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With the election over we can now take a lesson from the Obama playbook in terms of message. Starting Nov. 5th the approach to selling changes-- hope will sell a product. Goodwill can inspire actions and transactions. And institutional advertising will become a priority.
I check woot.com everyday for two reasons.
So you saw what they did there right?
Bag O’ Crap XXI
Wait, wait, why are you clicking that button? Don't click! You don't want this junk. Seriously, clicking that I WANT ONE button is a one-way ticket to disappointment and shame. You'll cram a few useless clumps of consumer flotsam into your life, be out like eight bucks, and for what? For what? What is the sound of one hand crapping?
If you must proceed, CHECK THIS OUT. Somebody misunderstands this concept every time, so please READ THE BIG PRINT:
1. WHEN YOU ORDER THIS ITEM, YOU’RE ORDERING ONE (1) BAG WITH up to THREE (3) PIECES OF CRAP IN IT.
2. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SELECTING THE QUANTITY: THREE WHEN YOU ORDER.
3. YOU WILL WASTE FREIGHT IF YOU ORDER FEWER THAN THREE. And you’ll get less crap. Wait, why is that bad again? Do you people really need more crap?
You’re only getting one bag, no matter what. The order quantity you select is the number of crappy items we’ll put in your bag. Select THREE. Later, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of taunting the surprisingly large number of less observant Wooters who ordered less than THREE.
As usual, we promise nothing about the quality or the desirability of these bags or their contents, except to promise that their quality will be low and their desirability will be non-existent. The best quantity you could possibly order would be ZERO.
THE HOLY CRAP COMMANDMENTS v2.0:
I. Thou shalt expect nothing beyond one bag of some kind and your chosen quantity of crappy items (which should be THREE).
II. Thou shalt not whine and complain when some people’s crap turns out to be nicer than yours.
III. Thou shalt take a moment to consider whether you might be better off just not buying this crap.
IV. Thou shalt not order just one crap and blame it on anything but your own inattention.
V. To paraphrase Stephen Stills, shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.
The crap will be shipped via SmartPost, the crappiest shipping method available to us.
The ebook is here!
In my daily perusing of blogs, I read this entry from the 'Catch up Lady'.
Her blog is a must read.
Anyway in her post she mentioned a snafu in Technorati that listed every blog as #1. Being the pessimist I am I just had to check to see if I had propelled up the ranks.
Sure enough. I am number #1!
I am going to soak this up. Thanks for pointing it out Catch up Lady!
Today is Friday June 29th. The day that Steve Jobs revolutionized the wireless world. Admittedly I drink the Apple kool-aid, I have a Macbook Pro (that I am proud to say births all my posts) and 3 iPods, well 4 if you count the one that tragically fell from my motorcycle while speeding down the highway.
She didn't make it. RIP-nano, you will be missed.
So back to Steve and the iPhone. Today, he not only revolutionized the wireless world. But he got people to pay $600 for a cell phone. Unheard of I tell you, completely un-heard-of!
How did he do it? Advertising aside, I want you to watch this video from Cnet, which shows the opening at the New York store.
Apple employees outside, lined up, clapping! It was a premiere, you felt good about buying a phone and spending $600! (I will be buying mine in the next couple months, my cash flow isn't where I would like it to be).
But when I do, I will think back to today. The day that the Apple team, made their customers feel good about spending money with them.
The Selling Point:
Apple believed that the product they where making would revolutionize the industry... and the jury is still out. But they made each and every customer feel important and a VIP for getting one. They had their WHOLE team on board. And while I wasn't in New York to buy an iPhone, when I buy mine in 3 months I bet I will leave with that same enthusiasm. Even though there won't be employees outside cheering my purchase.
So my question to you is this: When was the last time you had customers leaving feeling the same way the new iPhone customers were feeling? When was the last time you cheered to do business with a client? Was it just another client, or did you give them the red carpet treatment?
