Online retail sales are bleak – no question – but there are some opportunities for sharp loyalty marketers.
I say that because some gift types actually saw an uptick around Valentine’s Day this year vs. month prior or year prior or both – ok, the only gifts in the latter category were pets and outdoor gear, but still…
Internet Retailerlooked at both shopping cart completions and sales totals for February 09 and gifts, pets, jewelry and sports apparel & gear all saw increases in the percentage of orders that were completed vs. February 08. That does not mean that order sizes increased – ticket size, in fact, decreased in all of these categories – but more customers completing any orders offer a smart online retailer the opportunity to capture:
- incremental email addresses
- more refined SEO information
- additional data about the relationship between ticket size and order completion
- increased data regarding site visit and purchase behavior
All of these factors permit more accurate and efficient site design and offer development targeting a broader consumer base.
‘Definitely a glass-half-full approach to some pretty dismal numbers, but both more and less of just about every kind of behavior online can make you a better marketer over time.
While I’d prefer to come up with these on my own, I’m afraid that I would be the one who’s hard of hearing if I didn’t pick a recent Pepsi ad for G2 (low-calorie Gatorade) as the tone-deaf ad of the week.
You can see what Pepsi was trying to do almost immediately, but BLAM: this thing has really come back around and smacked them in the head. This means Pepsi now have something in common with AIG – but I’ll get to that later.
The spot switches back and forth between NBA player Kevin Barnett and a normal, suburban-looking guy – also named Kevin – swimming like crazy. The voiceover also switches back and forth and herein lies the problem. In trying to write a standard “athletic striving” ad, they get seriously tangled in a lot of language that many are considering cruel and insulting to people who have lost their jobs and are otherwise suffering because of the economic crisis. See for yourself (if you can’t see the ad already, click HERE)
When I first heard about this controversy, I really, really wanted to support Pepsi. Then I saw the ad, and that became impossible.
The lines hurtle between insensitivity and cruelty:
Garnett: “I’ve never been handed a pink slip and “I’ve never had to tell me wife ‘We can’t make the mortgage.’” (Kevin “The Big Ticket” Garnett has a $24.75 million NBA contract)
Normal Kevin: “I’ve never had to fill the holes in my sneakers with cardboard.”
That last one IMHO is the most offensive of all. Normal Kevin appears to be taking us past unemployment and foreclosure straight on to visions of being homeless in the park.
The tragedy here is this was completely unnecessary. The financial services companies got into trouble for how they handled their (financial services) business! Gatorade just runs right into a buzz saw for no reason at all.
And so, let me wrap up a Friday by coming back to how Pepsi is now an AIG comrade. Both companies have fundamentally failed to grasp how people are feeling today… how many people are suffering. 1.3 million children in the United States were homeless at some point in one year – and that was before the recession started. I would assume that many of those children have had to use cardboard to plug the holes in their shoes.
If you think I am overdramatizing, I would respectfully suggest that you could make a mistake not dissimilar to the ones made by Pepsi and the banks, either while on the job or at a cocktail party. This is vast, vast pain.
I am counseling clients today to look hard at the need to advertise. If you are running ads, make sure they are seen and tested with a much broader swath of consumers and experts – ones who may not be in your target audience.
Is all this fair? NO ONE CARES. We are all in the business to sell, of course, but think long-term. If you’re not 100% secure in next week’s flight, cancel it. Because getting this wrong could negatively affect your brand’s reputation for years, if not a lifetime.
Skittles’ foray into the social media universe had the marketing blogosphere and Twitterverse on overdrive week.
On Tuesday, Mars replaced the candy’s “normal” website with a live feed from Twitter.com of tweets that mentioned Skittles. If you click HERE, you’ll get a current snapshot of what that site might have looked like several days ago when this experiment first began, but things have calmed down dramatically since then. When I took a look at the feed on that first day, there were tweets full of curse words, comments such as “I found a finger in my bag of Skittles,” “Skittles are made from dead animals,” “Skittles gives you cancer and kills babies,” “Eating Skittles will kill your parents” and so on.
In other words, the idea that anything in a tweet would instantly appear at skittles.com brought adults out of the woodwork to see just how outrageous and inappropriate they could be before Skittles changed strategy. Alas, all these tweets did appear on the site, and it was child’s play (pardon the pun) to get around the site’s age verification tool in order to see every word.
That’s just dumb – and dangerous. If one 8-year old had done something awful as a result of viewing some sort of silly fake directive as to what to do with Skittles… Mars would have had an enormous and entirely self-provoked communications disaster on its hands.
