In this age of instant feedback online from consumers, smart companies are taking advantage of the situation by allowing their products to be reviewed by bloggers. While some companies have tried to outwit the public by creating fake personalities to tout the virtues of their products, the smarter ones are allowing bloggers to find their products at their own pace and to rate and review their offerings as they choose. One such provider is AT&T.
Alan Weinkrantz, a PR tech blogger, has taken it upon himself to chronicle his trial of the AT&T's new U-verse service. Because he lives in San Antonio, Alan was an early trial user of the AT&T U-verse service. Owner of his own PR firm and frequent blogger, he started documenting his experiences and observations on the service in May of this year. Things really heated up when he began to make daily posts at his blog, www.3screens.net, to document his experience of having AT&T's HD (High Definition) broadcast television service installed and deployed at his home.
Alan has not only writes about his experience as an AT&T trial user, but also makes suggestions and commentary about the company's strategy. He even spoke at the TelcoTV Conference in Dallas where he addressed his experiences and observations about being a U-verse customer.
"I can't recommend blogging and social media to clients unless I've done it and have been successful," he said in an interview with MidwestBusiness.com. "This is a fortuitous set of events because I'm in San Antonio and became a trial U-verse." Alan went on to say that "there are enough analysts and technical experts in the world. I don't think the world needs more "experts."
His commentary about the service is open and honest. No service is perfect and Alan isn't shy about noting drawbacks, including small things like no clock on the set-top box or overload of certain types of channels.
In addition, he makes it clear that he's only paying such close attention to one provider because he lives in the firm's service area. "If I lived in an area served by Verizon, I would be doing the same thing about them," he assured MidwestBusiness.com. "AT&T is really just my plumbing supplier."
Read more about Alan's experience with AT&T U-verse service at www.3screens.net. You can also check out his interview with MidwestBusiness.com.