And when will someone please write a book about the psychology of selling that Apple has employed since the return of Steve Jobs?
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Yesterday, on yahoo sports, I read that they were selling tickets to the right field and filling the seats! The catch? All you can eat at the stadium, dogs, nachos, soda--it's a free-for-all in the right field.
This is all an attempt to increase game attendance and fill the typically empty right field. I am calling it 'The gut appeal'.
What an easy way out. I can just see the headline in a year or two 'Dodger fans: the fattest on earth'.
I highly doubt the reason people were not attending the games was the price of the food. If I had to solve this problem I would give fans a reason to attend and buy tickets in a certain section.
I would make it unique to increase the experience of the game and not their waistline.
Let fans in those seats experience a different side of the game, have players enter on their side of the stadium, make them available for autographs to only ticket holders in those seats.
The Point?
It's easy to temporarily drive up sales or attendance by motivating your base with gluttony, but you have a greater responsibility. When those fans go to the game, they'll say they go for the food, not the love of the game. They don't go because they are brand loyal, they go for the freebie. When people buy your brand do they buy for the discount? Or do they buy because they are loyal to your brand?
By no means these hands are idle, but it's not until the last five seconds that we learn its a beer commercial, until then your eyes are glued to the screen as hands morph and change to the beat. At the end we are even rewarded with a microsite www.guinnesshands.com.
When you visit the site I was surprised to see it was all about the filmmaker and not the beer. In fact you can even produce your own "hands" film.
So this weekend have a Guinness and tell your friends.
And one other thing, is it just me or did we get flipped the bird?
More on how I found this later, but more importantly Cactus, an advertising agency out of Denver Colorado, gets it!
What's "it"?
They don't try to just make the sale, they try to make a friend. They know if they do this successfully the business will grow and there will be a greater chance for repeat business.
Keep this in mind the next time you are in contact with your customer and ask yourself: am I trying to make a friend or make a sale?
Kudos Cactus for posting this right on your website for all to see. This is one of the best mission statements I have read.
Not to long ago I posted about Mr. Movies and their customer service. Today I received a second postcard in the mail with more coupons.
But why does it says 'Resident' in the address line?
The coupons are a good idea don't get me wrong. But if you have my information and are going to send me a direct mail piece, you need to include a name. A missing name could be considered tolerable if this was the first mailing to me or they had just purchased a list for my area.
But its not and I used a couple of the coupons from their previous mailing.
Didn't you track those Mr. Movies?
The Selling Point:
In my last post I picked on the customer service aspect of Mr. Movies and the next time I go back I guess we will see if its improved. Now I am a bit disappointed in their direct mail program.
Is there any pleasing me?
Yes, If your going to spend the money to print a direct mail piece and have coupons included, put your customer's name on it. This will increase participation and your response rates. In this case it would have been particularly helpful since I used the coupons from their previous campaign.
Names always increase participation!
Friday I read an article on Adage.com that GM was being pressured to pull its "suicidal robot spot" after pressure from The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Personally I don't see how a robot jumping off a bridge would want to make me commit suicide. And if I was suicidal what was I doing watching the Super Bowl?
I digress.
I am here today to let you know that the robot lives! The above screen capture was taken from the Yahoo.com homepage today. Looks like he survived the fall.
But more importantly, what was he doing this last week? Wouldn't it have been to GM's advantage to paste that robot everywhere? So let me get this straight--$2.6 Million for an ad, and as a follow up you put up a banner on Yahoo.com!?! And the only call to action is a "Click here to learn more".
The Selling Point:
If your going to spend that kind of money you should be able to capitalize on the buzz you created. When it comes to creating buzz around your product--Go Big or go home!
I understand that the American automakers are having problems with perceived quality versus actual quality. But they are also having issues with execution. A commercial here and a banner there still doesn't make me want a Cobalt.
