Time and time again we come across companies who have one objective for their site redesign: drive more traffic to the site. However, a site design does not drive traffic. Advertising campaigns drive traffic. This is why, when it comes to a redesign, the focus should be on conversions, not traffic. While traffic is critical to a web site’s success, it certainly should not be the primary or only goal. Sheer traffic numbers or large increases in pageviews don’t mean much if there is no action being taken by those visitors. In order to get a better idea of whether your redesign was a success, conversion tracking is key.

Continue reading "Focus on Conversions, Not Traffic"

As discussed in Part 1 of Lean Startups, learning quickly is imperative in bringing an idea to a productive and successful product. An important piece of the learn, measure, build loop is learning from the very start of any idea. The question is, how do you test your idea and learn from potential response? Enter: The Magic Test.

The Magic Test--a recipe designed and supported by Eric Ries--entails attempting to sell your idea as "magic". Before jumping into discussions about features and functionality, think of your product as solving one or two major pain points magically. You don't need to tell people how you're going to solve their problems just yet--at least not until you know that people are interested in that problem even being solved. Simply put, if people won't buy magic to fix their problem, then they won't buy your product.

Continue reading "Lean Startups: Part 2 - The Magic Test"

I recently tweeted about the New York City DOT's new anti-speeding campaign. The campaign has the NYC DOT electronic signs turn a standard pedestrian icon into a rather frightening skeleton when drivers speed through the 30-mile-per-hour speed limit. This campaign got me thinking - do these ads ever work? Over the years we've seen numerous creepy, horrifying, and sensitive ads across various marketing channels. But how effective are these campaigns? Have there been any actual positive (or negative) results? I took a deeper dive into one of these campaigns to find out.

Continue reading "Are Creepy Ads Effective?"

What if objects could become "worth" more if they were imbued with imaginary stories?

Is it really called progress if we're just doing the same thing over and over again?

Both questions are incredibly useful to advertising, both are useful to society at large, and both were asked at the recent PSFK New York Conference.

The first question was posed by Rob Walker, author of the NYT column "Consumed" and co-creator of Significant Objects. The second by Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man.

What if objects could become "worth" more if they were imbued with imaginary stories?

Rob and his partner began a project called "Significant Objects" in which he would buy "useless" objects from thrift shops, yard sales, etc.; recruit professional writers to invent stories about the objects; and then sell them on eBay (the funds are donated to charity). The project has taken off - items are sold for significantly more than they were purchased for, and Rob's reflections on why were fascinating.

What I gathered from Rob's discussion was that not only are stories important, but it's the people behind those stories that are of worth. Rob asked the question, "What do you grab from your home if you have 30 seconds to do so?" The answers are rarely "My latest gadget"; rather, they are things like "My photo album" or "The card my wife gave me." We reach for things that carry emotional significance - we reach for things that have been imbued with story...stories made up of people.

This has relevance for advertising as well as society at large.

Continue reading "PSFK New York Recap - Storytelling & Progress"

On Monday, Facebook launched Community Pages, and with this launch I noticed the subsequent change in the look and feel on some of my friends' info pages. There are minor design changes like bigger fonts and sections moved around, but what is most obvious is the new linking to Community Pages for your Activities and Interests and Fan Pages for your favorite Music, Movies, and TV Shows. Previously, if you clicked on someone's favorite activity, interest, or TV show, it would take you to a generic search results page. Now, it takes you directly to the Community or Fan Page (which you can now "Like" instead of becoming a fan).

Here's an example for one of my favorite TV Shows, Modern Family.

Favorite TV Shows on old Info Page:

Goes here:

Continue reading "Facebook Profiles Now Link to Community Pages"

You've seen the "Drive-Thru Diet" commercials from Taco Bell, right? It's a perfect example of what happens when a company loses its brand focus. What is it that people love about Taco Bell? Words like "late night," "delicious," and "guilty pleasure" come to mind. According to Zeta Buzz, the most common words surrounding Taco Bell in the online space were once "favorite," "delicious," and "love." (AdAge source). Then the Drive-Thru Diet happened.

Continue reading "Brand Focus: What Taco Bell is Teaching Us"

Those of us who have iPhones had a few favorite apps over the last year (I sort of count, I got mine at the end of the year, but I've been living vicariously for quite some time now). We laughed, we cried, we sang, we shot each other. While some of our favorites are new in 2009, some of them are oldies-but-goodies that keep getting better. I thought I'd share the list with you. As a point of full disclosure (because, as you know, bloggers are transparent), I haven't used every single one of these apps (almost every one, though), but someone here has! Enjoy!

