Marketing

On Monday, Seamless North America and GrubHub Inc. announced the signing of a definitive agreement that will merge two of the nation’s premier services for ordering takeout. If you have any doubts about the powerhouse this coupling will produce, consider this: in 2012, the online and mobile platforms of the two organizations sent approximately $875 million in gross food sales to local takeout restaurants, resulting in combined revenue well in excess of $100 million. According to a joint announcement issued this morning, the merger will create a combined company in a strong position to “drive more orders to restaurants, deliver a better experience for hungry diners and enhance services to corporate clients.” We’re told that the combined organization will enable diners and companies in more than 500 cities across the U.S. to order from more than 20,000 local takeout restaurants. “We are excited to combine the strengths of these two dynamic organizations in an industry that is rapidly gaining traction. We believe the merger will enhance the products we are able to offer both our diners and restaurants,” explained Matt Maloney, GrubHub co-founder and CEO. “GrubHub and Seamless share a common goal to generate more business for local takeout restaurants while providing the best possible service to diners. By combining our complementary restaurant and diner networks, we are well positioned for continued growth in a massive market.”

"Certainly Yahoo has a track record of taking cool and making it uncool..."

Telling the story by hand and meditation. I can recall designing and writing out a phrasing by Michelangelo Buonarroti, “By hand, which follows mind and meditation.” It’s actually a telling that follows a longer contemplation: “The best of artists never makes creation That is not hid already in the stone In marble fixed and yet the work is done By hand, which follows mind and meditation.” The point comes down to the notation that the spirit of the mind, and memory, in meditation — the contemplation of an idea, or ideal, that bridges and interweaves that translation, the transforming of dream to expression, pushing out the story and the invention of interpretation. If “illustration” as I recently told a group of brand + design students is about making something “shine;” and that “translation” — is a transferring [which inherently means a carrying or a ferrying], while transforming is a movement through form, the idea of the hand touch carries through each and each is a lensed treatment of the perspective of the soulful insight — these movements are signs, signals, signatures and sigils of — the person. As in the founding meaning of the word “interpret” is “to spread” — to explain, expound and understand — all of these are journeys in which the hand plays a part in the telling of that story. A friend, Steve Heller, art director, writer, educator, publisher and scholar sent this link, his blog notations, along to me, a blog that he found relevant to my commentary, a non-digital laboratory in a wholly digital company; the analog lab at Facebook. A key message from Heller’s discussions: “Barry’s Analog Lab team art directs the physical spaces and signage programs to insure that design reinforces the Facebook culture. And recently an artist in residency program was instituted, where outside artists are invited to create work for a period of two to eight weeks. And quoting Ben Barry, the art director of the Facebook Analog Design laboratory, a kind of visual brand culture design propaganda messaging office: “To me the act of creating the work is as important as the work itself because we are a culture of hackers/makers/builders.” The touch of anything, especially not contained in the enclave of a screen, is a meaningful deepening of holistic sensation. And becomes more…unforgettable. The hand, matters. Tim Girvin | Girvin Island Studios | Decatur Island G I R V I N |N E W WOWNESS INNOVATION WORKSHOPS CREATING STRATEGIES, PRODUCTS, IDEAS FOR CHANGE. http://bit.ly/vfzyEU

marissamayr: I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr!  We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster. Tumblr has built an amazing place to follow the world’s creators. From art to architecture, fashion to food, Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs.  With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of thefastest-growing media networks in the world.  Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent onsite each month.  On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app, and those users do an average of 7 sessions per day.  Tumblr’s tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network.  The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20%. In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love.  In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences.  The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience. As I’ve said before, companies are all about people.  Getting to know the Tumblr team has been really amazing.  I’ve long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of those who create them.  That’s why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met.  He’s also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I’ve worked with.  His respect for Tumblr’s community of creators is awesome, and I’m absolutely delighted to have him and his entire team join Yahoo!.    Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design — and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day. http://yahoo.tumblr.com/

Track of the Day: Dana Bergquist & Peder G - Sprint (Original Mix)

