TGIF has never been so true. Something really serendipitous(?) happened to me this week. I was sitting here at my desk, analyzing click data, completely overwhelmed by the economic "situation". I was desperate for some sort of exciting, yet relatively inexpensive diversion from the day-to-day. I am WAY too driven to actually allow myself to RELAX at home - but put me in a decent hotel room, with room service JUST IN CASE - I crash.
As always, I digress. I received an email from gophila.com with regard to the kick off of Philly Beer Week this weekend. My fingers could not move fast enough to get a hotel booked and an itinerary mapped out (is that not a WEE bit "driven"? Does there need to be an agenda?).
Was this brilliant email marketing or desperation on the part of the organizers due to lack of interest?
I had not heard of Philly Beer Week. This is only its second year - but still.... I think it was brilliant; so last minute: I didn't have enough time to "think it through" and therefore back out. It was exactly what I needed at that exact time: a weekend away, not too far from home, but far enough that I had to board my dog Ryan. He'll be four years old next week. The vet has him on a diet because he needs to lose "those last five pounds". The diet isn't working because when he gets hungry he just weases some cat food.
We've been doing quite a bit more email marketing at LMI this quarter. If you've got a list it is a great alternative to printed direct mail: no printing costs, no postage, no mail coordination.
I figure it has the same probability of getting tossed as a post card. I open all kinds of "spam". We all opt-in to lists with our favorites because we want to know what is going on; a sale? a restaurant review? a weekend away from the economic "situation"? Now that I think about it... I'm more likely to open and read an email from my favorite "marketers" than I am to sit down and rifle through a pile of mail after a really long day; could be that marketing budgets are being slashed and I am not receiving the volume of "junk" mail at home. See printing costs and postage! I still love a catalog. Keep 'em coming!
Back to Philly Beer Week. That email was extremely successful; not only did I book a hotel, I also bought tickets to the opening ceremony at Comcast Center. The Craft Brew Festival or whatever it's called is sold out. That was probably free money for Comcast Center because it will be a miracle if we get there by 7:00 :~(. We'll definitely be spending other $ too - we have to eat, and drink beer.
Then there is my shopping habit. Believe me, I know, this is NO time to be indiscriminately shopping, but I will.... even with the Botox in *gasp* two weeks!
I planned outfits and stuff - all based on motor cycle boots, because they are as classic as penny loafers - they just have allot of attitude. BUT my weekend bag won't fit enough clothes and shoes for me to be completely coutured. I have my heart set on something a little nifty, if not age inappropriate, from Urban Outfitters urbanoutfitters.com. I can always wear my pajamas home if I don't find something cool and on-budget.
Let's hear it for email marketing! HIP HIP HOORAY!
I'm going to try Twitter from Comcast Center if we make it there. This is when I wish we weren't locked into a Family Share Plan where all of us signed up at different times. I WANT AN iPHONE! or at least a phone with a keyboard. I have a netbook but the battery will surely be dead by the time we get to Philly.
I'm going to map out an alternative to Comcast Center. I will be sorry to miss the pomp and circumstance - and high probability of Ad specialties in the form of mugs, t-shirts, hats, free six-packs??? Wish me luck :~).
Showing posts with label Catalog Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catalog Design. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
I Stood Up and GOT It!
Dang it - I never got that sweater. To be honest, I just didn't feel like going shopping the day of the sale. HMMM, I'll bet they still have some mark downs. I shouldn't give up so easily.
I promised in my last post to praise the implicit, vital importance of traditional marketing/advertising. I feel guilty leaving web site promotion in the dust for a while... which, I suppose, is the point.
Every business needs to have a great looking, user-engaging web site; I mean EVERY business, because more and more, every person is looking to their browser rather than their phone book for goods and services (that sounds so corny, but it's true). The phone book was never that great when you think about it. Unless a company is really huge and has a ½ page ad full of information about product lines and services offered, it was like a really bulky Information Dartboard. If I was looking up "high-end clothing" it's a crap shoot. What category do I look in? Then I either have to call 12 stores to ask if they carry what I am looking for, or drive to all of them. Time is money! No, time is better than money because you can never buy an extra allotment of time.
I digress. Traditional advertising, as in direct mail, outdoor, and magazine spreads not only drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar - they drive quantifiable traffic to your web site. Some examples:
1) Applebee's. I don't normally eat there, I don't normally watch television, but if I see an Applebee's billboard or catch a commercial on teevee... I'm THERE! I have no idea why. It looks like allot more fun than pork chops and peas at home. Kudos to their agency.
2) Direct Mail. As previously mentioned, I sort through my mail and separate the wheat from the chaff. The wheat is bills (no sense throwing them out!), catalogs (I'll look through almost any catalog) and simple post cards advertising from stores that have me on their mailing lists. My favorite pottery artist, Davis Salks, he has the post card down to an art, no pun intended. If I get a notice that he has created a limited edition line, I am on his web site in 5 minutes to order. If I get a list of shows he'll be attending, I hang it on the fridge and head to the shows. I BUY allot of his pieces.
