26 January 2010
by Richard WeisscloseAuthor: Richard Weiss
Name: Richard Weiss
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: As a Community Manager at Communispace, Rich is focused on utilizing our best practices to create highly engaged communities that yield actionable insights for our clients. He manages the day-to-day community operations. By encouraging people to connect, share their ideas and experiences, he simultaneously empowers consumers and offers clients creative business solutions.
Outside of the office Rich can be seen taking joyrides on Storrow Drive, leading cheers at Fenway Park, seeing the latest movie, or recording at a studio attempting to become a voice over talent.See Authors Posts (2)
In our business they say insights can come from even the smallest nugget. Well the light bulb flashed on for me last night while enjoying some prime time television. Among the menagerie of ads for cars, electronics, and food was an ad for Domino’s Pizza. I know what you’re thinking, pizza ad? Must be a glamour shot of drippy cheese, crunchy crust, and sizzling pepperoni (heck, I’m getting hungry just writing about it). Wrong.
In our business they say insights can come from even the smallest nugget. Well the light bulb flashed on for me last night while enjoying some prime time television. Among the menagerie of ads for cars, electronics, and food was an ad for Domino’s Pizza. I know what you’re thinking, pizza ad? Must be a glamour shot of drippy cheese, crunchy crust, and sizzling pepperoni (heck, I’m getting hungry just writing about it). Wrong.
Instead the president and managers of Dominos Pizza admitted their guilt, internalized their feedback, and fed (no pun intended) it back to the customer. No hiding behind the numbers here. Focus groups, Twitter, and more told Domino’s that their pizza was bad from its cardboard crust to its ketchupy sauce. Despite my fond college memories of late night Domino’s deliveries, they revamped their pizza lineup with fresher ingredients, better recipes, and a new sense of pride. But they didn’t stop there, they did the most important act of all and told the customer what they did with their feedback (you can see the video here).
This is what I deem the crowning achievement of their hard work. Rather than squirreling their research away and perhaps never acting on it, Domino’s aired it out for us and showed us how they acted upon it. Hopefully, the feedback inspired customers to feel empowered, to know their voice counts, and to continue advising Domino’s and others on what the customer wants. After all, who doesn’t want to hear that they affected change in the age of the consumer?
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13 November 2009
by Richard WeisscloseAuthor: Richard Weiss
Name: Richard Weiss
Site: http://www.communispace.com
About: As a Community Manager at Communispace, Rich is focused on utilizing our best practices to create highly engaged communities that yield actionable insights for our clients. He manages the day-to-day community operations. By encouraging people to connect, share their ideas and experiences, he simultaneously empowers consumers and offers clients creative business solutions.
Outside of the office Rich can be seen taking joyrides on Storrow Drive, leading cheers at Fenway Park, seeing the latest movie, or recording at a studio attempting to become a voice over talent.See Authors Posts (2)
It’s funny, I don’t recall being asked if I was an alto or a tenor during my interview at Communispace (quite frankly I wouldn’t know, as I do my best singing in the shower). Yet for the second year in a row, I donned my host suit, grabbed a mic and headed up to our makeshift theatre in our own Fenway Park, where I sang and danced in front of my closest 200 colleagues in the annual Communispace Follies.
It’s funny, I don’t recall being asked if I was an alto or a tenor during my interview at Communispace (quite frankly I wouldn’t know, as I do my best singing in the shower). Yet for the second year in a row, I donned my host suit, grabbed a mic and headed up to our makeshift theatre in our own Fenway Park, where I sang and danced in front of my closest 200 colleagues in the annual Communispace Follies.
Of course, I didn’t go at it alone. From some of our newest employees to our CEO, everyone who wants to get involved is able to play their own part in the show. Maybe they sing their own solo about wanting to be a girl (I will call out Bill Alberti), have a fantastic duet with awkward tension, or even rap about their job.
Beyond the laughs (and sometimes tears), is something that I feel makes Communispace such a unique and fun place to work. In the midst of all that’s going around us in the outside world, we can take a moment to stop, reflect, and laugh at ourselves.
Don’t take my word for it, just peer into the world of the Communispace Follies with this highlight reel. After all, it’s all in a day’s work.
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Colleen Finnerty 
This “turn-around” trend is becoming more and more important in the economy today. It is vital for a customer’s voice to be heard in a time where everyone is pinching pennies. If I am going to order a pizza, am I going to order one where I have deemed their sauce ketchuppy? Pizza in my house has gone from weekend staple to a special occassion, and so to hear that Domino’s has heard my plea for a delicious treat? (Put my order in with yours, Rich! I am getting hungry too!)
Crocs and Windows 7 have also based a lot of their ad campaigns on the buzz around their products. Windows’ campaign of “I invented Winndows 7″ or Crocs “I like the Crocs sneakers, but I will never wear the red ones” show that companies ARE listening, and the result is something we can all bite into :)
Great article, Richard. In December, Harvard Business Review published an article we authored on exactly this topic. You can find it here: http://hbr.org/2009/12/closing-the-customer-feedback-loop/ar/1.
The Dominos approach to this situation is really refreshing.