Good customer service is a staple for any business there is, but it is often times hard to come by. Many companies think they have good customer service when in reality when you ask their customers they tell a different story. According to Brad Tuttle in his book Customer Service Hell 80% of companies say they deliver “superior” customer service, when in reality when they asked their customers only around 8% said the service “superior”. This is a problem… however, it means that there is room to improve! One thing I have learned that works well for us is taking those negative experiences and turning them into positives for your customer. Often times companies think just giving stuff away to customers is the best way to make them happy, true that does work to some extent, but the problem can be handled in other ways that won’t cost you a dime. For example, if someone is asking for a refund for product ask them what is it about the product that they didn’t like, or what they feel needs to be changed. These questions can provide you insight about your product and what needs to be changed. When you ask a customer why they wanted a refund be sure to let them know that you are currently in the process of getting them their money back. When the customer knows that you are not just trying to talk them out of getting a refund they are more likely to cooperate with you. I would say that about a 1/3 of the time asking my customers what is was they didn’t like about the product it was just a simple misunderstanding of the product or they were simply confused about some of the material. During this time I am able to clear up their issues and they end up canceling their refund. So as you can see I turned that positive into a negative and it didn’t cost me a dime, just my time. According to Jim Moran Institute and Lee Resources close to 70% of customers will do business with you again if you resolve a complaint in their favor. Like I said turn that complaint into a positive! Trying to increase your Google rank that is like no other?

If you approach Monday from the right perspective, it can be your favorite day of the week.It's Monday morning--early. Soon, my Facebook feed will start to fill up with "I hate Monday!" and "Looks like Monday snuck up on us again!" posts. To which I respond, "Fools! I love Mondays!"Maybe my reaction is not typical, but here's why I love Mondays.I'm an introvert who works at home. I love my husband and my children dearly, and I do look forward to the weekends, where we do a lot of stuff together. But, they are extroverts and I'm not. I'm an introvert, which means I need some alone time to recharge. From the time school gets out Friday until everyone is out the door on Monday, that time is rare. But, Monday morning comes, and I drop the kids off at school, and kiss my husband and send him to his office, and then I can sit down in front of my computer, alone. In the quiet. And did I mention, alone? Ahh, bliss.I'm also a bit of a workaholic. Sometimes I joke about being lazy, and I am with certain things (like folding laundry and washing windows). But, I'm not when it comes to writing, which is what I do for a living. I write a lot. I read a lot, in order to be able to write things that are of value. I talk to a lot of people. (Yes, I know the taking to people seems to contradict the introvert thing above, but there's a difference between chit-chatting with someone at the church picnic and interviewing someone about their micro-multinational business.) So, I like to get back to Monday mornings, when I can get some work done.Monday is full of possibilities. Monday gives you a whole week to look forward to! I like to take time on Monday morning to review my schedule and plan for the week. See what is coming up, with whom I need to speak, and what needs to be done. I do try to wrap lots of things up on Fridays so I don't get hit with old stuff on Mondays (although that isn't always possible). But, Monday is the time to start fresh.Nobody else likes Mondays. Okay, I admit it. I do like to rub my love of Mondays into my Monday hating friends. They don't call me Evil HR Lady for nothing.

Sprint Nextel has acquired mobile software development and distribution firm Handmark, along with its social media apps and ad unit, OneLouder. The deal officially closed last month. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Brains aren't inexhaustible; like any piece of sophisticated equipment, they're delicate and can break.I got kidnapped one weekend last month. My husband and daughter pretty much frog-marched me out of the house, into the car, and out of town. I didn't know where I was going but was promised I could be back at my desk in 48 hours.I found it wonderfully soothing that I didn't know where we were going or what we would be doing. I hadn't made the plans so didn't feel responsible for them. All I knew was that I wasn't allowed to work.And then I found myself ensconced in an insanely-charming hotel overlooking the sea. We ate a lot of wonderful fish, had some great conversations and, the next day, went for a challenging walk that ended with a great outdoor lunch.The reason for my kidnapping was complicated but suffice it to say that this was my first day off since New Year's Day. I had seriously forgotten how to do anything except work. I worked in my sleep and in the bath, I talked about work over meals, and listened to work while I cooked dinner. I wasn't much fun to be around and it wasn't a ton of fun being me. But worst of all was knowing the perils of overwork. Clock in more than 11 hours a day (something I did regularly) and you significantly increase your chances of depression and cognitive decline. You forget words, are less good at solving problems, and find it harder to be creative.Knowing this should make you work differently. Anyone managing another human being needs to remember that brains aren't inexhaustible; like any piece of sophisticated equipment, they're delicate and can break. Many organizations are led by bulls in china shops, wantonly wrecking the assets they most depend upon.My biggest problem, of course, is that I work for myself. I don't have a boss to tell me to stop and I'm lucky enough to love what I do. Like most entrepreneurs, it's hard for me to see where work stops and I start--and that's how I like it. But the medical evidence scared me--it still scares me--and I think that, overall, I'd rather have a long career than go out in a blaze of glory.So I was lucky to be kidnapped. Within 47 hours and 35 minutes, I was back at my desk. But not for long....

