RAISIN BRAHMS!?

Anybody who watches TV shows on hulu will have seen these new "Raisin Brahms" commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKgBdrsqvjs

I laughed too when I saw it the first couple of times. What's great is that the commercial uses Brahms rather than one of those composers you get sick of hearing all the time (i.e. Mozart, Beethoven). The more I see it, though, the less it makes sense to me -- not just the video itself (an obvious spoof on our favorite Kool-Aid commercials), but the whole marketing strategy behind this campaign. Consider the following:

1.) This.

By feeding your children the arts, you may risk their eligibility for international sporting events (I couldn't find a picture of the little girl growing the same thick beard). I guess the message is that the arts make your kids more mature, but if anything, this might extend that stereotype of classical music being mainly for "old people."

2.) Hulu audiences are not very similar to the family portrayed in the commercial. Can you imagine the dazed, robotic parents in that segment even understanding how to operate a computer, much less watching family-friendly shows like Shaq vs. or Hell's Kitchen? I don't see this video striking resonance with too many viewers.

3.) The commercial is just plain silly. While I appreciate the good use of humor in advancing a cause, I'm not so sure that a commercial like this one clearly communicates the actual contents of the arts. In fact, it strikes me as a desparate attempt to expand arts viewership during a bad economy by portraying the classical arts as something that they're not. Developing fine arts audiences has never been a quick and easy process, and I think this commercial tries too hard to take that shortcut -- a move that could ultimately undermine its own intent.

Exploring Wegmans

Today, I went on a journey across the northern neighborhoods of Baltimore to visit the El Dorado of supermarket chains: Wegmans. Although most Wegmans stores are located further up north in Pennsylvania or New York, their corporate strategy department was absolutely astute in extending their services to this part of the States.

[Come to think of it, a lot of chains that centralize in one US region but have "frontier" locations elsewhere tend to be very high-quality. Rockfish comes to mind.]

The first thing I noticed about Wegmans was that it is located inside a shopping center alongside such stores as White&Black and Banana Republic. Now as you all probably know from experience, this is extremely unusual for a supermarket; most are the focal point of smaller strip malls. But the location doesn't seem to detract otherwise busy mall shoppers from dropping by. In fact, Wegmans may have been one of the most crowded markets I've ever been to. Wegmans is so crowded that many people arrive in pairs but shop alone so that their partners can drive up to the front doors and pick up groceries there. As a punishment for not knowing to doing so, I had to park my car a good quarter-mile away.

As I walked inside, I immediately realized why people were so enamored with this place. Wegmans is not a supermarket -- it is a shrine dedicated to the passion of food. Sure, you have all the indicators of quality service: friendly and helpful staff, clean environment, and beautiful displays. But those are not the reasons why Wegmans is great.

First, Wegmans has a zealous dedication to fresh ingredients that is unmatched by any other store, even Whole Foods or Trader Joes. The qualifer here is "fresh" -- rather than adopting the "my shit is holier than your shit because it was made without splicing DNA" attitude, Wegmans takes a more practical approach: giving chefs the best stuff. The ripe avocados here, for instance, are actually ripe and ready-to-guacamolize. Labels on fruits and vegetables disclose not only whether they are organic, but also where they were grown. The great thing is that, unlike at organic specialty stores, you have much more choice over whether to buy organic (I hate this term, by the way -- what's the opposite of organic, inorganic? That makes my fuji apples sound like they're actually alkaline metals). After all, in good cooking, organic is secondary to fresh, and much more expensive.

Second, Wegmans takes this fresh approach a step further by applying it to all products, not just fruits and vegetables. The deli, for instance, adopts the model of those farmers markets where you take a number and make your order upon being called up. The workers slice the meat in front of your eyes and sometimes give you a little extra for the same price. The bakery is the same; goods over a day old are not kept around. Wegmans has some great cafes on hand. Locals (despite the selection bias) are unanimous in saying that Wegmans' sandwiches and soups are the best in the area, and even the pizza shop gets recognition for using wholesome ingredients.

