Archive for September, 2009
eBrand Media Research: Morally gray marketers and the hideous advertising pollution they create!
Continuity programs have been around for years. Videoactivereport.com defines continuity programs this way: “An infomercial/DRTV product purchasing program that encourages consumers to purchase the first in a series of products, often for a lower-than-normal price, then continue purchasing the entire series for a higher price. Extensively used for music and book series. Concept also employed successfully for beauty, diet and self-development products.”
Given the limited, vanilla, definition; they apparently don’t want to step on any toes.
We discussed one of the most reprehensible continuity programs on the internet, and other types of continuity programs, in an article written on May, 22nd, 2008.
Most continuity programs use the “make sick, make well” marketing approach. They identify a mass audience pain points; wrinkles, yellow teeth, weight, debt, or a need for money and the ability to make transactions with a debit/credit card, and run campaigns that bring the pain, real or imagined from the background to the foreground of the consciousness. Pharmaceutical companies are real experts at making large segments of our society sick; with messaging like this: “Are you feeling depressed, lethargic, or irritable? Then you may be suffering from…”
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Ethics, Marketing on September 14th, 2009
Twitter will allow advertizing on the site now.
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Recent research indicates that 80% of the world doesn’t know what Twitter is. A percentage of those who have used it, use it infrequently. Those who use it regularly are marketers. Granted marketers are shoppers to too but their psychology while Tweeting is to promote rather than to buy.
I’ll withhold judgment regarding advertising until I see a rate card and run a few tests but from afar, lacking historical data, and factoring in the above; I’d say that there are better channels for our clients.
What do you think?
Read more here: Twitter expands rules to allow advertising
(Recently, 1-800-Flowers opened an e-tail store on Facebook. Does anybody know how that’s working out?)
Posted by Tom Polanski in Twitter on September 11th, 2009