Category: Advertising & Marketing

Retargeting: Helpful or Annoying to Consumers?

Posted on by Natalie Hurley

Ever wonder why after visiting a site just once, ads for the site suddenly seem to be showing up on every other site you visit?

The answer to your question lies in a marketing strategy called retargeting, which focuses on bringing potential customers back to a site after they have already visited it. A javascript tag embedded in the website generates a list of people by placing anonymous retargeting “cookies” in their browser.

Then retargeting companies are further able to segment visitors by tracking what they viewed while on the site. For example, if you looked at shoes, then it would be in best practice to show ads for shoes.

One retargeting company, Adroll, states that retargeting works by “converting window-shoppers into buyers.” While I am all for finding more shoes similar to the ones I have been coveting while online-shopping, I also think there are potential problems with retargeting.

For one, retargeting calls into question the never-ending discussion of privacy limits on the web. While retargeting offers a great way to keep track of potential consumers, it also may be seen as an invasion of privacy by visitors. It is possible that the average shopper will get annoyed that every time they visit a site, they will start seeing numerous ads.

According to retargeter.com, “for most websites, only two percent of web traffic converts on the first visit. Retargeting is a tool designed to help companies reach the 98 percent of users who don’t convert right away.”

While the goal to increase effectiveness of advertising by targeting only those who have already shown some interest in the products or company makes sense, I think the new strategy should be used with some caution. For example, companies should take ad placement and frequency into consideration and avoid annoying potential customers too much.

A restaurant’s last words

Posted on by Brian Lee

What a restaurant owner says “the food will speak for itself” or “we rely on word-of-mouth,” it’s their death sentence. On top of having good operations (pricing, staffing, quality, etc.), you have to do marketing. I know from my experience in restaurant consulting that a very, very small percentage of restaurants can survive on word-of-mouth alone.

Have you ever noticed that the most trendy or successful restaurants in any city still do a ton of marketing and advertising? And that the least successful restaurants continue to do nothing?

Super Bowl ads 2013: staff opinions

Posted on by Brian Lee

BRIAN:

I found it interesting that both the game and the commercials were much better in the second half. For the reasons of personal experiences alone, my favorite ad this year was GoDaddy’s “Your Big Idea.”  If you’ve ever had to pick a domain name (I’ve done so multiple times), you’ll know that seemingly every name has been taken. I’ve even made up words and have been stunned to find the URL has already been locked up. That’s why I could relate to this commercial, which emphasized the importance of being first.

PATTY:

“God made a Farmer” was a phenomenal Super Bowl ad and tribute to agriculture and the families who spend their lives farming so we have food.  This ad made me feel grateful and thankful for these down to earth, hardworking, family oriented farmers.  My family are farmers, I worked on the farm and this commercial triggered many of my happiest memories.  The rugged, yet sensitive photos and the voice over by the great radio legend Paul Harvey had us in tears.  Thank you Dodge Ram for giving us an ad that spreads joy, wisdom and beauty.

TIANA:

What really got me this year during the Super Bowl were advertisements that made an attempt to be relevant. For example, my favorite commercial was Tide’s “Miracle Stain,” featuring a 49ers fan that miraculously gets a Joe Montana stain on his jersey. Not only was it funny and cleverly executed, it went that extra step to incorporate the teams playing that day. It was also nice to see a commercial with a wide appeal and didn’t just play the sex appeal card (*cough* Calvin Klein and Go Daddy *cough*). Second favorite ad was Oreo’s brilliant response to the blackout.

AMY:

I wasn’t really impressed by any ads this year. Maybe it was because I wasn’t drinking during the game. The best of the rest was the Dodge ad. This one resonated with me for a few reasons. First, I grew up on a hog farm and secondly, we would always listen to Paul Harvey on long drives to Minnesota. But I was disappointed Monday morning to find out the Dodge ad was a “remake” of an ad not even 2 years old. Are there no original ideas left in this world? Well, anyway, it is back to DVRing everything I watch so I can skip all the commercials.

ALEXANDRA:

I wasn’t too impressed with the commercials this year at the Super Bowl.  However, one that did make me laugh was Amy Poehler’s Best Buy commercial.