Thoughts in Time

Marianne Richmond recently “Tagged Me” through her blog. My understanding is this a bloglike chain letter - minus the threats that bad things will happen if you don’t keep it going… Anways - I thought I’d keep it going anyway.
Four Jobs I’ve Had
Intern
Lawnmower
Computer Assistant
Founder and CMO

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
SpaceBalls
Top Gun
Office Space
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch
24
Sportscenter
Any Duke Basketball Game
Really - that’s it…

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation
Key West, Florida
South Africa
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Italy

Four Favorite Dishes
Lobster - pretty much any way it’s prepared
Filet Mignon - at a fine steak house
BBQ from Sandra’s Place in New Haven - or the Silver Pig in Lynchburg, VA Shrimp and Grits

Four Websites I Visit Daily
HigherOne.com CNN.com ESPN.com Google

Three Bloggers I’m Tagging
Jackie Peters
Michael Felderbaum
Marianne Richmond

Technorati : I’ve been tagged, blogs, social networking, tags

When we started Higher One, we often talked about how were building a better model. We believed that especially for the student demographic, providing convenience and online services would be more appealing than the traditional banking model. I haven’t been in a branch in years, but today had an experience that reinforced my belief that banks just don’t get it.

I’m closing on a mortgage refinancing with a large regional bank tomorrow (the bank shall remain nameless ). In order to get a lower rate, they require that I have a direct debit from a checking account with them. OK, no problem, I’ll just open an account, have the exact amount deposited there from my paycheck each month and will be all set… but first I had to actually open the account with them. Here’s where the fun started. Let’s say I was opening an account through Higher One. Within ~2-3 minutes I can open, and fund a Higher One checking account - and I can do it whenver I want, online in my boxers - even while watching Jack Bauer shoot his way off the rooftop on 24.

Here’s the way it worked in the bank.
1. Find a time to leave work to go to the bank (I went after lunch)
2. Find a parking near the bank (had to go around the block once)
3. Scramble for quarters to feed the meter.
4. Walk in - what do you know - 3 tellers doing nothing at the teller window…..
5. Approach the one that seems to be interested and ask to open a checking account.
6. ” I can take you to someone who can help you with that” (I guess tellers don’t have this power?)
7. I sit and wait in a nice plush chair for a lady in a glass cubicle to finish with another customer (techincally there were two ladies and both so happened to be occupied)
8. After 3-4 minutes, the one lady finishes with a customer and says loudly over the cubicle - “can i help you.”
9. I say yes, go in, say I want to open a basic checking acount. She asks for two forms of ID and takes them to go make copies.
10. “I have to look you up in chex systems” she says. I know what Chex Systems is, but to most consumers it would have sounded as though she was speaking another language.
11. You have to deposit $50 - cash or check she says.
12. I’m used doing everything electronically so I ask - “Can’t a fund it online through an ACH?”
13. Looks at me blankly - “no - check or cash - there’s an ATM right outside.”
14. I go draw $60.
15. She walks me back to a teller. “Can you please give him $10 back and deposit $50″
16. I get a receipt and $10 and I’m all set…

I guess I can’t complain. This is the reason why there’s an opportunity for Higher One to keep growing for years to come. You tell me- if you are a student or not, would you rather go through this - or take 2-5 minutes online whenver you want.

For the first time I saw two ads that actually encouraged consumers to do independent research on their products. The first was for GMC trucks. They encouraged consumers to confirm their claims by visiting Kelly Blue Book online at KBB.com. The second was Pontiac. They encouraged consumers to “Google” “Pontiac” and find out for themselves. They even showed a screenshot of the google homepage with “pontiac” in the search box!

I had never seen this before. Essentially the companies where saying, “trust us - go do the research and you’ll find that what we said in this ad is true.”

Recently in the advertising management class that I am auditing (taught by Dina Mayzlin), we discussed product pricing, online price comparison services, and search costs. Car purchases are significant and consumers are willing to do research to find the best deal. Studies have shown that informed consumers have lowered dealer margins. It’s interesting to see companies encouraging consumers to do online research. Perhaps it’s a case of if you can’t beat them, join them. They know consumers will do the research, so why not encourage it and build brand trust and hopefully increase market share… Interesting to see if this becomes a trend.

I just downloaded and installed Zoundry - www.Zoundry.com. It’s a great blogwriter that also makes it easy to insert affiliate links. For example, let’s say I want to recommend some great marketing books. I can use Zoundry to do it through Amazon really easily. Check out Dave Balter’s great book:

Grapevine : The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing

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Ice Rocket : Blogging, Marketing, Podcasts, Word of Mouth
Flickr : WOM, blog, blogging, marketing, podcast, word of mouth
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How to Discover a Million-Dollar Idea - Entrepreneur.com - MSNBC.com

MSNBC.com has picked up the Entrepreneur article that Higher One was featured in…

Money writes about Multiverse at Demo 2006
Apparently Money online agrees with me about Multiverse. Here’s what they wrote about Multiverse at Demo 2006:
“One of the coolest presentations came on Wednesday from the Multiverse Network, which has developed a platform to easily and more cheaply build massively multiplayer online games. The company’s pitch is that we could all soon build our own World Of Warcraft or Everquest, and see what kind of community populates it.”

WOMBAT #1.10

Check it out… Word of mouth is a big part of Higher One’s ongoing success.