Questions? Comments? Interested in contributing content? Please contact Vi Paynich, Editor-in-Chief, at vpaynich@retailing.org or 909-606-3406.
According to The Smoking Gun and The Huffington Post, ShamWow pitchman Vince Shlomi was arrested on felony battery charges in Miami last month following a violent encounter with a hooker. This comes right after CNBC announced that ShamWow had won its As Seen on TV Tournament. Voters declared it the best As Seen on TV product of all time.
Apparently there is one mess the ShamWow can’t clean up…
What are your thoughts on the issue?
Every now and then it’s good to get the creative juices flowing by simply watching some quality ads. Below are a few of my recent favorites that utilize humor, and in Hardees’ case - sex appeal, to further establish their well-known brands. Moreover, Geico choose to emphasize its brand by promoting videos on YouTube incorporating YouTube celeb Numa Numa guy.
Still, none may compare to the Bud Light Swear Jar ad, which I discussed on our blog last June.
Have any recent ads captured your attention? Submit a comment or e-mail me at pcauley@retailing.org and I’ll be sure to post and share.
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.
E-mail marketing is an effective marketing method with a very high ROI. Unfortunately, spammers and scammers have made it more difficult for legitimate senders to get their e-mails past Internet Service Provider (ISP) junk filters and into the inbox, while consumers are all too ready to hit the spam button. The good news is there are steps you can take to avoid the spam label and increase your e-mail marketing effectiveness.
1. Here are some key words to skip: Urgent, money back guarantees, and why pay more?
2. Avoid using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks in your subject line and in your E-MAIL CONTENT!!
3. If something sounds too good to be true, the junk mail filters probably agree. Do not claim a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and other grandiose offers.
4. Never send out an e-mail that is one giant image. The filters will likely filter it but even if it gets to the inbox, the recipient will have no enticement to turn on images. A good balance is 60 percent text and 40 percent graphics. Do not forget the ALT text.
5. While discussing money is unavoidable, try to avoid excessive mentions of money in your e-mails as the spammers and scammers have made that hard to get through.
6. I think most of us have seen e-mails with red font, flashing objects, etc. Keep it simple to maximize your chances of getting into the inbox.
7. Do not buy a list both because this violate the terms of service of almost all E-mail Service Providers (ESPs) and because your recipients are more likely to hit the spam complaint button that is a common feature of many e-mail clients these days. More than one complaint out of each 1,000 e-mails sent is very likely to get you blocked by one or more ISPs and make it more difficult to get emails through to your best customers.
8. Do not harvest e-mails from the web to send in bulk. Not only will you run into the same problems as when you buy a list, you will also be violating the CAN-SPAM Act.
9. Keep your e-mail frequency reasonably steady to keep your sending reputation intact. For instance, if you send only once every six months the ISPs and the recipients may have forgotten about you resulting in delivery problems and spam complaints.
10. On the other hand, do not send so often that you annoy your subscribers. You probably want to send at least once per month, but you’ll need to carefully consider what volume will start to annoy your subscribers—who will unsubscribe from your list or worse, hit the spam button, sticking a label on you that can be hard to remove.
Neil Anuskiewicz is the director of business development at StreamSend Email Marketing.
In my last blog post, I cited a factoid regarding 17 million iPhones having been sold to date. In fact, Apple’s App Store is downloading and/or selling approximately 3 million applications every day. Of course, this is America, and where would be without over-reactive pendulum swings? Some are asking if the App Store paradigm is the wave of the future and if the mobile web is dead? The answer, of course, is a resounding NO.
The App Store is not the future- it’s the present, and only with respect to the iPhone. The appeal of the iPhone is the App Store. To Apple’s credit, they were really smart when the copied their iPod and iTunes template when they launched the iPhone. Further, they were downright brilliant when they made each and every hardware component on that phone i.e. the microphone, speaker, screen, camera and GPS chip available to the developer community via open APIs and a well thought iPhone software development kit. Layer on Apple’s typically brilliant marketing and voila: two years later we have 17 million phones, tens of thousands of apps and another Apple success story.
Ok, so now let’s put this in context. First, while 17 million iPhones have been sold worldwide, there are more than 2 billion non-iPhones out there. Second, let’s be real, the App Store is a walled garden and walls are always salacious targets in the same way that buttons compel pushing. Think AOL… So, as we all think about developing our mobile applications, know that it is imperative to develop a WAP application first and foremost. I would of course, encourage the development of an iPhone app too as iPhone users are rabid consumers of applications and the mobile web. Also, cell phone manufacturers, take note: Start defining standards across your line of handsets. Publish APIs and SDKs that allow developers to write apps and/or mobile web applications. And watch the mobile web tsunami explode!
