Infomercial Magic

We’ve all been there. It’s 2am. You can’t sleep and decide to turn on the TV to see what’s on—hoping for some late night breaking news or an elusive never before seen episode of Friends. However, as you surf the channels, you are suddenly captivated by a single line of spoken copy—“but wait, there’s more!”

We’ve seen them all over the place and at all times of the day. The infomercial. Whether it’s makeup, a video education DVD, or the latest workout craze, consumers—from the stay at home mom to the restless sleeper—are watching and waiting to see what more they can purchase for only three installments of $19.99 with of course the added bonus…or two or three (or more!) added bonuses depending on the offer.

While most advertisers think in terms of 30-60 second television commercials, the infomercial takes it to a new level with a usually 30 minute sales pitching show aimed at captivating an audience and inspiring them to get off the couch (or out of bed), call the 1-800 number, and make a purchase without ever sampling a product or service on their own. Infomercials, if executed properly, will leave no questions in the mind of the consumers as to the benefits of the product/service, and why they should purchase.

I am guilty of making an infomercial purchase—I am the proud owner of a Magic Bullet—a mini-blender that can literally make a variety of meals in ten seconds or less. Every time I’m channel surfing and I flip by the Magic Bullet infomercial, I am instantly captivated and watch the rest of the program. The problem with the Magic Bullet—and please note that this is my opinion only—it’s not a good product! The infomercial led me to believe that in a short amount of time, I could create a gourmet meal, a tropical beverage, and a delicious desert with little clean up effort. However, everything that I’ve tried (1) seems to not taste very good, (2) does not look as appetizing as the infomercial, (3) is not as easy to clean up, and (4) takes a lot longer than described in the recipe. But yet, whenever I see the Magic Bullet infomercial, my love for the product is reignited, and I am compelled to try another recipe.



My personal experiences with the Magic Bullet show the power of the infomercial. Regardless of if the product works or not, the infomercial left no question in my mind that I could make all sorts of delightful meals without ever trying the product, and even re-watching the infomercial continues to build relationship with and my want to use the product.

Rest in peace, Billy Mays--THE Pitchman.

References:

http://www.cpodirect.com/world_info.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/29/mays.profile/index.html
http://www.buythebullet.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtpKjgwi4Sc

Google Insights

Like many, my homepage is set to Google.com (or rather iGoogle). On a regular day, I probably make about fifty or more Google searches for a variety of purposes—checking traffic, news, weather…the list goes on and on. However, how are my searches, as a consumer, being tracked? The answer (in Google at least) is in a tool called Google Insights.

According to a FastCompany article, “Google Insights is a very useful online tool allowing you to get search volume information about any topic.” Based on the assumption "where there is search there is interest.” The site is able to break down information based on keyword, location (country, state, metro area, etc.), related searches, and also supplies relevant media stories that might explains spikes in searches.

Google Insights is a valuable tool for marketers—especially when looking for looking for keywords for paid search advertising. For example: I put in the terms “Internet” and “Media” and the data seems to somewhat flow together—indicating that people who are looking for the term Media are also looking for the term Internet.

Search marketers need to take the information gleaned from Google Insights with a grain of salt. While Google Insights shows us terms and keywords that people are searching for they give us a hypothetical correlation.

References:

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/what-are-googlers-googling
http://www.millionclues.com/problogging/blog-tips/find-popular-search-keywords-trends
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

There's No Such Thing as a Free Envelope

I found an interesting article about a group of innovators in Holland who are offering free postage-paid envelopes to the public. The envelopes and postage are free because there are advertisements printed on the back—a unique way for advertisers to reach a variety of different consumers through direct mail. With the rising cost of direct mail this is a highly attractive offer for consumers to partake in, and distribute ads within the consumers’ own network of family, friends, and other contacts.

I think that this is a great concept because it allows advertisers to send messages in a way that is otherwise unbranded. By branding the envelopes, advertisers are able to attach a cost to each direct mail message sent (i.e. the cost of printing the envelope plus the cost of postage).

Adversely, by using this method, advertisers have no control over to whom their advertisements are being served (and therefore not knowing the overall impact of advertising dollars spent) and consequently turning over distribution of the brand to consumers. Thusly, advertisements are not targeted to specific audiences, but instead to the broad category of consumers who receive mail.

Will this concept catch on in the US? Well, it has in a way with credit card companies which include an addressed envelope with advertisement on the back flap--however, these envelopes do not contain free postage. We'll see if this trend of pre-paid envelopes crosses the Atlantic.

References:

http://www.brandfreak.com/2009/06/holland-experiments-with-envelope-ads-that-pay-for-the-postage.html

Bing...Worth the Hype?

Last week, Microsoft launched their new “Decision Engine,” Bing, which has produced quite a bit of buzz in the online market place and is rumored to be the search engine of the future. Bing promises to help searchers solve problems faster by generating a list of query results by automatically grouping search results. Here are some of their televisions spots:

Cell Phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jMt6saTqq4
Hawaii: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkaTcjDIMk

Bing is boosting Microsoft’s market share driven by the above commercials, radio spots, and several sponsorships (including Hulu.com).

Although I like Bing, I don’t find it all that much different from any of the other search engines—Google and Yahoo. I like the layout of Bing—the way it lists related and recent searches on the search page, but unfortunately, I don’t think Bing is worth all of the hype—or at least not any more hype than another of the other search engines. It just provides another way for users to access information that’s already out there.

I encourage you to check Bing out for yourself and give it a try. Although I’m not quite ready to change my preferred search engine to Bing, I’m looking forward to new search innovations and a better way to glean information from the Net.

References:

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i6ec2932c7d29e99230c700de963b715b

Email Marketing…Advertising Made Easy with ROI

I used to work at an email marketing agency with our primary delivery software to be hosted with Bronto Software (www.bronto.com)—a highly intuitive email composing, launching, and reporting tool designed to track an email recipient’s behavior.

Email software vendors (like Bronto), allowed me to segment consumers into groups (based geographic location, purchase stage, interests, etc.), and send them a message encouraging them to take the next step in the buying cycle. Based on the purpose of each email launch, I would personalize the email’s hyperlinks, copy, and images to match the interests of the consumer (based on information gleaned from client records). After deployment, we were able to see what consumers opened the messages, clicked on hyperlinks, or responded to survey questions. From this information I could recommend to my clients who consumers showed interest in their services, and the client could continue to target these customers with email and other forms of media.

Email is also an excellent avenue for performing tests. By randomly segmenting the audiences, I could launch several different messages, images, subject lines, calls to action, launch times, etc, then watch the results to see which test had the most successful response rate. By learning what worked in these tests—and arguably more importantly, what didn’t work—allowed me to better inform my clients what messages, images, etc. to use or not use, and then exploit the positive responses in future marketing campaigns to further enhance response rates.

So why is email important in the marketing mix? In this digital age, email marketing allows us to send targeted messages to customers in a cost effective way with proven ROI. With compliance to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, advertisers can reach out to a variety of consumers to introduce new products and services, and thusly cultivating the relationship with those consumers…directly from the comfort of the consumers’ own inboxes.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003
http://www.bronto.com/