Did you read our piece on robo-calls last month? It’s right HERE. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Anyway, I’m not one who responds to every problem with “There ought to be a law!” Besides, there are already laws on robo-calling, as well as a national Do Not Call registry. They just aren’t working!
So the government is getting smart for once, and asking for your help with “The Robo-call Challenge.” And they are offering a $50,000 prize!
The “robocall challenge” opens to the public on Oct. 25 and will close Jan. 17, 2013. The winner will be announced in April. The money will be awarded to the person, team or small company (it must have fewer than 10 employees) that develops the best robocall-blocking technology. The FTC says a successful entry must work, be easy to use, and be easy to implement and operate in today’s marketplace. SFGate.com
I have spent some time in the world consumer marketing, and it’s amazing the amount of time and money that is spent trying to wring out just one more percent of market share. As a MindField member, you also have an appreciation for how much research it takes to decide if a product is a good idea or not.
The pressure to stay on top is huge, and coming up with innovative ideas that people will embrace isn’t easy, as illustrated by the countless number of market miscalculations and abject product failures developed by some of the biggest and most respected brands in the world. MSN Money
So here’s a look at some ideas that didn’t quite click. Do you remember any of these?
Gerber Singles (1970s.) Ever feed a baby and sneak a bite of their food out of curiosity? Sure. Wouldn’t you like to have an adult-sized jar of mashed bananas for yourself? America said No.
Jimmy Dean Microwaveable Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick (2006.) Just because you CAN mash things together and put them on a stick…SHOULD you?
Heinz EZ Squirt ketchup (2000.) Ketchup in a rainbow of bizarre colors for you to get out of your kids’ clothes.
Ore-Ida Funky Fries (2002.) Apparently, the novelty of cinnamon-flavored, or tube-shaped or BLUE French fries wears off quickly.
Frito Lay’s Wow potato chips (1998.) Who can forget racing to the toilet during the summer of Olestra? An FDA warning on the bag is generally not good for business.
New Coke (1985.) The classic flop. Apparently, EVERY BIT of their research, blind taste tests, etc., told Coke that people preferred the new stuff.
Pepsi A.M. (1989.) It seemed like the dumbest idea ever back in ’89… a super-caffeinated soda to drink in the morning instead of coffee. Now, everybody does it.
Ah well, they can’t all be winners. Can you think of any other food items that missed the mark? There are more in the original article, so check it out!
As they say, business it business. But it sure seems like Walmart has an axe to grind with Amazon! Last month, Wally announced they were no longer carrying Amazon’s Kindle. Now, they are going to compete with Amazon’s experimental same-day delivery.
Called Wal-Mart To Go, the service costs $10 regardless of the size of the order. The products will be shipped from the company’s stores, not from a warehouse or distribution center. Wal-Mart began testing the same-day service last week in Philadelphia and northern Virginia. It added Minneapolis on Tuesday and will add San Jose and San Francisco later this month. The trial will last through the holidays. Wall Street Journal
Amazon has been doing the same-day thing in 10 cities for a few years now. Amazon has about $35 billion in online sales each year, about 7 times Walmart’s take. BUT, Wally’s $5 billion is about 1% of their total sales. So, that kind of capital allows them to experiment to find ways to compete with the established leader Amazon.
Analysts say that Walmart is going to need that cash flow to make it work…
“It can be three to four times the cost for the retailer to pick items and pack them from a store versus having a really efficient, automated process back in a distribution center.” Wall Street Journal
So, what do you think? Does this sound like a good move for Wally? Or should they stick to what they know best and leave the online fulfillment game to the recognized leaders? Read the article, and have a great weekend!
In my house, as a kid and as an adult, we always did it up for Halloween. And, looking back, I don’t remember ever dialing it down very much during hard times. Apparently, that is still the case in the US!
Here are some stats:
70: The % of Americans celebrating Halloween in 2012.
170 million: The number of Americans in the “Halloween market” this year.
8 billion: The amount of $$$ we will spend for Halloween in 2012.
80: The amount of $$$ spent by each person. Up $8 from last year.
So, how does Halloween avoid our belt-tightening?
Halloween has been one of the few annual events that we’re willing to shell out plenty of bucks for, almost certainly because of the escapism we feel by dressing up like Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson. We also have few qualms about dressing up our pets like Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson. Time Magazine
And to illustrate that last point, the article says that we will spend $370 million on pet costumes this year, up about 25% from 2011!
So, how about your family? Is Halloween a big deal? Have you cut back on the spending the past couple of years, or not?
Time once again to update our satisfied Facebook fans shout-out page. Take a moment to read some of the positive feedback from a few of our purt-near 30,000 fans… including this comment from Abbidula:
“I just rolled in another dollar bill and itching for more scratch. This is great with the “any amount” cashout plan. Join now and you can also benefit from these rewards.”
So take a look HERE. Thanks to all our friends, Facebook and otherwise. And have a great weekend!
First, as represented in the totally awesome and NOT lame graphic above: 4MM. That means Four Million, as in MindField Online recently paid out its 4,000,000th credit to our panelists. That’s four million dollars since MindField’s inception in April 2004 – an average of $471, 000 a year. Over the past 5 years, however, our panelists overall have earned an average of $688,000 in credits each year.
To celebrate, we credited $25 to lucky number 4 million: CODY B. of MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA!
Meanwhile, “100K” also happened. That signifies $100,000 in Amazon.com credits our panelists have opted for since we introduced that new cashout method! That took a surprisingly short 14 months, which means our panelists like the Amazon option even better than we hoped!
