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That wont do

hooverman
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Registered: ‎21-12-2012

That wont do

Plusnets new slogan of That'll Do   is hardly going to give confidence to the users of Plusnet services, because its like my son says its something you say when you cant get things quite right and you settle for 2nd best, cant get the billing right THAT"LL DO, cant get the users  download speeds right THAT'll  DO,    so what problems Plusnets users have THAT WONT DO  ,I suspect its some ad mans idea   so plusnet please change it if you want to settle for 2nd best THAT'LL DO

 

19 REPLIES 19
Alex
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Re: That wont do

So they've actually paid someone to replace "We'll do you proud", to "That'll do"?

Oh dear, the marketing agency people must have had some long lunches down the pub when they won that contract. Mind you they must have already have been there for some time beforehand.

Image it:

Person A: "We need to come up with a new slogan for the company I am working for".
Person B: "No idea".
Person A: "Shall I get some more drinks?'.
Person B: "Yes".
(Person A gets the round in).
Person B: "That'll do".

I would laugh if it wasn't so funny, as least there is no skill involved in marketing.

Townman
Superuser
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Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: That wont do

It does indeed create a shabby impression.

Sometimes a local regional expression does not travel well.  I seem to recall that within Yorkshire (not lived there for many years) "That'll do" might refer to something "fitting the bill" well, as in "Just the job!".  However it is very bad marketing practice to adopt a phrase which might ambiguous elsewhere.

Take for example "It is Micky Mouse"..

  • In Australia, it means "It is the best"
  • Elsewhere, it means they very opposite!

See https://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html#M and https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/335784/why-does-mickey-mouse-operation-refer-to-a-poorly...

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jab1
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Re: That wont do

I rarely bother about a companies 'advertising' gimmicks - I prefer to base my opinions on experience and common sense, and to me this 'That'll do' tag sends the totally wrong message. They can't even get it right - as a Yorkshireman (and Sheffielder) born and bred, I read that as meaning 'We've done the minimum we have to, so take it or leave it', rather than the correct phrase which we use - 'That'll do nicely', which implies you are satisfied.

As an aside, I fortunately haven't needed PN support for quite a while, and hope I can avoid it for the next 10 months or so before my contract ends, at which point, unless things improve drastically, I'm sorry to say I'm very likely to be saying 'Ta'ra' after over 10 years.

John
hooverman
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Registered: ‎21-12-2012

Re: That wont do

Hi @jab1 and others  thanks for  your comments I joined Plusnet in 2012 not because they were based in Yorkshire but because they were UK based and they had good feedback on price and service I could get an issue resolved normally in one call or 24 hours ,they could have been in the Shetland Isles for all I care ,after leaving AOL with foreign call centres and reading answers off scripts .Plusnet were a revelation and up until last year I was happy ,After a billing issue with my LRS I have lost faith in plusnet ,And the logo That'll Do was probabally not thought up in Yorkshire but in BT Group PLC in London where the senior managers are , the website ispreview is of the view that the new That'll Do logo will find some comical uses,Plusnet want to be the buget element of the BT family but they want to get the issues right before introducing a new logo

jab1
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Re: That wont do

@hooverman I'm tempted to put down exactly what I think the bean counters and management at BT HQ are up to here, but I don't think it would go down very well. Suffice to say that BT don't really want the PN brand.

John
Alex
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Re: That wont do

Yep well I keep seeing BT's new logo - who designed that?

Must have taken a ruptered gerbil 20 minutes (if that) to knock that up in MS Paint. Well at the logo designers had a laugh to the bank. PlusNet's one isn't much better, though at least someone may have spent over half an hour on that one and maybe used Photoshop instead.

I've only ever used PlusNet support twice, both times have been fine. I think I joined in something like 2002. So I can't complain.

I would be terrible in suport, if some people spoke to me in person like some people do on these forums to others I would put the phone down. Or I would try and sink to their level: 'Hi m8 am tlking in txt spk, c8u l8r on'.

Townman
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Re: That wont do

Hi Alex,

Indeed - too many people seeking assistance come with completely the wrong "entitled" attitude.  Yes they want help, they might be frustrated, but being rude to those offering help is not the way to engender patient help.  Sadly rudeness and poor communication skills seem to go hand in hand.

Over the years I've needed quite a lot of support from Team Plusnet on a number of BT screw-ups.  Though getting fixes might have been protracted, Plusnet staff have always been courteous, helpful and pushed as far as BT business rules permit - the trouble is that BT rules are not flexible, nor designed to deliver swift solutions ... but I guess "That'll do!".

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Thrall
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Re: That wont do

As with most slogans you could spin it to be negative but looking at the positives, one may argue it highlights being clear and simple

newagetraveller
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Re: That wont do

Or one might argue that if I painted a door, for example, missed bits and there were big paint runs in other bits, then just say "that'll do", would be positive?

Or didn't bleed air out of brakes after a caliper change - can't be bothered, it should be fine - "that'll do"!

shutter
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: That wont do

Good job ?   working for an electronics or engineering firm... with the attitude of " that`ll do! "... will not have a job within a few days methinks....

indeed, a long time ago, a mechanic mate of mine, who used to work for the local Chrysler dealership, finished doing some job on a car, and said to the foreman... "Right, Steve, I`ve finished that job,... that`ll do."... when asked about it, he did mention a couple of things that needed new hose clips, but he thought the old one`s were ok.... Next day, he was called to the office, and given a week`s notice... 

 

ahem..........  "That`ll do"...............  Huh

hooverman
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Re: That wont do

Hi @Thrall  you are right a slogan can a force for good ie Kick it Out in football ,or in the retail world john lewis never knowly undersold or zen intenet Award winning internet ,these people try to or live up to their slogans ,if one was to look at trustpilot plusnet has an 84% bad rating whilst we all can have issues at sometime or other with an isp,but plusnet do not seem to be resolving theirs effectively ,And its not the call centres staff fault Ive always found them helpfull but I belive its BT responsibility to input the correct management /systems/money to  sort it out because at this moment I belive plusnet have a worse reputation than talktalk 

Townman
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Re: That wont do

The problem is BT has no good management anywhere, just upwardly mobile green horns. BT removed most of the good managers from within Plusnet.

I have never heard anyone say how great BT managers are. I’ve spoken with field engineers and they speak of being managed by clueless graduates. I’ve ex-work mates who were transferred into BT any they do not have a good word for BT managers.

If BT management were capable of doing something positive, then BT Openreach would not be as problematic as it appears to be.

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198kHz
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Re: That wont do


@hooverman wrote:

Plusnets new slogan of That'll Do   is hardly going to give confidence to the users of Plusnet services, because its like my son says its something you say when you cant get things quite right and you settle for 2nd best...


They really haven't thought this through.

It says in their blog - "Our latest campaign ‘That’ll Do’ is based on the local Yorkshire expression for when you get more than you bargained for."

It also commonly means "Stop it!" or "Cut it out" etc, especially when directed at misbehaving or argumentative children.

A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine
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Townman
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Re: That wont do

It is essential that strap lines are not open to ambiguous interpretations and need to have a common parlance across the target audience. Not even as as Yorkshireman do I see this as a good strap line. The fact that Plusnet needs to work hard at explaining their intentions illustrates that it’s not having the understanding they hoped for.

Adding the word “nicely” would make a massive difference to understanding. “That fits the bill” more clearly expresses the sentiment they suggest they want to convey.

Sorry Plusnet but this looks like an epic PR / Marketing / Comms failure ... you know, those departments tasked with communicating the right message but invariably make a total hash of things.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.