Archive for the 'Consumer Relationships' Category

11
May
11

bumps and jumps on the information highway

By Matrix Advertising 1 Comment
Categories: Consumer Relationships, E-Commerce, New York City, Online Media, The Internet and Web Development
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While the New York subway is a great way for millions of people to get around the city each day, it’s also a great place to have your patience tried to the utmost. People from all walks of life crowded together in a small space for what can sometimes feel like hours, passing time and entertaining themselves in a variety of ways. Singing and dancing to loud music. Falling asleep and drooling on people’s shoulders. Picking a fight just because (yes, I’m talking about you, Bloody Loco). Eating smelly, messy food. Clipping their nails…

Oh, what a city!

It’s not always smooth sailing on the information highway either. And sometimes it can feel like people are deliberately trying to turn you away from their Web site. Here are just some things that can make online surfing frustratingly annoying:

- Sites that hijack your back button, so there’s no easy way for you to leave

- Links that don’t function the way they’re supposed to — when you click “here” nothing happens or you’re taken to the wrong page

- Online forms that refuse to be submitted unless you enter all information exactly as requested — good luck if you live at 5 1/2 First Street

- Sites that automatically subscribe you to their e-newsletters even when you have specifically deselected the sign-up box

Care to add? List your own pet peeves in the comments section below. And let’s all remember to check our own Web sites regularly to ensure we’re not committing any such faux pas ourselves!

Photo credit: Zach Klein

20
Apr
11

captivating a captive audience

By Matrix Advertising Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Consumer Relationships and Out of Home Advertising
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While in the shampoo aisle at the drugstore the other day, I was greeted by a very loud “Hello there!” that almost made me jump. After getting over my initial surprise, I turned round to find myself eye-to-eye with a smiling, blond woman on the screen of a small LCD ad player. As a consumer, I felt somewhat violated. Here I was running errands, silently going through a to-do list in my head, only to be interrupted — quite abruptly — by some ad/promo piece. Had I made the conscious decision to push or touch the screen, this interaction would have been fine, but it really irked me that playback had been triggered by motion sensors.

Taking a step back and looking at this situation from the perspective of a marketer, however, allows us to see that we have a growing problem that can’t be ignored. The captive audiences taken for granted in yesteryears are no longer all that captivated — at least not by our advertising. Take a look, for example, at how things play out on the subway these days. Most riders are too busy listening to music, playing mobile games, or burying their heads in e-book readers to notice our advertising.

Getting in their faces with a loud, obnoxious message is, obviously, not the answer. But we do have to come up with creative ways to gently put ourselves back into the consumer’s circle of vision if we want to stay top of mind. Wouldn’t you agree?

Photo credit: ephotography

06
Apr
11

celebrities and social media — puppets on a string?

By Matrix Advertising Leave a Comment
Categories: Accountability, Branding, Communication, Consumer Relationships, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking and Sponsorship
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Some companies give so much attention to how they should (and should not) present themselves on social networking sites that they end up with little time or energy to figure out how best the celebrities they sponsor should present their brand online.

The same way that it can be frustrating for consumers to try to connect with a brand that is obsessed with pushing sales and getting more followers, so too can it be disheartening when a favorite celebrity seems more focused on pushing a new fragrance, CD, or apparel line.

And then to further complicate matters, there’s always the issue of PR — of a celebrity, say, tweeting about things that are viewed by some as controversial, inappropriate, or not in line with the beliefs of his or her business partners. Seems like actor James Franco, whose public Twitter account suddenly went private less than a week ago, didn’t appreciate being told what he could and couldn’t tweet about online — “My thought was ‘this is my Twitter. I can do whatever I want.’ But certain companies I work with contacted me about what I was saying.”

A balancing act for all involved, that’s for sure. So it’s nice when celebrities are able to succeed in establishing a presence on social networking sites that works for their business partners, fans, and, of course, themselves.

Have any examples to share of celebrities who’ve nailed it?

Photo credit: Sarah G

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