Some not-so-random thoughts that are catching my attention this week.
 
In the workplace: Five tips to convert to four days.
                                
Do you think the five-day week work could become a thing of the past? Maybe not any time soon but more companies are looking at the four day weeks. Maybe some that you may know and love and receive trends newsletters from?
 
In this Fast Co. article you’ll hear from a company that implemented the four-day work week and what tips they would share with you, if you are considering it.
 
Workplace trends: New student loan benefits work with 401(k) plans.
 
In what may be one of the most obvious stats of 2019, so far: 74% of Amercians wish they had done more to minimize their student loan debt (Citizens Bank, via The Motley Fool).
 
Which is why helping employees pay down that student loan debt may be one of the most obvious ways to separate yourself when it comes to standing out in the eyes of potential employees.
 
Oops/Tech: Google’s Nest has a built-in microphone…that customers never knew about.
 
Did you hear Google announced an upgrade for its home security and alarm system, Nest Secure, which would now enable the virtual assistant technology, Google Assistant?
 
Problem is…Nest Secure users didn’t realize there was a microphone in the first place…and they might be a tad bit upset that Google didn’t disclose this upfront.
 
Best practices: Conspiracy theories need to be part of your crisis communications plan.              
                                                     
I wish I could tell you that I have never eaten the pizza at Chuck E. Cheese’s. But hey, when you are there for a few hours in the middle of the day for a kids birthday party…and realize all you had to eat that day was half of a granola bar, you become less picky really fast.
 
So given that hunger you probably don’t pay much attention to the fact that the pizza is misshapen. But a conspiracy theorist/YouTube personality did. And he claims that Chuck E. Cheese’s recycles the uneaten pizza from other tables, warms it up and puts it back on the plate for new customers. Whaaat?
 
So the question I ask you here, which Chuck E. Cheese’s proves in the linked Washington Post article, is—should your crisis plan include conspiracy theories?
 
Something to watch: Mastercard just launched a sonic logo.
 
Voice shopping is set to hit $40B by 2022. So it would only make sense that your brand identity now has a sonic component, correct?
 
What’s sonic brand identity? It’s the auditory aspect of your brand. The ‘thump’ as the Netflix logo comes up. The ‘fuzz’ before HBO shows. And now Mastercard wants you to ‘hear’ its brand when you interact with them.
 
Think about it: Why complicate your customer survey?
 
Why does this customer survey have a 48% completion rate – 38% higher than the industry average? Because when it comes to customer surveys you have to keep it simple. Five tips on how to make it easier for your customers to give the valuable feedback you crave.
 
And finally…
I am happy to announce my involvement, along with the akhia leadership team, in the 2019 Man & Woman of the Year program. This program runs for 10 weeks and is through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Literally every dollar raised helps the fight to find cures for blood cancer.
 
You can learn more or donate here.