The objections of UK fans is based on two simple points:

1) That game is a sore spot for UK fans because of Laettner, who displayed extremely poor sportsmanship by intentionally stomping on a Kentucky player but was not removed from the game by officials or by his coach. Had any other player made the buzzer-beating shot, UK wouldn’t have liked it, but they wouldn’t be talking about it 20 years later.

2) UPS has aligned itself with this “example” of great “logistics”. They have heard from Kentuckians about why this is offensive. They’ve responded with blog posts and comments that show they intend to continue showing the ad.

How this is good business is a mystery. It is understandable that underlings charged with maintaining the company’s blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts might not be able to say much. But, why hasn’t some wiser executive ordered the ad pulled and an apology tweeted? Perhaps someone who knows that it’s better to not alienate your customers with an emotionally-charged offense than to try to argue them out of it?

Instead, this is what UPS is telling its customers. Now, before you read this, imagine if someone from the company responded to you in this manner about a damaged package complaint or late delivery to your customer? Would that be the kind of company you would want to have handling your “logistics”?

The link they included in this tweet is to a blog by a UPS employee who says he is a UK fan. We covered the contents of that blog in this article earlier. The writer, Mark Dickens, defends UPS’ choice. He highlights that UPS has hired 33,000 people in Kentucky. He asks that UK fans be “objective” about the ad. He says that he “can’t allow [himself] to dwell on the past”. The implication is that UK fans are not objective and do dwell in the past, else they would be ok with an ad glorifying an example of poor sportsmanlike conduct so heinous that it sticks in fans’ craw 20 years on. Bad form, Mark Dickens. Bad play, UPS.

Again, trying to defend the ad, redirect people to the offensive blog post excusing it.

These twitter replies go on and on. Their responses on Facebook are just as insensitive to the reason Kentuckians are offended. Would a company like this go to, say, Japan and insist that people there just see things their way? They are choosing to ignore that this was more to fans than a game that was lost. UK has lost plenty of games, even in Elite Eights and Final Fours. It was an injustice fans felt from that particular player in that particular game, and still do.

So, what to do? How about going up the chain a bit? Apparently, the folks in the lower offices don’t see the big picture. Should you choose to hop on the elevator and hit the top floor, here’s the key:

Emails:

Michael L Eskew, Former Chairman & CEO, still is on Board of Directors – MLEskew@ups.com

David Abney, Chief Operating Officer – DAbney@ups.com

Kurt Kuehn, Chief Financial Officer – KKuehn@ups.com

Allen E Hill, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary – AHill@ups.com

John McDevitt, Senior Vice President, HR and Labor Relations – JMcDevitt@ups.com

Twitter:

UPS general account – @UPS

Alan Gershenhorn, Chief Sales, Marketing and Strategy Officer – @AlanGershenhorn

Elizabeth Rasberry, Reputation Management @erasberry1

Susasn Fletcher, Director of Social Media and Digital Communications @Brit68

Jackie Blair, PR Supervisor @JackieCBlair

UK was 12 points down in the second half and came back to tie the game with 33.6 seconds left. The game goes into overtime. After what seemed like an hour of OT play, Kentucky is up 103-102. Until… The Shot.

You have to understand, Kentuckians don’t talk about The Shot. And, anytime we do, it is followed with a spit and a curse. In Wildcat Country, it is like the death of JFK. Every single UK fan old enough to know about that game remembers exactly where they were when it happened. I was standing in a WalMart in central Kentucky. Dozens of us were gathered around televisions in the Electronics department. The store staff had handed out popcorn. After thunderous cheering, things got really quiet, like some natural disaster had just ended and we were surveying the broken landscape.

Wildcat fans are not sore losers about that game. What enrages us is that we feel Laettner should have been ejected for stomping on Aminu Timberlake earlier in that same game. It was a vicious, purposeful thing to do, and Laettner has admitted to waiting for his moment to do it.

Laettner was not ejected. He was assessed a technical foul and played on. This is the key to understanding the state of mind of a UK fan when The Shot is mentioned. It’s about fairness.

