A tool that I found especially useful was the empathy map. Prior to idea generation and development, we had to get a good understanding of our persona. By breaking down our persona into Think & Feel, See, Hear, Say & Do, Pain, and Fear, we could better analyze each aspect of our persona. Granted some of our points were redundant, but by getting a deeper understanding of how our personas saw their world, what they felt, and what they wanted, we could better serve their needs. The empathy map served as a guide in the development of our research as well. Though in past projects we had done a general analysis of our segments, the empathy map allowed me to delve deeper than I’ve ever had to before and get a more realistic idea of what our persona’s life was like.

Even though the project was ambiguous, there was a clear flow from one step to another. I felt that each part of the project—persona, research, problem statement, rough prototype, and final prototype—were all necessary. Of course in each individual phase of the project we had to provide what we learned and any problems we faced. I personally did not feel that this was relevant at all. At least in my group, we focused more on the actual phase of the project than the reflections. As we did the project, we came up with problems to put on the reflection slide. However, we never referred back to it. I feel that instead of making the reflections slide mandatory, it should have been optional. This way groups that had questions or problems could put those issues on the slide, but other group wouldn’t be forced to waste time creating questions or problems just to fill up space on the slide.

The insight/experience audit and prototype project was probably the most ambiguous project I’ve ever had to complete. I think its lack of structure was what allowed my group to exercise our “creative juices.” However, I remember being very frustrated with the ambiguous nature of the project. I like structure and concreteness. It is very difficult for me to work on something without knowing what the end is supposed to look like. Other members of my group were way more comfortable with ambiguity. They taught me to take things one step at a time rather than constantly worrying about the end result. As with any group project, coordinating times for everyone to meet was especially difficult. We often found ourselves completing the phase report at the last minute. It was frustrating to have to rush through the phase report because of our schedules. I felt that Professor Walls provided really good feedback to help us tweak our rough prototype in order to make it more feasible. Without his help, we would have had some issues with our business model since we were depending on ABC instead of Belo Corporation to partner with Facebook. I wouldn’t say this was the most enjoyable project that I’ve had to complete, but it wasn’t the worse. I feel that if I had a product/service I was more passionate about and if my team didn’t have just a difficult time meeting, I would have enjoyed the project more. Regardless of our scheduling conflicts, I feel that working with my team helped me better enjoy the project. Like I said earlier, my team members actually helped me handle the ambiguity of the task at hand. I think I would have had a harder time without them.

Customer Segment

Young professionals in their late 20s to early 30s that live and work in the Austin area and have professional degrees are an ideal segment for Austin360.  I chose this segment because its members are making money, but do not have the responsibilities (children, mortgages, etc.) of older professionals. Therefore, they can spend more time being out and about Austin. Since Austin360 serves as a guide to what there is to do in Austin, this customer segment can definitely take advantage of what the website has to offer. For the most part, people in their late 20s and early 30s are heavy users of the internet, which is why it makes sense that Austin360 may be a suitable place for this segment to get their information.

Value Proposition

Austin360 offers a convenient, free, localized, and easy-to-use experience for young professionals.

The website is a one stop place for information on entertainment available in Austin. Someone can go on the website to see what movies are playing and end up deciding on a movie based on the movie blogs as well as choosing a restaurant to try before the movie. The information on Austin360 can also be accessed through smart phones (something that most people in this segment own). The website is very convenient for this on-the-go, tech savvy, and active segment.

The fact that this website is open to everyone free of charge is of great value to this segment. All the information on the website can be accessed with the click of a mouse (or finger if you’re using a smart phone) for free! Since our segment is made up of YOUNG professionals, it is safe to say that they are just starting off at work. This means that they may not be making that much money. No one in this segment would want to pay for information, especially when they can get this information for free from other websites. Of course, it may be hard to find such localized information compiled on one site like Austin360.

