e-marketing
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.
The UK's Daily Mirror ran an interview this week with pop icon Prince that's being panned all over the place because of the many outrageous statements the pop icon made therein about selling music on the internet.
The juciest excerpts:
"The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it."
"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good."
And so another popstar from the 80s refuses to come to grips with the cultural and financial realities of modern media. Or so he would have us believe.
The real reason for the granting of this exclusive interview seems to hinge on the promotion of an exclusive Prince CD release. Exclusive to? Buyers of the print editions of these same UK newspapers, of course. The CD is being bundled with the weekend edition for a consideration. I know, you're shocked to find this out.
In the interview he also also railed about the evil of pop culture and said that we all need more god in our lives.
That kind of absurdist celebrity prattle gives me a laugh. I love the idea of a filthy rich popstar wagging his finger at me about the evil of modern sexuality and telling me I need more god in my life. Especially when the popstar in question made the lion's share of his fortune by shrieking about kinky sex with women in tacky camisoles.
But I digress. What about the marketing wisdom of this move? The pros & cons:
CRATE & BARREL
As might be obvious from one of my earlier posts, I am a huge fan of what the creative team at Crate & Barrel do with their online marketing assets. Their stylists can take a simple idea and render it into something mesmerizing and seductive. And they are consistent with it - week in and week out their website, catalogs and email design reflects an uncommon focus of great aesthetics.
This spring kickoff blast just jumped out of my inbox right into my retinas. And it's not just the main hero shot - I don't see many emails that feature a tertiary row of promotion as clean and commanding of your attention as the 'Knife of the Month' banner.
Most marketing departments would flinch at running a promotion that features no product but a plain white ceramic bowl (with a low price point) above the fold. But I have a hunch that by virtue of the elegant beauty of it, the house list recipients responded enthusiastically. I'd love to see the open rates on this one.