David Gould is CEO of mShopper.
The other day I went to the grocery store and stopped in the OJ section to pick up a carton of Tropicana. When I reached for it, I quickly drew back my hand as I was faced with some cracker jack looking generic orange juice. Where’s my Tropicana with the straw punctured in an orange? Maybe Tropicana is pulling a prank and I’m secretly being filmed for a commercial like Burger King did when they pretended to eliminate the Whopper from their menu. It was then I realized this was no joke. Tropicana ripped out their straw, squirted orange juice in my eye and changed their package design.
I imagine what went on during the brainstorm session of creating their new packaging. They began to discuss how the economy crisis is affecting people’s spending habits when some genius said, “I have an idea. Instead of maintaining and building loyalty, why don’t we change our classic, trustworthy design to a generic one and deceive consumers into thinking they’re buying a store brand of orange juice?†I couldn’t help but feel betrayed and offended by their decision. I thought Tropicana was all about the orange, not the green. If they had stayed true to their core and reminded me why they were worth my money rather than trick me to squeeze some extra pennies, I wouldn’t have questioned my loyalty to them.
As if deception wasn’t enough of a shot to the heart, Tropicana created confusion among consumers. People either didn’t recognize them or if you’re like me, you wondered if their orange juice was going to make your mimosa taste bad. Was it not 100 percent juice before? A generic design put the quality at risk. It was lifeless, forgettable, and bruised the value of their brand. They destroyed their iconic soul and lost the core essence of what made them great.
Even though some loved the simple look, most wanted the classic design back. The new design didn’t resonate. Some called it, “the end of an era.†Consequently, after two months of consumer protests towards the package redesign, Tropicana has decided to return to the design we know and love. They made an expensive mistake, but they redeemed themselves by listening to their consumers. Branding is about building relationships out of love and loyalty, whereas marketing focuses on transactions. The economy crisis has become a pivotal test for companies. Tropicana taught us all a valuable lesson – don’t mess with the brand.
Jordan Sullivan is a marketing director for Chick-fil-A.
Consumers lured by advertisements promising rock-hard abs, sparkling white teeth and bulging bank accounts soon may get a reality check.
Updated guidelines on ad endorsements and testimonials under final review by the Federal Trade Commission—and widely expected to be adopted—would end marketers’ ability to talk up the extreme benefits of products while carrying disclaimers like “results not typical” or “individual results may vary.”
Instead, companies would be allowed to tout extreme results only if they also spelled out typical outcomes.
“For a good part of the last decade, we have noticed a problem, particularly with consumer testimonials,” said Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s division of advertising practices. “The use of consumer testimonials had become almost a safe harbor for companies as long as they threw in some sort of disclaimer about results not being typical.”
The changes are sending shudders through companies that worry about their ability to motivate consumers to buy their products if they can’t sell the sizzle.
“There would never be another Jared,” said Julie Coons, president and chief executive of the marketing trade group Electronic Retailing Association, referring to Jared Fogle, who became Subway’s spokesman after losing 245 pounds eating the chain’s sandwiches and exercising. “We’re all going to have to regroup” if the proposals stand.
To read the entire article, click here.
Click here to register for the GA Fly-In.
According to a recent Adweek article, a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish campaign has become a viral sensation on the web, garnering more than 300,000 hits in a little over two weeks. What’s the catch? The Boogie Bass, a popular DRTV product, ironically enough is what makes the ad work.
Michael Planit, president of Product Strategies Inc., was involved with the marketing and music licensing for Boogie Bass. He is the author of “Operators Are Standing By,†McGraw-Hill 2007.
The use of consumer products that are pop-culture phenomenons is a great idea for use by McDonald’s and other corporations for advertising. I don’t think it was as much a marketing stunt as it was a “fluke†(sorry, couldn’t resist) that it became such a viral sensation. But, the idea of providing a visual like that is a fun and familiar way to catch the consumer’s eye.
A successful DR product garners so many impressions on TV, that its ubiquity becomes such it can increase the broadness of the demographic when placing it in conjunction with a more focused product – the Snuggie, for example, might be a product like that down the road.
In our current marketplace where back-to-basics is what’s important to the consumer, the idea of major corporations placing products that are familiar and memorable at many levels is a great way to pull a little at our emotional purse strings. Whether it’s a warm and fuzzy message or one we can laugh with – if we feel something good, we will be more apt to buy. -Planit
Given that it’s Lent, as a Cafeteria-Catholic who oddly picks and chooses certain dogmatic rules to follow, I’ll shamefully admit that the Filet-O-Fish will be prominently on my mind while trying to avoid eating meat on Fridays. What do you make of the McDonald’s campaign?
