Super software problems

No posts recently because an attempt to install Norton Systemworks 2007 (purchased and downloaded from Symantec) put my PC into a tizzy, apparently corrupting Windows to a serious degree. I've spoken with Symantec's tech people, Dell's tech people and Microsoft's tech people for a total of about 9 hrs. On Wednesday a "Level 2" Windows specialist will call me for a final try at fixing the problem. Symantec will be getting an earful from me, especially since it charged me $69.95 for the privilege of tech expertise and couldn't solve my problem.

Back to marketing posts once I have a working PC. Enjoy the Super Bowl (the ads, anyway). Update: The 2007 Super Bowl ads weren't very exciting, IMHO. I liked the GM robotic arm ad but not the Snickers ad, which was immediately pulled because it offended a lot of people (and they couldn't figure this out beforehand??).

Who opens FSIs any more?

If it's Sunday, it must be FSI day. Twas a time when I opened those FSIs and clipped a few coupons. These days I usually transfer the FSI directly to the recycle bin. Why? Here's what I found in the Valassis FSI for the NY area:

1. The cover is uninviting, featuring Puritan's Pride supplements sold by mail, fax, phone, or online with a special code. Even if I were interested, I can't buy these in a store so I just skip the cover.
2. Inside front cover is a Citi/AmEx credit card promotion. How many people need yet another credit card? Next page...
   
3. Mrs. T's Pierogies and Finlandia cheese are on p. 3. Yes! Except who has room in the freezer for THREE boxes of Mrs. T's just to save $1? Get real. Coneheads consume in massive quantities, the rest of us buy in ordinary amounts.
   
4. Skip to back cover, a good LensCrafters promotion, which I've gotten via direct mail. Redundant. That's all for Valassis.

Now to the SmartSource (NewsAmerica Marketing) FSI:

1. Colorful, inviting cover featuring Emerald premium snacks and a $1-off coupon on 5-oz pkg or larger. Could be worth clipping.
2. More national brands I recognize and can find in local supermarkets: Equal, Prego, Wrigley's, Welch's. I'll think about getting my scissors.
3. The "big game" is only weeks away, and if I didn't already know that, the football-themed promotions would tip me off. The centerfold is a series of coupons for Smithfield smoked meats, "proud sponsor of Super Bowl XLI." Go Patriots! (OK, that's not in the ad, but it doesn't hurt to wave the flag.)
   
4. Last half of FSI has some brands I actually prefer: Windex, Fantastik, Ziploc. Definitely worth having the scissors handy.
5. Back page: Save $1 on any two or any three of the pictured Breakstone's products. The old "load-up" strategy just doesn't work when fridge space is at a premium. I'll stick to coupons where I can buy one or at most two of something.
   

What I especially like about the SmartSource FSI is that the graphic is much larger than the coupon. I can quickly figure out what's being promoted and recognize the package by label and trade dress, more often than not. Consumers are busy. If you give them visual cues, they'll at least keep their scissors handy. And they'll be able to recognize the product when they spot it on the supermarket shelf.

Meet or Beat Any Price?

This is a story of theory and reality. Theory: What happens to competition when rivals say they'll "meet or beat" any advertised price (or, in rarer cases, any unadvertised price)? Hal R. Varian writes about this in today's New York Times, citing a pre-publication version of an academic paper you can read here: "On the Use of Low-Price Guarantees to Discourage Price Cutting."

In examining newspaper ads for tires, the researchers found that low-price marketers offered to match any price (advertised or not) about 14% of the time. On the other hand, the low-price marketers offered to match a competitor's advertised price about 75% of the time. If you, as a customer, come in with a rival's super-sale flyer in your hand, the low-price marketer will match or beat it. If you don't know about any lower advertised prices, you'll simply pay the low-price marketer's regular (presumably low) price.

Reality: I bought a sewing machine at Costco.com during a special sale, after a web search that found the same machine at similar prices elsewhere but with a longer wait for delivery. The machine was to be delivered on Tuesday afternoon. That morning, I received an e-mail from Costco, saying:

Recently, our buyers were able to negotiate an additional savings for this item. It is Costco's policy to always pass on the savings to our members. As such, we will be issuing a credit in the amount of $20.00 (plus tax, where applicable) to the credit card used when placing this order.

Even before the sewing machine had arrived, Costco refunded my $21 (tax, you know). I never had to look for any other marketers' special deals, advertised or not. Don't you like Costco's system?

Holiday Roundup

There's nothing like shopping from the comfort of your own keyboard, especially when it's so easy to find promotions and bargains. Before I pressed the "buy" button at any retail site, I opened a separate browser window and searched for the retailer's name plus the keyword "coupon." Up popped places like Dealcatcher, which collect and post promotional codes from hundreds of sites.