So while many marketers labeled Skittles’ experiment as bold and exciting, I stand with a minority who is not with the “lemmings” on this one. The site started as a confusing mish-mash of wildly unacceptable language attached to a candy, and has since evolved into the most boring site in the category.
Social media is not an end in itself. No tactic ever is. Advertising’s goal is to create goodwill and sales among a product’s target market. Will this effort do that? No. And did the stunt bring non-buyers out in droves? You bet.
While Mars (or its ad agency) may certainly win some wacky 2009 social media award when all is said and done, look for the company to announce that this “successful experiment” has come to an end, and that it is returning to a more standard interactive (and managed) site. It couldn’t happen soon enough. Skittles Skittles_Twitter
“New mover” marketing is huge. Most banks and many other types of institutions have individuals or teams assigned to the art of capturing business from consumers who move from one home to another. Banking, home improvement and security, auto repair, dry cleaning, groceries, pharmacy, electrical, plumbing, gardening… you name it and you need it in a new place.
17-20% of the US population move every year, and new mover total spending is around $170 billion. New mover list rental is a huge and attractive business because new movers are highly responsive.
I have seen QSRs market to new movers (they buy their way into “welcome wagon” programs with coupons or send stand-alone postcards, etc.). A Denny’s example pulled a 38% response.
Now comes a study from Epsilon pointing out that folks spend over 50% more on home decor and furnishings in the first year after they move than do people who stay put. These same movers, however, spend 24% less than non-movers on apparel and personal accessories in that same year.
So… Do national department stores and clothing stores purposefully promote to new movers? Nordstrom, Macy’s, Dillard’s? Do they market a specific message (and offer) to existing store cardholders who change zip, and new prospects (cut by income) living in an X-mile radius of a store?
Amazon Customer Reviews “I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger’s shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger’s scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said ‘that’s the worst security ever!’ But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.” “Of course, since the Playmobil Dad could not remove his shoes or other clothing items, the Playmobil security agent became suspicious and, after waving her wand wildy a few dozen times, called her supervisor to wisk the Dad into a special body-cavity search room… My advice – educating your kids about airport security with this toy may actually be more harmful to them than just packing them in the damn luggage with some bottled water and hoping they survive.” “Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like… I noticed that my child is now more interested in current events. Just the other day he asked me why we had to forfeit so much of our liberties and personal freedoms and I had to answer ‘well, it’s because the terrorists have already won.’” “I’ve heard that they were going to publish a coupon and code, to allow us to buy this for $9.11, they’re just waiting for the economy to drop a little more then it currently is. It’s a marketing thing I know…” “This toy would be a lot more realistic with about 350 people standing in line for an average of an hour. But it still makes a nice set with the interrogation room.” Playmobil Playmobil_Security_Checkpoint Amazon
I’ve never been a big Costco person, probably because I live in an apartment the size of a postage stamp. But just this year – when my mom moved close to one in the New Jersey burbs – I took the leap and bought a membership. Now I love going there: the warehouses are like Disneyland! There’s a pie as big as my couch! Cool!
Sidebar: when I finally did buy, it’s because I saw a specific product I wanted that Costco carried at a great price. I bought enough of that product (plus some gum, I think) to “pay for” the $50 membership fee on my first visit. Making a purchase a no-brainer is every retailer’s goal , no?
Now we get a little glimmer into the company’s customer service smarts, as well. Like many membership-based retailers with preferred shopper programs, it’s easy for Costco to keep track of a member’s purchases and to retain specific transaction-related data, such as the date and time of purchase. It turns out that one of the ways in which Costco delivers value back to members based on this information comes in the form of product recall notifications.
While Costco routinely sends letters to customers who have purchased recalled products, it is now the first major retailer to implement an automated calling service that dials and leaves messages for members warning them of problem products.
Costco uses an external vendor that can make up to 500,000 calls per hour. The company estimates that it has already made 1.5 million calls so far related to the ongoing recall of peanut butter products alone.
Would a company focused only on this quarter’s profitability do the same? Probably not…. especially since Costco will give the customer a refund for any recalled product that is returned to a warehouse (with or without a receipt). But how much is a call like this worth to a customer about to serve tainted food to his or her family? It’s invaluable. And, if the company doesn’t already, it would be fairly straightforward to measure the monetary value of the program.
This is a worthy practice. Let me know if you see holes in it.
