sfinsf's blog
In the midst of a deadline on an SEO editing job where I am focusing intently on the finer points of massaging retail copy, I ran across a press release an article about a new company called Gazopa, a retail concept pioneering the world of image search.
Gazopa is really just scratching the surface. Their site is firmly in beta mode and only has a few affiliates - what I'm seeing today is loaded with not much more than Amazon, eBay and Etsy. But I like the idea, and I think the upside to this concept is potentially massive.
When I see a typical SERP (search engine results pages) for Google images, it reminds me of nothing but… Google's text-based SERPs from 10 years ago. If you remember what a typical Google search would return circa 2000 you might remember that it was a faint shadow of what it is today. It wasn't the fault of Google's algorithms that those SERPs were erratic, strangely weighted and sadly incomplete; it was more that the internet community - especially the e-commerce sector - just hadn't matured to take advantage of a more sophisticated search engine.
The explosion of visual media on the web has created what I see as a manifest destiny resulting in the balance of search for marketing and e-commerce being tilted more in favor of image-based SERPs, with text-based search becoming a fall-back option.
Been spending some time looking in on some of the most successful viral marketing campaigns of 2010. Despite what would appear to me to be obvious, there is still an assumption among some businesses - especially small and medium sized businesses - that viral marketing is something cheap and easy to pull off.
I mean, really. To all the companies who still think this way, I say look at this viral centerpiece for Old Spice and see if this looks like something that can be produced in-house. Even the marketing departments of multibillion-dollar corporations can't compare. Without exception, it takes a great creative agency to build a can't-miss viral campaign.
I've been in a bit of a jaded funk of late looking for interesting marketing topics to write about. With my busy work schedule I only have an hour or so in the morning to get something posted, and that's not a lot of time to dig for something interesting. Late last night I was feeling a strong urge to get something written but couldn't think of anything especially compelling.
That was before former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater cussed out a passenger, grabbed a cold brew and slid down an emergency evacuation chute right into my lap.
Easily one of the hottest stories on the wire this morning, the buzz about this guy and his impulsive antics have turned him into an anti-corporate folk hero overnight. In the reader's forums of almost every online newspaper that ran this story, the public sentiment is overwhelmingly with this airline employee who flushed a 20-year career down the crapper because he got sick of the pressure, the pace and the unrelenting demands of the job - a state of mind that most of the American working public can relate to.
The question that immediately popped into my head was: How is Jet Blue going to handle this one on Facebook?
The Twitter feed isn't much, but the chatter there may entice you to jump onto their website for a look at what's going on with SF street food. The interactive map is almost as addictive as a Kung Fu Taco!
SF boutique Doe-SF isn't too aggressive with their merchandising; from a quick run through their website it would seem that half their categories are without product.
But if you're good at playfully beguiling the public about what you do have in stock, your irregular inventory issues might not be such a big deal. Doe-SF are a great example of how to use Twitter for small retail businesses. Have fun, get involved, don't just talk about yourself, and occasionally blow the whistle to your followers for a Twitter-exclusive 2-hour only 30% off sale.
In the spring I started an "Email of the Month" feature. It lasted two installments before I abandoned it. I get too many emails and it's crazy trying to really digest them all every 30 days. And it's better written about over time when I can see interesting trends and consistency of strategy and creative direction. And so...
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I'm liking the sly strategy Bobbi Brown Online employs for their mailings - they send them out in the early evening. That strikes me as an interesting idea for a cosmetic seller, especially if you have mobile opt-ins. No women's retailer I know of sends their emails out when their potential customers are out at restaurants or bars. And if you're just sitting at home, BBO's promos will stand out from the usual batch of 15-20 emails you get first thing in the morning from all the other retailers who schedule for the same 2 a.m. PST deployment.
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Wondering what's up with the trend in retail of advertising the entire family of stores in email headers. This is the case with the Gap family (Gap, Old Navy, etc.) and with Forever 21 (21 Men, Twelve by Twelve, etc.). I'm not sure why a customer of 21 Men would be interested in what their plus size sister company Faith 21 is hawking this week, but the family of stores seems to think it's a good tactic.
As a consumer, I'm turned off by the sister-store advertising - it comes off as a tad arrogant while cheapening the brand of the store whose emails I opted in to receive. Also loses some above-the-fold real estate in the main graphic area. I'd be interested to know if this has been an effective cross-promotional conversion tactic for the retail families who include them in their mailings.
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Call me corny, but I'm still loving Free People's creative. Their anti-logo scrapbook design adds flair to a brand whose store experience often seems a bit too precious, fussy and narrow.
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Back in 2008 I was on Abercrombie & Fitch's house list for all promotions. That lasted about 6 weeks until I unsubscribed because all I was getting sent to me was a single B&W photo of a liver-lipped young male or female (or both) with a link to uninspiring landing pages full of copy about how cool it is to be young and beautiful and work in one of their stores.
That never struck me as a message designed for great cart conversion metrics, so last month I opted in again to see how they're trying to sell products in 2010.
Well, if you too are currently receiving A&F's mailings, I don't have to tell you what they're sending out now: More liver lips.
I know that the brand identification of Abercrombie & Fitch is young, chiseled, tanned, ripped, and on the upper end of upper middle class, but in trying to attract business with their messaging A&F seems to be running nothing more than a ponzi operation for amateur models. As a shopper I get nothing out of it. This would seem to leave an opening for chains like Hollister to grab some market share, for while their email and web creative slavishly imitates that of A&F, they do actually let you know that they're an apparel retailer and not a casting agency for Yale dropouts.
