Last night, I was feeling under the weather, lying on the couch and watching a college football game on television when this advertisement comes on:
It's clever, right? JC Penney realizes something every SEO, social media marketer and viral content builder has known since they got into web marketing: People don't like being interrupted by marketing. So they provide content instead, hoping to earn a positive reaction and, in the future, a positive association with the male customer base watching Friday night sports.
Penney likely spent ~$20,000 for 30 seconds of interruption 7 times (that I counted) during the 2 hours I'm on the couch drinking hot tea.
I just hope they're spending $140,000 per channel per night on inbound, too, because when their customers want mens clothes, they do this:
and see this:
and participate in this:
and consume content like this:
I enjoyed the JC Penney ad. It made me think about advertising, about what consumers want out of marketing and about where the future of attention and influence are headed. In my opinion, the time for interrpution is over. That's why I love being an inbound guy. Our time's just beginning :-)
I like the JC penny ad but the only thing is I was too busy taking note of the fight =).
I actually studied advertising for 1 year so it is something I can relate to very well also working in an full service advertising agency this type of promotion is very second nature to me.
Another great campaign I have seen recently is the coke one where you have peoples names on bottels, every one is out in the stores looking for their coke and then tagging friends on Facebook and what not, it is probably one of the most genious marketing campaigns I have seen in a long time, a pure offline campaign which is intnded to link up to online very well.
I think this campaign is only in Australia so check out more information on it here: https://jamesnorquay.com/the-share-a-coca-cola-australia-campaign-a-fantastic-viral-campaign/
Oh yes, for inbound marketing, it is just the beginning indeed .
And its all about quality, quality and quality .
Offer quality content and offer it to the user in a way that the time and attention of the user is valued right from the time he sees the SERP listing , clicks for the landing page and the final decision for the call of action of the page.
I agree 100% that this is just the beginning. We are in at the right time for internet marketing. It has been around for a while, but it's still in its infancy stages.
Are you sure JC Penny's isn't a little shy about links these days?
In my opinion, best ads aren't noticed as ads by customers.
You know what's funny about this?
"People don't like being interrupted by marketing. So they provide content." Well, the football game you're watching is already content, being paid for by the marketing. Putting a boxing match next to an ad doesn't change what's going on, it just pushes the two closer together. Instead of watching your content for eight minutes or so and then ads for three, you're watching both simultaneously.
True content marketing would be something more seamless, like in the atrocious "Mac and Me" where the pufferfish-faced alien Mac sucks up Coca-Cola like it came from the fountain of youth, or the old Hostess ads in comic books where Spider Man stops a crew of bank robbers by throwing Twinkies at them.
I think the best content marketing there is on TV is simply a really entertaining and clever ad. Remember those little stories in the "Got Milk" ads? Totally worth the 30 seconds.
And yes, I'm glad to be around for the birth of inbound marketing. Old ad curmudgeons, prepare for total domination.
That JC Penny ad is more like bait and switch to me. I would question the effectiveness as men don't multitask like women do. A guy would have been concentrating on the fight to even bother noticing the ad on the right hand side.
Also the ad is at risk of alienating a female audience who are the ones to buy clothes for their partners.
Looks like someone is angling for some consultancy work at JC Penney! ;)
Interruption advertising is very far from dead however. Yes, it will become less effective, yes, product placement is already taking it's place but the very fact that you are writing about this television advert shows it is very far from dead.
Why doesn't inbound marketing dominate already? Do you think that most companies feel their outbound methods are better for immediate (and maybe easier to measure) results, while inbound may look more like a long-term lead building endeavor. Are they just lacking patience?
Hey Rand,
Hope that bug doesn't have you in its grip for too long.
Interestingly I was having one of those spirited one-person conversations with myself just yesterday about the hugely popular and "authoritative" sites that are obviously being run by people who should go back to the world of interruption marketing where they belong.
Thanks for reminding me of the many inbound guys out there that really do get it and daily outweigh those that offend me by planting "A Message from our Sponsor" in the middle of an interesting blog post :)
Feel better soon,
Sha
140K is definitely alot of money to put towards a couple of commercials. I believe that traditional marketing avenues still do need to be exhausted but with all of the interactive ways advertisers can reach an audience online, and I might be a little biased here, but the Internet is definitely the way to go now a days. Maybe when television comes standard with wifi and becomes more interactive is when more funds should be dedicated to that avenue.
The party never stops at SEOmoz! :-)
I completely agree with your opinion. Generally we ignore such type of important things but we must take them seriously.
Interesting technique... hurm.
Of course, I also spent most of the time watching the fight and not the ad, so I don't know exactly how much it accomplished, but the idea of putting useful/enjoyable content with ads is something us inbound dudes have known for a while, as you say.
I'd love to see a set of commercials that present something usable along the vein of the ad (ie: how to tie a windsor knot, how to properly store dress pants, how to avoid wrinkles without ironing, whatevs) or something.
Thanks for the post, Randsir!
I really liked the JCP Mixed Martial Arts video... The Ref was amazed!
Thanks for the post!
Well put, you went right to the heart of the matter.
Interesting post. Thank You Rand!
Inbound marketing is a great idea. Linking the ad to a fight puts an immediate response to the consumer. It makes you remember it more. Thanks for posting.
When I think about all the inbound marketing I could do for a client with a $140,000 budget...It just doesn't make sense anymore to drop that much money on traditional advertising that's a one shot deal. It might be clever, it might be eye-catching, but is it really doing anything to help their bottom line?