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.
Don’t be a Gilly! Instead, get to the head of the class and ahead of your competition by attending ERA’s webinars, receptions and meetings. You’ll learn about best practices, new trends and also network with your industry peers in a fun, relaxed setting.
Upcoming Events:
ERA Webinar- Optimizing Your DRTV During a Downturn: Your 2009 DRTV Stimulus Package—March 19
ERA Chicago Networking Reception—March 22, 2009
ERA Government Affairs Fly-In—April 20-21
ERA Toronto Networking Reception—April 29, 2009
The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) was mentioned in a recent AdvertisingAge article for its work with the FTC on the proposed changes to endorsements and testimonials.
According to AdvertisingAge, “Results not typical” or “Experience may vary” used to be enough to protect marketers using testimonial ads to move their wares. But maybe not for much longer.
The Federal Trade Commission wants to toughen the rules for endorsements and testimonials by requiring evidence that results are likely to be typical — a move that would put pressure on purveyors of diet pills and exercise equipment, among others.
The FTC is proposing the change as part of a rewrite of its now-29-year-old guide for endorsements. In part, it’s an attempt to bring the rules up to date in order to meet some of the challenges of the internet and buzz-marketing age.
The biggest change: Advertisers that feature endorsers touting dramatic results will either have to demonstrate that consumers are “likely” to have similar success or describe in the ad what the “generally expected performance” is.
The Direct Marketing Association warned that the change could make it difficult for new competitors to advertise at all, and the Electronic Retailing Association and the Council for Responsible Nutrition said the change could make even well-documented claims difficult to make.
To read the complete article, click here.
Want to have your voice heard on Capitol Hill? Then we invite you to ERA’s Government Affairs Fly-In on April 20-21, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet with members of Congress and let them know your concerns and opinions on this issue and many others affecting the direct-to-consumer, multichannel marketing industry.
Click here for more information.
Do you think Clickable TV will take off?
As the nation’s economy remains on shaky ground, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that these are trying times. Everyone is being hit hard, especially retailers. With employers cutting 2.6 million jobs just last year – and two million more layoffs expected this year – employers everywhere are trying to cut costs, while improving business. Retailers across the globe are looking at how to weather the storm, and the ones who will come out on top are those who are willing to invest. Many retailers believe the obvious solution is to “hunker down†and try to ride out the economic crisis by halting all spending. However, retailers who resist this temptation and try to gain market share will have the best chance to grow customer loyalty in the long run. Once the market inevitably takes a turn for the better, they will be the winners in the retail industry.
Retailers are already looking for ways to put themselves ahead of the curve, get closer to their customers and extend brand loyalty. With fewer and fewer customers walking through the door each day, retailers are using technology as a strategic weapon to differentiate themselves and connect customers to their brands. Companies are looking beyond 2009 for ways to “do more with less†and maximize their existing technology investments to provide greater agility and flexibility. Cabela’s, a leading specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor goods, is working with Cisco and SCOPIX (a company that specializes in store operations analytics) to greatly improve the customer experience by using digital video surveillance technology to help managers monitor store traffic. SCOPIX’s web-based platform provides real-time insight into how customers are being served throughout the store and can send in-store alerts to be directly to a store managers’ mobile device so they can reallocate employees to the areas where customers are located. By being able to react promptly to issues on the store floor, Cabela’s believes they will be able to convert more sales opportunities and increase same-store sales. (more…)
Television is starting to realize that not all “hot†demographics fall within the ages of 18 to 49.
For the past 20 years, television has focused its efforts on appealing to the 18 to 49 demographic, also known as “demos,†a Madison Avenue slang term. Marketers have always believed that this younger group was most likely to become attached to certain brands and those networks that pulled the most viewers under the age of 50 were considered the winners and thus received premium rates for commercial spots.
Finding the right programming
What’s happening now is network executives have become distracted chasing this younger audience and are challenged trying to find the right programming that appealed to the views of 20- to 30-year-olds.
Network executives spent significant money searching for just the right youth-oriented programming that would match the appeal of “Friends.” What they failed to notice is that viewers in other age groups began drifting away from niche programs on cable TV and other media.
The trouble with demographics
Now it seems as though there is a shift in the industry, and executives and others are moving away from focusing so much on demographics. In the age of DVRs, multichannel systems and much lower ratings, the “demo obsession†may have ended up reducing its own ratings and excluded programming with more mass appeal.
Peter Koeppel is president of Koeppel Direct Inc.
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