Archive for August, 2008

It has been a week since the brand hijack of TrustyPig occurred after a Romanian-based company revealed its new web site, which was a complete and total copy from a local Des Moines company called SmartyPig.   The dust has settled and we have been given an “explanation” of sorts from TrustyPig, so I thought it would be a good time to sit down and really look at some lessons that other companies could learn from this incident.

Transparency

The first and arguably most important issue is one we have been hearing about a lot lately – that of transparency.  Where once it was acceptable (and encouraged) for companies to “hide” behind their web sites and online presence, with tools such as Twitter and Blogs, being able to “peek under the curtain” is no longer an option – it is a must.

Throughout the week, as bloggers began creating posts about TrustyPig stealing a new design from SmartyPig, there was no clear outreach from TrustyPig to counter the issues.   Later, TrustyPig would say via a third party that they were not given enough time to react, and that nobody contacted them directly from SmartyPig to discuss it before brand loyalists began their hijack.

But this is not entirely true.  There was no direct way to contact the owners of TrustyPig on its web site.  No email address, contact form, phone number – nothing.   Their blog comments were (and still are) moderated.  Many of us posted messages on their blog demanding an explanation and none were ever responded to.  In addition, the owner posts on several web sites, and no real name was ever given, only an alias called “Costy.”

Brand Loyalty

This has become an extremely powerful force in today’s business world.  How many of us would rise up to the defense of Wal-Mart or Taco Johns if they were manhandled in the media or even by another business or blogger?  Not many.  But SmartyPig is involved in the community in Des Moines and is becoming a national figure with its unique social saving program, bringing more attention to the Des Moines technology community.

This relationship with bloggers and fans on twitter resulted in an almost instantaneous call to action to use social networking sites and technologies to get the word out on the site design theft.  Through blogging, twitter, message boards and more, the tech community responded as one, populating google results for TrustyPig with results that mentioned the design theft.

Don’t Ignore Your Critics

Donald Trump preaches to not only address your critics, but to smash them and destroy them.  The owner of TrustyPig later claimed they were not contacted before the social hijack project began, however many bloggers, including myself, posted comments on their blog several hours in advance of the beginning of the real effort.  Had TrustyPig merely responded to the posts instead of hastily deleting them, they may have saved some face.

So What Could Have Happened Differently

First, the Des Moines tech community could have let smartyPig know of the site theft, and then waited a day or two for a response instead of launching the hijack within hours of it appearing on twitter.   This “rush to judgment” is very harzardous and even had me uneasy.

Next, the owner of TrustyPig could be more transparent.  Proper contact information, especially on a money-making site is an absolute must.   Email, Real Name, Phone Number, Address – anything.   There was absolutely no clear way to contact the owner – enforcing the idea that it may be a shady company.

Third, a real apology.   TrustyPig issued a statement not from their own web site, but that of a “reviewer” and advocate of their services.   Why wouldn’t they contact people directly?  TrustyPig needs to take responsibility for what they do, and act accordingly and not through a third party.

These things happen.  And in the end, perhaps TrustyPig was as much ripped off as SmartyPig felt.   The best thing I can suggest for any company looking to redesign their web site is to find somebody locally.  Don’t go on the web, issue a request for proposal or work for hire on the Internet and expect legitimacy.    If you are even close to a major city, you will find many different designers and firms to get the work done for you.   Going with somebody you have never met, requires a bizarre payment method, and returns a full site in less than 2 days should be met with extreme skepticism.

Final Thoughts

It is hard to just plain initiate brand loyalty, but in order to do so in today’s world, you need to be have a good product, be transparent, and be actively involved in the sectors in which you are trying to break into.  TrustyPig wasn’t even on Twitter, much less following their brand on the service.   Had they been, the entire incident may have been avoided.

Technorati Tags: smartypig, trustypig, brand hijack, twitter, transparency

I grabbed this photo on my iPhone while on the way back from lunch today.   Readers from Des Moines may recognize the area as the giant parking lot behind the Taco Johns between Ingersoll and Grand near 24th Street.

There, along the back wall where she thought nobody would see her, this postal employee was snuggled in her seat, the truck still guzzling gas to feed its air conditioner, snoozing.

