Edward Vielmetti,
one of the more interesting presenters at this year’s Internet User Experience conference, brought
up a profound question that every business… and every consumer should ask
themselves…

Am I seen as an
expense or an opportunity? Or in the
case of a business, do you see your customers as an expense or do you see
potential to sell product?

We are turned off by the idea of sales people. We are turned
off by the idea of advertising.  Many of
us like to think of an imaginary world where people just do good things to be
good, without another agenda.  But doing
things just to “be good” doesn’t always equal the best user experience.

In his talk regarding the public transit
system of Ann Arbor, Ed brought up a good point that the actions of public
organizations don’t live up to the needs of the people who ride the bus,
because they are viewed as an expense. 
So “good enough” will do.  But for
the small business on the bus route, they’d be willing to pay to ensure that
the customer experience is better, because they see these same people as an
opportunity, a potential customer.

So should private
organizations be allowed to enhance public works?

Well, this is something that KFC is already trying to do in
Louisville, the city where they are based, by fixing
the pothole problem in exchange for the opportunity to place a temporary chalk
advertisement on the new asphalt.

“KFC-refreshed
potholes will be branded via a large stencil that reads ‘Re-Freshed by KFC’ in
eye-catching, but non-permanent street chalk.”

It’s advertising disguised as a good deed, but it still is a
good deed, right?  Well, the act set PETA
and some consumers off into a reactive tizzy. 
Should companies be allowed to use public works to advertise
themselves?  Where should the line be
drawn?  Or are we seeing this in the
wrong light? 

Maybe the small business is
the one who is going to work just a little bit harder to fill those potholes or
to make bus maps better, because for they see an opportunity, not an expense.

Marta Strickland