This brings us to another aspect of Austin360’s value proposition for this segment—localized content. Sure with the internet, there are tons of websites that can offer similar information. All you have to do is search in Google. However, with Austin360, the entertainment information is geared specifically for Austin residents, and all the information is in one place. One can do a basic search of music events on Google and pick through the results to see which events are in Austin. Or one can go to Austin360, click the Music drop down list and go from there.

Austin360 is also very easy to use. You can explore the website based on topic (Events, Music, Movies, Food/Drink, etc.) or you can use the search box (type in what you’re looking for, where, and when). Though the website opens to the Entertainment page, you can click on the News tab to access local news. News can be narrowed down by tabs (Sports, Business, Life, etc.).

Customer Relationship

Austin360 provides self-service and community relationships to its customers. Since Austin360 is a website, it provides a self-service experience. There is no one there to guide you through the website. You go where you want to go. For the young professional segment, that is perfectly okay because many of them are independent, have an idea of what they’re looking for, and can get around the website without much frustration. The website builds community relations because it serves the Austin community by providing information relevant to Austin residents.

Channels

Austin360 uses the Internet as its primary medium. However, there is a print version available inside Thursday editions of Austin American Statesman. The young professional segment is more likely to take advantage of Austin360 on the Internet than in print. People can also sign up for Austin360’s newsletter to get regular updates on what’s going on around Austin.

Revenue Streams

Since Austin360 is a free, non-subscription based service, it relies heavily on advertising for its revenue. Ads are placed throughout the site. Young professionals have grown up with ads on free services. Even free games on smart phones have ads. Therefore, ads on Austin360 are not a bother to this segment. Most of the time, this segment will just tune out the ads unless the ads are extremely relevant. Of course, this tuning out of the ads may have a negative effect on Austin360′s revenue if revenue is received on a pay-per-click basis. If everyone tunes out the ads, no one will be clicking on the ads, which means that Austin360 will not be earning any revenue. In order to do well on the revenue side, Austin360 will have to ensure that the ads are targeted and relevant to the viewers.

I love e-books because of the convenience and reader experience. If I’m interested in reading a book, I just have to click a few buttons and voila—a novel is ready to read.  I can search for recommendations online, and as soon as something catches my eye, I can purchase it. If I see a book on sale (I love the 99 cent sales!), I don’t have to waste time (and gas money) driving to a bookstore in order to take advantage of the reduced price. Not only is the purchase of an e-book easier than traditional books, I feel that the user experience is better. With the advent of dedicated e-readers like the Kindle and Nook, tablets like the iPad, and e-book apps for smart phones such as Aldiko, I can read a book absolutely anywhere I want. I don’t have to CARRY a book with me. Nor do I have to decide what book I want to read ahead of time. With e-books, I can have a library of books on my phone, tablet, or e-reader…all just a touch away. I also don’t need to worry about losing my place in the book since most e-book readers allow me to bookmark where I left off. No more losing plastic bookmarks or having to fold the edges of pages to mark my place!

I tend to read my e-books on my laptop. I don’t even have to HOLD the book. I can literally set the laptop on my stomach and click a button every time I want to flip a page. If I want to change positions, I can get on my side and prop the laptop on my bed. With a traditional book, I’d have to hold the book during my reading experience. Since I have a tendency to finish books in one sitting (about 4-5 hours), having to hold a book wouldn’t be comfortable. Also, though I don’t suggest this, reading in the dark is actually plausible with e-books if the device you are reading on has some kind of light. For college students that share a room but want to read late into the night, this is a huge plus!

So now that I’ve finished my spiel on why e-books are so great, what exactly do I want to do with this topic? Well, I’d like to explore the following things:

• Why do people prefer e-books over traditional books and vice versa?
• Is the growth in e-books in a particular genre (romance?) or in all genres?
• What types of consumers (age groups, genders, etc.) are jumping on the e-book bandwagon?
• With e-books, more authors are self-publishing. Is this affecting the quality of books? In other words, is the rise of the e-book leading to a fall in the quality of the work?
• How are authors, publishing houses, and traditional book retailers dealing with this change from paper/hardback to electronic?
• What kind of security concerns result from e-books? I know leaked books and piracy are definitely an issue.
• What are the parallels between the change in the publishing industry and the changes in the music industry? And what does this tell us about the future of the publishing industry?

