Great Example of Generating Buzz….
December 29, 2006
For everyone who’s ever listed an item on an ebay auction then sat back and waited for the bids to roll in needs to take a lesson from Scott Bealle.
Scott was the recipient of a Acer Ferrari 1000 laptop so he could review Windows new operating system, Vista. So, in a gesture of generosity, Scott is now auctioning off the laptop and donating the proceeds to one of his favorite charities, EFF.
In addition to promoting his auction via his blog, whether he’s conscious of it or not, he’s set himself up for success by using the time honored “why” to help his auction.
While the Acer Ferrari 1000 laptop retails for less than $2000, within 24 hours Scott’s laptop is commanding a high bid of over $3000.
Seems when people saw WHY he was auctioning the laptop, they decided to step up and support the cause.
Great job Scott!
Advertisers gone wild
December 27, 2006
Michele Miller writes about the P & G attempt at “viral” marketing with their Men with Cramps campaign.
The danger comes when marketers and advertising agencies glom onto said techniques, transforming themselves into “Advertisers Gone Wild” without much thought about actually persuading a customer to buy a product or service.
Later, she hits the jack pot:
The subject matter actually doesn’t bother me. I lived and worked with musicians in New York for 15 years… I love fart jokes, scatological humor and the like with the best of them. It’s just that the attempt of Men With Cramps falls flat. It’s just not funny. It doesn’t offend me… it does nothing for me.
She then goes on to point out SERIOUS flaws with the campaign, such as the banner at the top of the faux web site not being linked. After her blog entry, the error was fixed. (Ah, the power of the blog!)
In the end, most of us didn’t hear about the Men with Cramps campaign because a friend sent us to the site. The buzz was created as The New York Times and CNN carried the story of P & G’s outside the box thinking.
The moral to the P & G story is this: Viral is what happens when you connect with the consumer. When you touch a nerve or when you make them laugh. The Men with Cramps campaign does none of these.
As an avid user of the Thermacare product, the fact that the “viral” videos never reached me naturally is terrible sign. That sound you hear is one million dollars going down the drain.
In the end, the Men with Cramps angle just isn’t even mildly amusing. Not to men, not to women, not even to teenagers. It didn’t connect and in an effort to label the campaign a “success” P & G turned to traditional media outlets to try to save the campaign.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgeO2BPFdh4[/youtube]
Advertising that works: The VW Jetta Ads
December 26, 2006
According to USA Today, the “safe happens” VW ad campaign has had a positive effect on Jetta sales.
While marketing analysts express doubt as to the effectiveness of the ads, the numbers speak volumes on the effectiveness of the ad. According to Volkswagen, requests for brochures were up 37% at call centers and 56% on the Web after the campaign began, compared with the first 15 days of March, and Internet requests for dealer price quotes are up 58%.
The fact that the commercials are still airing is a testimony to their success.
The key to their success: the commercials illustrate graphically the safety of the Jetta, one of the main reasons people cite as their reason for choosing the Jetta.
Our family owns a Jetta which we purchased before the ads started running. We purchased the Jetta because of it’s safety and it’s low car insurance rates. With two teen age drivers, both those features are important to us.
Right now though, it’s hard to tell if the success in the ads lies in the controversy they seemed to have generated or whether their message is really that powerful.
Autoblog points out that the FCC may exert their influence on the ads. Seems the ads contain some strong language, which happens during the course of an accident.
So which is it? Well, if it were just controversy, then the traffic to the site wouldn’t look like this.
If you take a look at Alexa’s measurement of traffic to the www.vw.com website, you’ll see that traffic to the site definitely ebbs and flows.
So while the controversy didn’t hurt way back in April of 2006, it appears that the substance of the commercials are the real fuel for this marketing engine.
Funny thing about advertising with Google Adwords…
December 23, 2006
In my post about the CAIR billboard and it’s attempts to promote the Muslim faith, I referenced the Sun Sentinel.
The Sun Sentinel displays Google Ads on their web site.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Google model, Google has two programs. Google Ad Words is where advertisers sign up to have their ads shown on other web sites, and Google Adsense where web site owners agree to display Ad Words ads on their web site.
The thing is, you don’t have any control over the ads shown on your site. Which brings me back to the funny thing about advertising on Google Ad Words. At the bottom of this article about a billboard and promoting the Muslim faith was a Google Ad Word ad for this page at everystudent.com
The page is entitled “God’s Love Toward a Radical Muslim” and tells the story of how a devout Muslim, living in Saudi Arabia came to embrace Christianity and accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.
Now THAT should go next to the definition of irony in the dictionary.
I doubt if CAIR would be pleased with the above chain of events. Maybe their advertising dollars would have been better spent purchasing their own Google Adwords campaign.
Pricing Advertising: Learning the code : Advertising Account Executives
December 18, 2006
Buying advertising is tough. Whether it’s online or offline, if you’re not familiar with basic terms, then you’re starting the process behind the 8-ball.
