Healthy Blog Reviews

Earlier today, we talked about how The Gap used a social media push to encourage people to step into their stores this past weekend. Now Best Buy is working on a similar idea with a decidedly “big brother” twist. Starting tomorrow, in 187 stores in major markets all over the US. They plan to follow this with an additional 70 stores by October 1. The “shopkick” system is designed to detect and reward shoppers just for walking into a Best Buy store. In order to accomplish this feat, consumers must download an application to their smart phone. Right now the app is only available for iPhone but Android is coming soon. On the store’s end, there is a “shopkick Signal” which reaches out and talks to the application when they meet. The conversation includes information on who owns the phone that just walked in and that person gets rewards that they’re calling “kickbucks.” These bonus bucks can be collected and spent in the store as cash. In addition, the “shopkick” system will offer POS discounts and added bonus bucks when you use your phone to scan the barcode on select products. The idea here is pretty simple. Retailers know that getting someone into the store is half the battle. “Shopkick” offers that extra incentive that a coupon doesn’t because it rewards you for showing up, no money needed. Presumably there’s a cap on this thing or people will quickly learn how often they can walk in and out in order to rack up bonus points in record time. Giving out “kickbucks” for scanning products is a great way to get shoppers to touch the items you want them to buy, because, come on, touching is the next step toward buying, right? The real advantage here over the Foursquare version The Gap used, is that the customer isn’t required to “check in”. They don’t have to print anything or Tweet anything, they just have to show up. Can’t get simpler than that. The downside of this version is that you lose the social media sharing component. If my friend sends out a tweet that he’s at a great sale at The Gap, that’s free advertising for them. Best Buy’s system doesn’t encourage any social media sharing, though people are likely to do it anyway if the system is a success. The bigger downside is that you have to have a smartphone to take advantage of the program and that means a large portion of the population can’t play. Granted, Best Buy is a retailer who probably has a much higher ratio of smartphone customers than most, but word is Macy’s will soon be trying the system, too. It would be interesting to see if “shopkick” is more effective in one chain than the other. I’m a coupon shopper and I believe in retail loyalty programs. They work. I will shop for a DVD at Best Buy in order to get my points over buying it a Target where it might be a dollar cheaper. But the concept of a computer tracking me the second I step into a store is a little Orwellian. Next thing you know my cell phone will talk to my car computer and conspire to drive me to Best Buy even though I wanted to go to Target. I have images of my iPhone getting flirty with the local “shopkick,” promising to deliver me on a weekly basis in return for a quick charge. Of course, it’s worth giving up a little freedom if it means a 20% discount on a Blu-ray player. What do you think? Is this one step away from installing tracking chips in humans? Or just another fun way to get consumers into the store?

Tags: blu-ray, customer, dvd, iphone, phone, shopping, smart, Social, Social Media, store
Posted August 16, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

The internet is all a buzz this week about the return of Mad Men on AMC. From the amount of hype, you would think that it’s one of the hottest shows on the air in terms of ad revenue, but that’s not true. According to an article in Advertising Age, Mad Men pulled in only $1.98 million in ad revenue last year on a show that costs 3 million per episode to produce. Part of the problem is that the show, despite all the critical acclaim, has an audience equal to about one fifth of a network show like CBS’s NCIS. And yet, AMC declares the show a hit and continues to produce it along with partner Lionsgate. Why? Because direct sales isn’t the only way to measure a marketing campaign’s success. A new study developed by MarketShare Partners , shows how indirect marketing can be as effective as direct marketing, particularly when it includes a mix of online and offline advertising. A person sees a commercial on TV, goes online to learn more about the product and buys it after clicking through on a a display ad. Was it the commercial that facilitated the sale or the display ad? Does it matter? In the case of Mad Men, AMC says that the critical acclaim for the series has allowed them to raise their cable subscriber fees from .22 cents to .24 cents. Before Mad Men, fees were on the decline. “Mad Men” has “raised the game for our brand,” said Charlie Collier , president-general manager of AMC, which is part of Cablevision Systems’ Rainbow Media Holdings. The program “has absolutely raised our ability to monetize the network.” From there, it’s DVD sales and tie-in merchandise and the potential for a Broadway show. All of this ads to the bottom line. Says MarketingMix; “Today’s business leaders require a clear, causal bridge between marketing spend and economic results – specifically how marketing affects revenue and profits. It is important to know how many people are watching an ad or clicking on it, but the ultimate measure of success is how revenue and profits are affected.” For online marketers, this means stop the hourly monitoring of traffic and click-throughs and start looking at other ways to leverage your brand. Sponsoring a popular webseries might not result in direct sales, but it may make a consumer think of your product before a competitor’s when it comes time to buy.