In eager anticipation of the Big Game on Sunday, I found this page on Youtube.com. I don't know what it will have on it, but it will be the first page I check after the game.
Here is the link-www.youtube.com/superbowl
UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!
This page gives you a chance to rank the Super Bowl ads, and get caught up an any of them that you missed.
Now that we have had a full month to think over last year, CNN.com has the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business. Believe me when I tell you this--an afternoon can be wasted perusing the great blunders from 2006.
Here are a few of my favorites:
That was the temperature on the bank sign I passed when I pulled up to the gas station last night. I had finally succumb to the glow of my low fuel light. But as I began to pump my gas I looked down at the nozzle and guess what I saw. Advertising!
Joe, Jack or Jim from the local car dealership had his picture on the nozzle and a bubble that said "Are you tired of filling up your old car? Come see me."
I know I am in the minority when I say this but... I like seeing advertising in unexpected places. And to me a gas pump nozzle is an unexpected place! Of course there are those that will say "Advertising is everywhere and its cluttering up the place." Fine, think what you will. But this didn't interrupt my ability to pump gas or slow down (thankfully) my speed by prompting me to answer all sorts of questions. So it works for me and it fits into the environment nicely by prettying up the otherwise ugly pump nozzle.
The Selling Point: What do you sell? More importantly what do you sell that you could advertise in an unexpected place and catch my attention. That is your challenge this week.
As an aside... I can't remember the name of the car dealership or the salesman because it was 8 degrees outside, unfortunately cold had been the clutter that you could not have anticipated being the reason I didn't pay closer attention to the message.
[Note: this is part of a webwide series of blog posts about compact fluorescent lightbulbs. January is the darkest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (December might be a bit darker, but with all the candles, trees and dropping balls, we work hard to light it up). To fight off the darkness, bloggers everywhere are invited to create a post with their own riff on why CF bulbs are cheaper, better politically, harder to market or just plain cute.
I first read about this by the remarkable Seth Godin.]
I want you to buy me. I am a bit more than your traditional light bulb, and to be honest a whole lot uglier. But when have light bulbs ever been sexy?
But I do make the world cleaner by using less energy.
However, you will walk past me everyday in the store, and buy the cheaper bulbs won't you? You think its really all a lie, and how can one bulb actually make a difference? You believe that by purchasing me I will only end up costing you more. Plus your not one of those hippie-tree huggers anyway.
I am sorry that my marketing manager didn't tell you a better story about me. About how I last 10 times longer and provide the same amount of light.
Its really a shame that he didn't give that warm fuzzy feeling about saving an average of $30 in energy cost over my lifetime. Or some of the other benefits listed about me on this PDF.
I can't make you change your mind about me, or the environment. No, you already have it predisposed in your mind that global warming isn't happening. And you could be right. But what if your not?
The Selling Point: Your not going to run out and change a light bulb until one burns out. (Unless your like me and decided to do it for the good of mankind.) No, your mind is already made up and there is little I can do to change it until something drastic happens. So I won't try. As a salesman I can't make you think any differently than you have your whole life. I can educate using facts. Not opinions, but facts. So as a sales manager or member of a sales team make sure that you are educating your customers using facts to paint an entire picture for the customer.
So in the meantime, when that bulb burns out, and it will. Buy a CF bulb. Just one, thats all I ask. And see if you like it. In the meantime, you don't have to make a drastic change in your life.
But awareness is the first step.
With the Al Gore documentary on everyones mind it would appear as though global warming is an in thing right now--for me it has become a growing concern.
I am not going to sit here and preach about what we should and should not be doing environmentally.
I am going to point to the ad that I have pictured here, and say "is it ethical for advertisers and we as marketers to poke fun at global warming to use it to sell shoes?"
The Selling Point: I think all of us in sales and marketing should be well aware of hot button issues within society. It should be our policy to not paint this issues in a negative light, but realize they exist and paint them in a negative manner.
I am open to your comments on this issue!
