Sex Sells - But You Already Knew That
Using sex to sell everything from beer to boats to men is nothing new.
The television show Family Guy parodies this phenomenon by telling the story of Peter’s stone age ancestor who invented the wheel. Unfortunately, the caveman Pater can’t seem to sell his wheel until he strips his wife down to her undies and places her next to the wheel. This inspires the cavemen in the audience to utter such things as “Pretty lady stand near wheel. If I buy wheel, maybe pretty lady will stand by me!”
Using sex to sell products to men is nothing new. However, angering the other half of the population, now that’s a bold and inspired move being made by BMW’s recent offensive campaign.
Progressive Gold says in the post For now you can still buy a Beemer with your dignity intact. The question is, should you?”
The air of innocence suggests virginal chastity, yet the pose of passive abandon says ‘here, take me’. The makeup is deliberately designed to accentuate the dewy skin, pouting mouth and cherubic curls of extreme youth; yet the direct gaze gives an implicit promise of sexuality. It’s all very carefully done and just to make sure you get the message, it’s made explicit in the slogan. “You know you’re not the first”. Oh well, that’s all right then. Lech away at the child.
Pedophilia is not sexy- PERIOD!
Salon doesn’t question the model’s age in the post Used Women are like cars but does state:
Plenty of delightful messages are implied: Used BMWs are like soiled sexpots — dirty but fun to drive. Or: A used BMW won’t tell you to go faster or slower. It lets you drive. Maybe even: Driving a used car doesn’t require protection!
Tracy Clark-Flory ends the post with this simply MAHVELOUS dig: ” You stay classy, BMW.”
To quote another campaign: PRICELESS!!
Yes, it seems there’s quite an uproar brewing over the particularly distasteful ad by BMW. (Follow the link to see the visual and if you’re a man, have a Kleenex ready.) The print ad is an obvious attempt at generating free PR for BMW. It’s got to be. There’s no redeeming value to the ad otherwise.
The ad was brought to my attention initially by Yvonne over at Lipsticking-Marketing to Women Online in the post BMW - No Woman’s Answer to Transportation: Please Leave the Dealership. Yvonne got the heads up from Andrea over at Muse Communications, who doesn’t think much of the advertising executives who created the campaign. Her post inspired me to post a tongue in cheek post The Lazy Ad Executive’s Path to Success: Using Soft Core Porn to Sell Cars
But this party is just getting started. The Ask Patty blog is on board with the post BMW’s Shameful” Greek Used Car Ad as is Copyranter in my car is a woman, my right foot is my penis.
Sarah left a helpful comment coming to BMW’s defense, but alas Sarah doesn’t give a way to check on her identity. Probably a way for BMW to slip on a robe when they discovered they had wandered into a cocktail party dressed in the same attired as the woman in the Bluefly ads. (a.k.a. Naked at a Cocktail Party) Besides, if the ad is a FAKE then why, oh why doesn’t BMW sue the dirty bastards who are slandering their brand?
Mary Schmit calls the ad Very Tacky and Very Stupid. I couldn’t agree more.
This type of advertising has very limited endurance. Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. How many affluent women will think twice about purchasing a BMW in the future as the result of this ad?
I really, really, really hope the approval of this campaign wasn’t the case of a man’s blood to the brain being reduced and his IQ being reduced to 1. When the brain BELOW the belt is allowed to make the decisions - things to badly no matter which gender you are.
Do You Measure Customer Service By Satisfaction or by Complaints?
When it comes to business, measuring is an integral part of success. While measuring sales, marketing even web visitors is common, many businesses fail to recognize the need to measure customers service… and with good reason.
Measuring customer service is hard and quite honestly, most businesses are not created with customer service as part of their business DNA.
Customer service as part of a company’s DNA is the absolute best description of what it takes to truly deliver on the customer service front… and it’s so not mine. That phrase totally belongs to Ben Yaskovitz. It’s in Tip #4 of his latest blog post Using Great Customer Service as a Differentiator.
What an elegant, descriptive way to describe the perfect delivery of exceptional customer service.
Ben goes on to tell of his own customer service testimonials from his start up Standout Jobs.
Exceptional customer service has earned him not only testimonials but also new sign ups for the service. Obviously customer service is part of the Standout Jobs DNA.