Tags: advertising, commercial, dvd, flickr, game, marketing, network, product, rainbow-media, raised-the-game, Research
Posted August 3, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Amazon began beta testing a new application this week that claims to be a simple gift suggestion engine for your family and friends. It all begins on the Amazon recommendation page . From there, you give Amazon permission to talk to Facebook and from there you get a page full of people matched with products. At the top of the page is a list of everyone on your friends list who has a birthday coming up. Good thing I decided to try this because I totally forgot that my sister has a birthday in 4 days. It even tells me “4 days” because simply saying August 1 isn’t urgent sounding enough. Below that is a list of products that my friends like, so I should own them, too. Under each item is a tiny Facebook icon for the people who like that item. The first item on my list, a Sundance Film Festival DVD was linked to three friends of mine who are indie filmmakers, so the system does seem to work. Or not. The choices appear to be based on the items you list in your favorites section of Facebook. My sister doesn’t have any favorites listed, yet Amazon was bold enough to choose a selection of books she might like for her birthday based on. . . I have no idea what. My sister-in-law has a variety of items on her Facebook profile and it resulted in an interesting recommendation list that included both Terminator and Disney’s Cinderella . I actually own both of those movies, so all I can say is that she has odd, but good taste. Or maybe it’s Amazon’s taste that I’m sampling. Overall, I found this new application to be both voyeuristic and creepy. I got a certain perverse joy out of peeking into the book, music and video tastes of people on my Facebook whom I hardly know. On the other hand, I didn’t want to see what would show up for my best friend’s teenaged daughter, lest it be too much information. The saving grace here is that despite what it looks like at first glance, Amazon isn’t revealing purchase history, just a propensity to “like” something based on information left behind on Facebook. It’s no secret that I like the singer Steve Carlson, so it doesn’t matter that my Facebook friends will see my picture under his CDs, but where does it end? The only thing I find more disturbing than Amazon’s belief that I’ll automatically want what my friends want, is their instance that I should buy presents for every one of my Facebook friends. Go ahead, make me feel bad with those birthday countdowns and “most wished for” suggestions. I’m still not going to spend my money buying a gift for the guy I met once on a movie but haven’t seen in ten years, Facebook friend or not. I’m going to disconnect from the service because I feel it’s a terrible invasion of privacy. I am. . .but I have no idea what to get my sister for her birthday and it’s only 4 days from now. Those books they’re suggesting do look interesting. . . .but after that, I’m disconnecting. I am.

