Marketing Don'ts

Marketing to Narcissists

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:52:00 +0000

Apparently, the "me" generation, in a misguided sense of love, has spawned a generation of narcissists.

(That would explain the runaway success of the book-soon-to-be-a-movie Eat Pray Love, but that's a rant for another day.)

That's right -- there are now legions of people -- from their teens all the way to their 40s -- whose parents have effectively rendered them ill-equipped to deal with life's disappointments by praising them too much.

Self esteem is wonderful, but there can be too much of a good thing. That's a according to experts quoted in "A downside to high teen self-esteem?" in the Chicago Tribune.

But, one can argue, that entitlement in America isn't a generational issue – it's a societal one.

That I buy. Entitlement is abundant no matter what the age group. And marketing to them is a fairly simple two-step process. Your message should contain the following:

1. Identify what's in it for them
2. Convey in 2 seconds or less

Any other ideas? One. Two.

Time's Up.

Elevator is Not Reaching to Top Floor

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Lynne Viccaro O'Leary here, back after a long hiatus.

I always hated the term "elevator pitches" and hated those who "perfected" them even more. There is nothing worse than being cornered like a rat at a conference or event by one of these eager beavers waxing poetic about their business prowess and what/who they know.

This wisdom -- perpetuated by Hollywood's depiction of CEOs who love these spunky "go-getters" -- has given birth to an subspecies of narcissists convinced that their brilliance needs to be shared with all.

I was so happy to find a kindred spirit in Deb Ng, who authored the wonderful "Why Elevator Pitches Don't Work." Read it. Absorb it. And stop bothering people.

Dazzle them with your brilliance in other ways. It's your actions that define you.

Happy fourth!

Pfizer to Pay $2.3B Pfine

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:18:00 +0000

The days of extravagant wining and dining your prospective clients may be a thing of the past. Today, Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer, Inc. with $2.3 billion in fines for engaging what they called "illegal marketing."

This entailed inviting doctors to all-expense-paid meetings at plush resorts, providing free golf, spa treatments and accommodations. Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting that this is the company's fourth such offense in the past decade.

The allegations include the marketing of 13 drugs, including Viagra, Zoloft and Lipitor.

As part of its ongoing campaign to lower drug prices and increase access, AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded the U.S. Justice Department`s crackdown
on Pfizer, Inc. for its fraudulent drug marketing practices.

"We believe that such practices are, unfortunately, widespread within the pharmaceutical industry. The time has come for all drug companies-not just Pfizer-to be held responsible for harm done to public health in the name of exorbitant profit," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Yet another reason why healthcare is so expensive. What do you think?

Tidewater Marketing Scandal Washes up in NY

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Back in February, I write about our friends at Tidewater Marketing, a Florida marketing company accused of deceptive promotion practices by offering free gas, then never delivering. Apparently, this company has gotten the attention of NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is currently going after the company for fraud.

According to LeagalNewsline,Cuomo claims that Tidewater Marketing Global Consultants, Inc., headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., and President Crystal M. Clark, repeatedly deceived consumers through a promotional free gas gift card program in order to generate business for several New York-based companies.

"This company chose to disregard important consumer protections that exist in New York and instead engage in a deliberately deceptive scheme," Cuomo said. "Consumers who thought they were taking part in a free promotion instead ended up shelling out hundreds of dollars in order to get their 'free gas.'"

I'm getting reports from Marketing Don't readers that Ms. Clark has changed her name and has also been indicted on drug trafficking charges.

I guess there's no such thing as free gas.

Marketing Lessons From The Weinermobile

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:37:00 +0000

I just love the title of this article.

Many of us have seen the pictures of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile that crashed into a home in Wisconsin. This prompted Rob Strasberg to share five marketing strategies that he has learned from this incident:

1. Your brand is a big responsibility. Take it seriously. Understand the brand, the voice, the identity and the company point of view.

2. Advertising is more than just placing ads in a publication or on television. Everything is advertising, from creating public relations, setting up events, speaking with press, working with the salespeople and talking to consumers.

3. Get along with your business partners. People skills cannot be stressed enough. Stay positive and you will create bigger ideas together than you ever thought possible.