I think its interesting to see that even with the advent of DVRs and Hulu and Netflix TV viewership has generally stayed the same, but how it is increasingly important for companies to figure out how best to engage that television audience. I think you're right Rand, when I think about TV advertising I think we'll start to see fewer commercial breaks and more ad integration like characters in a show specifically drinking a can of Coke rather than a can of Cola. We're starting to see this more and more in the movies as well. I think of Thor that came out this summer and in one sceen "Go Lean Crunch" took up one-third of the screen.
Sports has seemed to figure this out a long time ago, in the US, Auto Racing, with ads on everything. Around the world, Soccer or Futball, in some instances the name or logo of a team's cheif sponsor is larger than their team logo.
You are right to declare the end of Interuption, and the reimergence of incontent advertising across many mediums.
What is inbound ? Don't forget not all of us are hard core marketing bods. Ease up on the trade words.
Digg in to this blog post. You will get your answer. If you still need more so use search box of SEOmoz... You will get outstanding solution. Best luck!!
Good blog Rand, I agree inbound marketing is the way of the future. I mute the TV when ads come on and turn off the radio when the ad time comes around.
So what's the best way to earn it (attention)?
Inbound marketing + unique concept can create more attention for any advertiser. If we want to sell Gifts so you can not sell gifts with dump content. But, we have to tough emotions of people where they realize to be a part of it.
Did anyone else notice after reading this post how awesome the title is?
Also - psychology at it's finest. It's all about positive association.
Just any college football game or were you changing "We Want 50 ... We Want 50"?But I digress... we are really moving into a more and more permission-based marketing era. The idea of commercials will go away. Look at the new iOS 5 with "Siri" -- Danny makes a great point that yelp+siri makes google maps on a phone obsolete.Translate that into having ads flow to your phone based on where you are (grocery store) or what game you are watching and the entire 'facebook' layer may just go away soon.Think about it. Your phone knows where you are and you will soon use it to purchase things. Can't even go to the Wired RSS feed without it spewing ads based on what I just searched.The concept of it knowing what I like to wear when I bark to Siri "PIZZA" is really not that far off... I have to read "1984" again...
As being a marketing person our focus should be more towards the psyche of our targeted audience, in a sense that if we are putting an advertisement on any channel we should first measure the stats of that particular program the viewership of that program, what sort of people, and of what age limit will be viewing that program and for most importantly the theme of that program.
That same concept should be implemented on above given example of JC Penney’s content based advertisement.
"That's why I love being an inbound guy. Our time's just beginning :-)"
BRING IT ON!
This is very interesting technique of putting content with advertisement. I hope the big guys will apply more like these on mainstream medias.
Hi Rand, nice to see something new from Seomoz during the weekend. Personally I consIder that a good and balanced combination of On & Off marketing is surely needed. Well executed tv advertisements are needed still, especially for brand marketing on a greater scale. Then, if they clearly refer to the online presence, they can provide to the sites a great amount of traffic, especially useful if the web presence is relatively new. Moreover, they can viral effects, with the related buzz that is generated and reflected online. Finally, it is also an "entity" marker, which is important in Google. Said that, it should have to be integrated into a larger marketing strategy, which sees in Inbound marketing it's stronger value.
Very sneaky, but ultimately crafty - the methodology, that is. Following the tone of Randy's post, that "ad" demonstrates to me Penney's arrogance in assuming that simply because they, the Penney, have spoken wthe people will come. As Ben says " Quality marketing is earned and respected. This reminded me of "A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Auto Repair" for some reason?".
I have only just had my small business consulting site up for a two weeks, and I unabashedly admit that I am a newbie at it. That's why I am immersing myself in everything SEO-related.
Hope to have discussions with all of you folks again.
Alan
VERY TRUE! I am always astonished with sports at the number of advertisements. Maybe one day in the future, 60,000 fans will gather in a stadium just to watch a commercial. :-P
With big brands like JC Penney who can afford to invest in TV ads as well as other channels (SEO, social media, etc.), I think the big issue is not doing just one or the other, but in still doing both, although not just relying on the TV ads as much as they used to.
After all, TV ads are intrusive, and can annoy people so much that people think "I'm never going to buy their product/service!" And while some people will go straight to the website, others might still do a Google search, or ask their peers on Twitter or in forums, and if they see the brand name then, it could be a boost and an incentive to use them as they'll know they've heard the name before, whether they necessarily can remember where from or not.
Your post suggests that JC Penney should be spending $140k on TV ads while also investing in those other online areas (where inbound marketing comes in), but I thought I'd make my point in case people misunderstood you in thinking that they should be spending that money on inbound instead of advertising. I agree that inbound is replacing advertising as a form of marketing that people trust, directed to them when they need it, but advertising isn't dead just yet, and can work hand-in-hand with inbound, at least in terms of brand recognition and brand growth.
I'm a Dutch football fan and absolutely hate how commerce (money) has changed football entirely. That's why I hope inbound will win. To be honest I'm absolutely convinced inbound marketing will win!
Great one Rand! I like being an inbound guy too :)
Love it. Couldn't agree more. We as marketers are in the beginning of a giant inbound revolution. I have always found it very interesting how much money companies are willing to spend on acquiring new clients. And how little they are willing to do to earn their trust/attention/interest.
By this post...I learned some facts but the basics of all is as follows..."Inbound marketing is the way of making your products popular without disturbing the people..if the folks are intreseted in your products/services they'll definitely repond back to the marketer/service provider/or the organization.. the only thing is that the presentation should be in quality manner"...Thanks Rand.. will be waiting for more quality posts from you..!
Quality marketing is earned and respected. This reminded me of "A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Auto Repair" for some reason?
I totally agree. Unique content with inbound marketing create more user attention