Tag Archives: Advertising and Marketing

December 3, 2014 · 1:44 pm

Turf Burns

I read an article about a fine imposed by the FTC on an ad agency. Apparently what the agency did was to ask employees to promote Sony‘s PlayStation Vita on Twitter as if they were “regular” consumers. Agency employees then used their personal Twitter accounts to make positive posts about the gaming device. Obviously there was no disclaimer in each tweet that the person posting was an agency employee or had a financial relationship with the product.

Seal of the United States Federal Trade Commis...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This sort of thing is known as “astroturfing.”  It goes on in politics all the time and is “the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g. political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participant(s).”  Fake reviews are a form of this when they’re written by marketing or PR people on behalf of a company.

I’m not sure what genius thought that this could in any way be considered smart marketing but it’s an expensive lesson.  Especially when you put it in this context:

Almost 8 in 10 American adults read online consumer reviews for product and services before making a purchase, with this figure relatively constant across generations, according to a survey from YouGov. The study analyzes the use of online reviews from a variety of angles, finding that a bare majority (51%) of those who read consumer reviews generally read at least 4 before feeling that they have enough information to purchase a product or service…the YouGov survey also finds that among the 44% who post online reviews themselves, 49% (including 58% of 18-34-year-olds) admit to having at some point written reviews for products and services they haven’t actually purchased or tried.

So reviews are important to consumers yet consumers themselves sabotage the reviews’ value.  Add that to the astroturfing that goes on and you might say “oh, everyone does it.”  As the expression goes, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.  Get caught, as happened in this case, and you pay financially (the cost to defend a complaint even if there isn’t a fine) and with your reputation (it doesn’t matter if “everyone” does it – you got caught).

There is very little upside to posting fake reviews and a lot of downside.  That spells bad idea in my book.  Yours?

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December 2, 2014 · 11:20 am

An Extra Serving Of Data

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. While you were cooking or trying to fight the traffic and weather to get to Aunt Sally’s, Twitter was busy deciding to help themselves to your data. I kid you not. This was how they put it:

twitter fail image

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To help build a more personal Twitter experience for you, we are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device so we can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in. If you’re not interested in a tailored experience you can adjust your preferences at any time (read below). Additionally, if you have previously opted out of interest-based ads by turning on “Limit Ad Tracking” on your iOS device or by adjusting your Android device settings to “Opt out of interest-based ads,” we will not collect your apps unless you adjust your device settings.

Generally, Twitter has been pretty good about explaining how they invade your privacy.  When you think about it you probably realize that Twitter analyzes your tweets, retweets, location, and the people you follow to figure out which “Promoted Tweets” (a.k.a. ads) to show you.  Hopefully you know that all those little “tweet this” buttons around the web gather information about you as well.  OK, maybe it’s not exactly personally identifiable information, but I think we all know it’s not critically important for ad targeting to have your name.  Knowing that you are you (a unique identifier) across devices and services means someone knows a hell of a lot more about you than you might want them to know.  Adding one more bit of data – your name – is not difficult.

For example.  Do you want Twitter knowing you installed a dating app?  Do you want them serving ads on your timeline based on the dating app?  How about ads on your phone or computer outside of the Twitter environment?  It’s coming.  Just as Facebook, which gathers the same data (oh, you didn’t know?) is getting to the same place.

To Twitter’s credit, the page I linked above explains how to opt out of this data theft.  But why not make it opt-in?  I realize that a personalized web and mobile ad experience can be better for some folks and delivers much better results for the marketer, but someone needs to take a step back before they help themselves to another serving of my personal data.  It makes me sad and uncomfortable that we’re still having this discussion.  You?

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November 24, 2014 · 1:05 pm

Three Types Of Customers

I saw the results of a survey by the folks at SAP a couple of weeks ago and have been meaning to write about it as we hit prime shopping time for the holidays.  They announced results from the Customer Journey Poll, a survey aimed toward helping organizations improve their understanding of customer happiness and encourage brand loyalty.  They polled more than 3,000 Americans, ages 18 and older, to gain insight into what makes customers loyal to a particular brand.  What they found is interesting, albeit not very surprising.

They uncovered three very interesting personas that they claim definitely did not exist 10 years ago:

SAP found three distinct personas that surfaced from the poll data: The “virtuous” customer who patronizes companies that have values to which he or she relates; the “invested” customer, who loves to interact with companies and often seeks guidance and information; and the “ignored” customer, whose inquiries about a product or service sometimes get delayed or ignored. By understanding which customer falls into which persona, brands will have the ability to deliver content that customers consider most important and, in turn, improve overall engagement.

First is the Ignored Consumer:

While email is the most popular way cited to communicate with companies, nearly half of respondents (48 percent) reported problems with delayed or no email responses.  These customers… likely wouldn’t continue to patronize a company that cuts them off.

No kidding.  But how many of us are guilty of creating exactly that group among our customer base?  On the other side of the fence is the Virtuous Customer:

Virtuous customers are those who repeatedly buy from companies they deem to have values similar to theirs. Poll data showed that shared values was cited by 30 percent of Americans as a reason to stay loyal to a brand, making it one of the top three reasons for loyalty. Seventy-five percent said the product/service itself spurred loyalty, while 41 percent cited discounts/offers.

Finally, there are Invested Customers:

Invested customers are the ones who love to interact with companies. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they’d either like or might like (depending on the company) to be offered help via chat or phone before they even ask for it. A whopping 80 percent would either like or might like to be kept up to date on new products.

Interesting.  Just as there are different types of customers there are different methods with which to engage them.  It’s increasingly important that we not offer up one-size-fits-all solutions and focus on reaching each segment in a manner that addresses their loyalty hot buttons.

Worth some thinking?

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