My Favorite Marketing of 2013 – Taxi Video Advertising in Las Vegas

In October 2013 I took my yearly trip to Las Vegas for Pubcon. Just like a visit to Time Square in New York, I pay close attention when driving to soak up all of the advertising. This year, the official hotel was The Hard Rock Hotel. The suites were great. The restaurants were great. The center bar and the unofficial Pubcon parties there were great! We even had the Hard Rock Hotel’s social media manager, Eric Petersen spending time with us.

So what did I see this time in Vegas that really blew me away? What was so impressive that it makes my number 1 rating for best marketing of 2013? Show Media’s TaxiTV

Every time I took a cab from the HRH, the taxis were equipped with a ceiling mounted tablet. I could tell the programming was updated at least weekly. I could tell that the production of the advertorials was world class. I have some experience with professional grade video production from my training videos with University of San Francisco’s Online Marketing Certificate Program. The TaxiTV videos could be featured on HBO, the quality was that good. But that is now why I was impressed. Well, it was a good part of it. During each ride vignettes were featured about the Hard Rock’s restaurants. It was not a coincidence. The content was being served based on geography.

Think about the quality of the audience. I just left the Hard Rock. Now I am watching commercials for their restaurants and facilities. I am entertained and marketed to while riding to the conference center. When I get back later in the day, I am more aware of where I should be eating in my hotel.

The message was customized, targeted, professional, and engaging. It was the right message at the right time for me.

TaxiTV, keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing what you are doing this year when I am back.

Pizza Psychology: Is Domino's Picking Your Pizza or Your Brain?

If you are a frequent reader of the Tandem Interactive Blog, you are familiar with all our team and know that my main focus is on NeuroMarketing. When you are conscious of the tactics it is very easy to identify all of the big corporate names that are using these tactics to their advantage to help with their sales and branding. But if you are not familiar with NeuroMarketing, you are just a pawn in this game these companies are playing.

In the midst of the holiday weekend, I found myself juggling between work, shopping, family, and the like that I thought it was time to just order a pizza and relax. To my surprise I find myself inspired by my Domino's Pizza purchase and made it my focus for this blog post. Everything about the Domino's experience is based off of a NeuroMarketing platform. Let's exam the entire process:

When you go to their website for an online order, this is the home page (on Dec. 2, 2013):

They give the user exactly what they are looking for: 

1. Pictures of food - the user is obviously hungry so the pictures simulate the users appetite to help initiate the purchase. They do not limit the photos to just pizza, but they include all of their food options. 
2. Pricing- The pricing is very clear, bright red (to capture the users attention), and bigger than any other text on the page. 
3. Emotions - they use the St. Jude Meal Deal to help push more purchases. You have the option of adding a $1 donation to any order, but they put together a package of 2 pizza ($5.99 each), bread ($2.99) and a 2-liter ($2.69)... So for a meal that actually cost you $17.66 plus the $1 donation to St. Jude's (so $18.66 total) is actually $1.33 more when it is labeled the 'St. Jude Meal Deal'. So a person that is generous or a supporter of the cause, would see this promotion and naturally think, let me get this meal deal and help the cause... Not realizing that they are actually paying 7% more for this meal than what it would cost to individually add these items to the cart seperatly in addition to the donation. You may think that $1.33 isn't that much more, that you may not care to pay the extra, but it may be better to think of this number in a percentage so you can see how much the different may be. Let's think that 100 people a day will purchase the 'St. Jude Meal Deal' so a total of $2000 in sales; and an extra 7% or $140 that was made. You case see how slowly this starts to add up. So a meal deal that seems like you are contributing to a good cause, you are actually the victim of 'Feel Good Marketing'; the theory that you made a purchase that made you feel good although you may have been baited into.