Yesterday, I wrote a post saying that perhaps the press shouldn’t rule out weight-loss companies just yet: that perhaps cost-effective programs will actually fit nicely with the trend toward dining at home.
Now comes news that recipe websites are doing great business. I always knew that someone out there was cooking… [Sidebar: I had dinner with a neighbor the other night. He brought over take-out. He asked me for a big pan and a set of tongs. I had neither. It wasn't pretty.] Allrecipes.com had 8 million unique visitors in October! That’s a lot of tongs.
What other types of business and websites might benefit from the nesting trend? I know that some of the recipe sites allow a user to print a shopping list containing all the ingredients required for a given recipe. What if a site also allowed you to customize that recipe? Say you wanted to make a chicken dish, and you could enter a budget and the number of adults and children you wanted to feed? Or what if a site had a partnership with grocery chains, so it could tell you that chicken is on sale at your local Kroger but not Publix?
There have to be a lot of ideas (or at least good experiments) here for grocers. At stores with floor space, what if a grocer partner clustered all the ingredients for a site’s “recipes of the week” in one frozen and one non-frozen spot on the floor? For the grocers who already offer delivery, what if you could call or contact a grocer online, specify the recipe and have the store know what ingredients you needed?
Grocers have been on my mind as the economy has continued to crater. In a walking city like New York, at least, a grocer probably sees a person more frequently than just about any other retailer. What is that grocer doing to fully leverage that visit? Frequent shopper discounts are good, but standard. Once you’ve got a customer in your store – 3 or 4 times a week – there has just got to be opportunity at a time when everyone is looking for ways to make things easier (and less expensive than eating out). recipe_websitesAllrecipes.com
There have been a couple articles recently on how weight loss companies might fair in a down economy. The subtle or not-so-subtle implication is that this may be a very crummy time for Weight Watchers, Atkins, Jenny Craig and the like.
I’m not so sure. Nearly all the best-known companies have new work out right now in an attempt to take advantage of what is usually the plumpest (sorry) time for new sign-ups: each year’s first quarter, right after those resolutions are made. And some of the pricing is quite good. Weight Watchers can cost next to nothing if a member has enough willpower, and some of the others that do rely on selling there own food are offering some great deals.
I was smugly pleased when I saw a snarky article today mentioning that NutriSystem had recently lowered its price for a monthly program from $400/mo (including food) to $300. The point was that $300 was still impractical. I guess that writer doesn’t channel surf enough: just this weekend I saw NutriSystem selling this same program on QVC – and with a lot of bonus food - for under $200/mo. Forbes.com just found that NutriSystem is the least expensive holistic weight loss program available.
Whether these companies do well in a down economy will in large part depend not only on consumer priorities but also on whether committed people use these programs as substitutes for more expensive behaviors, such as dining out. these programs for other, more expensive behaviors, such as dining out. Having every week’s breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners delivered to your home could actually fit nicely with the trends toward budgeting and entertaining/dining at home.
Let’s not count all these companies out just yet. It’s possible that some clever investment in 2009 may help superior competitors scoop up savvy, motivated consumers who not only see the opportunity to lose weight but whose current (expensive) habits make weight-loss programs look like a pretty good deal. NutriSystemweight_lossWeight_Watchers
If you’re like me, you don’t need external affirmation or reinforcement of your decisions all the time… but sometimes is nice!
Back in June, I told you about The Consumerist, a wonderful online community and blog owned by Gawker. I raved about its informative stories about good and bad customer service experiences (“Shoppers Bite Back”), along with all the corporate phone numbers, addresses, etc. you frequently wish you had at your fingertips. The site also does a great job for its 1.8 million readers of promoting great deals and discounts.
Now comes the affirmation I mentioned: Consumer Union has just purchased The Consumerist! Jim Guest, President and CEO of Consumers Union, says that the Consumerist community’s passion for helping consumers shop in a “fair, safe and just marketplace” will add exponentially to his company’s relevance and reach. It will also bring younger readers into the Consumer Reports fold.
And for The Consumerist and Gawker: WOW. The site’s new owner knows a thing or two about online marketing and revenue generation. With 3.3 million loyal, paying readers, ConsumerReports.org is the largest paid-subscriber website in the world.
A good deal all around! Let’s just hope that Consumerist readers will continue to have access to its content free of charge… with some heavy-duty Consumer Reports cross-sell pitches thrown in, of course. Consumers UnionConsumer Reportsconsumerreports.orgThe Consumerist Consumers Union Buys Consumerist
It’s no secret that Wal-Mart has benefited from the failing economy; it also did a very nice job recently with a promotion helping families pay for Thanksgiving dinner.