Best Buy did a good job of handling gift returns/exchanges: an employee standing just inside the front door put a hot-pink sticker on any item being brought in for return; shoppers were told to pick out a replacement and then go to the customer service desk to complete the transaction. I had no problem exchanging the Stargate set I had received as a gift (which, horror of horrors, came with DVDs from both seasons 1 and 9!) and I was also able to buy additional items right at the customer service counter (instead of being directed to a separate checkout).

Good digital photo prints at good prices--fast! Thanks to an article in PC Magazine, I found Sony's ImageStation site and ordered 150 prints of holiday photos. Prints were sale-priced at a mere 10 cents each and shipping was cheap too. Best of all: the prints arrived in under 3 days, packaged very safely and professionally.

Happy new year!

Yakkety-Yak--Please talk back

Everybody's talking about word of mouth marketing. Two new books are of special interest:

Lois Kelly's forthcoming Beyond Buzz is all about crafting a conversational message that will get customers buzzing about the product/brand/company and keep the buzz building. As a fan of Lois's Foghound blog, I'm eager to see this book (due out in February).

Andy Sernovitz's Word of Mouth Marketing discusses the five Ts of buzz marketing: talkers, topics, tools, taking part, and tracking. Amazon.com reviewers (and Marketing News) really like this book.

Snapfish in My Snail Mail

It was the day after Thanksgiving and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Snapfish brochure with gift ideas for holiday cheer! My family will be getting personalized photo calendars for 2007, thanks to a mailing I got from the photo web site Snapfish. Although I usually open e-mails from sites where I've previously been a customer, it's unusual to get a snail mail brochure from an e-business.

Looking at the brochure, I instantly decided to buy personalized calendars, complete with family photos and celebration dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) Getting dozens of photos uploaded took a little time, and I had to learn how Snapfish's design system worked, but it was all worth it.

The calendars arrived yesterday and they're high quality, extremely professional, and impressively substantial. I can't say enough good things about the color, the stock, the formats. My family will be surprised and thrilled. All because Snapfish spent a little cash to get a brochure into my snail mailbox. Bravo, Snapfish, good marketing!

Ask the Locals

This year, Washington Mutual and Panera's both opened in my town (across the street from each other, as it happens). Their marketing materials were created outside the local area, however, and that's too bad.

The marketing info was fine--but the stick maps showing location were pitiful. Both businesses are located on a major state route...but you'd never know that from the stick maps, which used local road names and omitted the name of the biggest shopping strip in the area.

The marketer in me is shouting: "Next time, show the map and/or directions to a local before you go to print!" What do you have to lose? And you might even seed local interest. Try it, you'll like it.

Shopping Too Soon

Yesterday I went to the local mall with my holiday gift list in hand. Macy's, however, refused to honor a coupon that goes into effect today. Since JCPenney and Sears are also in the same mall (along with 100s of other stores), I left Macy's and flashed my plastic elsewhere.

Contrast this experience with what happens at Bed Bath & Beyond, which will not only take competitors' coupons, it will honor its own outdated coupons as well.

Message to marketers: cater a little to customers because we have LONG memories and SO many choices.

Speaking of coupons, a bit of browsing can turn up all kinds of discounts for online and in-person shopping at sites like Val-Pak and Yahoo Shopping. Happy hunting.

Tactful Targeting?

Today's Wall Street Journal has a fascinating story about how some online retailers vary pricing and offers depending on an individual shopper's behavior (which key terms you use to search for products, what time of day you browse, whether you've shopped there before, etc.).

In other words, you and I might see a different page/price/offer when visiting Overstock.com or Delightful Deliveries. Do I really want to find out that I paid shipping fees for that MP3 player I bought when my sister got free shipping for buying the identical product on the same day from the same site? What happens to the retailer's reputation once word gets out? Ouch.

As a marketer, I'm all for targeting. As a customer, I want targeting that benefits me. Tactful targeting might be a compromise: the idea that based on my real-time behavior (such as switching back and forth between two products before going to the checkout page), a site would offer me something to encourage me to buy now.

Ask Someone Why They Love Their BlackBerry

That's the headline on the full-page add appearing in the New York Times this week. I don't mind staccato sentence fragments (such as these gems in the body copy: "Every day. All around."). They add. Something. But I do mind ignorant grammar. A product as sophisticated as RIM's BlackBerry should have intelligent advertising.

Here's an easy fix: Ask People Why They Love Their BlackBerry.