As UK fan Ben Parks points out, we got our “revenge” in 1998 against Duke with a Cameron Mills 3-pointer.

But still, we don’t talk about it. And, the fine folks at UPS damn well should have known better.

United Parcel Service employs lots of people in Kentucky. UPS Airlines is headquartered in Louisville. They are not ignorant of the culture in this state and the soreness that game represents. Yet, as part of their “Logistics” line of commercials, UPS saw fit to use the 20-year anniversary of the game as fodder for promoting their business.

Notice… “That changes the game…” — Laettner hits shot, beating Kentucky — “…and that is what we do.”

UPS is using the commercial to talk about the “logistics” of the pass to Laettner. But, they are ignoring the sensitive issue of his unsportsmanlike conduct earlier in the game. We Big Blue Nation fans respect someone who can beat us fair and square . (Ask anyone who watched the Indiana game this year.) To Kentuckians, Laettner is not a hero. He’s a cheater who ended up winning. Not a smart business plan to align yourself with that guy in Kentucky.

“That is what we do.”

UK fans are ticked. And, in case you haven’t heard, Kentucky is to basketball what Alabama is to football. It’s a religion here. We fired our last coach because he didn’t bleed enough blue.

Kentucky state senator Ernie Harris graduated from Kentucky, he flew UPS planes, and he is the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He is among the many Kentuckians who think the ad is in poor taste in a state that has supported and staffed UPS for years.

The UPS Facebook page is currently playing host to a lively discussion about the commercial. A few comments from the post:

“UPS should be supporting this community that they care so much about… Not hating on its fans!”

“Apparently UPS is attempting to get some legislature passed in their favor – Contact your area representative and voice your outrage…Tell them NOT to pass the legislature UPS is wanting…”

“This is the greatest ad I’ve ever seen… for FedEx.”

“I just want to know what ad exec would actually say, “Hey, I’ve got it. Let’s do a commercial about the shot heard around the world in ’92. Oh, and let’s show it during March Madness.” UK has the biggest fan base of any other college team… What kind of results were you expecting from this, really?!”

“Hey clueless execs, way to boost FedEX revenue. Idiots.”

“Will never use UPS again. GO BIG BLUE!”

“Really, how long has UPS been in Louisville KENTUCKY, your ad team must be sniffing jet fuel. Looks like my new prefered carrier is anyone but UPS.”

“They need to pull this ad immediately and apologize for it.”

“This guy just joined Team FedEX”

“FedEx thanks you for this horrible commercial. GO BIG BLUE!!!”

“It’s not the shot that pisses people off about that moment it’s the fact that Laettner stomped on the chest of Timberlake and should not have been in that game at that moment. He gets glorified for the good he did and the AWFUL gets swept under the rug. So UPS the moral of this story is you are supporting a scumbag and slapping ALL UK fans in the face!!!”

“Perhaps UPS needs to be more aware of their Central Ky base. If they were, they would realize that we are fanatic about our Big Blue ball…and we will literally drive a few extra miles to get to a FedEx now.”

“UPS will never get another dime from me”

UPS has responded to the comments on its page by linking to a blog written by an employee, a UK fan, basically telling UK fans that it is in the past and that they should get over it:

“I know our new ads will anger some UK fans, but if you truly look at that game with an objective eye, it’s hard to think of a better example of what determined people working together toward a common goal can accomplish – and that’s what UPS is all about.

No one should think that UPS has some kind of anti-UK bias. On the contrary, UPS loves Kentucky. We love it so much we established our primary air hub in the commonwealth, which has driven the creation of 33,000 jobs with $300 million in annual payroll.”

“Hard to think of a better example…”? How stupid is this guy? Digging the hole even deeper.

“… driven the creation of 33,000 jobs…” In other words, we make jobs here. So, shut up.

That is what we do.

This approach is not working well either, judging by comments on that blog post:

“Do you really think using this ad will boost business? I will not use UPS again. I will use Fed Ex or the U.S. mail. I’m sure you don’t care, however it will make me feel better every time the U.S. mail truck or the Fed Ex truck makes my deliveries. Hows that for logistics?”