Raise the price of stamps?   Perhaps its time to cut back on federal postal employees…

Technorati Tags: postal workers, sleeping on the job, taxes at work, federal employees

In what can only be seen as a victory for everybody who has ever had their site design ripped off, the creators of TrustyPig have at least changed their sites colors and logo on their main blog to something other than the exceptional design by HappyCog they previously copied.

While it appears to only be minor css changes (the actual div structure remains the same) – this is definitely a mark in the win column for “the good guys.”  After a public outcry and a flurry of postings around several different blogs, it looks we finally caught TrustyPig’s attention.

The SmartyPig logo still appears on TrustyPig’s blog header, but I am sure it is just an oversight, and the owners of TrustyPig know the Social Hijacking will continue to take place if this too is not corrected in a timely manner.

Thank you to everybody who put the word out on the shady Romanian company known as TrustyPig, and if you are into the High Yield Moneymaking “whatever” that TrustyPig is trying to peddle… I seriously urge you to reconsider doing business with people of that nature.

Technorati Tags: TrustyPig, SmartyPig, Site Ripoffs, blogging, seo, brand hijack

You hear about it almost everyday… there is a nicely designed web site done by a team (or sometimes an individual) that is not only nice to look at, but is also a unique idea, and a fledgling business struggling to be both born and survive in today’s depressed economy.

Des Moines has become a hotbed of web entrepreneurs, strategists, social marketing mavens, and other services and businesses catering to the tech community.  I even wrote about some of them in a previous blog post, here – http://www.troyrutter.com/2008/07/08/big-fish-gets-cut-down-to-size-and-smiles.html.

One of those is a unique way to save money, and have relatives, friends and complete strangers contribute towards a savings goal.  A new bank called Smartypig.

Now, take a look at the following site, a complete ripoff (based in Romania) -

http://www.trustypig.com

Their blog currently has comments UN-MODERATED… so feel free to tell these bozos how you really feel about the “Trustworthiness” of the Trusty-Pig.

I just don’t get how some people find this “acceptable.”

Bad pig!

Technorati Tags: smartypig, romania, trustypig

Here is my first 30 Day Challenge Site…

http://www.kidsmagictricksinfo.com

This was made using the tools / techniques of the challenge, and not my usual way of setting up web sites.

I will keep you posted as to the results.

Technorati Tags: 30 Day Challenge

Despite having a long history of participating in affiliate programs, Google Adsense, and other ways of making some money online, last year I decided to participate in a program known as the Thirty Day Challenge.

I briefly discussed the challenge at this month’s Central Iowa Blgogers meeting on August 1st.  I told them about the premise of the idea, and some of the highlights (and lowlights) of last year, including the massive deletion of Tumblr accounts for what I still consider no good reason.

The challenge has been having what they call “Pre-season” for about a month or two, and is only into its third day of actual content.  So if you are interested in using the Internet to make your first $10, you should definitely check out the pre-season of the Thirty Day Challenge, as well as the challenge itself.   I learned a lot about some new meda tools last year, and this year they are using the flock web browser, which I have to admit I have not used before.

To find out more about the Thirty Day Challenge, Just visit www.thirtydaychallenge.com.

For me, I need to catch up on pre-season, and I’ll see you there shortly.   If you join the challenge, let me know.   Part of the challenge last year was creating some “groups” to help each other out, and I’d love to form some groups based on my actual network here.

Check it out!

One of my jobs as the “community manager” at Warner Bros. Online was conducting interviews with celebrities.  Most of these came from Warner Bros. type show and movies, but occasionally we did these “chats” with random celebrities… especially in coordination with the TV show EXTRA.

Since I was the coordinator of the chats, we usually had people phone in and I would both type for the celebrity, and conduct the question screening / run the event.   Occasionally we would send a crew on location, but that meant that I had to stay behind and run the fort from the office.

One of these such chats was with Scott Bakula and Maria Bello for a TV show called Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I don’t have a transcript available, but somewhere during the call I mentioned that I had been eating orange chicken from Panda Express every day for lunch the last 6 months (our office was on Olive & Ridgewood, with the Panda Express directly below.)  It was good and convenient and I wanted to stay with something “safe.”  This was of great amusement to Scott Bakula.   I asked if I could get an autograph since I couldn’t be there, and you can see the result below.

Scott remembered the Orange Chicken but forgot my name “To Tony – no more orange chicken!”  While Maria Bello simply signed “All the best” – but got my name right.

With Maria starring in the movie “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” premiering tonight, I thought I would share the photo.  Enjoy!