This really contrasts with my own experience with another start up. However, a more recent and horrible tale is tole by Marketing Pilgrim Andy Beal who writes a tale of customer service gone bad with his blog post Office Depot Joins the Reputation Deadpool.
In a nutshell, Office Depot put out some ATTRACTIVE bait to capture a new customer by offering a great limited time offer of a special low-low price on a Toshiba Laptop. That’s the way it works. A a business, you entice a customer to try your product or service with an offer that is too good to resist. Office Depot even sweetened the already sweet deal by offering next day shipping. You can’t build a successful business on profit margins this thin, but it’s necessary to win new customers.
Then, as you fulfill the order, you amaze the customer. You meet or exceed their expectations with the hope of winning that customer as a steady customer for life… or at least, the next few years.
In Andy’s case, Office Depot was trying to woo him away from his “steady” office superstore, Staples. At the very least Andy expects flowers, a nice dinner and a movie. Poetry, a moonlight gondola ride and ridiculously expensive champagne would have sealed Staple’s fate as soon to be “used to be”. Instead, Andy was stood up and then sent a bill for flowers he never saw and a dinner he never ate. Andy’s devotion to Staples has grown ten fold as a result of the experience. Meanwhile, Office Depot’s brand is being drug through the streets after being tarred and feathered.
Obviously customer service is NOT part of Office Depot’s DNA.
Kelly over at Maxiumum Customer Experience writes:
Your customers are skeptical. There are customers who want you to provide delight, and then there’s this lady. Depending on your industry, there may be thousands lined up behind her. At this point she’s not looking for delight. She’ll take a discount or some other special offer, but what I heard in her voice says it’s not what she’s looking for.
She wants to know somebody at this company cares.
BRAVO Kelly!!! That’s a hit the nail square on the head kind of observation!!!
Does anyone at your company care?
Trust me, if there isn’t anyone who cares, it’s going to show. It’s surprising how a truly sympathetic ear can take the edge off of the burning rage that builds when you feel you’ve been reduced to a number.
How do you measure customer service?
Leadership Tools offers these as ways to measure customer service quality.
- Customer Attrition Ratio = number of customers leaving / total number of customers (for the same time period) – the higher the ratio, the less likely it is that your company is consistently delivering quality customer service.
- Sales Growth - your reputation precedes you. If people are still buying from you, and referring others, chances are they are happy with the service and they are loyal to your organization.
- Customer Survey Results - directly asking customers to rate the service level they receive is by far the best way to measure service quality.
- Customer Complaints - be thankful for each complaint that comes to your attention. You can only provide a thoughtful response to customer issues once you are made aware of the issue. When customer’s complain they represent not just their issue, but perhaps an issue that is affecting others.
However, it’s all for naught if customer service isn’t part of your company’s DNA. It’s cool to care about your customers. Pass it on!
Increasing Blog Traffic: Trolls and Drive By Readers
There’s a new “increasing blog traffic” tactic being touted (I wish I could remember where I read this now) where leaving troll like comments is being encouraged as a way to increase blog traffic.
When I use the word “troll“, I’m not talking about a fictitious, mythological creature who is obnoxious, hideous and dedicated to achieving evil ends.
Instead, I’m talking about someone who fits this description of a troll at Wikipedia
An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of baiting other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.
In essence, an internet troll does share the mythical creatures bent for evil, but it’s important to remember that a troll is not offering his/her authentic opinions, which may or may not offend someone. Instead of commenting to share an opinion, the troll offers comments with one intention - to stir the emotions of other readers.
While troll like behavior is being touted as a great way to increase blog traffic, I’d have to guess that instead, this kind of post just merely creates Toxic Conversation.
The quality of readers you attract with troll like comments are what I call “Drive By Readers”. They may subscribe to your RSS, but they provide little value to your blog other than boosting your RSS subscriber count. If they came as the result of your troll comment, they’re seeking emotional juice. They’re at your blog to see more of what you delivered via the comment section they just read. They’re at your blog with the purpose of seeing who you shredding now.
If your goal is to be a Blog Shock Jock, then leaving troll like comments will be a great investment of your time.
