SIDEHIKE.NET

a diversion down the path less traveled

Archive for category Brilliance in Marketing

Tuesday is the new Wednesday

Oct 25

Posted by Bo in Brilliance in Marketing | No Comments

In the last year, I’ve read several industry case studies and marketing advice columns that suggest which days should have the highest open and click rates for campaigns. The most common recommendation was Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday weren’t far off, though.

For postal bulk mail, the big day of the week is usually Wednesday. That’s when the pile of grocery store flyers typically come, along with the other pamphlets and coupons that I usually toss in the recycling bin by the door on my way inside. For email marketing, it’s looking like Tuesday is rapidly becoming the new Wednesday.

As of 8pm, I have received 11 email advertisements in my inbox today (Tuesday). These messages are not spam, mind you, these are legitimate marketing offers from companies I have business relationships with. Today’s batch includes offers from such companies as Apple’s iTunes, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Blockbuster.

Looking at my inbox over the last three weeks, here’s the average of how many legitimate commercial messages I’ve received each weekday:

  • Sunday: 4
  • Monday: 1
  • Tuesday: 10
  • Wednesday: 6
  • Thursday: 3
  • Friday: 1
  • Saturday: 0

That’s an average of 3.5 per day. 2.5 per non-Tuesday. If I were in charge of email marketing at these companies, and I marketed to customers with inboxes like my own, I’d be shooting for any other day of the week. I’d much rather compete with one or two companies than 10.

I know that my single inbox is not a representative sample of the whole, meaning I certainly can’t definitively prove that everyone’s inbox looks like mine … but I wonder how many companies follow the “Tuesday (or Wednesday) is the best day” advice given by these marketing gurus without actually testing it for themselves.

The great beauty of email marketing is that it can be so incredibly targeted. Imagine how much more effective those Blockbuster coupons would’ve been had they arrived on a day I was looking for something to do when I got home, rather than watching Game 3 of the World Series. Heck, they know I’m a single guy in Texas who likes movies about sports. (Had they taken the time and effort to look at their own data.) They should’ve sent me this offer yesterday.

Oh, would you look at that? As I wrote this, email #12 arrived.

1923 was probably a great year for wine … but books?

Oct 19

Posted by Bo in Brilliance in Marketing, Geeky stuff | No Comments

TIME Magazine recently published a list of ALL TIME “100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.” There’s some good stuff on there. (I’ve read about 20% of it.)

One thing strikes me as really odd, though:

That pesky 1923-present timeframe. Why 1923? Their own “how we picked the list” page says it’s because that’s the year that TIME Magazine began. Seems a little self-important, doesn’t it? (Not that it would be the first time a magazine’s done that…)

I actually think it’s a really clever marketing gimmick … By my understanding, 1923 also happens to be the earliest year for works published with a copyright notice (that has been renewed) to not be considered part of the public domain. So, most novels published in 1923 or later are still under copyright.

Sounds like a great way for Time Warner to drum up some publicity for all of those books in their portfolio that aren’t named “Harry Potter and the __________” doesn’t it?

Why I won’t be buying an iTunes phone

Sep 11

Posted by Bo in Brilliance in Marketing, Geeky stuff, Internet, Music | No Comments

This article from The Guardian pretty much echoes my feeling on the new Motorola ROKR, the much ballyhooed and uber-hyped “iTunes phone.”

Why won’t I be buying one?

  1. It can only fit 100 songs – and that’s a programmed limitation, not a technical one. I suppose they just didn’t want the Rokr eating into iPod sales. But I would have gladly paid $500 for one of these things if it could truly function as both devices and I could have some pocket space back. (My current Nokia cost $199, and so did my iPod… in my mind, they just left $100 on the table.)
  2. It can’t download songs straight to the phone – you have to download them on your computer and then transfer them over. Again, there’s no real technological reason for this. I can download ringtones directly to my phone. Again, the logic appears to be the fear of cannibalization of existing revenues from computers. But again, I look at it as money left on the table. I think of songs I want when I’m at concerts, or talking with friends, or listening to the radio in the car. I can’t count how many times I’ve sat in front of my computer at home, browsing through iTunes and racking my brain trying to remember what songs I had been telling myself not to forget about just a few hours before. iTunes was such a revolutionary new product because it greatly reduced location as a barrier to sales. Since I didn’t have to take the effort to cart myself up to the store, it eliminated laziness as an excuse for not buying music, since I could do it from home. If they had incorporated purchase capabilities into the Rokr, it would’ve eliminated the location barrier almost entirely. I’m positive I would have spent more money on iTunes if they hadn’t been so afraid of including this feature.
  3. You can’t use your iTunes as ringtones. Again, there’s no technological reasoning for this shortcoming. Speculation is that this was done to appease the mobile operators, who currently make a buttload of money off of their crappy ringtones.

You combine these things together, and what do you really have? Basically you have the exact same phone I have now, but with a really crappy iPod that I would never use built in.

Congratulations Apple and Motorola. You just lost a $249 sale. And it could’ve been $500. (Not to mention lost iTunes revenue…) Too bad. I was really looking forward to this.

How special is average? How average is special?

May 4

Posted by Bo in Brilliance in Marketing | No Comments

Seth Godin has a great blog about marketing: Liar’s Blog. His latest entry makes a couple of great points about the remarkable marketing of the modern wedding. Check out The Runaway Bride.