Continue reading "Our Favorite (45) iPhone Apps of 2009"

As 2009 comes to an end, we decided to use our last Middle School Marketing of the year to review our predictions for the past year and discuss our new ones for 2010. Here goes...!

Predictions for 2010

1. The Internet Will Be Less Free: Users will be more comfortable paying for services they love rather than being pestered with annoying ads, or seeing their favorite services go bankrupt. Pandora has begun charging if you reach a certain number of listening hours, and Hulu will almost be a paid service in 2010. Additionally, there are examples in the news industry such as the NYT Reader built on Adobe Air and Rupert Murdoch announcing he would charge for online content by July 2010.
2. Mobile: This is a no-brainer. Yes, Android consumption will increase greatly; yes a new iPhone will appear; and yes, my Mom now has a Droid. The average Joe and Jane will pick up smartphones on their favorite network, thus forcing marketers to more thoughtfully engage in an application-based digital economy (and please, God, let that not mean more ads). We hope that networks will stop holding things back, but that seems overly optimistic (unless Nexus One sells unlocked at a reasonable price; that could change things). 

Continue reading "Middle School Marketing: 10 Predictions for 2010"

PSFK (my favorite "blog", hands down), has teamed up with Redscout to create a video series entitled "Spur", the focus of which is to look at the digital planning industry/career.

In their own words:

Over the next two months, PSFK will be hosting Redscout’s SPUR video series. It will explore the intersection of brands, strategy, innovation and the world of account planning. We hope to spark a lively discussion, and inspire those working in the field.

Check out episode one, Is Planning Impotent?", it's got some very interesting remarks:

So, what comes first? Marketing or design? Design or marketing? One often dictates the other, or one holds the other back. "Classic chicken or egg situation."

I was reading a post this morning about the iPod Touch, and this quote struck me:

I’m a firm believer that a good design strategy expresses a product’s marketing concept, or great marketing should be a reflection of a design’s intent. They are quite interrelated, especially if a design or marketing strategy is consumer focused.

So which comes first? I think that's actually the wrong question. The title of this blog post suggests a false choice. Why do we have to choose?

Continue reading "Design or Marketing - Chicken or Egg?"

I was talking to a friend last week who recently purchased a new car. She mentioned that she was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal email from her salesperson; following-up on her purchase and asking her if she was enjoying the car and/or if she had any problems or questions.

This got me thinking about my recent car purchase.

Continue reading "Post Purchase Follow-up is Priceless"

PSFK just launched its Good Brands Report 2009. It’s a quick read and worth checking out. While there are a number of common traits shared by the Good Brands who made the report, I found this one particularly fascinating:

Of the top 100 largest advertising spenders in 2008, none of them made it onto this list.

You can read the full back-story and download the report here (it's worth it) as well as enjoy the report below (if you have any issues viewing it, you can check it out directly from SlidShare as well).

Continue reading "PSFK Good Brands Report 2009"

Jeff Goldscher is the President of Havit Advertising, and a frequent attendee at Middle School Marketing.

This month, we reached out to the msm crowd with a simple question. What is the future of print in a digital world? Who better to help guide the conversation than a fairly old-school direct marketer (me) and his father, a 30 year veteran of the printing industry. And based on the discussion, I think we were right.

Continue reading "Middle School Marketing: The Convergence of Print and Digital Marketing"

Last week I wrote about my love for the Cheese and Burger Society. This week, I write about my not-love for Bacardi.com.

My brother and I wanted Mojitos (should I be ashamed?). My hermano suggested we go to Bacardi.com, being certain that they would have a good recipe for a Mojito. Three steps later, I decided to never use that web site again.

Continue reading "Bacardi Mojito Branded Utility Fail"

Nissan recently put their hat in the ring of energy-efficient vehicles with their announcement of the 100% electric, zero-emissions Nissan LEAF. (To be fair, they’ve had an Altima Hybrid since 2007 but the technology is licensed from Toyota). As is the case for many hybrid and electric vehicles, a key part of the message is centered around technology. In fact, it’s the technology that auto manufacturers are hedging their bets on. A quick read of Nissan’s initial press release for the LEAF yields tech phrases from “laminated compact lithium-ion batteries” to “exclusive advanced IT system”. One way to try and communicate that you're on the bleeding edge of technology is by engaging consumers through the latest popular communication channels.

Continue reading "Nissan LEAF - Powered by Twitter?"