“I cannot imagine why UPS would think this commercial in anyway speaks to logistics! “Logic” would dictate that you have just alienated millions of Big Blue Nation fans! Your analysis, albeit from a so called UK fan point of view does not make this horrible commercial palatable! I shipped a package from Lexington today and specifically used FedEx because of this commercial ….logistics….I think not!! GO BIG BLUE!”

The blogger responeded:

“Thanks for your comments. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion, but we approached this campaign very carefully, including sharing the materials with the University of Kentucky, who approved their use.

Personally I can’t allow myself to dwell on the past. I was inspired by the effort and teamwork displayed by “the Unforgettables” and even though the loss was painful, I look back at that moment with nothing but a deep sense of pride.

The commercial isn’t a commentary about the players or the teams involved, or even specifically about college basketball. We’re just using this game as a metaphor about logistics and the value UPS brings to our customers.”

Why would this company – why would ANY company – argue with its customers?! Maybe because they think of them as their workers rather than their customers? That is what we do. But, that only made things worse:

“I am a UK grad who thought people were overreacting to the commercial…until I saw the response from UPS and from you. If the commercial wasn’t about college basketball, why did it debut on Selection Sunday and why did you ‘approach this campaign very carefully?’ UPS should just own up to the fact the powers that be KNEW there would be a negative reaction from a large fan base in the state that is home to the company’s primary air hub. Own up to the decision. Condescension doesn’t sit well on anyone, especially a large corporation in a rough economy.”

“Here’s an idea for your next UPS ad. How about you detail the “logistics” of a major company receiving huge tax breaks from a state as an incentive to move there. Then you could show the “teamwork” required to make an ad highlighting the most heartbreaking moment in that state’s sports history. Sounds like another winner. It’s bad you wrote this post trying to justify the ad, but to do so in such a condescending manner explaining to everyone how great the play the play makes it even worse.”

“If what you are saying is true, then use footage from another upset against UK. It isn’t the shot we remember, it is the fact that Laettner should never have been allowed to play at that point in the game. He should have been ejected. Being beat wasn’t what made the game memorable for true UK fans, it was being beat by someone with no class who was rude towards our players. You don’t literally step on the chest of another player and have class. Use footage from our Indiana game this year. Use any other footage at all but using this one particular game proves you don’t have any idea of what you are doing as a marketing expert. Know the whole story, not just part of it. Use a game that ended with class and show that you are smart enough to not turn your back on an entire state of fans.”

Most of the debate is about whether or not Kentucky fans should “get over it” and try to understand how this all relates to “logistics”. But, the execs at UPS should really be asking themselves right now, “Is it smart, from a business perspective, to be seen as using something this emotionally sensitive to this many people to advertise in their own state? Is it wise to pair something people loathe with ‘That is what we do‘?”

Or, maybe UPS figures we will all just shut up since they are writing checks in this state?

Note FedEx’s reply…

These people aren’t forgetting. If UPS doesn’t understand why, they didn’t do their research. Maybe Fed Ex will.

"December proved to be a strong month for the retail category with Tuesday, Dec. 15 ranking as the heaviest online spending day of the year – and of all time – at $913 million," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.

"Holiday seasonality also fueled visitation to Shipping sites, which continually see their highest volume of traffic during the month of December."

Not surprisingly, retails sites climbed in December as Americans search the Internet for holiday deals. The top gaining retail categories were jewelry/luxury goods/accessories, sports/outdoor, and flower/gifts /greeting sites, each growing more than 20 percent compared to November.

Jewelry/luxury goods/accessories sites attracted nearly 23 million visitors during the month, representing a 30 percent increase from November. eBags led the category with 2.9 million visitors (up 28 %), followed by Coach.com with 2.2 million visitors (up 26 percent), Zale Corporation with 2.1 million (up 48 %) and Kay Jewelers with 1.7 million (up 69 %).

Sports/outdoor sites grew to nearly 39 million visitors during the month, a 25 percent increase compared to November, led by eBay Sports with 5.1 million visitors (up 21%), trailed closely by Cabelas with 5 million visitors (up 26%). Dicks Sporting Goods followed with 4.6 million visitors (up 39%) and Sports Authority with 2.9 million visitors (up 29%).