Now that the company has agreed to pay $640 million to settle over 60 wage-related lawsuits, I see an opportunity for Wal-Mart to reconstitute its image.
While 42% of Americans (as of 2006) say they shop at Wal-Mart at least once a month, there is at least 14% of U.S. consumers who consider themselves “conscientious objectors” to the retailer based on its employment, charitable and other policies. And it’s probably safe to say that at least a portion of that 14% consists of parties that can capture an inordinate amount of media attention such as local governments and retailers, unions, prosecutors and others.
So with its successful new tagline “Save Money. Live Better,” will Wal-Mart seize what I see as a window of opportunity to change some of its policies and win over its detractors? Pay-outs like $640 million are a drop in the bucket for Wal-Mart: there’s a lot the company could do (and spend) to ensure that it comes out smelling much sweeter once the economy turns around.
Consumers need a savior right now: will Wal-Mart go out of its way to step up to the plate?
Check out www.IAmStNick.com. If you don’t know what to get someone for Xmas, Santa will call your finicky recipient and ask her what she wants. You can then go back to the site and listen to the recording of the call. Cute!
If the site comes back around next year, it could possibly make some dough through advertising and sponsorships not only on the site but on the calls themselves. If the callee doesn’t know what she wants, for example, she could be given a few choices such as “Press 1 for environmentally friendly gifts” or “Press 2 for travel-related gifts” and so on. The site could also collect a rev share if the gift-giver actually follows through and purchases a gift advertised on the site or over the phone.
It’s been a very odd few weeks in the fast food marketing business.
First, there’s Burger King’s effort to spread “ugly Americanism” around the globe with its odd “Whopper Virgins” campaign. “What happens if you take remote Chang Mai villagers who’ve never seen a burger, who don’t even have a word for burger, and ask them to compare Whopper versus Big Mac in the world’s purest taste test?” I don’t know the answer, but I’m doubtful that this campaign will shift any new business to Burger King – it may fuel the fanatics (and I’m not knocking the importance of retention) but I wonder if it’s enough to balance the heat the company has received as a result of the campaign. Early results already show that the campaign is putting off women, and positive chatter on the Web is dropping quickly. Barbara Lippert judging the work as “culturally tone deaf” was one of the nicer phrases critics have used.
Then yesterday, the Pizza Hut “anti-Main Street” (my phrase) ad debacle hit Twitter, care of Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus. Pizza Hut has created this odd viral campaign in which actors walk into mom-and-pop pizza shops and order pizza delivery – from Pizza Hut. So… in a recession, Pizza Hut puts out ads in which people order pizza that we all know is not as good as the product you can find in your own neighborhood, AND mocks/steals business from little restaurant owners just trying to make a living.
While it has not received much credit for it, Burger King actually did donate some money to the towns in which the Whopper Virgins ads, so the company wasn’t entirely tone deaf. The Pizza Huts ads are just, well, mean.
And lastly, there’s just not a whole lot to say about a Burger King body spray for men that smells like… meat. “Flame” offers “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Nah, I’m not going to take the bait (pardon the pun) – it’s just too easy.
So there you have it: a strange time in fast food land. Go offer some love (and cash) to your neighborhood diner today!Burger KingWhopper VirginsPizza HutIan SchaferDeep Focus
Catalina Marketing and Pointer Media have just released a study indicating that 2.5% of consumers account for 80% of the sales for the average CPG brand. Less than 2% of the over 1,300 brands studied have more than 10% of shoppers generating 80% of their sales volume.
1% of buyers account for 80% of Iams pet food sales volume.
This is really incredible information – and blows the old “80/20 rule” clean out of the water.
There are significant ramifications for messaging, media, customer service, community outreach, packaging, channel management, corporate giving – you name it. Catalina and Pointer are, of course, creating a new service to help brands find these “pivot point consumers,” but these kinds of metrics should generate significant thinking all the way down the value chain.
* Grand Prize – John McCain’s Presidential campaign
* Overly confident LifeLock CEO brags about his company’s identity theft protection service by publishing his own social security number – and gets his identity stolen.
Well, I said it a couple days ago – the onslaught of enormous discounts would soon desensitize consumers to sales (10% off! $25 off of $100! 25% off from 2- 4am!) – and there it is in the Wall Street Journal today. Christina Binkley, who covers fashion and other categories for WSJ, writes in a big article about shopping for bargains that she’s “turning up [her] nose these days at most fashion discounts of less than 50%.” 50%!
