Thursday, May 27, 2010

Does "Like" Equate to Increased Sales?

Facebook is gaining popularity as an advertising/marketing medium. Lots of businesses big and small are creating corporate fan pages and groups. I, of course, have a Facebook account for personal use but not one for my freelancing business. Why? Because, while Facebook is totally awesome it doesn't work for everyone. I'll be working on a short post called "You might not need Facebook if..." but right now we're talking about the infamous "Like " button.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the way this whole thing works, aside from personal pages, people can create group pages and fan pages. It used to be that if you wanted to join a fan page you would click the "Become a Fan" button. Not anymore. If you want to join a fan page, you now click the "Like" button. When you "like" a page, you are added to the column of other people who "like" this particular thing--similar to being a fan, but with one major difference. This little switch enables Facebook to offer targeted advertising to corporations because they keep meticulous notes on everything each Facebooker "likes." Facebook then packages all the people that "like" something as a potential sales pool, but how many people buy just because they "like" something?

There are lots of other blogs with lots of theories about how to calculate ROI on Facebook. I'll list some links at the end, but this article is about a misconception that I keep running into: Like=Increased Sales.


4 of my friends "like" Wal-Mart
Most people shop at Wal-Mart because of convenience, or the perceived value, so it was no surprise to me that 4 of my Facebook friends had joined the store's page. At my last count 1,173,430 "like" Wal-Mart.  

We all know that more than a million people shop at Wal-Mart. I'm sure lots of them are not on Facebook for whatever reason but if Facebook has over 400 million active users shouldn't they have a share larger than .003? The explanation is simple, an Absence of Users--a company's popularity can never be fully represented by it's fan page. People may shop there but not join the page because of apathy, ignorance, or "whatever." I shop at Wal-Mart, there's one right up the street from my house, but am I on their fan page? Nope. Why? I'm one of the "whatever" people, I just didn't care.

I'm a Fan of World Market
I decided to "like" World Market because its a specialty store. They commonly post specials and sales as well as new products to their Facebook page. They aren't close to my house and I don't shop there unless I need something so their Facebook posts alert me to items/events I might not have otherwise known about. Do I always buy? No. But that's no different from the same risk you take with mailers and email newsletters--however, some people don't see it that way. False ROI--beware of micro marketers that give you a hard number for increase in sales based on your "likes." Without detailed tracking, you won't be able to tell the difference between fans that are making regular purchases not influenced by your Facebook effort and ones that truly represent an increase that couldn't have been possible without it.


Likers that Like to "Like"
Its hard to get a good estimate of actual "likes" because of something I call the Inflatable Pool--people will "like" something their friends "like" even if they have no real feeling about it one way or the other. These people inflate your fan lists making you think that you have more potential customers than you really do. They don't represent any sort of sale, let alone a sales increase. Keep in mind how easy it is to click "like." Its not the same as signing up for a membership or joining a loyalty club--there's paper work and occasionally a fee, so if they do it, they want it, and are interested enough in it to go the extra mile.

The bottom line? It's great if people "like" you but its important to know who your real customers are.

Additional Reading

Monday, May 3, 2010

Why Can't SoBe Get it Right?

Originally I had another blog post planned for today, then I read an article on Advertising Age about Chick Fil A and Popeye's and what they did right. That started the wheels turning and I was suddenly reminded of a company that has gotten it very, very wrong--in my opinion--a lot in recent memory SoBe, the Life Water people.

I remember SoBe from my time in high school. The drink company hit the shelves in the late 90's so it was still fairly new when I started drinking it. With its big glass bottles and natural ingredients it felt really 90's and always made me think of Sheryl Crow for some reason...maybe it was that whole free spirited "soak up the sun" attitude SoBe associated itself with. The iconic lizard was plastered all over jeeps and surf boards and to be "healthy hip" meant a steady supply of the stuff in your fridge at all times.

Then something happened. SoBe fell out of favor. Whether that has anything to do with the emergence of Glaceau and it's Vitamin Water brand around the same time remains a matter of opinion, but something caused the lizard and it's Life Water to loose its way.

The Super Bowl Ad
Since this is commentary, I can say what ever I want and I want to say "What were they thinking!?" I've posted the ad below. What do dancing "Thriller Lizards" and Naomi Campbell have to do with a health beverage?



Let's break this down as a lesson in a bad commercial. 1) Note the perils of using a celebrity spokes person. Any person in the ad game, who knows their stuff, will tell you that attaching your company's image to that of a star or starlet is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Its the equivalent to putting all your eggs in one basket. If their ship sinks, consider yourself caught in the undertow. 2) Pop culture does not stand alone. It would be safe to say that since music videos were invented, "Thriller" has been in the top 5 of the best videos of all time. Its a total cultural phenomenon that has managed to retain its popularity and relevance (at least to some extent) for decades. Grafting yourself into the famous dance sequence will NOT make YOU famous and will do less for your brand.  Things like Thriller became popular in the first place because they were unique, original and sometimes ground breaking but always the first of their kind done right. Never expect revolutionary results from re-hashed ideas. 3) Mascots are an identity, identities are unique. Both SoBe and Geico have lizard mascots. You don't need me to tell you which one is the more successful. The Geico Geko is a friendly employee in an insurance company--that's his identity. The SoBe lizards are well, props. They can be used and misused in any way that an advertising agency feels fit. A muddled mascot identity can lead to a muddled corporate identity.


The Super Bowl Ad Pt 2
Just another example of how a muddled identity can spawn some weird commercials. But while you watch this look closely for something that is missing.


Did you catch it? It was proper product placement. I think the product appeared around 7 times. A couple of "Mmmm, I'm drinking this beverage" shots but nothing about Life Water's benefits, flavors, why you should pick this over Vitamin Water or anything useful really. What should you take from this? TV commercials are expensive. Don't waste your time or your viewer's time. Get to the point and showcase your product's features and benifits. Animated lizards, ballerinas and monsters with aliens will not improve your bottom line. Don't believe me? Check out the comment thread on YouTube for this commercial.

Ashley Greene + 0 =???
Ok so obviously SoBe did not learn their lesson with Naomi Campbell and rounded up another starlet. This time the "angelic" Ashley Greene from Twilight. They painted her with body scale paint and put her naked on a beach to sell Life Water. The connection? She is "Wearing Zero" and the Life Water has zero calories. Clever right? It would be except for some obvious problems:
  • Zero calorie beverages are generally targeted toward women. 
  • Women don't normally buy a beverage from another woman who is trying to sell to them naked on a beach.
  • Men think Ashley Greene is hot. They will look at the SI spread and watch the commercials but will probably won't buy Life Water
  • Twilight, despite what everyone says, has a limited appeal and a hardcore fan base of young buyers. They are too young to watch the Mature rated commercials on YouTube.
  • SoBe has still not created a brand or identity for its product. They handed a bottle to a beauty with no clear plan.
The photography is glamorous and so high fashion--to bad they are selling a health drink and not swimsuits. Its just a clip. See more at SoBe.com