Copyright 2011 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
This blog post was transferred from another service.
Be careful what you wish for. When you get it, what you got may not be what you thought it'd be (what you wanted/expected).
Zappos.com is well known for selling shoes. Many wondered if anybody could successfully sell shoes through a website.
Zappos profitably proved it can be done. But is that all there is? Only selling FOOT wear? No. Give them a foot & they'll take a mile.
Zappos has been offering other products for a while, but apparently not selling enough since the new effort is promoting "more than shoes".
Building awareness of your other products is like meeting somebody you haven't met for a while. Though there's some familiarity, it's best to not start out (or restart) on the wrong foot.
From a NYTimes article, "From Zappos, an Unadorned Pitch in Selling Clothes":
"Are they doing it because they want to get attention from blogs and Web sites that will write about it?" asked Ryan Holiday, the director of online marketing at American Apparel. "Or are they doing it because it's the ad campaign that speaks most truly to who they are and what they want to sell?"
From "Ladies Get Naked in Public for New Zappos Campaign" in Adweek:
"Zappos wants you to know it sells more than shoes. So, in new ads from Mullen, the online retailer shows women wearing only shoes?"
A subtle message: Women wearing only shoes are missing something (But I can't quite put my finger on it! If I did, I'd lose more than my finger.)
Yes, Zappos may use controversy to get more attention. It gives people something to kick about. Consumers, who would've bought from Zappos, may give Zappos the boot because of this controversy.
If sales drop, how can the Zappos people put bread on their tables?
Man does not live on bread alone (especially when he has hungry kids demanding their share).
I wonder if Zappos tested this "more than shoes" approach before rolling it out. It'd sort of like dipping a toe in water to test for comfort. It could be like trying it (the campaign message) on for fit & comfort.
Quote Source- NYTimes "From Zappos, an Unadorned Pitch in Selling Clothes":
"Women who may feel slighted by the lack of a naked man in the campaign will have to wait until the end of July, when Zappos will take over the home page of a major search engine portal with an interactive ad introducing a male character, Arthur. In the ad, Arthur asks the user to help him dress while he makes his way to the Zappos Web site."
Something like this offends some people. Does it offend me? It's no skin off of my ...
I'm not critiquing the campaign or judging its morality, I'm just using this as a warning.
Be sure you say/write anything run it through your "shut up! filter" as Bill Engvall calls it. When something ends up on the Internet, it'll always be stored somewhere. What's stored can & will be found by somebody.
From "Secrets of a Jewish Mother" by Jill Zarin:
"Daddy always told us never to do anything we wouldn't want to read about on the front page of The New York Times. Here was the standard of honor to Daddy: If you were thinking of doing something you would be ashamed for anyone else to know about, then don't do it!"
It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.
Just like a pair of shoes that feel good in a store, an idea can hurt later.
Many things seem OK, until the consequences come. By then, it's too late to prevent what offended people.
Too many people figure it's easier to get forgiveness than to get people's permission. You may think you'll have time to explain later & possibly apologize. After far as the offended people are concerned, there'll be no later, it's already too late.
Whether or not, you agree with Seth Godin about "Permission Marketing", you should realize you need people's permission/approval to sell them things. When they can get what they want/need from others, you may not get another chance to sell anything to them again.
Maybe Zappos will gain some sales from their new campaign, but will Zappos lose more than it gains?
Amazon.com, which owns Zappos, could be considered guilty by association or ownership.
This doesn't necessarily mean Zappos will lose anyone forever. There are a lot of politicians who screwed up & regained or never lost popularity.
From Kori Rodley Irons:
One of the things I say, only in partial-jest, to my teens when they are plotting and scheming or just talking about getting together with their friends is: "I just don't want to read about this on the front page of the newspaper!" It is my way of reminding them that I still care about what they are up to and that there are very real consequences to every choice and decision they might make.
This is my way of showing I care & I want you to prosper.
For ultimate marketing success, you need to make your messages fit your business, your product/service & market niche.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2011 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
No comments:
Post a Comment