Archive for June, 2010

Jun
30
Will Hulu’s New Subsciption Program Kill Traditional TV?
by Brandtailers

The on-demand web video site Hulu announced a new subscription service Tuesday called Hulu Plus, which will allow users to unlock full seasons of premium shows on ABC, NBC and FOX across a variety of new platforms for a flat monthly fee of $9.99. This includes a growing library of 120 seasons of TV and 2,000 episodes, according to Hulu.

While the business world debates Hulu’s business model, we marketers are looking at it as one more significant move that will put television as we know it in the grave. Especially because Hulu is offering its new service in mobile formats on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as select Samsung internet-enabled TVs and Blu-Ray players. It will also soon offer Hulu Plus service on PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360, as well as devices from Sony and Vuzio.

Advertising space will continue to be sold, which means Hulu is adopting Cable TV’s strategy of collecting fees from both advertisers and subscribers. But advertisers will soon be able to geo-target specific messages to specific audiences in specific areas making their ad dollars much more cost-effective. And millions of people have already said they’re willing to pay $9.99 a month in order to watch almost any show they want anywhere, anytime, on any media player.

But don’t throw your TV set away. After all, antique shops are always looking for classic oldies. Your 72″ screen may someday become a valuable relic.

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Jun
11
Brands That “Pay it Forward” are Winning
by Brandtailers

What’s the best way to win advocates for your brand? TRUST. What’s the best way to win trust? Be helpful. What’s the best way to be helpful? Give consumers useful information they wouldn’t expect to get free. Information that will save them time, save them money, make them smarter, make them happier, make them feel better about themselves – and you.

Since its inception, the Nordstrom brand has centered around being helpful, right? Like a phone call telling you they remembered you were looking for shoes to go with the suit you bought last month, and they just got the perfect pair in. Or how about the American Express openforum.com, a free website with tons of information that claims huge success in helping business owners succeed. Oh, and its content contributors are donating their brains and talent at no charge to American Express.

It’s easy to talk about big brands like these, but how about the success some smaller brands are enjoying due to their helpfulness? Like Kellogg Garden Products, with a website full of gardening tips from soil calculators to fun kid gardening activities. Their website Analytics show a huge percentage of visitors time being spent on the pages they’ve built simply to be helpful, and their brand recognition confirms this.

Big or small, these brands understand they must give in order to receive. Paying it forward may end up being the most successful marketing mantra for the 21st Century. The question is, is your brand ready?

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Jun
2
Email vs. Regular Mail – Something for Marketers to Think About
by Brandtailers

Is snail mail dead for marketers? Does it make sense to spend an average of 65 cents per piece when email is virtually free? Maybe not, but before you replace mailbox marketing with inbox marketing, put your consumer hat on for a moment and consider this scenario…

You get to work in the morning and your email in-box awaits you with several dozen messages. Since time is your most precious commodity, you glance through the list quickly to find those you must read and respond to. The rest, especially the ones you didn’t ask for, or the ones you subscribed to so long ago that you forgot you ever signed up for them, are a nuisance. If you had the time you would unsubscribe, but that’s never as easy as it sounds.

When you get home from work you open your regular old mailbox. It, too, is filled with messages you didn’t ask for from marketers you don’t know. They may or may not get your attention, but the fact that they are in your mailbox does not feel like the invasion of your privacy that you felt when you found this stuff in your email in-box, right?

You expect to receive advertising messages in your regular mailbox. You’ve gotten them for years. You might not read the marketing piece, but when you see the brand’s name on the mailer you don’t think ill of it because it went into your mailbox. But you did with the ones in your email, didn’t you?

If we marketers continue to focus on building trust with the consumer, we have to think about this piece of the puzzle. Don’t intrude where you’re not welcomed. Don’t make a marketing decision just because it’s inexpensive. It could end up being much more costly to your brand than you ever imagined.

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