Flowers/gifts/greetings sites saw a 23-percent gain, reaching nearly 39.8 million unique visitors in December. American Greetings led the category with 13.6 million visitors (up 18 %), followed by Gifts.com with 6.8 million (up 49 %), Hallmark with 5.6 million (up 46 %) and 1-800-Flowers.com with 2.9 million (up 48 %).

Traffic to shipping sites spiked in December as Americans rushed to ensure delivery of their gift purchases in time for the holidays. The category attracted 36.6 million visitors during the month, representing a 33-percent increase in traffic. UPS sites led the category with 19.7 million visitors (up 51 %), followed by USPS.com with 15.9 million (up 40 %) and FedEx with 12.6 million (up 36 %).

The e-card category grew 29 percent to 31.7 million visitors. The most visited site was Evite with nearly 8 million visitors (up 16%), followed by AG Interactive with 6.7 million (up 46%), MyFunCards with 5.7 million, and 123Greetings with 4.3 million (up 55%).

Related Articles:

>Cyber Monday Deals Attract Online Shoppers

>Walmart Wins Thanksgiving, Amazon Wins Black Friday

>Online Retailers See Strong Cyber Monday Sales

Available at the APP Store, the new UPS Mobile APP for iPhone allows users to track shipments, create shipments using the My UPS address book, calculate shipping rates and time-in-transit.

The free shipping app is part of other UPS tools for Apple users. NRG Software, a UPS partner, has recently added NRGship Mac to its shipping software lineup as a Mac application.

"Apple users are an innovative group of customers who appreciate the capabilities that make the most of their devices," said Jordan Colletta, vice president of customer technology marketing at UPS.

"These new solutions help them take full advantage of the world’s largest package delivery company."

IPhone and iPod touch users can use their devices to access their UPS address book and preferences and create shipping labels, which can be emailed in a PDF file for printout. After printing the label, people can use the app’s "find locations" feature, which uses the built-n GPS to find a UPS location.

The iPhone App does not require login for tracking. When logged, the application shows a history of tracked shipments and automatically refreshes when the app is opened. 

Related Articles:

>Usage of Mobile Web And Apps Doubles In 2 Years

> Disney Rolls Out iPhone App

> Verizon CEO On iPhone: It’s Entirely Apple’s Call

"After reviewing the research and listening to our small-business customers, we realized there is a real need in the marketplace for an online printing platform that is easy to use, provides functionality geared to small businesses, and is supported by a convenient network of physical locations," said Stuart Mathis, president of Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. (MBE), franchisor of The UPS Store brand.

Users can access the service by logging onto The UPS Store website. They will be able to upload new documents or multiple documents, select printing options such as paper and binding and choose a location for pickup as well as a date and time for completion.

Click To View Demo

On the initial use, the first-time customer creates a profile to setup a secure workplace and virtual filing cabinet for future reprints. Each job is given a number for tracking the entire process. Payment is taken online, making pickup at the center quicker.

According to research firm InfoTrends, the growing interest in online print is changing the relationship between print buyers and print service providers.

"Online print is a trend that will only continue to expand," said Barb Pellow, group director at InfoTrends.

"Last year, print jobs that moved through the Internet made up 14 percent of the total U.S. printing market, and we project online printing will grow at an average rate of 24 percent per year from 2008 to 2011."

eBay sellers can now import their information into WorldShip without having to manually enter data. Sellers can export shipping data from WorldShip and automatically update their orders with UPS tracking numbers.

Jordan Colletta, UPS
VP of Customer
Technology Marketing

eBay  sellers can also process international shipments using UPS Paperless Invoice, an international shipping option within WorldShip. This option allows sellers to submit commercial invoices electronically, saving paper and speeding Customs clearance for their buyer’s orders.

"Direct data transfer of eBay order information to and from WorldShip provides sellers an easy way to ship UPS without the hassle of re-keying information. This frees up precious time for sellers to grow their business," said Jordan Colletta, vice president of customer technology marketing at UPS.