Account Executive:
This person is a sales person. He/she has a quota to meet and a boss to answer to if that quota isn’t met.
If you’re lucky, you’ll find one who understands that the more effective your advertising is, the more money you’ll make, and the more money you make, the more money you’ll spend with him/her.
If you’re lucky.
More often than not, you’ll be interacting with the “sales pro” whose only goal is to hit the dollar figure set by the sales manager of the media you are considering.
If that means selling you into a program that doesn’t reach your target market, well, if you’re willing to buy it, this A/E (account executive) is willing to sell it to you.
That’s not to say this A/E is evil; on the contrary. He/she is doing his/her job, admittedly with a very short term focus, but is still performing the duties of the position.
That’s why it’s up to YOU to know who your target market is and to evaluate the offers that an A/E presents to you. If you know your customer well, then you’ll be able to spot the offers various media A/E bring for your consideration.
If your target market is comprised of avid Colts Football Fans, then the Wedding Spectacular isn’t the place for your message. Because there really is no way for the most persuasive sales person to get around the objection, “This isn’t reaching my target market.”
On the other hand, I always admired the A/E at a local radio station who sold a tire store a booth in that station’s “Bridal Spectacular.” I wonder if the tires store owner ever questioned whether or not his target market was brides to be?
Google fight part two…
December 16, 2006
When I found the amusing little customer bait web site “googlefight,” it was about an application where you could see two search terms “duke it out.”
Well, it appears that the term “google fight” could apply to another situation. Dean Hunt maintains a blog. Dean Hunt posts to his blog on a regular basis and obviously, does very well with the search engines. So well, that he actually got an email from a company that USED to rank well on a keyword and, when Dean’s blog beat them on the term, they sent him a letter telling him to remove his site so their site would again be number one.
There are those who question whether this is real or not. After all, the guy is in the SEO biz… and his post has generated quite a bit of media buzz…..
So is this is publicity stunt? Is there really anybody who would cry “foul” for being beaten fair and square? (Gee, when I put it like that… maybe this ISN’T a publicity stunt!)
Ever heard of Google Fight?
December 14, 2006
Google fight is a hilarious little bit of fluff where you can ompare how many results are found by Google for two contrasting phrases.
When you type any two words into the boxes, little stick figures appear to fight. In the end, the results are shown so you can compare and contrast the results. For example, if you type hot dog into one box and hamburger into the other, you’ll see that there are 38,700,000 results for hamburger, yet only 4,230,000 for the poor, lowly hot dog.
Yeah, it’s fluff. But take a look at the bottom of the page. Yes, this bit of fluff is connected to a money making business.
Think of Google fight as bait. If you’re interested in which has more results, Marilyn Manson or Marilyn Monroe, then you’re probably a potential client of the money making business.
Find yourself some bait and get fishing.
Calling out the marketing posers…
December 11, 2006
Thank you Sean Cummings for your delightful article in Imedia Connection.
Sean currently serves as director of marketing for Ask.com and judging from his article at Imedia, I need to start picking up shares of Ask.com.
I began with a thanks… I thought it was just me…. I thought I was the only one who cringed when a client asked me to develop a “viral marketing program.” Sean is standing up and calling out those purveyors of BS.
Sean writes: “I call bull$#@! on viral marketing programs, targeting technical influencers and social network advertising. Why? Because they are fraught with marketing spin and only add to a confusing and ever-expanding marketing landscape. I can almost picture people doing silent finger “quotes” when they say these three terms.”
Read the whole article here.
Ideas to Success
December 8, 2006
Big shout out to Ideas to Success… thanks for featuring my article!
It’s an information packed blog! I’m flattered to be included in such a great collection!
Imagine waking up to this scene
December 8, 2006
Imagine looking out your window and seeing the following scene:
If you look closely, you’ll see that this wasn’t an impromptu gathering. The home owner actually encouraged this gathering by leaving piles of kibble on the ground to draw the hungry deer to his driveway.
See, when the ground is covered with snow, finding food is hard for the deer. They’re hungry and the piles of kibble provide an easy meal.
If you’re running a business, you’d probably be THRILLED to see customer flocking to your business in the same manner.
The key is putting out the proper bait. See, the homeowner didn’t spread pizza rolls in his driveway. He didn’t scatter newspapers about, hoping to draw the deer. He placed piles of food that deer ACTUALLY like to eat and did it at a time when the deer have trouble finding food.
The deer represent your customers. Your advertising is the kibble. Marketing is how and where you scatter the kibble.
If the homeowner was hoping to look out his window and see a pride of lions, then he was in for a shock. No, he knew that there were deer in the area.
Which makes you wonder… maybe what the homeowner REALLY wanted to see were black bear. Maybe the DEER are the bait. Now THAT would be brilliant marketing.