3) Magazine Ads. As with the catalogs, there not too many magazines I won't page through. There are some super small companies out there offering things I WANT - but I'd never hear about them if not for them graciously placing an ad in a magazine so I can tear out the page (unless I'm in a doctor's office; other people do it - I can't), go to my computer and get some nifty yoga pants, home decor, gifts (you have to strike while the Mother In Law rooster-gift iron is hot!), you name it. I'm not condoning reckless spending in these crazy days; I'm saying as an advertising professional that people do have money to spend on things that you sell if they know how to find you - even if you don't have a brick-and-mortar. Better still if you have no physical location, a magazine ad will drive MORE and BETTER traffic to your web site. For example, gosh I go on! my friend visited from Oregon last summer. She had on the funkiest tribal print dress. I had to have it! She looked in the boutique where she bought it but they didn't have my size -so I asked her to look at the label. I looked up the designer on line and bought the dress. If the designer was a savvy marketer, she would have kept my email address in order to inform me of new lines. By now I forget her name. I guess I could look at the label - but really, you have to be in the customer's face.
4) Magazine Ads II. It isn't only specific trinkets that grab a reader's attention. Services, such as restaurants, cosmetic surgeons, hair salons, hospitals, physician practices and oh - antique stores.... benefit from a well-designed magazine ad. It builds "brand awareness" - in other words, lets people know you exist. They might not come on over this afternoon, but a really great ad, published on a 3-12 month schedule will keep your business in their minds. The magazine doesn't need to be Vogue or People; it can be a regional Style publication - which I LOVE. A further benefit: of course you will include your web address in the ad - therefore, you get more web traffic, more attention - who can forget you?
I know I'm long winded, but I'm a passionate advertising professional and a passionate shopper. I cannot emphasize enough, especially in this crazy economy, the absolute importance of marketing.
Visit our web site to see how simple it is to get your message to the masses. I just might buy something from you!
I promised in my last post to praise the implicit, vital importance of traditional marketing/advertising. I feel guilty leaving web site promotion in the dust for a while... which, I suppose, is the point.
Every business needs to have a great looking, user-engaging web site; I mean EVERY business, because more and more, every person is looking to their browser rather than their phone book for goods and services (that sounds so corny, but it's true). The phone book was never that great when you think about it. Unless a company is really huge and has a ½ page ad full of information about product lines and services offered, it was like a really bulky Information Dartboard. If I was looking up "high-end clothing" it's a crap shoot. What category do I look in? Then I either have to call 12 stores to ask if they carry what I am looking for, or drive to all of them. Time is money! No, time is better than money because you can never buy an extra allotment of time.
I digress. Traditional advertising, as in direct mail, outdoor, and magazine spreads not only drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar - they drive quantifiable traffic to your web site. Some examples:
1) Applebee's. I don't normally eat there, I don't normally watch television, but if I see an Applebee's billboard or catch a commercial on teevee... I'm THERE! I have no idea why. It looks like allot more fun than pork chops and peas at home. Kudos to their agency.
2) Direct Mail. As previously mentioned, I sort through my mail and separate the wheat from the chaff. The wheat is bills (no sense throwing them out!), catalogs (I'll look through almost any catalog) and simple post cards advertising from stores that have me on their mailing lists. My favorite pottery artist, Davis Salks, he has the post card down to an art, no pun intended. If I get a notice that he has created a limited edition line, I am on his web site in 5 minutes to order. If I get a list of shows he'll be attending, I hang it on the fridge and head to the shows. I BUY allot of his pieces.
3) Magazine Ads. As with the catalogs, there not too many magazines I won't page through. There are some super small companies out there offering things I WANT - but I'd never hear about them if not for them graciously placing an ad in a magazine so I can tear out the page (unless I'm in a doctor's office; other people do it - I can't), go to my computer and get some nifty yoga pants, home decor, gifts (you have to strike while the Mother In Law rooster-gift iron is hot!), you name it. I'm not condoning reckless spending in these crazy days; I'm saying as an advertising professional that people do have money to spend on things that you sell if they know how to find you - even if you don't have a brick-and-mortar. Better still if you have no physical location, a magazine ad will drive MORE and BETTER traffic to your web site. For example, gosh I go on! my friend visited from Oregon last summer. She had on the funkiest tribal print dress. I had to have it! She looked in the boutique where she bought it but they didn't have my size -so I asked her to look at the label. I looked up the designer on line and bought the dress. If the designer was a savvy marketer, she would have kept my email address in order to inform me of new lines. By now I forget her name. I guess I could look at the label - but really, you have to be in the customer's face.
4) Magazine Ads II. It isn't only specific trinkets that grab a reader's attention. Services, such as restaurants, cosmetic surgeons, hair salons, hospitals, physician practices and oh - antique stores.... benefit from a well-designed magazine ad. It builds "brand awareness" - in other words, lets people know you exist. They might not come on over this afternoon, but a really great ad, published on a 3-12 month schedule will keep your business in their minds. The magazine doesn't need to be Vogue or People; it can be a regional Style publication - which I LOVE. A further benefit: of course you will include your web address in the ad - therefore, you get more web traffic, more attention - who can forget you?
I know I'm long winded, but I'm a passionate advertising professional and a passionate shopper. I cannot emphasize enough, especially in this crazy economy, the absolute importance of marketing.
Visit our web site to see how simple it is to get your message to the masses. I just might buy something from you!
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