I feel that this huge shift from traditional to electronic books has a huge impact on customer experience because the change is essentially in how customers EXPERIENCE books. Though change is tough to deal with, many think that this change may actually be good for the publishing industry.

According to an article in the Economist titled “Great Digital Expectations,” publishers don’t believe they will suffer the negative fate of the music and newspaper publishing industries. Since e-books have a high profit margin with none of the inventory management issues of traditional books, publishers may be better off with the change. However, due to the small size of e-books, piracy is a huge concern.

The article also points out that with traditional novels, prices could be set based on physical differences—paperback vs. hardback or new vs. old. However, all e-books are physically the same, leaving the only distinguishable factor to be the story itself. New, self-publishing authors are flooding the market with their super low priced e-books in order to compete with established authors that have the backing of big publishing houses.  This difference in pricing when there is not a physical difference may be tough to swallow so publishing houses and authors may have to work extra hard to make readers see the VALUE in their books. The question is how?

We don’t have a Sephora where I’m from so if you wanted to buy perfume, you would buy it from a department store or one of those perfume carts at the mall. Neither option was very cheap. One day I received a coupon in my inbox for $15 off of a Sephora purchase. Those who know about Sephora know that they very rarely give coupons so I decided to head to a Sephora in Austin (where I go to school) and take advantage of such a rare occasion. I went with a group of friends (of course they just wanted to see the mall in general…I was strictly interested in Sephora).

As soon as I walked into Sephora, cool air carrying the scents of hundreds of perfumes wafted toward me. The spicy scents, the sweet scents, the fresh scents, the musky scents…I felt like I was in heaven. I walked to the wall of perfumes on my right, finding my favorites and spritzing some on the tester sheets. I shared my favorite fragrances with my friends, and they shared theirs with me. I then took one of those fragrance personality tests that Sephora has and smelled all the perfumes recommended for me. As I drifted farther down the wall of perfumes, something else caught my eye. Bare Minerals makeup kits were on sale for $40!

I was surprised that anything besides perfume even caught my eye at Sephora. I had been meaning to get a Bare Minerals make up kit for months now but the price (at $60 was too steep for me). I kept comparing Sephora’s perfume pricing to the pricing I would find online for perfumes, and even with the Sephora coupon, I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much for a small bottle of perfume. However, the Bare Minerals kit would cost me only $25…compared to $60, that’s a steal!

Happy that I had made a purchase decision, I asked a worker at Sephora to test my skin for the right shade. The employee said she would send someone over to test my skin. I waited for 10 minutes and no one came. Since I was still next to that big, enticing wall of perfume, I decided to explore more scents.

Sephora allows you to get 3 samples of perfumes a day. I couldn’t narrow down my choices to 3 so I asked my friends to get some samples for me as well. The employee getting our samples ready became annoyed, even going as far as saying “that’s the last sample for you” to one of my friends (who had only asked for one sample). Normally, I would be annoyed with the crappy customer service. After all, long waits and bad attitudes aren’t the way to win customers. But I was in heaven…who gets mad in heaven?

Eventually my friends got tired of waiting with me and decided to explore other stores at the mall. I continued to smell perfumes. I had to remind an employee that I needed to get my skin tested before someone finally came over to test the make up on me. Having made a decision on the color I wanted, I walked to the register to ring up my purchase. When I got to the register, the makeup showed up as $60. I was alarmed! I told the cashier that that could not be right. He called the manager over who told me that the sale was technically over, but she would give it to me for the sale price. I provided my coupon, charged the makeup on my card, and happily headed out of Sephora—but not before stopping to sniff one more perfume on the display at the front of the store.