So, a big thank you to our panelists, and stay tuned for more excitement ahead. For example, we’re coming reeeally close to 30,000 Facebook fans. But you didn’t hear it from me!
39: the % of free, non-interest checking accounts. Was 76% in 2009.
25: the % our service fees have risen since 2011, a new record (yay!)
23: the % your minimum balance to avoid fees has increased since 2011.
35: the average $$ of overdraft penalties. Up 1.4% from 2011
Why are all these fees on the rise? Many blame regulatory changes, such as restrictions on when banks can charge overdraft fees and fees charged on swiping cards.
“They are resorting to eliminating free checking accounts and instituting higher fees to help fill that gap,” he said. “If you ran a fast-food restaurant and the government told you that you can’t raise the price of a hamburger, you’d raise the price of soda and fries.” The Ledger
What can you do? Well, this article is full of useful tips, and you should definitely check it out. But some quick tips include searching out a smaller local bank or credit union, which generally have lower fees. Also, actually reading your statements. They REALLY count on you NOT doing that. Like, your free checking account that suddenly is no longer free and you wonder why? It was in your statement!
So, read the article. It’s worth your time. And tell us… are your fees rising? What have you done about it?
Like, a reeeally little place. This is a story that asks “How much space do you need?” And also “How little space can you tolerate?”
In San Francisco, where the average studio apartment rents for more than $2,000/month, the city is ready to vote on a rule allowing developers to build apartments as small as 220 square feet in size. Roughly 10 feet by 20.
At a minimum 150 square feet of living space — 220 when you add the bathroom, kitchen and closet — the proposed residences are being hailed as a pivotal option for singles. LA Times
They hope the micro apartments will go for $1200-1700/ month. Great for a city where over 40% of the population lives alone. However…
Opponents fear that a wave of “shoe box homes” would further marginalize families of modest means who are desperate for larger accommodations…. And buildings full of micro-units could cause a spike in population density that might strain public transit and already limited parks and public spaces. LA Times
As for me, I have done the Saturday walking tour of IKEA, where the fake apartments get smaller and smaller, until “Here’s how you can cram into 300 square feet!” And it gave me the creeps!
So what do you think? Clever idea, or the most depressing idea ever? (Or both?)
Who wants an iPad for $19 and change? The answer is likely “Me me me me!!!” Well, that’s what “Penny Auction” websites like Beezid, Quibid and Bidfun advertise on TV during the late night Three’s Company reruns. But a new article at Yahoo News is offering that classic advice: if it seems too good to be true… But first, they explain how penny auction bidding works.
To sign up, you have to buy bid packs. The more you buy at a time, the lower per-bid price you pay. For example, you can buy a pack of 30 bids for $27 (that’s 90 cents per bid) all the way up to 1000 bids for $550 (55 cents per bid). Then you find an item you want to bid on, and start bidding. Each time you bid, it raises the price of the item by one cent and often resets a timer for another 10 seconds or so of open bidding. Bidding can be done manually, or you can set up auto-bidding, which will program the site to bid for you, usually at the last second. Yahoo News
What’s the catch? The author lists several. First, to make a bid that raises the price by a penny, you are actually paying between 55 and 90 cents. Second, you get into a bidding war, make a bunch of bids, and end up not winning the item but still losing a bunch of money. Third, are you really saving? She provides an example where someone actually won an iPad for 83 cents, but used $300 in bids. That’s $301 total when, on that same day, you could buy the iPad on Amazon for $320. Finally, just like those infomercials where they show you a dollar’s worth of crap, tell you it’s a $30 value and offer it to you for 10 bucks, it seems that some of these Penny Auctions are inflating the value to stir bidding excitement.
A final quote:
These sites bill themselves as “entertainment shopping.” That’s like calling the craps table “entertainment banking.” Yahoo News
But, as we say, that’s just one opinion. Have you used one of these bidding sites? What do you think? There’s more at the original article, so check it out. And have a great weekend!
“Greetings, citizen. This is Marcy from Consumer Credit Counselors…”
This is something I haven’t thought of in forever, since I got rid of my landline. But apparently robocalling is back, big time. Despite the big fuss, and the establishment of the “Do Not Call” registry…
Government figures show monthly robocall complaints have climbed from about 65,000 in October 2010 to more than 212,000 this April. More general complaints from people asking a telemarketer to stop calling them also rose during that period, from about 71,000 to 182,000. Associated Press
Also, telemarketers are supposed to check the registry for Do Not Call requests each month, but…
…fewer telemarketers are checking the FTC list to see which numbers are off limits. In 2007, more than 65,000 telemarketers checked the list. Last year, only about 34,000 did so. Associated Press
Part of the problem is that certain types of calls are exempt from the ban, like political calls (awfully good of the politicians to exclude those!), calls for charities, and informational calls (like the airline calling to tell you that your flight is delayed.) What the scammers do is start the call as a charity, then switch to a pitch for “learn how to clean up your credit rating!”
Also, technology is making the law obsolete. Spoof calls hide their true telephone numbers so that when you try to report them, or call them back, you get nothing.
So, what to do? I still get these calls from time to time on my cellphone. My policy is, if I don’t recognize the number, I don’t answer it. They can leave a message or not. Second, there is a website I use, www.whocalled.us, where you can type in the phone number and see if there are any complaints. Also, be careful whenever you sign up for, well, anything on the web. There are often little stipulations like “May we contact you at inconvenient times to tell you about useless products and services?” Finally, you can always complain to the FTC, which I am sure is super-effective. They are at www.ftc.gov or (888) 382-1222.
So, how about you? Are you in the Registry? Do you still get these calls? How do you handle it?
(photo: dailyautocrat.com)
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