Tags: birthday, dvd, facebook, family, festival, flickr, like-the-singer, money, new-application, people, picture, Social
Posted July 29, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Remember when Blockbuster was king of the video rental biz? It was a brilliant concept developing at a time when studios were charging $80 for a new movie on VHS. But as DVD took over from VHS and the price point on new movies began to drop, Blockbuster found itself slipping from the top spot and now has become the Betamax of home video rentals – once loved, but now forgotten. These days it’s Netflix who is wearing the crown with their original concept of offering all the DVDs you want for a flat rate per month (no late fees), delivered right to your mailbox. With 100,000 titles to choose from, including old movies, TV shows and indies, Netflix’s only downside is the wait and that’s where Redbox comes in. Redbox combines the easy and usability of Netflix with the “watch it tonight” concept of Blockbuster. The DVDs are rented via one of 24,000 Redbox machines located in grocery and convenience stores all over the country. Customers swipe their debt card, choose their film then return it to the machine when they’re done. The only downside here is selection. The machines only hold a limited number of DVDs, so they carry only the newest, most popular movies available at any given time. According to Bloomberg.com, Redbox realizes that they’re giving up a great deal of business to Netflix due to their inability to offer a wider variety of films, but now they’re prepared to do something about it. They’re going to build their own online rental business that will likely contain a streaming video component just like Netflix. What I find ironic about this story is the fact that Redbox went into the business of instant DVD delivery in order to fill a need that Netflix couldn’t. By moving their business online, they aren’t giving the consumer anything new. And without anything new, how can they possibly hope to surpass Netflix who is already firmly entrenched in the market? Add to that Walmart, Sears and Best Buy all getting into the movie rental and streaming business and it seems like the field is already too crowded to bother. Then there’s the problem that just because you do one thing well, doesn’t mean you can do another. Blockbuster tried regaining the top slot by adding an online component but barely took a bite out of Netflix’s business. If Redbox pours a lot of time and money into getting their online unit up and running, they’ll be taking capital away from their brick and mortar-ish business and that could spell disaster for the company as a whole. I’m all for competition but unless Redbox has something to add to the niche that isn’t already being offered by Netflix, I say they’re better off spending their money to improve the system that’s already working for them. What do you think? Could Redbox be the first real competition Netflix has ever had?

Tags: blockbuster, country, dvd, film, flickr, movie, netflix, only-the-newest, price, Redbox, video, walmart
Posted July 19, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

We live in an app crazy world. Whether it is something developed for the most popular iPhone or the up and coming Android market, apps are the talk of the marketing town. While there is plenty of talk about apps, there is actually precious little hard evidence of their impact for brands. Why is that? There are plenty of possible reasons. 1. Companies want to keep that data to themselves 2. The apps are not performing as well as anticipated 3. There are no real KPI’s in place to provide accurate analysis of the app’s bottom line impact 4. All of the above 5. None of the above 6. Some of the above 7. Something other than the above Well, here at Marketing Pilgrim we are going to try a little experiment. We have been given permission to track the impact of an app developed by AppCore LLC for Brainy Baby and its video products for the little people (children that is). Brainy Baby is a 15 year old company out of Atlanta that develops DVD’s, books, games and music for children. As with many smaller businesses they have a website. Their social media efforts are all in the early stages of development. In a nutshell the Brainy Baby approach is defined by their CEO as follows “All Brainy Baby DVDs were developed using a methodology widely accepted by educators and the special needs community. We use this same methodology in all of our DVDs, which rely on verbal cues and real-life relatable objects to teach children to preschool concepts,” said Dennis Fedoruk, president and CEO of The Brainy Baby Co. “We have always been confident that our DVDs have solid educational value.” Now the job is to capitalize on the new world order of iPhones and the ability to have apps that can be used to educate and entertain children at the drop of a hat. Ever been in a car with a screaming toddler and you have just run out of options? Well, now there are apps for that! So you know, there is no financial connection to Marketing Pilgrim or myself regarding Brainy Baby and their business. We have just been given the inside track on being able to watch the impact (be it good or bad) of an app on a brand from the start of the process. The app went into the App Store on June 27, 2010 and is called Brainy Videos. The app is free and has previews of videos that can be purchased for use on your iPhone or iPod Touch. There are other offerings planned for the future as well. Kreg Sheppard is the Chief Visionary of AppCore and is glad to be part of this live experiment. Let’s call it our version of an app reality show. Kreg told us This is a unique opportunity to be involved in the early stages (infancy, if you will) of a company’s transition to the mobile platform, especially with such a solid brand as Brainy Baby. We will all be able to bear witness to what can happen when the right brand goes mobile. We will be updating the progress of this app endeavor periodically to give you an idea of just where this has and has not worked. The goal here is to show just what can happen when an app is developed to generate interest in an already popular but not necessarily mainstream product. Don’t be afraid to offer your opinions on what should be done to make this a success of not. After all, our readers are marketing experts so let’s hear your take. We’ll check back after the 4th of July to see just what’s happening in the world of Brainy Baby videos and their venture into the world of apps.

Tags: Brainy, Business, dvd, live, marketing, mobile, widely-accepted, world
Posted July 1, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media