4. Stay away from crude or sexually obvious marketing. It may get attention, but it does not get respect.

5. Be prepared. Do your homework. Know your stuff. One wrong move and you could become a national joke.

Nothing says credibility like the sight of a giant wiener demolishing a house.

Is The Twitter Craze Dying A Slow Painful Death?

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Interesting post by Jonathan Richman raises some questions regarding the long-term life expectancy of Twitter. While Twitter has shown incredible growth over the past year (1,448 percent according to PCmag.com), the pace is slowing (as it would be impossible to keep that pace up indefinitely).

However, according to The New York Times, "a report from Nielsen Online suggests that most users are tempted by Twitter’s novelty, then lose interest. For most of the last year, Twitter’s audience retention rate — users who return the next month — was below 30 percent."

As Richman points out, "when you take those two facts together, you quickly realize that Twitter is headed in the wrong direction."

Also, Twitter is spammers dream come true. It's much harder to spam via email, but Twitter makes it a breeze. Getting followers is a heck of a lot easier than guessing email addresses. Anyone who has an account can easily see this for themselves.

I can say for myself that I was initially fascinated by Twitter. I even had the Tweet Grid up on my screen all day, like a day trader, checking out tweets in real time all day. But it was exhausting. I have automated my Twitter account to update via this blog or Facebook, so I have no need to physically tweet any longer.

What are your experiences with Twitter? What can it do to improve?

5 Marketing Don'ts for Email Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:41:00 +0000

I am on pop culture overload and need to get back to the basics as far as Marketing Don'ts are concerned.

Every marketer worth their salt has incorporated email marketing into their plans. Some do it very well -- others need a refresher. The rules keep changing. It used to be that building the biggest list possible and blasting it out weekly was the effective way to go. No more. Now, the name of the game is targeted response and basically becoming a mind reader and hitting the recipients at just the right time.

In this article by Morgan Stewart, he outlines five ways to sabotage your email list building efforts as follows:

1. Building a list before building a worthwhile program.
Your product or service has to be good. Period. No amount of marketing is going to make up for that. Build your foundation before putting the siding on the house.

2. Thinking subscribers are "out there."
"Your best prospective subscribers are already interacting with your company in one way or another," Stewart says. Don't take them for granted or forget about them. "Invest in implementing organic tactics before you invest money in hunting tactics."

3. Invading inboxes.
No one likes uninvited visitors, which is what spam is. Email append only makes sense if subscribers opt in. At the end of the day, you want responders, not dead weight.

4. Not diversifying list growth efforts.
Stewart points out that "You want to present your value proposition to consumers at as many points possible -- not only to people who are already interacting with your brand, but ideally to their friends as well." Using Social Media is one way to do this. Stewart advises that you can encourage subscribers to become fans on Facebook, to get exposure to a broader audience. Place an offer on that fan page requiring people to provide an email address so you can send them the offer, and you have a new list growth tool.

5. Setting it and forgetting it.
With apologies to Ron Popeil, this tactic does not work in the world of email marketing. You must cultivate your list regularly. Analyze where you got certain names and measure if they are indeed your target audience. As you look at the quality of the names collected through each source, this level of detail will allow you to go back and address issues, make improvements, or terminate ineffective programs.

Don't Let the Facts Get in the Way

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:51:00 +0000

It has been a perfect storm of insane events all converging over the past few weeks. While the death of Michael Jackson seems to be getting plenty of press, none of it is particularly good. As the world is slowly getting over the shock of it, numerous unsavory details are starting to emerge.

The facts are the facts to be sure, in all of the above named cases. Michael Jackson was eccentric, to put it nicely, and the gory details of his drug use and paternity of his children are coming to the fore. The Gosselins put fame and fortune ahead of the well-being of their young children by annoncing their separation on an episode of their show to sky-high ratings. Gov. Sanford put his own selfish needs ahead of those of his family and the state of South Carolina when he pulled his disappearing act.

All of these folks are using PR in different ways. But certain truths cannot be avoided. Bottom line is that no mattter what excuses or explanations are put forth, the fact remains that no matter how odd or creepy, it seems that Jackson is the only one who put the needs of his children, (however misguided), ahead of most anything else. the same absolutely cannot be said of Jon & Kate Gosselin or Gov. Stanford.

Michael Jackson the better parent? It is indeed a world gone mad.

