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July 01, 2005
Vespa's customer evangelist blog
Vespa's customer evangelist blogs have launched, according to Steve Rubel. These customer blogs are a terrific idea for building community among existing customers, a core tenet to customer evangelism.
Not everyone is sure, though. One comment on Steve's post today says:
I'm sure [the Vespa blog] will be interesting for existing Vespa fans but will it attract new customers? Or is that not the intent? Strengthening the brand is a legitimate goal, but isn't the endgame of all this to eventually drive sales?
Of course it will drive sales. A Vespa is not an impulse purchase. Prospective customers will almost surely go online to research the Vespa... and voila! The Vespaway blog will show up in results. Prospects will read the bloggers' real-life posts and eventually become a forum for questions and answers and in a larger sense, the de facto forum for the "Vespa Lifestyle." Just like Harley-Davidson. In essence, the customers become the sales people.
All of this is especially important for women buyers. When it comes to high-end products, women are typically research hounds. (Listen to our last podcast for advice from a marketing-to-women expert on how women buy.)
For any company, whether it's Vespa, GM, Whirpool or a thousand other brands, a blog can quickly become a key research tool for prospects to find real-world, authentic advice and information. But only if you let it.
Other blogs that reference Vespa's customer evangelist blog:
» Il vespablog è tra noi / 2 from Blogs4biz
Il giorno dopo il debutto di Vespaway, Jackie Huba di Church of the Customer parla dell'iniziativa e spiega perché la ritenga vincente: "questi blog curati da clienti sono uno strumento incredibilmente efficienti per costruire una comunità intorno a un... [Read More]
» Introducing the Vespa blog
from Adverblog
The Vespa blog we talked about a few weeks ago has been eventually launched in the United States. Customer blogs can prove extremely powerful in building communities among existing customers. [Read More]
» The Value of A Corporate Blog from BeConnected
Jackie Huba sums up the value of a product blog: For any company, whether it's Vespa, GM, Whirpool or a thousand other brands, a blog can quickly become a key research tool for prospects to find real-world, authentic advice and information.... Whe... [Read More]
» Brand Democratization Catches Fire from Splintered Channels
You can't shake a stick these days without hitting a blog post or business rag that mentions some incarnation of brand democratization (e.g., remix culture, collaboration marketing, co-creation, participatory advertising, CGM). AdRants, Business 2.0 Bl... [Read More]
Can you site a specific reference that proves the the FastTrack blog has helped GM sell more Pontiacs? Seems like there hasn't been much ROI associated with the GM blog, particularly when you consider that Bob Lutz makes $4.4 million dollars a year. Certainly his time could be better spent.
Shuggie,
The blog does not have "call to action" and is not a direct-to-consumer sales tactic. It is an indirect marketing tactic.
It builds loyalty among current GM fans who can "talk" with Bob Lutz. It also provides a mechanism for people to give direct feedback to the company.
There are lots of problems with GM these days. One of which is that GM is not listening to its customers. The blog is one way to start fixing that problem.
Joining a "church" is not exactly what comes to mind when I am "Vesparizing". That is a word I use when I am thinking about things that go scoot in the night (and day!) I am enjoying my firstever scoot at age 62, and am waiting to become experienced and relaxed enough when I ride it to release the death grip I have on the handlebar to be able to wave back at other motorized two-wheeled riders who probably think I am one of the those weird elite Vespa cultists they hear about. At any rate, I would appreciate a litte feedback on how I can vaporize the butterflies that appear in my stomach when I hit 40 on speedometer.
Hey Vespa Advocates,
I am loving my ET 4-150 which I purchased new in New Orleans. Days later Katrina hit and forced the dealer into gypsy mode; dealer relocated to Baton Rouge.
Having just received 650 mile first service, I was stunned at the bloated invoice of $197...and was told they only get worse! It included replacing/installing a front turn signal assembly...otherwise, a very standard service interval - regular stuff done to my brand new machine.
Is there any alternative to such over-pricing?
Your comments please.
Dennis
Repair prices are gouging. I knocked my neighbor's off the kickstand and it fell on the left side. The dealer estimates the repair cost to range from $1500 to $3000. I could repaint my entire car and fix major body work for that price. They claim they have to disassemble the entire bike to just replace a part, thus a minimum 10 hour labor charge.
I can just imagine the insurance rates if the insurers knew that slight damage to a $5000 vehicle would cost $3000 to repair.
I am having problems with a Dealership repairing my son's scooter. The Scooter has a sticking throttle and caused my son to lay the scooter down to keep from hitting a car. I took the scooter in to have this looked at and the dealer has had it for the last 3 plus months and it is not fixed. At this point, I don't even want the scooter anymore (it's not that I don't like it, it is a question of the service that I am going to have to deal with when ever I take this scooter in) I just want my money back so I can purchase my son a scooter from a dealership that will stand behind their work and their product. The dealership that I am in issue with is Vespa of Cincinnati, Akron, and Cleveland. All three are owned by the same owner...Ron Wesley.. I will never purchase another Vespa or Piaggio Scooter, and would not recomend purchasing anything from this dealership.
I have talked with PiaggioUSA, and they are going to talk with the Owner....Big Deal... I want to see something done here... If anyone knows of who I can talk to higher up in the Piaggio food chain (higher that costomer care) please let me know......
Thank you
Yes Tom, this is not unusual here in Brisbane, Queensland either. I am in the mood to buy another Vespa, a 250 GT, but I am resisting because I know they gouge on service charges. I maintain my own quite ancient large bike, so I know I can deal with the Vespa maintenance myself, but they void the warranty if you don't take the first service. Silly bastards. I have $10,000 (Australian dollars) I want to spend on a new Vespa but they want $250+ for a service, so I'm taking my time to make my decison. If anyone has any ideas about how to dodge this gouging and keep the warranty I'd like to know.
I was about to purchase two Vespas, one for myself and one for my wife, until I found this blog site. The scooters seem to be engineered great, and have a wonderful history, but the service sounds like trouble. I would hate to invest $$ and be gouged everytime I take my bikes into the shop. I will just explore other options until Vespa gets their dealer back in line.
i have a lot of stocks of used vespa piaggio starting 1960 until 1990, various kinds of models and colours, all of them already re-paint and machine in a perfect condition(just like new),if anyone of u interested to import vespa from me, kindly contact my email at ericstarltd@telkom.net or just sms to +628192662250
Just purchased an 2005 piaggio x9 500 and have no books.........need to know the fuse values and locations of the 4 fuses on lt side near the battery.......
