It's the Summer of Love 2012 with Accelerator!

We all want it... love!  Love from our customers, from our co-workers, the bean counters, the boss.  We all want that business love, but how do we get it?

Well, like the old saying goes, "You have to give, to get." So this summer, join Accelerator in dishing out some love and let's see what we get back.

With customers, giving love can be as simple as special deals promoted socially.  With co-workers, it can be taking on more responsibility on a project.  And love for the boss can be providing ingenious solutions to a problem, as you announce there is a problem in the first place. 

Since we're in the marketing business, let's look at two other ways to put love out there for your customers.  

1. Take your website mobile.  For example, Accelerator has just finished putting the final touches on its previous mobile site to take advantage of the new power of the smart phone and tablets.  While it's a small move, it's a smart one, because the use of these mobile components is now the consumer's first choice to find information.  Plus, mobile purchasing is exploding more and more and will soon become the dominant outlet for marketers within the next five years.  So if your company is still waiting for a mobile enhanced site and a strategy to go along with it, call us, we can help you sort things out. 

2. Creativity!  Yes, good old-fashioned creativity spells love.  How about creating some entertaining, engaging, and memorable advertising for a change?  Notice I said, entertaining.  Not necessarily funny.  Give your audience something to appreciate and remember, and maybe even enjoy.  Once you have fancied their hearts, their wallets will follow (which will bring love from your boss and the bean counters, too).

So join Accelerator now in celebrating the Summer of Love 2012.  It all starts by calling or emailing us here at our groovy pad in Lewis Center, Ohio for some fun, creative ideas everyone will love! 

Written by: Timo Matero, CEO - Primary Founder Accelerator Advertising, Inc.  

Hey Facebook! Say “Goodbye!”

In a move beyond comprehension, Facebook has implemented Timeline, with no opt-out option, much to the dissatisfaction to mega-hoards of Facebook users.

After reading several pages of reader comments from readers of Yahoo! News, The New York Times Online, and other sources that reported the Timeline change, I would estimate that 99% of reader commentaries that I read were totally dissatisfied with the implementation of Timeline. Nay, dare I say, enraged?

In my opinion, this shows that Facebook either didn’t care about the user, or perhaps had faulty research showing that Timeline was wanted. Either way, Facebook has p***ed off a huge chunk of it’s user base. And make no mistake; the user base is the only thing that makes Facebook of any value in the marketplace.

When Facebook first came out, people were attracted to its simplicity of design, ease-of-use, and best of all, being able to share their life with their circle of friends and family. Now with Timeline, the interface has become cluttered, confusing to navigate, and worst of all, drudges up all sorts of embarrassing posts and pics from days gone by. Like the one from long ago, of you wearing nothing but undies, dancing around a beer keg at some bash.

A crazy post was OK when you only had five college friends on your account, but now, you have over a hundred friends, including your boss, mother-in-law, and pastor. What once was buried down deep is now front page news. Thanks a lot Zuckerberg!

Users don’t want the past, embarrassing or not, being forefront. Facebook is all about the here and now, duh. They don’t want a more confusing interface, or advertising slammed in their faces. Nor do they like having no opt-out.

I guess Facebook didn’t learn from the Netflix disaster. Netflix brutishly changed the structure of offerings and features that made them successful only to lose customers and revenues so fast that it is now headed towards the ash-heap of has been successes.

A company like Facebook can’t take their users for granted by making arbitrary and universal changes to the platforms they have come to feel are an intimate part of their lives. To do so disenfranchises them and breaks the bond of trust that once existed. Changes need to be made slowly, and after much research in order to better the experience.

My advice for Facebook? Treat users as if their entire business and future depends on them. Because guess what? It does. Goodbye Facebook.

Written by: Timo Matero, CEO - Primary Founder Accelerator Advertising, Inc.   The Accelerator Companies

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