So what did this experience tell me about myself? No matter how crappy the service, if I think that I got a good deal, I’ll be happy. In fact, the first thing I did when I left Sephora was call my friend to gloat about the amazing deal I got on Bare Minerals. I also noticed that even though waiting is painful, when I’m surrounded by something I love (perfumes), I don’t mind the wait. I was entertained during what could have been a bad customer experience. I walked out with what I deemed a great price and two or three perfumes to add to my wish list.

As an advertising major with a focus on the the creative process, Tyler is definitely artistic. Though he understands business, he sees big business and major corporations as corrupt entities that drain the creativity out of advertising. He would rather work somewhere where he will be free to do as he wishes. No conformity for him. If a job doesn’t give him creative leeway, then he wants nothing to do with it. In this economy getting a job is difficult enough. But Tyler doesn’t believe in the saying beggars can’t be choosers. He knows finding the perfect job for him is like finding a needle in a haystack, but he’s willing to go through the entire haystack for that needle. And if finding that needle takes too long, there’s always grad school as a back up plan.

Though Tyler may be patient about his job search, the same cannot be said of his parents. While Tyler looks for the perfect job, he is living at home with his parents. His parents are from a community where being unemployed is seen as failure. They don’t understand why Tyler does not have a job. After all, isn’t everyone supposed to have a job after college?

As Tyler’s parents harangue him about his unemployed status, Tyler becomes frustrated and resentful. Why can’t his parent’s understand that this is his life, and he doesn’t want some boring desk job that will drain the life out of him? It’s not like he WANTS to be unemployed. Most times he’s bored out of his mind, but that is not a reason to settle for less than the best!  However, Tyler is not unreasonable. He knows his parents are more traditional and have certain expectations of him. In order to appease them, Tyler tries to be a more dutiful son, running errand after errand without complaint. After all, his parents are supporting him financially, and it’s the least he can do.

As Tyler continues his search for the perfect job, he fills his days with classic movies and music. He loves playing with design software (since design is what he ultimately wants to do) such as photoshop on his Mac (he denounces everything Windows). Though he doesn’t consider himself a techie, more often then not,Tyler’s friends reach out to him with tech related issues. Having the answers makes Tyler feel useful–a welcome feeling after the boredom that comes with being unemployed.

Though he has technically graduated, Tyler has not completely moved on from college life. He still has no job or finanancial responsbility, and he often visits his college town because most of his friends are still in college.

Tyler is always looking for something new and interesting–whether it’s a new technology, web site, or media. He is an avid user of social media and likes to keep up to date with what is happening in the world. Tyler is very opinionated and likes to critique films, television shows, and pop culture in general. He often acts as an influencer, especially to his friends that are still in college. His friend’s view him as an authority on almost anything he talks about because he’s knowledgeable on so many subjects.

Though Tyler values individuality and creative expression, he can’t stand pointless drama or when people fail to be logical. In his own way, Tyler is a study of balance–the balance between creative thinker and logical thinker, the balance between an undergrad student and post-grad adult,  and the balance between an individualistic boy and dutiful son.

Considering that Simpson has been on the butt-end of many jokes about her weight, this is actually a great opportunity for Simpson to show the world that weight doesn’t matter. With her sense of humor, and signature blonde moments, she can actually lighten up a controversial topic. However, there is a problem that she needs to overcome with the help of a good publicist.

Though this show is about to air in March, there hasn’t been much buzz about it. Yes, there have been a few blog entries about it and an article in the New York Daily News. But what about television?

As Simpson’s publicist, I would try to get her on shows like “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” or “The View,” where Simpson can talk about her experience filming the series and create buzz.  Both shows cater to women, which will probably be Simpson’s prime audience. She can exchange quirky comments with Ellen and talk about the problems behind our view of beauty with the ladies of “The View.” The Ellen appearance could play on Simpson’s fun personality and build her brand. The appearance on “The View” could show her serious side, a side of Simpson that is often overlooked.