The Fall of the House of Gosselin

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was inevitable that the house of Gosselin would eventually collapse under the weight of six out of the seven deadly sins.

Lust: Allegedly this whole firestorm was set off by rumors of affairs between Jon and the 23 year old teacher as well as Kate and her bodyguard.

Gluttony: How many different handouts has this family gotten? Well, it is never enough. Apparently, Kate has raised begging to an art form, charging $150 for "Tea with Kate" and $20 a pop for photos of the sextuplets.

Greed: When Kate first had the tups, her parents' church rallied, donated cribs, highchairs, food, diapers and childcare to the struggling couple. Allegedly, Kate was incensed that the cribs "didn't match" and that she was getting used things.

Wrath: Just watch one episode and watch Kate unleash on Jon for not giving the kids her pre-made organic meals. Got news for you -- the four million diapers you have put in the landfill for your kids alone have more than ate up your carbon footprint allotment.

Envy: It was Kate's obssession with the McCaughey septuplets that led to her taking the fertility drugs, then shopping around the documentary (and later TV show) idea to various media outlets when the kids were in utereo.

Pride: Pride goeth before the fall. Demanding freebies, compromising their children's privacy and reveling in their newfound fame has brought the inevitable fall and those who are cheering about it.

Sloth is the only one left out. Admittedly, they certainly are not lazy. That I will give them.

I feel for those kids. They just look miserable. To carry on with this charade when the family is clearly in crisis makes no logical sense. For a supposedly religious family, God has had very little to do with their recent actions. They are too busy trying to spin this whole thing so they can keep the cash cow going.

I hope this family finds their way soon. No house, car or vacation is worth this.

Robocallers Finally Derailed

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:21:00 +0000

Finally! Those annoying car warranty robo-calls are no more!

I was getting these calls two and three times a day at work. With an ever-changing caller id number to discourage screening, a pre-recorded voice would call my job to tell me that my warranty was about to expire and to act now. If I wanted more information, I should hit number one on my touch-tone keypad.

Well, I did and when I finally got to an alleged human, I would tell them to stop calling. They would agree, then the next day, same shenanigans. The Do Not Call Registry was a joke and completely ignored. It was relentless.

Apparently, it took annoying a state senator for something to get done.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, who himself had received a robocall on his cellphone, said, “For the first time in months, millions of New Yorkers and people across the country will finally have some relief from these annoying calls with potentially thousands saved from falling into this scam.”

The NY Times reports that the two companies named by the commission are Voice Touch and Transcontinental Warranty, both operating largely out of Florida.

The poor Floridians -- why is it always Florida?

Montana: The Seinfeld of States

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Montana: The state about nothing.

I'm not being mean, that is the marketing tactic set forth by its own tourism board. They decided to go with the popular opinion about Montana and call it like it is.

"The message of the ad really is that nothing is something. Having all of this unspoiled spectacular nature is something few other places have," said Katy Peterson, marketing manager for the state's tourism bureau Travel Montana.

According to the article in Forbes.com, using this bit of reverse psychology appears to be working -- the campaign tested well among focus groups. The ad campaign, costing about $800,000, was launched in February. In the ads, the motto "THERE'S NOTHING HERE" runs as the marquee text across wilderness photos of Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, locations that research indicates most people visit on their first trip to the state.

Telling it like it is. AIG and Chrysler: take note.

Marketing Misstep About Marketing Missteps

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:48:00 +0000

While looking for ideas for today's blog post, I came across a press release from a marketing company called BrandDrive that announced with great fanfare that it has launched a blog all about marketing missteps.

From the press release: Called BrandDriveRant (www.BrandDrive.net/Blog) it is a place for marketing, branding, advertising and public relations professionals to swap disaster stories and discuss difficult marketing questions.

“The idea behind BrandDriveRant is to provide advertisers, marketers, brand managers and PR managers with a way to vent about marketing missteps without embarrassment,” said BrandDrive Principal Steve DiNardo.

I was intrigued and was ready to cross link with the blog -- but lo and behold, the blog about marketing missteps is a page to nowhere. The link does not work, nor is it readily accessible from BrandDrive's corporate site.

Lesson learned: If you are going to spend the time promoting a new product or service, make sure it works. Monitor it constantly, especially in the first few weeks. And make it accessible and intuitive. Don't make people hunt around.