This is not a good sign for clothing retailers and will soon spread to other categories. And higher and higher discounts are not the answer: like some foods, the more you eat the more you need to feel satisfied… until your status becomes untenable. Discounts are simply going to a create a new – lower – floor for prices overall.
So it’s vitally important that retailers of all shapes and sizes look for ways to stay present in the minds of important customers and prospects. Take Saks, which is suffering some awful results as well as huge discounts: do exclusive store events. Consider refer-a-friend vehicles where a customer can get something special for getting a friend to stop by. Increase your email volume and, where you have past shopping behavior information, try to customize the content. For the woman who has even looked at Bottega Veneta bag on your website (let alone bought one), see if one of the designers at Bottega would be willing to contribute monthly advice about how to purchase and maintain quality leather products.
It’s not always about how much money you spend on a customer – and the sad fact is that all the discounts in the world may not create sales right now. But you want to keep a customer warm for the someday when he/she is willing to spend money again. Keep in touch. Demonstrate value. Do things like the Bottega example above that don’t appear to be a sales pitch and allow the recipient to feel special.
The small ideas on the fringe about being “nice” to customers may be worth far more than that for some time to come.
One of my favorite newsletters has labeled the trend toward brands offering special perks as “perkonomics.”
Trendwatching.com points out that while the credit card, travel and hospitality industries have relied on rewarding good customers with cashless privileges (seat and room upgrades, etc.), most other businesses and brands have not seized the same opportunity.
I think there are many many reasons why perkonomics is going to become increasingly important: (a) I haven’t heard anyone talk about this, but I believe that consumers are going to become desensitized to discounts. As we dive into this recession, everyone is offering dollars or % off in big numbers and – over time – this will lose its power. The prevalence of discounts will simply serve to lower overall price expectations. It’ll take more to jumpstart a consumer’s loyalty. (b) Have you noticed that it’s harder just to navigate the world lately? Companies under pressure tend to cut services and benefits. Those who can offer experiences that cost them little to nothing will see appreciation that far outweighs their actions. (c) Competition means that it’s too easy for a consumer to dump you and move on. The little things are what will keep them. (d) There are still segments with cash and market power who – at least for awhile – may wish to be less ostentatious with their purchases. Brands need to stay fresh and memorable (and appreciated) during the downturn.
I’ve been thinking about this since a friend told me that Visa Signature offered exclusive lavatories to cardholders attending a big music and arts festival. Would you expect a special potty from your credit card? No. Will you always remember the huge lines for the regular icky bathrooms while you were treated to a better experience? You bet.
Whether it’s a dedicated line at club, a special reservations phone number at a restaurant or a free bottle of water in a hotel room – these are the things that consumers will remember and that cannot be “bought.”
eMarketer has reviewed some recent data indicating that Millenials are “born with keyboards in their hands”: that is, that they view the world in a fundamentally different way that assumes the use of hand-picked technology doo-dads to handle just about everything.
You can see the tremendous shift here, particular toward the use of cell phones (and – my opinion – the increasing pressure on phone and cable companies to deliver well-priced digital/cellular phone services packages):
Resource Interactive points out the particular impact of this shift on how Millenials shop and “pre-shop” with their friends. Coupled with an addiction to MySpace, Facebook and other platforms that bring people together, technology has made it simple for friends to get advice from each other (a “communal” blessing, if you will) before making a purchase. “The actual shopping activity in the store… becomes a social activity for them,” says Mila Goodman, the shop’s director of experience strategy.
All of this means that retailers have an opportunity to build brand awareness and loyalty by making it easy and fun to shop “together” using mobile phones and other devices. Among the many reasons that Beacon didn’t work for Facebook is that it didn’t draw me into my friends’ thought process and experience around purchasing something; the site simply reported that my friend had done so. No fun.
Outdoor, magazine, online and even TV advertising could feature a barcode or some other tag that a person could photograph and send to friends; that tag arrives with information about the product and maybe a special offer. It should be easy to download a tiny piece of code and send it along. And when you get someone all the way into your store? Wow: make it count. Give away ringtones, wallpapers (Chanel wallpaper, girls?), sign-ups for special store events and discounts… I think all stores/retailers should eventually make it simple to email high-res product photos that come along with just a bit of sales and promotional info.
If you had the opportunity to get target customers talking about you on their cell phones with every individual ad viewing or store visit, what would you do?
