June 20, 2008

Interactive and direct programs of interest

From the clothing department. First up, wedding dresses made from toilet paper. An annual contest sponsored in part by Charmin. Second up, prom outfits from duct tape, a scholarship program sponsored by Duck brand tape which also includes a prom advisor - how to get a date, etc. . We can make interactive and conversational programs from even products taken for granted.
From the edge to mainstream: Rebecca Weeks discusses examples of how taboo or tired products get back on track in iMedia. 1) Heavy marketing creates a sense of business as usual - think ED drugs or match-making sites, 2) celebrities work - think Escaldae (although not planned) or metrosexual products (David Beckham), 3) partnering with up and comers - think Target, and 4) testimonials and stories - think BazaarVoice or Amazon's use of recommendations.
Teens may be entering a 'discretionary recession' according to PiperJaffray. Spending on fashion, beauty and personal care, entertainment, etc. is down 12% year over year.
Hitwise reports that visits to Question and Answer sites grew over 100% year-over-year continuing the trend of the Internet making everyone an expert. The category is led by Yahoo! Answers with 74% of the traffic.
Marketing Charts reports share of ad spending by medium:
Microsite guidelines:
- Don't leave microsites hanging around; they are meant to be present for a limited time, just like event posters.
- Don't use a microsite as a substitute for the main site.
- Don't overwhelm visitors with too much information; keep the site targeted and create a logical journey catered towards each visitor.
- Don't provide a dead-end journey that fails to deliver.
- Do keep the branding consistent.
- Do select an effective URL.
- Do ensure that the site has a reason for being (or call to action), that it's not simply asking visitors to make an effort with a new URL just to view advertising copy.
- Do create one central focus of the microsite -- i.e., one task for the user to accomplish.
- Do include tracking code to see who's visiting the site.