Great idea, poor execution. I'd love to hear from you Steve when it is up and running.

Obama Says Hell No to Chrysler

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Chrysler is going to have to make do with only $67 million for marketing as President Obama halves their original $134 million marketing budget.

Being that Chrysler is shutting its factories for nine weeks, the bankruptcy judge logically asked "Idle plants, why market?" Chrysler argued that it was essential to their brand to keep marketing even through no cars were being made for over two months.

As a marketing person,I agree that even in tough times it is essential to keep the plan in place. Examples abound of companies who came out of down economic cycles way ahead by continuing their marketing strategies.

But this case is ridiculous. I posted a few months ago how this moronic company paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bailout money to take out ads in the Wall Street Journal, among other pricey pubs, thanking the American people for said money.

The public was not happy.

I'm interested to see how Chrysler spends this $67 million. If their previous judgement is any indication, it will probably be on magic beans.

AIG Wins Worst Company in US Award

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Ah, to be a marketing minion at AIG today!

According to readers of The Consumerist, AIG beat out strong contenders Wal-Mart, TicketMaster and UnitedHealthcare (my personal favorite) to win the coveted Golden Poo award for Worst Company in America, joining past recipients Halliburton and Countrywide.

Can you imagine the staff meeting? Ok, guys, how are we going to spin this one? "We're number one! We're number one!"

Receiving billions in government bailout money to pay for ridiculously high-priced executive compensation packages and company boondoggles seemed to resonate loudly with a country who is dealing with a volatile economy and increasing levels of unemployment.

I think my favorite justification for the comp packages had to be AIG's worry about "retention." With thousands of people out of jobs, these jackasses are worried about retaining those who helped to contribute to the company's downfall in the first place? Where would all these geniuses go? I'm sure there are a vast number of poeple who would be willing to take those jobs should that imagined exodus happen.

Good luck to their marketing department in bouncing back from this. Maybe they can hire the guy from KFC. Or the chicken Peter Griffin is fighting.

Oprah Causes KFC Clusterf&*k

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:55:00 +0000

The minions of Oprah Winfrey overwhelmed local KFCs waving coupons for free grilled chicken, only to get turned away due to popular demand.

According to Crain's Chicago Business , word spread like wildfire in the real world and on Twitter that Oprah was giving away free KFC, leading to the long lines and, according to Gawker reports, angry customers.

Some say, however, this could be spun into a positive thing. Gene Grabowski of Levick Strategic Communications argued that the events could even be spun into something positive — that the product was in such demand that there wasn't enough to go around.

"People will remember that the chicken was so popular, Oprah endorsed it, and there was a free giveaway," he said. "In the long haul, this isn't even as close to being as damaging as a crisis with cleanliness or contamination found in the food."

I love rationales like this. Yeah, not getting what was promised is so much better than food poisoning. That's like saying, well, you may have been tortured, but at least you weren't killed. I hate to break it to them, but both of these options are varying degrees of BAD. And I wouldn't think any business would want to be associated with either.

Jury is out as to whether or not these grilled chickens are any good.

They're Even Marketing Tax Day

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:41:00 +0000

Sorry for the month-long hiatus! I have no excuse.

What better day to come screaming back into the fold than tax day! Perhaps the most hated day of the year here in the U.S. where we are reminded of just how hard we are working to give half of our pay away.

Yeah, and for those collecting unemployment, guess what! They have to pay taxes on that too! Let's kick people when they are down. Whee!

Some enterprising businesses are trying to turn this wonderful day into a marketing opportunity by offering sales and other incentives. Restaurants are offering 15% discounts or free items. Apparently, though, some communities are organizing "tea parties" a la our forefathers to protest the "taxation without representation" edicts that we've been beaten with due to other people's greed.

I think anyone who profited from the whole subprime meltdown should have their assets taken and redistributed. Now that's a celebration I can get behind.

AIG to Feel the Wrath of Congress

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:50:00 +0000

If you take $170 billion in loans, you better believe there are going to be strings attached.