I spotted two articles today reporting that moms are postponing or canceling plans to buy themselves things so that they can treat their kids this holiday season. 61% of moms plan to shop less for themselves this year vs. 56% of all women and 45% of men (No comment on that last statistic).
What a fabulous opportunity for clever marketers! Celebrate the mom! I’m riffing here:
* Clothing stores, department stores, etc. could have momathons. A mom would have to sign up in advance (with email address), naming all her kids and their ages, maybe one thing they wish the could buy themselves and then choose an hour or whatever during which moms got special discounts, BOGO, GWP, whatever.
* Brands and retailers, let’s say Pampers (P&G) and Gymboree, could hold contests, sweepstakes, giveaways – do something BIG! – to proclaim the wonderfulness of moms. And an international company like a P&G or Coke or Kraft could create a worldwide event.
* Spas, hair salons, nail parlors – ‘nuf said.
Get moms interacting with you now and long after the holiday is over. My recommendations for stores that are seeing a lot of returns is relevant here: if you’re going to give discounts or coupons, for example, give one for the holidays and one that activates, say, in February 09.
Women are responsible for over 80% of household purchases! Momfluentials are everywhere! 89% of moms use the Internet at least twice a day, and 35% of moms spend 3 or more hours online. 70% use search engines before making an online purchase. Yoo-hoo, Yahoo!78% of mom bloggers review products and 96% of online moms value these bloggers’ recommendations (and moms have higher word of mouth credibility than all women). Moms purchase appliances at twice the rate of the general population. Dear Electrolux: shift a little of that Kelly Ripa cash into a big mom idea. Moms love technology just as much as the rest of us? Verizon Wireless: can you hear me now? Do a cool mom promo!
Yes, it seems like it could be Mother’s Day in December for great brands out there… McDonald’s has the Happy Meal – why not a Harried Mom meal for the women running around shopping for the holidays while the kids are in school? And local shops and restaurants could get in on the act, too.
2007 saw folks pushing The Facebook Marketing Bible, conference segments and endless articles on the wisdom of marketers hawking their wares on Facebook. A lot of this stuff is still around, but the climate appears to be changing.
In a recent survey of CMOs, over half indicated a very low level of interest in including Facebook in their current plans. A third said they have no interest at all.
Epsilon commissioned the survey, and I do agree with the company’s CMO, Steve Cone, that marketers aren’t interested in “teenagers sharing photographs with one another.” However, I think the fact that that is the case – or even the perception – is a failing that smacks of lost opportunity.
33% of Facebook’s 33 million users are over 26 years of age, and 13% are 35 or older. That’s nothing to sneeze at. But are there any particular areas on Facebook that might be attractive or particularly relevant for an older audience? Nope. And more importantly, Facebook’s efforts to target advertising by age and other characteristics have failed to gain traction. At this very moment, there are 3 ads on my profile page: one for an HP something (dvt5 anyone?) powered by Intel Centrino2 Processor Technology, another for “faith-based universities” and one asking if I want to get an MBA.
Let’s just say that 0 out of 3 of these ads are relevant to me personally. Based on my zip code and self-reported educational data, at least two of them shouldn’t be there at all. As a marketer looking to spend precious dollars wisely, this sends me a strong message that Facebook is not the place to do so.
Facebook needs to figure out target marketing quick and take its show on the road to marketers interested in reaching grown-ups.
Consumers are feeling guilty about past purchases and are returning items in record numbers. ‘Turns out that baby does not actually need a pair of $400 shoes after all.
According to a survey just released by the National Retail Federation, shoppers are expected to return a record $219 billion in goods this year, or 8.7% of total sales. That’s up from 7.3% in 2007. Holiday returns will fare even worse: ho-ho-oh-no returns came to 8.8% of the total retail haul in 2007 and are forecasted to hit 10% this year.
The survey does highlight an increasing number of retailers who are planning more lenient return policies, which is nice, but I sure hope merchants also take the opportunity to get that customer to come back! The way I look at it, a shopper in line to return an item may or may not be in the mood to purchase other items that day. But the next time she’s ready to make a purchase? Make sure she thinks of you. A discount or special offer on a future purchase should be handed to the ”returner” right there at cashwrap. Make it compelling… and have it start, say, February 1st, so you minimize the effect of gamers who might try to use the offer on an already-planned holiday purchase.
Getting a consumer into your store these days is gold: you may be giving them money back today, but try to encourage them to give you some tomorrow.
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Yesterday, I wrote a 
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