July 13, 2008 at 10:17 am (Marketing, Pop Culture, Things I Like)
Tags: 200 Nipples, Cool, Internet, Marketing
I read Seth Godin’s blog. I find its tone funny, irritated, exasperated, wry, optimistic and helpful in just the right amounts. And he’s always on the look-out for new, interesting, different and useful ‘web stuff’ to direct readers to. Yesterday he directed me to 200 Nipples.
This is a truly well thought-out concept. The Brief Rundown: Exclusive artwork printed on tees. Limited edition runs of 100 shirts, each labelled with its number (i.e. Shirt #35 has the number 35 printed on the collar). Each shirt costs the amount printed on its collar (i.e. Shirt #35 costs $35).
This was my comment:
Aili Says:
July 12th, 2008
This is a BEAUTIFUL idea, and such a thoughtful, ‘out of the box’ piece of marketing. You feel like real people who are enthusiastic about this cool concept that you came up with, and your excitement is such an asset.
But you haven’t left it at the ‘enthusiastic amateurs who have forgotten that they’re trying to earn a living’ level. There is a cleanness and clearness about your website and the ‘concept’ which makes it easy to ‘get’.
And you have a built-in market economy with the simplicity of the pricing structure that reflects the cost vs scarcity equation. And a business model that drives demand (’Quick! The longer you delay about buying a design the more you’ll have to pay.’). And it’s Real Art! On a t-shirt! In strictly limited quantities!
I’m looking forward to watching the new designs as they come out, and maybe buying if one catches my eye. *smile* I wish you so much luck 
And then, I found a reply in my email inbox from Wade:
Aili,
Wow! Your kind words blew me away. We’ve put so much hard work and thought into the site. You made my day.
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks. (And then there was some stuff about a coupon code.)
Cheers,
Wade
Partner
200nipples.com
And so I replied:
Dear Wade,
You are so welcome 
I don’t often comment on blogs or websites, but when I do, it’s because there’s something special there. You guys have an excellent, elegant marketing concept, even down to the website name (intriguing, slightly eyebrow-raising, but entirely appropriate).
And I enjoyed your FAQ – just the right amount of ironic wackiness, but also answering questions clearly. And you’ve made it so easy for people to subscribe to your feeds. And you’ve got this excellent count-down on the shirt-numbers so we can watch people actually thinking about buying. And you’ve made the buying process so visual – people can choose the number they want rather than simply getting the next one in line (for example, someone chose to spend MORE THAN THEY HAD TO (amazing) just to buy shirt #69 (no surprises on the number they chose, you’ll prob’ly always sell out of that one pretty quickly).
Again, beautiful concept. Congratulations. And thanks for the personal email response – those things make a difference
Aili
This is a website that I’ll be watching – not only to check out new designs, but to watch their progress as they (hopefully) become something huge.
June 16, 2008 at 7:13 pm (Marketing, Things I Like, U.S.A.)
Tags: America, Life, Trader Joe's
Trader Joe’s used to make me feel hip and ‘in-the-know’ and healthy and like a wise shopper, all in one store. They’ve created a distinctive brand that’s an ’experience’, as well as a location for sourcing interesting and unusual products, and it’s a store with an identity that rubs off on its customers, that turns shoppers into inspired and enthusiastic and thoughtful consumers…at least, that was my experience.
And I miss it.
It’s not that easy to find a place around here where you can purchase frozen, pre-cooked edamame ready to be reheated, $2.99 bottles of very drinkable table wine to stock up on, tiramisu gelato, everything you need for a picnic dinner at Shakespeare in the Park, and a shopping experience that’s both ’organic, granola hippie’ and ’trendy, contemporary hipster’.
June 15, 2008 at 4:41 pm (Anecdote, Marketing)
Tags: Life, People
The grocery store where I usually shop has one particular checker who stands out for me. He’s polite, quick, converses with the customer just the right amount and goes out of his way to make the tedious grocery shopping experience less so.
Last time he rang up my groceries (which he did efficiently and unobtrusively) he smiled and made eye contact, asked how I was, chit-chatted about relevant things and didn’t go into any un-asked-for details about his life. To cap off the experience, when he gave me the receipt to sign he folded a corner of it up so it would be easy to pick up off the rubber counter when I was done. Usually the thin papery receipt is quite difficult to lift off the rubber to hand back, so this thoughtful action delighted me and I told him so. He said that it was just a small thing that made everybody’s life a little easier.
This stands in stark relief to the grocery checker I had today, at the same store. I said “Hi, how are you?” as she started scanning my purchases, and her response was “Ok…but I feel like someone hit me upside the head.”
It’s hard to know how to respond to that, really, but I said “Oh, I’m sorry, that’s not good.”, to which she replied ” Yeah, can’t wait for this shift to end and then I have to go home and study for an exam tomorrow morning for which I haven’t even opened a book all term, and I’m not going to be able to get any sleep and I’m going to fail, and…” (can’t remember the rest).
I didn’t really know what to say other than to make sympathetic noises throughout this long sharing, and when she gave me the receipt for a signature at the end of the transaction she just dumped it on the rubber counter, turned around and started organising some plastic bags, while talking under her breath about her horrible day and her upcoming exam.
I left feeling quite awkward and as though I’d just had something unpleasant dumped on me that was running down my hair and into my ears. I hope her day tomorrow goes better for her.