Like a collector for the mob, the government is coming after AIG CEO Edward Liddy for the over $200 million in bonuses they have paid out to employees to try and keep them from fleeing the company like rats from a sinking ship. According to CBS News, the deals to distribute the retention payments - ranging from $1,000 to nearly $6.5 million were cut early last year, long before then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asked Liddy to take over the company.

"I do not like these arrangements and find it distasteful and difficult to recommend to you that we must proceed with them," Liddy wrote to the current treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, over the weekend.

The payments, however, went out anyway. And Congress wants its money back.

This ought to be interesting.

Not for nothing, but in this economy, I seriously doubt all of those employees are going to flee en masse if they don't get their bonuses. Give me a living break -- ask all the folks out of work if they would take a salaried position without a bonus for the year.

Unfortunately, this is the same old corporate arrogance that existed well before this recession. You can give them all the handouts in the world and it will be the same old b.s.

It is about time these entitled assholes learned to play by the same rules as the rest of us. If you screw up, you pay the price. No more golden parachutes.

I eagerly await the results of this little shindig later this morning. Congress, don't let me down.

Leave Well Enough Alone, American Idol

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:30:00 +0000

This was one of my father's favorite sayings -- and the older I get, the more true it becomes.

Examples abound, but my focus today is on the mega conglomerate of American Idol. Make no mistake, this is definitely a corporate endeavor more so than a talent competition. Whomever has the greatest marketability wins.

Well, except for Taylor Hicks. The powers that be made no bones about how disappointed they were at his winning that year and effectively withdrew any marketing support whatsoever. (Somewhere, the Soul Patrol is crying "whoo!")

Whatever and whomever wins, this is one big money-making operation. Very successful. So why did they go an change it?

First they decided to add a fourth judge. Why? Everyone only cares about Simon's input anyway.

Then, they decided to do a Top 36, with three groups of 12 appearing on given days. Why? It made no sense. By the time the third group of 12 came around I already forgot who was who.

Finally, the judges now get veto power -- in other words, if they think America got it "wrong" and sent someone home, the judges could save that person and give them another chance.

So we have two Marketing Don'ts here:

1. Don't confuse your audience with procedure changes just for the sake of change.
2. Don't overtly tell your customer that they are wrong. They have the buying power, so the veto is ultimately in their hands.

This is one of those instances where you have to let the train wreck happen before they realize that they should have, as Papa John would say, leave well enough alone."

Best 2009 Mardi Gras Costume

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Courtesy of my friend Mark:

Screw You, Dr. Phil

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:34:00 +0000

A lot of people don't like Dr. Phil. He's been called an opportunistic, self-serving windbag who was lucky enough to ingratiate himself to Oprah and create his own dynasty.

I used to like him -- he had a no-nonsense delivery and common sense approach when dealing with the various emotional train wrecks that would grace his stage.

But now he has lost me forever. I'm sure he will be crushed.

Radar online reports that Dr. Phil has released a press release stating that some misguided not-for-profit will provide 24/7 care for Octopussy's kids.

FREE DAY and NIGHT CARE for 14 CHILDREN!!

Every working parent should be outraged at this. The cost of daycare is astronomical, and yet most of us have no choice but to pay it. We are held hostage to the whims and idiosyncrasies of daycare providers (pick up by 6 PM or you will get charged by the minute; the Sullivan twins came in with pinkeye, oops!).

To reward this fucking nutbag, with no visible means of support and deliberately impregnated herself on the California taxpayer's dime, with FREE 24/7 care when the rest of us are playing by the rules and working our asses off just to survive is unconscionable.

Please, spare me the "it's for the children" bullshit Dr. Phil. You are now banned and boycotted. I am done.

Oh Thank You, Captain Obvious

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Maybe I'm just feeling more ornery than usual this morning.

I saw this headline from Newsday and figured it must be a slow news day:

Use E-newsletter to be in Forefront of Customers' Minds

Wow. Really? This is groundbreaking news? Long before the advent of the information superhighway, all businesses great and small would put out a company newsletter via snail mail. Sometimes it was a one-pager, some were four-color extravaganzas, but nevertheless, they had the same purpose -- to get their names out there.

E-newsletters are not exactly news. But I guess it bears repeating:

"It's one of the most cost-effective ways of marketing and driving traffic to your Web site," says Jan Zimmerman, owner of Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing in Albuquerque, N.M., and author of "Web Marketing for Dummies"

Ok, cool. Here are some quick tips:

1. Make it editorial in scope -- if it is one long infomercial mentioning your company time and time again it is not a newsletter -- that's called a press release.