Finally, Wegmans is not only a place to buy great stuff, but also a resource center for those who love cooking. The store offers easy access to recipes and even hosts classes: fine cooking, cooking for busy parents, etc... It also opens until midnight on all days, so late workers and procrastinators can all get their fill.

As an extra, try searching for news on Wegmans. Rather than finding news about robberies or product recalls, you might find out about their alternative energy investments or their general badassery.

I'll be sure to return here, maybe as early as next week. My only other alternatives, anyhow, are not-so-Safeway and re-Tardget. Even though the store is 15 miles away from where I live, the trip was more than worth it.

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Special thanks to Hannah Richardson for telling me about this place!

Selling or Serving?

Last summer, I sat among a row of cubicles in the corporate compartment that is 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC. The big news of the day was the nationwide transition to DTV. Even though everybody knew that it was happening, and that it was (at that time) happening on February 18th, 2009, nobody really knew what the new policy meant for them. In actuality, it was very simple: if you watched TV with an antenna, you needed to apply for a coupon that would knock $40 off a digital converter box. If you watched cable or satellite TV, on the other hand, you were fine. Of course, government policies always have a way of being misconstrued by the public (see Obama Healthcare, 2009). We heard the most outlandish claims from crazy people, from the [insert representative organization] who believed that the policies was enacted to repress [insert minority group], or better yet, the radicals who believed that the government was trying to spy on American households.

Here comes the Federal Communications Comisssion to the rescue! I still remember the presentations we would give: "Back then, color revolutionized TV. On February 18th, 2009, digital will be the new revolution. Is your household prepared?" The cubicle-dweller's best friend is his dull gray telephone, and I made scores of calls each day to libraries, senior centers, minority conventions, and anybody who would possibly be interested in having a federal agent over to talk about the next big thing. We wanted to make the transition easy for consumers, and while we succeeded, I felt at times the guilt of a shameful kid cleaning the underwear that he soiled himself, for representing the body responsible for forcing the people to change in the first place.

A year later, I'm sitting at an office-icle (esentially a cubicle built for live customer service), wielding yet another dull gray phone, working my rotation as an Admissions Officer. The position is more or less sales; the purpose is to get students to enroll at the university. Like before, I am making calls to people on a list - not exactly cold calls in either case, but nonetheless approaches toward strangers. I try to work off people's motivations, or build off someone's dissatisfaction with their lives, to convince them that a higher degree is exactly what they need.

The irony is that I feel less of a salesman now than I did last year, this despite that the FCC's mission revolves around serving the people, despite that people actually pay us money here at the university, despite that our training here is essentially a compilation of sales best practices. Mainly, its because I don't feel like I'm imposing here. Its funny how capitalism works: with this little incentive called money, we are forced to listen to the consumer's needs much more than we would if we could just blanket a policy over the country, even though the policy is designed to make things better for people. Of course, we always hear about sales being deceiving to the consumer - salesmen hide information, or fail to mention important details. Yet at least in this industry, there is little margn for such practice. Competition is fierce, with both large for-profit schools and community colleges in the fray, and legal consequences of deceit can be especially frightening.

The reason I make this comparison is that despite all that we hear about corporate greed and organizational detachedness from "Main Street," even though some of these accusations may indeed prove true, there are moments when business genuinely makes someone's life better, and it offers them opportunities that they could not have gotten otherwise. Yesterday, I enrolled a student, A., who moved to Baltimore from Somalia seven years ago in pursuit of a better life. Yet despite the newfound political stablity, she has found herself unable to advance very far, with only a limited grasp of English and no college degree. She works full-time six days a week at a parking garage, and her husband does not fare much better as a taxi driver in a dangerous sector of town. Her young daughter is her hope for the future, yet she can barely provide for the child at the very moment. A community college or public school could not have catered to these strict needs. Yet we found a solution, and I remember A. trying hard to repress her joy but being unable to do so as she grasped her class schedule in one hand and her daughter's shoulder in the other.

Not to say that where I work is perfect, or even anywhere remotely close, but its refreshing to be in business and occasionally get to see beyond the numbers and charts a moment where the service actually makes someone happy. That's the core value any service organization has got to remember as it grows. The customer does not need to enjoy the service, the organization needs to ensure that she does.