Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category
Detroit is on Lake Michigan
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010While on Facebook earlier today I noticed this ad:
I’m not from Detroit and have spent very little time in Detroit for being so close to it throughout college and the last year, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a considerable amount of Detroit pride to go with my Michigan pride.
Regardless, I was offended that a company (groupon.com) was using this to reach people about Detroit. Really? You’re using this?
Detroit is a rad city, but last time I checked it’s beach life wasn’t one of the high points. And I’ve been around the Great Lakes enough to know that there aren’t many places where you can find water that green (perhaps at Picture Rocks National Lakeshore).
It aggravated me enough to click the ad and contact the advertisers.
I wrote:
I would like to learn more about why this image was chosen for a Detroit advertisement. I’m offended that this is how you think you need to reach Detroiters. What does this image have to do with Detroit?
I was surprised to get a response so soon (this is where it gets good)…
Hi Justin,
I just heard back from our marketing department and they said “Those are the beautiful turquoise waters of Lake Michigan.”
:)
Really?! The last time I looked at a map Lake Michigan was still 170 miles from Detroit.
I’ve done a lot of Facebook advertising for various clients and personal projects. It’s an amazing tool. Props to them for doing some regional targeting, that works really well. But to anyone else spending money on Facebook ads I suggest not ending the targeting at the headline. No doubt I want to have “Fun in Detroit”. But back it up with a graphic that screams Detroit, not a tropical paradise. And take time to include it in the copy as well. This ad’s copy just sounds like generic copy that was used to target every region in their campaign.
Finally, please get your facts straight, especially if a potential customer who just visited your site is making a complaint. Lake Michigan is on the clear other side of Michigan. Detroit actually sits on Lake St. Clair and really doesn’t even touch one of the Great Lakes. Here is a handy map for reference.
– Rant is end –
Rock on Detroit!
Word of mouth
Monday, May 4th, 2009On Facebook this evening I was checking out my sister in-law’s Facebook page and saw that she’s excited to get a new laptop that my brother suggested to her. Very cool.
Here is a thread of comments that people posted.
Incredible!
During my advertising classes in college we often talked about word of mouth. My professors always talked of its importance and that it’s the best advertising a company can have (when it’s positive word of mouth anyways).
The old way to do it was to actually pay some mom to talk about Tide laundry detergent while talking to other mom’s at her son’s little league game. That always seemed a little dishonest to me, and it’s probably still done with some products in some places. But the internet has changed everything.
When my professor’s talked about word of mouth Twitter didn’t even exist yet and Facebook was only limited to a select number of colleges. Only a few years after that and it’s an entirely new ballgame.
Apple Computers couldn’t be doing any better. What an incredible testament that thread of comments is to their brand loyalty and the excitement their users generate over their products.
There are some companies that pay money to people to leave comments like this. Well, the good companies don’t have to. The good ones don’t even have to advertise. Some products are just that good.
Social media has completely changed the game for word of mouth advertising. It’s amazing to see a thread like this (and of course I’m a die hard Apple user myself) where customers do all the advertising for the company.