WorldShip is a Windows- based shipping software geared towards sellers who ship five or more packages per day.

"The Paperless Invoice capability within WorldShip and the seamless integration to eBay Selling Manager Applications are two great reasons for eBay sellers to take advantage of this professional productivity tool – all at no cost to the seller," added Colletta.

The platform is used by 270,000 online sellers in the U.S. to manage their business. eBay says it will no longer charge for its Selling Manager service in an effort to attract third-party developers.

eBay says more than 87,000 third party developers have already built more than 13,000 live applications that consume its Web services.

"The Selling Manager platform puts useful innovations from trusted developers in front of a large and receptive audience of customers at the point at which they are most inclined to buy," according to Max Mancini, senior director of the eBay Developer Program.

Developers interested in building application on eBay are required to meet site standards. Once approved their applications will be available to sellers that subscribe to eBay Selling Manager, and they can monetize their applications with subscription-based revenue.

UPS is the first transportation provider for the Selling Manager platform, and it is integrating its shipping software, WorldShip into eBay so sellers can mange shipping within My eBay at no cost.

"We are continuously evaluating ways to enhance our offerings to buyers and sellers," said Jordan Colletta, Vice President of e-Commerce Marketing, UPS.

"As a result, eBay sellers can now benefit from direct access to UPS from within the new eBay Selling Manager Applications beta. This enhancement streamlines the shipping process by eliminating the re-keying of information between eBay and UPS WorldShip."
 

Trust is such an important concept. This may be why, according to GetElastic.com, multiple pages in the checkout process converts better than a single page. Their data suggests that three pages or steps are optimal, converting at 6.2 percent.

Even seven pages or more (which is unbelievable to me, impatient jerk that I am) converts better than a one-step checkout process. Only one of the top 100 retailers use a one page checkout, and they convert the least at just 2.5 percent.

But why? Maybe it’s because one step seems too easy, just like a scam would seem too easy. Maybe it takes more steps to reassure a buyer, who is dealing with an invisible seller, that this deal is legit.

It would make sense, then, that providing the opportunity to actually converse with a human before a purchase could boost the chances of the purchase actually taking place. Conversations build trust and conversations look like they build conversions, too.

GetElastic has its own numbers on live chat in a nifty 46-page whitepaper on the entire checkout process, which can be downloaded in PDF or viewed in HTML, and includes data on shipping offers, coupons, security, et cetera.

"Live chat has the potential to bridge the customer service gap that exists between online shoppers and retailers," the authors say. "It can be the extra little push a shopper needs to get over any conversion hurdles that may exist such as purchase uncertainty, product questions, or technical and policy assistance."

But they’re still unsure about its actual efficacy, only slightly outperforming in the Apparel and High Ticket categories, and underperforming in every other. The authors attribute this "counter-intuitive" result to a potential annoyance factor, which can turn any would-be customer off.

Coremetrics and CompUSA have a different tale to tell on live chat, though. Coremetrics followed CompUSA’s implementation of InstantService’s live chat technology to make a case study of it. They found that website conversion rates went up by a factor of ten.

“By adding InstantService live chat to Compusa.com, we’ve given our customers the ability to communicate with a live agent who can help answer their questions,” said Al Hurlebaus, managing director of marketing and advertising at CompUSA. “This added value mirrors the in-store experience where customers rely on our knowledgeable salespeople to obtain assistance when they need it. "

Coremetrics’ analysis showed that 60 percent of visitors who chatted and added an item to the cart, did so from the most recently viewed category before initiating a chat session.

A keyword there might be "initiated," as in the customer initiated the chat session, cutting down on the annoyance factor mentioned by GetElastic. Nearly 54 percent of CompUSA customers ended up purchasing from the category they most recently viewed before chatting.

It is still unclear, though, whether CompUSA’s recent change in customer focus, from business-to-consumer to business-to-business had an impact on the results.

Jane Paolucci, VP of marketing for Coremetrics, shares some more numbers in an interview with WebProNews. She said that 68.5 percent of CompUSA customers chatted while browsing the site and that 32 percent chatted while in the shopping cart during the late stages of the buying process.

