Altyrian View

Perhaps one of the reasons that CompUSA didn’t make it was because of their customer service. Luckily, the store near me was pretty nice, and I always thought that I was getting good service. Based on posting on the ‘Net, however, good customer service was not part of their corporate culture. Engadget posted the layoff letter that the CompUSA employees got for their holiday gifts (it’s below - click for a bigger version).

Disgusting. First, one would hope that a letter like this would come from the president of the company. Second (and more importantly), the letter should have been written by someone in public relations! If they’ve all been fired, at least someone with a heart. Hey CompUSA, here’s a freebee:

Dear Team Member:

It is with great sorrow that I inform you that CompUSA will be closing its store at … We value your contributions as well as the contributions of your fellow employees in making this location a great store to work and to purchase electronics. Thank you.

We expect your last day of employment to be between February 8, 2008, and February 22, 2008. Your team leader will be able to give you an exact date sometime in January. Unfortunately, our CompUSA stores across the country are being closed so we will not be able to transfer your job to another location.

I understand that this news might come as surprise and that the coming weeks will be difficult. If you would like any additional information about the closing or how this closing might affect you, please call me at … Good luck in your future endeavors!

Sincerely…

Put the legal stuff in small letters in the footer of the page. I’d send an invoice, but …

Imagine a day where the Whopper was no longer sold at Burger King. What would customers say? What would they say if they got a Big Mac instead of a Whopper? Burger King’s new viral campaign asks those questions with some fantastically quotable results. I think this is a great campaign that will get some great coverage. Here’s the full video taken from WhopperFreakout for your enjoyment:

If you live in a state that doesn’t have an early primary vote for party presidential candidate, you haven’t seen any of the ads yet. No HIllary or Obama ads. No Huckabee or Rudy. Indeed nearly every opinion we have of the candidates is based on word of mouth or media reports. For us, the media is playing a much more important role in your decision for president.

And what’s getting press these days? Unless you haven’t turned on a TV or opened a newspaper, you’ve heard about Oprah’s speech for Obama. Nearly 30,000 people came out to hear Oprah. Obama was there too. This morning I heard a commentary questioning whether Oprah would translate into votes. Ummm yeah.

Everyone reading these words has heard a speech delivered by someone with whom they have disagreed. Regardless of how strongly you disagree, if the speaker is strong enough, you are impressed, and in some cases, you begin to see his or her point of view. I think that simply getting people to listen is a big step for any of the politicians running. Today, Obama has Oprah to help facilitate that listening.

At the end of the day, advertisements will shape your opinion of the presidential candidates, but isn’t it exciting that PR is playing such a vital role at this point in the game?