2. Maintain your list well -- make sure you have an EASY opt-out feature. I just opted out of a newsletter and it wouldn't go through until I clicked on a confirmation link sent o my email. All that did was annoy me further. Don't make me work for it.

3. Track results -- you want to know who is one your list, who openined it, if they forwarded it and if they turned into a customer. You can use a lot of programs to help with this function such as Constant Contact or Exact Target.

4. Call to action -- Make it as dynamic as possible. Send them back to your website, have them fill out a survey, enter a contest or call you.

Otherwise, it's not worth the energy it took to send it.

Behold the Power of the Mighty Cupcake

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:37:00 +0000

I watched The Celebrity Apprentice last night on my DVR. Please don't mock me.

It is always interesting to see C-list celebrities try to work together. Getting all those egos in one room, especially with Trump himself, was a feat in it of itself.

The group was divided into two teams -- the men vs. the women. The task? Bake cupcakes then sell them. Whoever makes the most amount of money wins. Straightforward, no?

Led by Herschel Walker, the men had somewhat of an advantage, as they had the very recognizable Dennis Rodman on their team. Also, who knew Monster Garage star Jesse James had such vision as a graphic designer? His ideas for decorating the revamped Mr. Softee truck blew the women's ideas away. Their donations were rolling in.

In the end, though, they lost.

Why? Because, as James said, their cupcakes tasted like ass.

One twist in the competition was that each team had to present one of their cupcakes for a taste test. The winner received $15,000. That's what put the women's team over the top.

Moral of the story? Make sure your product is the best it can be. The men lost sight of the basics here -- concentrating on raising money and awareness without ensuring that the product was worth the hype.

Poor Herschel Walker, done in by a cupcake.

Jack in the Box Whacks its Mascot

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:14:00 +0000

In what may be a risky marketing strategy, San Diego-based Jack in the Box has decided to utilize social media to build a campaign around throwing its beloved mascot under the bus. Literally.

According to this article in the Union Tribune, the fate of the mascot Jack has been the subject of an elaborate 'multichannel marketing' campaign by Jack in the Box.

The saga began last month with a Super Bowl “cliffhanger” ad that promoted the Web site www.hangintherejack.com, along with Facebook and Twitter pages, that repeats Jack's last words before he was run down.

The company declares this strategy to be a success. Videos at HangInThereJack.com and others on YouTube have been viewed more than 4 million times and Jack has received 70,000 get-well wishes and has 11,000 “friends” on Facebook.

Several advertising professionals wonder whether Jack in the Box will get a return on its investment in the campaign. Shel Horowitz, who runs FrugalMarketing.com, estimated that if half of the people following Jack's woes on Twitter became new customers, each would have to buy 850 burgers to cover the cost of the campaign.

What do you think? If this company treats its loyal mascot this way, what will it do to a loyal customer?

Did You Hear The One ...

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:40:00 +0000

... about the OctoMom Breakfast Special? It comes with eight eggs, no sausage and the guy next to you pays for it.

Courtesy of The Dirty Disher.

Ryanair Flushes Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (Lynne O'Leary) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Literally.

There's been a lot of talk lately about European low cost air carrier Ryanair and its rather unconventional approach to customer service or lack thereof. The Consumerist recently did a writeup on how a blogger was verbally abused by the carrier's Director of PR no less.

So I guess we shouldn't be shocked by the story today on USA Today's site, reporting that Ryanair may start charging passengers to use the toilet.

That's direct from the mouth of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, (NO RELATION) who made the comments this morning to BBC television. "One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound (about $1.43) to spend a penny in future."

And if there's any question as to whether this is legal or not, it was answered by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority. "The situation is that there is no legal requirement for an aircraft to have a toilet onboard, so if an airline does have a toilet they can charge to use it."

Wow. Imagine paying to use the toilet in midair. I can see those beverage sales drying up as we speak. Honestly, I think this company is following the "any publicity is good publicity" adage. Quite honestly, I never heard of Ryanair until these stories started hitting the press.

Ah well, what do you expect from an O'Leary?