When I was a kid, I was in the Boy Scouts. I came home one day, with a bag full of supplies for my first Boy Scout camping trip. Giddy with a new find, I proudly regaled my Dad with the wonders of SPAM, not realizing that there was a reason that he was busy turning green as I talked. Seems he’d been well-acquainted with the joys of SPAM in WWII. Poor guy couldn’t think about SPAM without getting seriously queasy. He literally turned a pale shade of green.
I feel that way about Spam. There’s few things I can think of that bother me more than unsolicited intrusions into my online activities. What’s worse, is I’m now dealing with some Spammer that thinks it’s acceptable to hack into this blog and insert code so he can pump Spam to my readers.
I hate Spam. But I hate Spammers – and hackers – even more.
I can tell you it’s not been a problem for any of you – because this clueless hack is such a moron, he apparently doesn’t know how to properly hack a blog – his code simply makes my blog disappear. No code. Just a blank page. Mind you, I still don’t know how the little bastard is getting in…I’ve taken all the precautions I know, and I’m still getting several pages changed without permission.
I can promise you, though, that my patience is wearing thin. And I have a buddy who has a buddy that does high-level contract work for the code spooks at the NSA. I may call in a favor. Or three. And then we’ll see how much this little twerp likes it when HIS computer gets hacked.
I should have known better. Really. When a company has bad marketing, 99 times out of 100, it’s because of bad management at the top. You see, smart management won’t greenlight bad ads (at least not very often), so bad ads – particularly a bad series of ads is a bellwether of bad management. Case in point: UPS. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been visiting my Dad for the past week or so, and I’ve been watching his DirecTV. (When you’re visiting your parent, you’re activities are pretty much limited to what they do. He watches a LOT of TV.)
What’s interesting to me is the dichotomy between the ads from both DirecTV and Dish Network, versus the experience of actually using their services. Since I have Dish Network at home, I have a fair amount of perspective now on both systems.
Lately, Dish has been marketing themselves as a “cheaper” but every bit as full-featured alternative to DirectTV. That’s definitely an “Avis” strategy (you know…”we’re number two, so we try harder”). I would therefore assume that Dish is running second to DirecTV in sales. (If they aren’t they need to take their marketing team out back and shoot them – this is NOT the right strategy for a market leader.) Dish, on the other hand, markets themselves against cable systems. I’m a big believer in satellite – I’ve had universally crappy service from cable, and there’s no way they can match satellite’s prices, largely due to their inherent disadvantage due to their fixed infrastructure costs.
What’s interesting, is that from their ads, aside from price, there’s little differentiate Dish and DirecTV from each other. That is, of course, until you use them.
As a user interface specialist, I’ve been underwhelmed forever and a day with Dish Network’s clunky U/I. I see so many things I could do better. I’ve been told that DirecTV’s is better. Not sure I agree with that. On the whole, I think the Dish Network’s remote is easier and more intuitive to use. Certainly, the modal nature of the DirecTV remote is a barrier to use – until you get used to it. On the plus side, DirecTV’s menus seem to allow more customization. On the negative side, that customization (which is largely to limit the lists to specific channels) is harder to figure out, and once you have it customized, it’s difficult to switch modes (back to seeing everything, rather than just the ones you picked for your custom list). What’s interesting is that both systems could stand a U/I reworking, and neither seems to be overly-interested in what is an essential aspect of their product.
So which one is “better”? I don’t know. From a usability point of view, I’d say Dish wins. From a marketing point of view, DirecTV has better ads, and a market-leading strategy. (I also worry about the DVR offered by Dish, and the fact that they will eventually lose their battle with TiVO, and I’ll probably be out one DVR.) This is largely a case where the edge in marketing (by DirecTV) probably translates to a sales lead – but not because of a superior product – but slightly better marketing.
As a creative guy, I love coming up with creative ways to market things. Nothing jazzes me more than to come up with an ad concept, a slogan, or a logo that will resonate with the public. But I’ve learned something about successful marketing over the years – repetition is the key to turning a great idea into effective marketing.
Repetition. Sounds simple. Just create your message, and repeat it, ad nauseum, until it works. Think of it as the marketers version of the Rinse, Lather, and Repeat instructions you find on shampoo bottles. Of course there’s more to it than that. If your message doesn’t resonate, it will get lost in the noise. But it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that if you don’t repeat your message enough, even the best marketing simply won’t work.
I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had that either don’t commit to a big enough media buy, or they get bored with their spots and want to change them before it’s appropriate to do so. When you see a commercial enough to get bored with it, you’ve just witnessed marketing penetration. Everybody wants to run commercials or ads that get people talking, but successful marketing is not built on a momentary “buzz” (i.e.: “did you see that new ad for ________”), but on effective ads that are repeated over and over.
Another point that may have escaped your notice is that in life, everybody is a marketer. I’m dealing with a situation in my personal life right now that has brought that lesson home. Just like what the world learned in WWII, if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes indistinguishable from the truth. Having the truth on your side is nice, but it’s no guarantee that you’ll prevail. No, I’ve learned that repetition of a marketing message can overcome the truth, even when I have the truth on my side.
I’d love to tell you that truth will win in the long run. I’d love to tell you that if you have a superior product, or a message that resonates, you’ll win. But while being right or building a better mousetrap is good and important, remember that it’s no guarantee of success. Without repetition as a key component of your marketing, you’re fighting a battle where you are, effectively, an unarmed combatant.
Yes, today is my birthday. Nothing remarkable there…everybody’s got one per year. For those who don’t like birthdays, consider the alternative. I’ve had some bad birthdays before, but never one so bad I’d consider death as a way to avoid another.