"Out of that," she said, "over 10 percent of those sessions convert to a sale, 10 times the average website conversion rate." Paolucci says that only 28 percent of ecommerce sites are currently offering live chat.

But they are "increasingly spending more money on technologies that are bringing them closer to their clients."   

Not to endorse one chat product over the other, here’s a Google search for "live chat widgets for ecommerce" to speed you along the chat discovery process should you think that’s right for your site.

In case you forgot, back when Paris Hilton launched her own special YouTube channel to promote her silly little song, purist YouTubers chimed in with their fears that the site would become too commercial.

Well, it’s too late for that now. It’s a marketer’s world these days, whether you’re selling hotel rooms or politics. But the burning debate surrounding video ads has been over whether pre-roll, mid-roll, or post roll ads were best.

Advertisers like pre-roll ads the best, but they can push the viewer to push the "Stop" button. People rightly assume viewers won’t stick around for post-roll. Mid-roll ads operate on the same premise as TV and radio ads – hook the viewer, make them wait a few seconds, and then get back to the content.

Google and YouTube know their touchy demographic, though. They won’t tolerate any in-video ads for long, if at all. This must be why they’re falling back on old standards: banners and pop-ups.

Yes, pop-ups.

If you have you’re Firefox browser tuned right, you won’t be able to see what Beet.tv’s Andy Plesser is pointing to. So use Internet Explorer or check out Plesser’s Dennis Kucinich video screen shot of the Best Western pop-up ad.

The banner ads seem more contextual. Click to view a Kucinich video and you may see a banner ad for YouTube’s latest baby, CitizenTube.

Though it seems backwards at first for such a Web 2.0 marketplace, it makes a lot of sense to do it this way. YouTubers just won’t tolerate their pure user-generated haven being interrupted constantly by in-vid advertisements.

The pop-ups may get annoying though. It will be interesting to see how the YouTube crowd responds. 

The ups:

• users feel they are part of the brand.
• they are more likely to push the brand and link to the site
• points are created free but give some perception of value
• users create free content for the site even when you are not doing so.
• some of their content will rank in search results. today I did a search for search engine marketing and saw Google listing a link for recent blog posts listing this post
• contributors might give you good marketing ideas or help you catch important trends before competitors do

The downs:

• people who spend lots of time contributing tend not to value their time too much AND are hard to profit from (especially in savvy marketplaces that ignore ads).
• having many relationships allows you to be a connector that knows someone for just about any job, but focusing heavily on building community and maintaining the many relationships needed to do so may hold you down on the value chain. A few strong relationships will likely create more value than many weak ones, especially as we run into scale related issues.
• if your site is not authorititative, user generated content may waste your link authority and lead to keyword canibalization
• if your site is authoritative many people will look for ways to leverage your domain or authority
• as you get more authoritative more people will try to exploit it. even friends get aggressive with it, and unless you call people out it gets out of control quickly.
• as you extend your commitments, spending time to police a site, it is harder to change course. I get frustrated when I see spam on the homepage of ThreadWatch, but I guess I can’t be surprised people do it, and due to database issues I am uncertain if I will be able to upgrade TW without just archiving the old information and switching to a new CMS.
• some people looking to promote their work may spam or aggressively associate your brand with the articles they wrote. For example, is this comment spam? Or is it good?

If a relationship is affiliate based it is quite easy to police undesirable activity by banning accounts, but if people are adding content to your site and marketing it aggressively in ways that may not bode well with your brand it might be harder to police it, especially as you scale your community. And typically the people that are most likely to give you crap for it are hypocritical with their beliefs.

I think on the whole a community section is a pretty good idea if you tie it into a paid content model, but even when you do that you will still run into scale issues if you provide any type of support for the paid content. I have over 600 emails in my inbox, and recently stopped advertising free consulting with an ebook purchase because I stopped scaling as a person. As your profits scale the opportunity cost of any one revenue channel become more apparent. That is one of the things which has prevented me from putting a forum or community section on this site.

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