So after you make the purchase, the psychology doesn't end there. To my surprise, once the pizza is delivered you get your box of yummy goodness in box and you go to open the box and what is the first thing you see before the pizza... Instagram. Directions on how to take the perfect #PizzaPics, how to tag Domino's, and how to share your experience. So here they are using you and your social media to help promote their business through photos. So you are telling your friends, "Hey look at what I just got for lunch!"; which in turn could possible make them want to order a pizza. Then you are endorsing the brand of Domino's by saying, "Look at my positive experience". 

Don't feel like you are a victim of Domino's awesome marketing because I could have never wrote this post if I too wasn't roped in! You can see pictures of my pizza and more at #PizzaPics on Instagram and until December 8th you can take advantage of 50% off of any pizza :)  For more tips and tactics on NeuroMarketing and all marketing keep up to date with the Tandem Interactive Blog! Have a great week and Happy Holidays! 

Pubcon Kicks Off with NeuroMarketing

For those of you that aren't familiar with the conference Pubcon, it is the premier social media and optimization conference and expo. Pubcon is held twice a year in Las Vegas and New Orleans; and is slowly growing to appear in other locations nationally. With over 200 speakers and 1,800 attendees it is definitely the most recognized digital media conference in the US. 

This year was my first time attending the conference and I had one person that I was anxious to see; Roger Dooley of Dooley Direct LLC and the author of Brainfluence (the most applauded Neuromarketing book available on the market). As most of you may know, I am a Neuromarketer and an advocate of how psychology and sales are related; and I believe that when used properly neuromarketing can be an asset to your business. 

Roger Dooley was the keynote speaker that kicked off the Pubcon conference on Monday in Las Vegas at the Master Training. His keynote was focused on this: "SEO, SEM and Social Media help drive traffic to your site. And if you want more revenue you need to turn up the traffic or turn up the conversions." The key to conversions is persuasion. 

Roger Dooley likes to look at the purchase cycle as a slide, 'The Persuasion Slide'. And this slide consist of 4 different features: 1) gravity, 2) nudge, 3) angle, and 4) friction. 

• Gravity is the initial motivation that brings the consumer to you.

• Nudges are little things that your business does to help motivate them to convert. Nudges are ALWAYS about the consumer, NOT ABOUT YOU! Nudges must be seen to provide the initial motivation to start the process.

• Angles are both conscious and subconscious factors that help motivate the consumer to buy. Some conscious factors are free gifts, sales, stats likes savings or other rational decision factors that could help pursuade the consumer from browsing to buying. Subconscious  factors that motivate the consumer without the 'in your face' effect; like emotions, psychology and brain bugs. 

• Friction is anything that prevents someone from purchasing. Some examples of friction are too many lines to fill out on a form or making the conversion sequence harder than it needs to be. Use choice architecture to help minimize friction by creating a 'default' choice.

Roger Dooley is an amazing pioneer of neuromarketing, by far my favorite to follow. His 'Persuasion Slide' is a great concept and has the ability to help promote conversions. If you want to try testing a neuromarketing theory on your website or if you have questions regarding neuromarketing, please contact me at BDiaz@Tandem-Interactive.com Have a great weekend!

Gregs Marine Wire Supply - Online Sales and Service Done Right!

I always wish I had more time to write. I am itching to put an article together about the fake reviews bust and fines in my Industry (Gabtab Solution for REAL Reviews anyone?). I want to write an article about "The Day the Organic Keyword Died", but cannot seem to find the time. However, I am so impressed with http://gregsmarinewiresupply.com, I need to get this down.

One of my hobbies is working on my very old boat (1986). I love re-wiring and adding newer technology to it. I have been working on adding a third battery for the past week. Battery cables are extremely important and can be quite costly. Without the proper crimping tools and heat shrink connectors they can be difficult to make. I found Gregs Marine Wire Supply and have now done two orders for custom sized cables. My second order was this morning and it was shipped within hours! This is obviously a very specific product, but any business can follow this model.

