Why Is Jeff Bezos Always Talking To Me?

Every so often I land on Amazon.com and notice the homepage has changed. Instead of seeing my usual browsing history, the latest Kindle, or some other carefully tailored offers, I find a letter from Jeff Bezos. A couple of months ago, Jeff wrote to me on a scroll and announced, “Dear Muggles,” in which he explained that the Harry Potter series would now be available to me for free in the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. On today’s visit, Jeff’s telling me that Amazon Prime is celebrating its 7th anniversary and what a success the program has been. And he’s right. It’s possibly the best $79 per year I’ve ever spent. Free two-day Shipping on nearly everything I buy, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows, and the ability to borrow books on my Kindle. But why is Jeff always talking to me? What’s with all these personal appeals from the creator of the world’s largest online retailer? Here’s why: In my work with online community owners, I often talk about the three Cs of customer retention: content, community, and character. It's the third that often confuses people. What does character have to do with customer retention or building brand loyalty? Character is really about positioning. In their classic book, Positioning, Al Reis and Jack Trout demonstrated that most people will only remember a few things about you or your company. The takeaway is that you can either decide what those few key things will be, or let the market decide. In other words, you... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2012-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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