to precieve high [...]

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Price and Value

February 4, 2010

I am reviewing some market level performance reports for Apartment Finder and came across an amazing data point.  In this market (to remain nameless), spending more generates way more value – specifically, 2 page ads outperform 1 page by a HUGE MARGIN. Here are some facts in this market: A two page ad costs about [...]

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