A competition, such as a video contest on the subject of beauty, may be another great way to create buzz. The reward could be a day with Simpson.

A spread in a magazine where Simpson discusses her own problems and insecurities can also be a great way to plug her new show.

Creating buzz about this show is so important, and there are so many ways a publicist could do it. It is really important for Simpson to connect with her audience and to show that the issue this series is exploring is really important to her. Otherwise, people will think this series is just another way for Simpson to get back into the limelight.

The first step in apologizing in the entertainment world is through blogs or Twitter.  Mayer sent out his requisite apologies on Twitter, stating that his outrageous comments “started as an attempt to not let the waves of criticism get to me [Mayer], but it’s gotten out of hand and I’ve created somewhat of a monster.”

If Twitter and blog apologies aren’t enough, celebrities apologize on television. That is just what Mayer wanted to do on Oprah, but he was rejected. There is apparently no room for Mayer’s apologies on Oprah’s couch.  What could be the reason? After all, Oprah has hosted many public apologies on her show.

Rumor says that the reason may be Oprah’s close friendship with Mayer’s ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston, who Mayer implied in his interview with Playboy as too old for him and “out of touch” with technology.

So what have we learned from this?

1. Publicists need to prepare their celebrity clients for their interviews before the actual interviews.  Publicists should emphasize what points are and aren’t okay to talk about so that stars like Mayer, who can’t seem to control themselves, have these points fresh in their mind.
2. There are limits to how many times a celebrity can apologize to the public before the public stops listening. It’s a publicist’s job to keep the celebrity from reaching this limit. If a celebrity client does something stupid, the publicist should do something to get the attention off of the client’s blunder. This may involve publicizing something positive about the celebrity, such as the celebrity’s career or involvement in a charity event.
3. Don’t burn bridges. Relationships are important. In Mayer’s case, Oprah’s friendship with Aniston may have contributed to Mayer’s rejection from Oprah’s show.  Though celebrities aren’t easy to control, a publicist should try to emphasize the importance of keeping relationships from going sour. Maybe  apologizing to Aniston and Simpson by sending flowers would have been a good idea in this case.
4. Don’t offend Oprah. She is very influential and has a very loyal audience. Once Oprah’s on your client’s bad side, your client may have a tough time getting back on track.

Celebrity goofs are never good if that celebrity is your client.  Regardless, handling these goofs is a learning experience.

Josh Duhamel, also known as Mr. Fergie, may be facing some serious trouble. Last year, Nicole Forrester, an exotic dancer from Atlanta, claimed to that she and Duhamel had sexual relations. Duhamel denied this claim, and Fergie stood by her man. The couple renewed their wedding vows this January.

Soon the Tiger Woods scandal took over and Duhamel’s mess was put on the back burner. Now, Forrester is back with an even bigger claim. She’s pregnant and the baby is Duhamel’s!

Or at least she’s 95 percent sure it is.

So did he do it? I’m not sure, but I do know that a public relations professional would address this issue immediately, before it becomes too big to handle.

Duhamel can deny the claim all he wants, but with the public already wary about celebrity fidelity (thank you Tiger Woods), Duhamel may not be believed. The public needs objective proof.  What better proof than a paternity test?

Forrester claims to be 3 1/2 pregnant. She is just entering her second trimester, which is an ideal time for a prenatal paternity test. If the results say that Duhamel is not the father of the child, this proof can be presented to the public. With this factual evidence, no one can deny Duhamel’s claim that the baby is not his.

The only problem with this solution is that the public may perceive Duhamel’s push for a paternity test as a sign that there is a possibility that the baby may be his. This would mean that Duhamel did cheat on Fergie, even though his vehemently denied it. Being thought of as a liar is sometimes even worse than being seen as unfaithful and can be really damaging to Duhamel’s reputation. To keep this from happening, or at least to minimize this kind of perception, Duhamel should stress that he and Fergie know he did nothing wrong, and that he is taking the paternity test  just to put to rest the rumors so that he and Fergie may go back to their happy, married lives.