Mark Suster explains why you should never be afraid to ask for what you want.No.The one word the best entrepreneurs never accept.I said it.Now let me walk you through a broader story because avoidance of the word in and of itself will seem cliche. Stay with me.When I was little I had a role model for entrepreneurship - my mom. She was a natural leader. She was president of the UJA in Sacramento. From this I saw civic involvement and leadership first hand.She was a nurse but was never graduated from a four-year college. Still -- she can do the NY Times crossword puzzle better and faster than I. Even today.She was a hustler. And a ball buster. And a natural sales person. She was never afraid of the word "no" even to the point of embarrassing me.My youth was filled with her arguing with vendors if they tried to pull a fast one. As my wife will tell you -- arguing is cultural -- you grow up with it or you don't. I did. It's very Jewish. For better or worse. She's learned to embrace it in me. If a maitre d' tries to seat me at a table in huge traffic flow or a corner she knows not to bother sitting down.My mom bought our family's first computer and encouraged me to learn it at 13.She opened two businesses -- a bakery and then a restaurant. I worked in both before leaving to work in a software company at 17. I never knew a world in which you weren't supposed to work and make money. Even though my dad was a doctor and in retrospect I probably didn't need to earn my own money. My mom always taught me it was my responsibility to do so.When I was younger my mom taught me something I never forgot:"You don't ask, you don't get."It's simple. I know. But it amazes me how many people don't really get it.Here are two stories: Story one: When I lived and worked in London my wonderful assistant was Deborah Halliday, who was raised a very "proper" British young lady. Her brother played rugby for the English rugby team and went to Oxford. That’s kind of like having a brother in the NFL in the US.If there was any society in which being a hustler was out of step with the norm is was England. Yet I was a foreigner so I got away with being different.I used to ask Deborah to book my travel plans in France and Germany were I went one to two times a month. There were online tools to book this stuff but the Internet booking sites were early.I would tell Deborah, "I found this hotel near the Champs Elysees for 170 Euros. But I don't want to pay that much. Tell them I'll stay if they'll give it to me for 120 Euros.""What? You want … what? Mark, you can't do that! You can’t just name your own price."Me: "Of course, I can. Tell them you found a hotel down the street for 100 Euros but I prefer to stay at their hotel. Haggle. See what you can do."Deborah was mortified. Bless her cotton socks. I put her outside of her comfort zone.Me: "Deborah, you don't ask, you don't get! What’s the worst they can tell you? "No?" If so, we'll call back an hour later and pay 170 Euros. It's not like they're going to tell you 'no' in an hour. You might as well try!"Classic Mexican Road strategy.Here's the thing. They NEVER said 'no.' Such were the times. They weren't fully occupied.She began to love it. It was liberating. I taught her to make it a game. I would challenge her to see how cheap she could get rooms. I can still hear her giggle at how ridiculous it was in her mind's eye. And yet how eye-opening it was that you could have almost anything you wanted. If you just asked.Story two:Fast forward. My son Jacob. He's now 10. When he was seven or eight, my wife used to sit down with him to do homework and train him in the importance of getting it done early and well. Luckily I have such a terrific and organized wife. Or Jacob would be screwed.They sometimes did homework at Le Pain Quotidien. And if Jacob was good, he could get a treat.Tania once took him up to the counter to pick out a treat. He pointed at a chocolate cake and told Tania he wanted a p