Is Non-Marketing The New Marketing?
When the Roku Netflix box was released, I figured the Netflix.com website would be blazing with promotional images, drop-down graphics and entreaties to join the Red Envelope Army with its cutting-edge tech. Instead, I had to flick through a variety of pages to reach this, a subpar promotional site, more information than deserved spectacle.
How did Netflix get away with it? Everybody else promoted its product, from major newspapers to humble sexy bloggers such as myself.
So it was with little surprise when I read that AT&T has no plans to publicly announce their free wireless services in a variety of retail locations, such as McDonald's, Barnes and Noble and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (whatever the hell that is).
Why dump hard-earned dollars into programs we'll read about anyway? What laptop-toting geek in their right mind is going to pass up an opportunity to artificially fuse themselves to a public space and nab wireless Internet for nothing? And, having discovered this, who isn't going to tell all their buddies?
(I'm picturing a world where cheap people cram up the booths at every goddamned retail location in the United States, frustrating the living hell out of sensible folks like you and me.)
What do you think, Gays of the Greater Good? Is traditional marketing a thing of the past, what with bloggers popping up everywhere like weeds in a neglected 19th century farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania? Or are the suits at AT&T just being lazy schmucks?
NeonMadman
Posted to In the News, In the World on 23 May 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: AT&T, marketing, wireless
Absolutely correct. Nintendo has separated their marketing (well, they did so a while ago, and even told us about it) so that the games that appeal to "hardcore" gamers now receive minimal online advertising, and that's it. Now their money goes into advertising to the bajillions of new Wii and DS owners that have never owned a video game console before, and think that carnival games is fun.
I think it's smart for companies to spend their money wisely.
It's a shame that you don't have a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf near you. Way better than Starbucks.
To get back on topic, blogging has not killed advertising. Blogging has affected advertising profoundly though. Companies will release information to several key news outlets. Then other blog writers will link and repost thoughts from the "seed" blog post. The general public at large is unaffected by this initially. However, this gets responses in the enthusiast markets that blogs cater to. Newspapers, television news, and magazine publications all strive to offer a little bit of everything to get a well rounded following and garner more advertising dollars. Blogs eschew general bits and pieces in favor of a focused approach which reaps the rewards of directed advertising dollars. Especially when the content of the blog post is so product specific that it functions as an ad itself.
That is not to say that advertisements to the general public do not affect blogs. You will routinely find blog posts about advertisements. The blog post discussing the print or television ad pushes those marketing dollars further for free.
Interest can be observed very directly by corporations. Now there are even sites that specialize in monitoring Twitter posts for customer feedback and satisfaction http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/21/get-satisfactions-ear-on-the-twittersphere/ (Yes, a blog comment in a blog post about blogs linking to a blog post about a blog service that monitors blogs)
I would be very surprised if AT&T never advertises this service. It's far more likely they are going to wait and see how successful the program is with enthusiasts.