If the results say that Duhamel is indeed the father of the child, then Duhamel should make a public apology right away and share what he plans to do with the baby. This public speech should be drafted with a public relations professional to make sure it won’t cause any public backlash.

Duhamel’s career is just beginning to take off, so he is extremely vulnerable to public opinion right now. Any issued involving him must be dealt with immediately to avoid long-term negative effects on his career. His relationship with his publicist is more important now than ever before.

We haven’t heard much from Swift regarding these criticisms, but one person who’s not keeping his mouth shut is the head of Swift’s record label, Scott Borchetta.

Borchetta has come to the defense of his young star.

“Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it,” he said to The Tennessean. “I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. … She’s an extraordinary songwriter and her vocal performances are getting better. …Maybe in that moment we didn’t have the best night. But in the same breath, maybe we did. And nobody is arguing with the awards.”

Scott Borchetta and Taylor Swift at last year's Grammy's

Photo by Rick Diamond

It’s perfectly all right to praise your singer, but it is definitely not okay to bash others. People don’t seem to want the technically perfect singers? I wonder if the technically perfect singers take offense to that. Also, there is a fine line between praising and gloating, and Borchetta seems really close to crossing that line. Maybe if he had said Swift was “one of the best emotional singers” rather than “the best emotional singer,” he wouldn’t have come off as a jerk tooting his own horn. Where was his publicist before this interview? He or she should have given Borchetta some pointers on tact.

His comments to The Tennessean were bad enough, but his comments regarding American Idol didn’t help matters either.

“This is not ‘American Idol,’” Borchetta said, referring to Swift’s Grammy performance. “This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Kelly Clarkson definitely took umbrage to that. In her blog, Clarkson chastised Borchetta for “lashing out at other artists” instead of learning a lesson from the experience.

Borchetta is the CEO of a record label. You would think he’d been working in the entertainment industry long enough to develop some tact. He may have ruined his chances of ever having a professional relationship with Clarkson and possibly other “technically perfect” artists because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Borchetta’s publicist should have encouraged Borchetta to let the criticisms die down (which they would have in a couple of days). If Borchetta really wanted to say something, he should have just said it was an off night. That would have saved him and Swift from more criticism and scrutiny.

So what lesson did we learn from Borchetta’s screw-up? Watch what you say because it may come back to bite you…in unmentionable places.

Though this is not the first time a Bollywood actor has been immortalized in wax form at Madame Tussauds (nor is it the first time for Khan), it is a first for the Hollywood location. In fact, the Madame Tussauds in London already houses four Bollywood celebrities—Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan (my personal favorite), and Shahrukh Khan. So why does Khan now find his wax clone in Hollywood?

For Madame Tussauds, Khan’s wax figure is a great way to segue into the Asian community. Bollywood is huge! It is the biggest film industry in the world, shelling out an average of over 800 movies per year. In this industry, Khan is king. Recently Newsweek named Khan one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.

With the induction of his wax figure in London, Madame Tussauds noticed a dramatic increase in the number of Asian visitors. Maybe Madame Tussauds hopes for the same effect in Hollywood. To further encourage the Asian community to visit Madame Tussauds in Hollywood, the unveiling of Khan’s wax figure was accompanied by Ishaara, an Indian dance group that gained fame as contestants in “America’s Got Talent.” This is great publicity for Ishaara and another way for Madame Tussauds to appeal to the Asian community. Clearly, their publicists are doing their jobs.

So what does Khan get from this deal? His camp gets a few publicity benefits from the wax figure. Khan is said to be dropping his next film, “My Name is Khan,” on Feb. 12. Is the proximity of the unveiling date to the film release date a coincidence or a carefully planned publicity tactic? I’ll go with the latter. The increased interest in Khan is probably going to translate into increased interested in his new movie. More interest equals more money at the box office. And isn’t that what every publicist wants for his or her movie star client?