However, the other side of that coin is the blog owner where you’re making those disruptive comments. As a blog owner, it’s hard to know what to do about Trolls. Defining troll like activity is the first step and sometimes that’s the hardest step of all. Wikipedia has an explicit DNFTT (Do Not Fee The Trolls) policy.
Trolling is a deliberate, bad faith attempt to disrupt the editing of Wikipedia. Ignorance is not trolling. Genuine dissent is not trolling. … They are only trolling when they are motivated by a program of malice rather than ignorance or bias. This requires a judgment of the personal motivation for another’s action.
And that my friend is the problem with defining a troll. A troll is defined by his/her INTENTIONS and usually it’s hard to determine those intentions with a single comment. Is the person leaving frequent comments really a troll, or just someone who needs educated?
The advice I frequently share with clients is this: your blog is YOUR playground. You provide the playground so you can make the rules. If you think someone’s comments are troll like, then it’s your right and privilege to enforce a strict DNFTT policy. In other words, if you think it’s a troll, then it’s a troll.
Have you had problems with trolls on your blog yet? If so, how have you handled it?
Comcast Changes Outgoing E-Mail Settings
If you’re a Comcast High Speed Internet customer, you’ve probably noticed you’re not able to send emails anymore. Turns out, they’ve change the outgoing port they’ll allow for email.
I noticed I wasn’t able to send email from my computer, but I was up to my arse in alligators and didn’t have time to “diagnose” the situation. I switched to Webmail mode and kept on chugging forward.
I don’t use my comcast email for anything, so I hadn’t checked it for quite some time. However, after spending the weekend fielding calls from clients who thought something was wrong with their webhosting, I decided to check and see what messages I’d gotten from Comcast lately.
Sure enough, they sent me an email alerting me to the change in the outgoing ports allowed to send email. When I tried to click on the link in the email which was to take me to the page with the new port settings, I got a “This address looks suspicious. Are you SURE you want to open this link?” from Thunderbird. NICE. My ISP is telling me how they’re subverting spam and they send me a spammy link to do so. I’m feeling the love.
I practice safe browsing and copy the URL and paste it into my browser. The page takes FOREVER to load. I mean we’re talking 1995 era 14.4 dial up modem type of a page with video load time. Finally, I get the new magical port settings. Fortunately, I don’t have to endure their customer tutorials to apply the settings.
I’ve written before about the trials and tribulations of being a Comcast customer.
The thing is, Comcast desperately wants to sell me more of its services… including better access to their High Speed Internet and their Digital Voice products. To which, I’ve got to reply, “How stupid do you think I am?”
SERIOUSLY! My current internet experience is being throttled during the brief periods of time when it’s working. I lose internet at least 3 times a week as do my neighbors with unsecured wifi connections. (Yes, I check to see if I need to reset my routers!)
Let’s see if I have this straight Comcast - you do an AWFUL job of delivering the services for which I already subscribe but you want to sell me more?
The longer I spend on the planet, the more I recognize that business is based on building trust. Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose which makes it a difficult proposition.
Blogs as a Means of Building Trust through Communication
BLogs are a great communication tool which is why they’re GREAT marketing tools for the business involved in making intangible sales. Trust is a huge issue when you’re selling “nothing but air”… which is all you’re selling when you’re selling your knowledge and services.
However, in order to establish a rapport with your target audience, you must first demonstrate that you are indeed qualified to speak on the subject. Which brings to mind a joke that recently appeared on Comedy Central.com:
A guy was seated next to a 13-year-old girl on an airplane. Being bored, he turned to the girl and said, “Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.”
The girl, who was reading a book, closed it slowly and said to the guy, “What would you like to talk about?”
Oh, I don’t know,” said the guy. “How about nuclear power?”
“OK,” she said. “That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow and a deer all eat the same stuff… grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?”
The guy thought about it and said, “Hmmm, I have no idea.”
To which the girl replied, “Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don’t know shit?”
Your blog readers are asking the same question…. what basics do you need to demonstrate your understanding of before you engage in the real conversation with prospective clients or customers?
One thing about blogging… it’s hard to hide what you do and don’t know over the course of hundreds of blog posts. Blogging is great when you’re open to engaging in the Art of Transparency. However, if you don’t know shit… then blogging can be a real pain.
