As mobile shopping gets safer, will more people purchase on the go?
The "Year of Mobile" may forever be on the horizon, but a new survey by
Harris Interactive says that consumers are getting more comfortable
making purchases through their cell phones. The question of course, is
what they're willing to buy.
The study, commissioned by mobile credit card security firm Billing Revolution, found that 1,883 of those surveyed were cellphone owners (93 percent). Almost half (45 percent) said they think shopping via mobile phones is “somewhat safe,” though just over a quarter (26 percent) feel that mobile shopping is completely safe.
Younger people are of course more comfortable giving away their financial information on their phones. 59 percent of those 18-34 found mobile shopping somewhat safe, versus 34 percent of adults over 55. Also, 50 percent of men find the concept of shopping via cellphone somewhat safe versus 39 percent of women.
Weezer takes ironic branding to a new level with its own Snuggie
Consumers can laugh with — or at — your product. As long as they're buying it. That's the lesson that the makers of The Snuggie have learned. The sleeved blanket manufacturer created a tongue in cheek add that went viral online. And now the band Weezer has joined the cult.
Frontman Rivers Cuomo told RollingStone that Weezer will release its own branded Snuggie called the Wuggie, to coincide with the release of its new album. The news is good for the Snuggie, and also has a lesson for other sleeved blanket manufacturers (there are a few).
The Snuggie was not the first to come up with this idea. In fact, they were at least third to market with a product that combined the warmth of a blanket with the sleeves of a sweater. Creators of The Slanket and the Freedom Blanket both vie for that claim.
But not many people realized they had been trapped by the limitations of blankets and sweaters until Snuggie ads appeared on TV.
Augmented Reality: Fad or future?
3-D technology is seeing a resurgance in theaters, with new films trying to improve the technology and bring more viewers into theaters, and online marketers are starting to experiment as well. A new technology called augmented reality (or AR) lets consumers play with hologram-like images through their web cameras. Brands are beginning to integrate the technology into their online marketing campaigns.
And the companies are not all cutting edge new media brands. Those testing out AR include Papa John's, General Electric, and The Postal Service.
Negative ads may not be nice, but they work
The New York Times may have written that we're in the midst of "an outbreak of niceness" this weekend, but marketers are not taking note. The number of ads mentioning or criticizing other brands have risen in the year since since the economy went south. And while many brands would like to place themselves above that sort of competition, it appears that the trash talk might be working.
Reckitt takes the plunge into online advertising. Will it work?
A lot of traditional brands have been talking about their online presence, but Reckitt-Benckiser decided to put their money with their mouth is last month. After five years of organic growth in their advertising, Reckitt moved $20 million of their TV ad dollars to the web in April.
The company, which represents such brands as Clearasil, Lysol, Air Wick, Mucinez, and Finish, is moving the advertising for over 15 of its brands to the web.
According to TNS Media Intelligence, the company has traditionally spent move than 90% of its $475 million measured-media budget on TV, and last year spent less than $1 million in measured spending on the web.
But in order to get a better return on their investment, the company decided they needed to invest more in the digital space.
Social media engagement: are we making it up as we go along?
Or is it just me? Measuring the effectiveness of brand consumer engagement via social media isn't easy. Add integrating this social media engagement into the overall marketing strategy and the task becomes even more of a challenge. We're looking at each other for answers, and Twitter is full of people posting helpful links; anyone keeping up with them all?
I'm certainly not. Some individuals are stepping up to the plate to offer their advice, which is great and all credit to them, just so long as they are talking about real life cases, as opposed to the theory of it all. I hope this post offers some valuable real life analysis thoughts and tips.
Amazon relying on brand credibility instead of good usability
If ever a retailer could get away with having exceptional cross-selling
and up-selling functionality, yet provide a new visitor checkout
process and web forms that break many usability rules, Amazon is certainly one of them. On the other hand one of Amazon's competitors, The Book
Depository, certainly appears to focus more on providing better
usability throughout the buying journey, especially for new customers.
Following the recent e-commerce training course I delivered for Econsultancy, the usability benchmarking that is part of the course threw up some really interesting market insights. Although many retailers are featured in the course, providing examples of good and bad e-tail usability and best practice, I purposely refrained from including Amazon.
How Drs. Foster Smith uses video to drive ecommerce success
As part of the social web movement, marketers are increasingly becoming publishers. There are few who are pouring as much into multimedia (i.e. video) web publishing as Wisconsin USA-based Drs. Fosters Smith.
This seasoned, catalog-based direct marketer is investing in their own staff, production facilities and syndicating widely, on the Web with www.peteducation.com, and on national cable television.
I sat down with their online chief, Gordon MaGee to understand how the company cost-justifies and measures its continued investment in online video.
Fashion brands missing out by not selling online
The UK's fashion brands are missing out online by not making the most of their websites and offering a full range of products to web shoppers.
In the YouGov survey conducted for GSI Commerce, brands such as H&M, TK Maxx, Primark and Matalan were highlighted for failing to make the most of their web presence, despite the obvious benefits of selling online.
Consumers heart online coupons
With all of the talk about social media and Marketing 2.0, it's easy to overlook less exciting marketing tools. Like coupons.
But make no mistake about it: coupons are in vogue as consumers look for every opportunity to save money. That means business is good for players in the online coupon industry.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