Don't just sell the product, see if there are ways you can customize the product and add value (battery wire versus custom cables ready to install).
Don't just handle the order, make each order a priority (packing and shipping the order as soon as it is ready versus waiting for batches)
TLC - my first order had a hand written thank you. Nice touch!

Google's Partner Live Stream Advent Calendar

I quickly recognized this:

because my sons are interested in the Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. I jumped the gun on the date because I am traveling to speak at the DFWSEM event tomorrow and then headed to the Google Think Performance conference in Mountain View on Thursday. Thank you for the yummy chocolate and Tandem Interactive looks forward to being part of the new Google Partners Program.

Utilizing The Cost of Advertising

"Get the most bang for your buck..." is there anyone in the business field that hasn't heard that quote? But there is one company that caught my attention at breakfast for their ability to truly UTILIZE their cost. 

While in the middle of enjoying my delicious chocolate chip cookies I could help but look at my milk carton. A few months back we decided to go completely organic in the house and milk was one of those products. So I'm enjoying my breakfast while reading the milk carton. Talk about getting the bang for the buck. Every inch of the carton had writing on it. Their are social media links, quotes, facts, and information on why Organic Valley milk is the best milk on the market. They promote subliminal messaging in their text by telling you how "they give their animals the greenest pastures and they give you delicious & nutritious milk". They thank the reader for helping support the Organic way of life. They use 'feel good' marketing when they show the picture of the farmer with the cows, how it is going from their family to your family, and that they raise their animals with love. They make a connection/bond with the customer by using words like 'family, nurturing, children, love, and affection'.  

If you are buying their products, they know that you are health conscious (if not you wouldn't spend the extra $3 for the half gallon). Most people that are health conscious and shop at Whole Foods or GreenWise are usually against the cruelty of animals or vegetarian/vegan. So they pump the milk owner with all these facts on their cows, their family owned farms, and the way the animals are treated and raised. I mean Organic Valley really did what they could to use the carton. You figure you have to design the carton to hold the milk in, why not use every inch of space to convince the buyer why they should continue to buy our milk; not only our milk but try our yogurt, cheese, ice cream, and don't forget to like us on Facebook! 

So for the little businesses that cost is an issue, take some advice from Organic Valley farms; think about the products that you already have and buy and use them completely. Use the back of your business cards to place a discount promo code and add social links. Make sure you add links to social profiles on your website and make them easily accessible. If you have to buy boxes for your products, advertise all of them! The customer is going to get the box, and when they are bored eating cookies & drinking milk, they are going to read what you wrote. Make every dollar count so that you can say you get the 'best bang for your buck'! All around great approach for marketing and neuromarketing while on a budget. 

For more marketing tips, keep reading on the Tandem Interactive Blog! Have a great week! :) 

Study Finds Majority of Online Shoppers are Rural, with Few Exceptions

It is no question that the popularity of e-commerce is growing substantially year after year, with reported sales now topping $200 billion annually. While organic search is still the leader for referring online customers (accounting for almost 16% of customers that businesses acquire), many retailers are still shifting from a free-to-paid model and are relying heavily on third-party vendors to drive website traffic. Affiliate sites in particular have grown tenfold, and email marketing is still an effective way to acquire customers. In fact, e-mail customer acquisition has quadrupled in the last four years!

What about social networks like Twitter for customer acquisition? According to a new study by Custora, the lifetime value of Twitter-referred customers is 23% lower than average. And despite the mega-businesses located in coastal cities like New York and Los Angeles, the most valuable online shoppers tend to come from more rural states. It's possible this is because there is less storefront availability in rural states, where major cities likely get a large amount of foot traffic as well as substantial online sales.

Fashion brands break the trend, with their best customers residing in densely populated coastal areas, with a few exceptions. While the usual suspects are high online sales traffic locations for fashion retailers, states like New Mexico and Wyoming rank high for valued online customers as well.

What means are you utilizing to obtain online customers? See all the data shared on states and the value of their e-commerce customers here.