AIAIO: Our Blog

Ai folks have become quite fond of Bath & Body Works foaming hand soaps. Sadly, the arsenal of soaps we once had–seven different scents lined up at our kitchen sink–has been dwindling. Today a few of us went to the Bath & Body Works store, not even one block down from our office, to pick up some new foamy, sweet-smelling, anti-bacterial soaps. (I even got some for myself because I love it and I have no problem admitting this.)
I left the store with a bag of hand soap and what appeared to be some coupons. One of them was actually a letter, printed on Bath & Body Works corporate stationery. This turned out to be a letter to customers, informing them that the Fifth Avenue location would be closing later this month.
It is a great idea to inform customers of location changes, so they will not be completely shocked one day when they arrive at a locked door of a now-vacant storefront. It is an even better idea to give customers incentive to continue shopping at other locations by providing coupons. Sure enough, the letter in my bag was also a coupon, giving street addresses and phone numbers of other Bath & Body Works locations in the New York City area.
I love the concept behind this: “We have to close our store, and that sucks, but we have other stores and we value your business and would like you to find a new location to shop at. Here is a discount on your next purchase, should you choose to continue shopping with us.” There is even a phone number listed to their Customer Relations Department, should anyone wish to inquire about why the store is closing or any other questions regarding the company in general.
This format of open communication between retailer and customer inspires a sense of loyalty and value that goes both ways: a retailer staying loyal to the customers they value, and customers staying loyal to the retailer which values them.
I will absolutely use this coupon at a different location, not only because I like their hand soaps and can get a discount, but also because they have shown concern for customers like me.

One of our designers recently used her new Sony digital camera to take some office photos. As she did not have the USB connector with her, she looked for a device to pop the Memory Stick into, so she could upload her photos onto a computer. Unfortunately, as we found out, the technology of her camera was too new for anything else in this office.
Sony, it seems, is playing hard to get with its devices. This brings up the issue of vendor lock-in, where a consumer must incur the setup costs to adopt a new product that a vendor is offering.
The Sony Memory Stick in our designer’s camera, a proprietary design, is completely different from the one in my own Sony camera. Further investigation shed some light on the matter, in that Sony had created a new kind of Memory Stick, dubbed, “Memory Stick Pro Duo.” Wow.
This is a completely new technology–the new cards can hold a larger amount of data and have more functionality to work with video capturing and file-transfer rates. Awesome! I am at least glad that Sony is keeping up on their game to push advancements in technology. But they are forgetting about many of their loyal consumers, not to mention other electronics manufacturers who have built-in Sony Memory Stick Pro slots in their products.
What Sony has done is separate its consumer base. Older media will still function but are not compatible with their newer ones. Even the USB cable that comes with a newer model of Sony camera is no longer compatible. I can make a reasonable assumption that a year from now, if I needed to purchase an older model Memory Stick Pro card for my personal camera, I would have to buy it used or refurbished, or I’d simply have to buy in to Sony’s new technology.
This is where vendor lock-in comes into play. If I become dependent on a technology, but said technology advances, I am left with little choice but to upgrade if I want to continue using the product. I could switch to another brand, but in the end I would still be spending money to transition to a new product, whether with the same vendor or a new one.
I have seen similar issues arise over time. Technology changes, which I both understand and accept. Advancements must be made to improve the quality and functionality of a growing technological industry. As a result, consumers are almost forced to upgrade their devices and technology in order to keep up with the revisions that electronics developers and manufacturers come up with.

Launching a website is time for celebration at Ai, as it marks the end of a phase for us. It is a gratifying feeling for all who have worked on a project to see it pushed into the world of the internet for all to see.
One of our office traditions is the creation of project memorabilia. Upon wrapping a project, it is common for all who worked on it to leave their signature on an item related to the gig.
For instance, upon launching Continental Restaurant Week 2008, the team all signed a chef’s hat:

For Contract Pharmacal Corporation, a pharmaceutical drug manufacturer: two giant aspirin pill paperweights, autographed last week:

This ritual is another way for our team to feel a sense of accomplishment aside from the golive. It allows us to leave our mark within the office, displayed on the famed Orange Wall in our foosball room. It is generally initiated by the project manager of a project as a “Thank You” and “Job Well Done” to their team, and is a fine example of how much pride Ai employees take in their work.