Since this is a marketing blog (and I’d like to get back to enjoying my “special day” [insert ironic pause here]), I’ll simply remark that I find that the leaders in one-to-one marketing seem to be…online forums?
Yep. That’s right. Online forums. When you sign up for one of these online forums, they routinely ask for your birthdate. The software then obligingly kicks out a “happy birthday” email automagically. Nice. It’s a great way for the board to remind you that they exist, and a nice thing for the recipient, even if you know it’s not the thought, but the programming that counts.
Honorable mention in the birthday email sweepstakes: Jack in the Box. I received a “personal” email from Jack Box today, along with a coupon for a free desert. Way to extend your brand – and your tongue-in-cheek marketing attitude to Jack-lovers around the country. Nice job, Jack!
I recently fell prey to the marketing campaign staged by Classmates.com. You know…the site that purports that they will help you reconnect with all the friends you had in high school.
Balderdash.
It turns out, Classmates.com is (as far as I can tell) a complete waste of time – unless you pony up for the monthly membership charges for their “Gold Membership” package. Now tiered membership levels are nothing new. Lots of social networking sites do something similar. However, other social network sites with dual-level memberships actually give you something of value at the “free membership” level.
Robert Metcalfe (founder of 3Com and inventor of Ethernet) identified what’s come to be known Metcalfe’s Law: The value of a network increases exponentially with the number of users connected to the system. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s reality. And then there’s perception. And when you’re talking about business, there’s ulterior motive. Nowhere is this more blatantly true (and less obvious) than in the rush to “green” products.
Think back to when the “green” movement was known as the “ecology” movement. Remember the brouhaha about grocery bags? First, we were told that paper sacks resulted in killing too many trees, so grocers switched to plastic bags. Then the ecoNazis preached that the plastic bags were bad, as they used fossil fuels, and were therefore killing the planet – not to mention their inability to gracefully decompose in landfills. Today, most supermarkets offer your choice of “paper or plastic,” and have recently started shilling “reusable” bags. A recent episode of the wickedly funny ABC prime time cartoon The Goode Family, the social-climbing mom forgot her reusable totes (6:43 to 7:40 in the clip above) when shopping at the grocery store. Faced with disapproving looks from the other greenies at the market, she finally blurted out, “Load me up…I know a lot of people are comfortable with reusable bags, but I’m not. Those bags are made in sweatshops.” The other shoppers are promptly stricken by kind of Liberal Guilt only someone who is desperately trying to live up to an impossible, illogical standard can feel. Read the rest of this entry »
I never met Billy Mays. But I liked him. And I liked his work. There’s something that has always fascinated me about the pitchman and the way he works. Billy Mays was the King of the Pitchmen. The guy had the mad skills when it came to selling – you get the feeling that, no mater the product, he could find a way to make you want it. The guy could have sold iceboxes to Eskimos, and made them line up 10 deep to buy ‘em. There was something refreshingly honest, open, and yes, even a little hokey about his style. I mean, the man made a living selling stuff, to the extent that his endorsement of a product added to its credibility. Think about that. They guy that sold us Orange Glo, OxyClean and Mighty Putty (which is nothing more than plumber’s putty – epoxy – with a fancy marketing campaign), could give a product some street cred just because he endorsed it. How many marketing guys can you think of that could endorse a product and have it really mean something? To say Billy Mays was a “success” would be an understatement. From humble beginings, he ended up with a mansion in Tampa, Florida, and an income and net worth that was the envy of nearly everyone in marketing. Not bad for someone who came up in the State Fair circuit. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve had my iPhone for a week now. This is the point in time at which flaws and annoyances begin to rear their ugly heads. I’ve got to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that these are few and far between. What I’m left with, as of today, is a feeling of amazement – that I’m still somewhat in awe of how seemlessly the interface functions, how easy everything is to use, and how Apple seems to have thought of just about everything.
If I have a gripe, I suspect it will be with battery life, but that’s only because I’ve been on it so much. Not sure, short of using an OLED screen, what they could do to fix this, but from what I hear, the 3G S is a lot better than the 3G in that respect.
By comparison, at this stage of the game with the Windows Mobile phone, I was busy making excuses for the OS, doing my best to explain away the problems, like some newlywed who’s desperately trying to believe that their spouse is “just a little stressed” and not really abusive.
Ouch.
That leads me to what I think is a huge mistake that Apple and AT&T are making regarding the marketing of the iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »
As I sit here this morning at the grokmedia World Headquarters, listening to Glenn Beck on the radio, I’m annoyed by another airing of a commercial for a local jewelry store. I’m annoyed because their spot is, in point of fact, evil. I don’t mean they’re advocating Satanism, mass murder, or believing what the Administration tells us without question (that would be Evil, criminally Evil, and naieve, respectively). No, this spot is evil with a lowercase “e,” but in a way, that makes it all the more unsettling. Allow me to explain.
Let me first say that Barnes Jewelry is a local institution here in Amarillo. Everywhere you go in the USA, you’ll find local companies that are the de facto category leaders, the ones that are the default choices for the landed gentry, the movers and shakers, and the powers that be. Barnes Jewelry falls squarely in that category. Unlike everywhere else in the USA, Amarillo has a particularly provincial habit of favoring the local talent over a national retailer, even if the national retailer has a screamingly wonderful product, and there’s room for more than one vendor in a given category. (I’m STILL steamed that I live in a burg that is the only place on the face of God’s Green Earth that lost a Krispie Kreme donut shop, because the locals chose to ignore it, and support the local choice, the Donut Stop.) Read the rest of this entry »
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