Consumer Complaints

I started in this business working at a small direct mail agency.  We did work for various medical specialties.  Whenever a direct mail piece would drop, I would get a call from the office manager.  Generally, the office manager would be upset about phone calls from people who had received a copy of the piece.

"I've had a dozen phone calls from the post card this morning asking to have their names removed from the list," the person would say.

I went to the owner of the agency who gave me the greatest response to this call.

"A DOZEN calls... on the FIRST DAY!  That's PHENOMENAL!  Can I this as a feature in our next promotional piece?"

That generally did the trick... the office manager was reminded that response was the whole reason for advertising in the first place.  The call was a success for me, what the office did with that call was up to them.  Complainers always call first and they are a good gauge of the impact of the message and positive response yet to come.

Now that I'm on the client side, I'm closer to the complaints.  And now, with the widespread use of email, complaints are even easier to lob.  I've gotten all kinds.  My favorites are the ones that complain that the particular ad space that I'm using interferes with the reader's enjoyment of the newspaper and as a result the reader will never shop in my establishment. I generally send these folks gift certificates then I renew my contract reasoning that my visibility is good.

Today I got one saying that a television viewer saw my spot as one of 26 that ran in one hour of programming on one of the broadcast networks.  The writer said that my spot (and the 25 others) was skipped via DVR and that I was wasting the ad dollars.  If I could respond (fake email address) I would like to ask for a "Thank you" instead of a complaint since the ad dollars supported the programming he or she was enjoying.

The creative always brings out the most interesting complaints.  I'm currently running a spot comparing two customers.  One is slightly taller than the other and when we shot the ad the shorter man had the better facial expressions so he got to play the disappointed guy that went somewhere else to shop.  When we run the spot we get complaints that we're discriminating against short people.  Again, I know that the sales will be coming in because people are noticing the spots.

Complainers are a marketer's canary in the mine, a cheap early warning system.  No complainers, no impact.  The challenge is to keep the client from changing course at the first complaint.

See... I Told You So

The other day I posted about newspapers needing to stop the presses and contract with subscribers in exchange for the content and a tablet to read it on.  See the last paragraph of The Newspaper Deathwatch from the 12th of January.

Digital Billboards

I was driving home and noticed one of the half dozen digital billboards that I drive past regularly.  A message flashed up congratulating the state champion football team.  The creative was a retina searing green and the message was delivered.  Since I am not one of the 100 or so high school students that actually won the championship, I question the targeting of the message.  That's another post, though.

I've been noticing more and more digital boards lately.  It's the holiday season and I've been driving around a bit more, I suppose.  The boards are fantastic delivery vehicles.  I just don't like how this particular flavor of outdoor is sold.  "It's eye-catching," the sales rep says.  True, but paying three to four times the cost of a static board to be in rotation, doesn't make much sense.  Is it seven times more eye-catching?  It had better be, since my message will be in rotation with six or seven other advertisers who are competing for the same disposable income.  There are certainly not seven times more drivers driving past just because a billboard has gone digital.  So where does the math begin to work?  The board gives less exposure (due to rotation) but costs more.

So in the end, the fan or group of fans that wanted drivers to know that their team won the championship are probably the best purchaser of digital billboards because, at the end of the day, vanity drove the media buy.  The fan(s) aren't selling anything (unless it's the players to college recruiters), so their message is a branding message.  Branding the backs of my eyeballs with the fact that these kids won the big game and possibly reminding a recruiter or two that their kids are worth a look.

However, for the company selling widgets, a good 'ol static board with a message that can be read and digested at 70 mph is a better approach.  Call me old fashioned, I just don't see the value for the average retailer of going digital.

Keep the Customer Satisfied

The other day, I got a phone call.  A client was sure that I was doing it all wrong.  I was wasting the ad budget on newspaper and television.  I could understand his frustration.  The plan was not delivering the results we had expected, but it's a rural market with active competitors and not the best time of year for a launch, but we play with the cards we are dealt.  His answer to the problem... satellite radio!  We should be spending the media dollars on Sirius/XM because, "Everyone is listening to satellite radio now!"

Everyone.  There are a little over 21 million Sirius/XM subscribers in the U.S. as of November 2011.  Unless there is an unusually high concentration of subscribers in this doctor's market, everyone is not listening to satellite radio.  Even those 21 million listeners are listening to a variety of different programming options offered by Sirius/XM not to mention local content available from local radio stations.  But all of this ignores the real issue that Sirius/XM cannot be purchased on the local level.  So even if every man, woman and child in his market area was tuned into a particular channel satellite, 99% of the budget would be wasted.

The real point of the exercise is to remember that media habits are individual.  When I choose media based on my habits alone (or those of the client), I'm ignoring this fact.  Consumers' media habits intersect in various places.  On the national level, in programs like the Super Bowl.  On the local level, like the Sunday newspaper.  So the challenge is how to remind the client that he is not everyone and generalizing his media habits across his market is a recipe for failure.

A Modest Proposal for Newspapers

I place over 3 million in local newspaper advertising annually.  That number has dropped steadily over the last decade.  When other media salespeople tell me that it's a bad purchase, I tell them a home delivered, age targeted, local content rich, advertising vehicle that still delivers a respectable ROI.  In short it's the cheapest direct mail available.  But I know a day is coming when I'll get an email saying that XYZ newspaper is ceasing operations and I will lose the coverage in that area.

I follow the Paper Cuts blog at and watch paper after paper cutting staff from the their payrolls to keep afloat.  That includes editorial staff.  Newspaper dimensions have shrunk, too.  Some are resorting to putting cards in their vending machine windows to avoid showing exactly how much they've decreased the size.  The the story from my local reps over the last several years has been that decrease advertising dollars is really putting the pinch on the local newspaper economics.  I'm sure it is.  I'm spending less.  Grocery stores are spending less.  Automotive is spending less in spite of the increase in car sales over the last two years.  The irony is that the local newspaper still has a product that the consumer wants.  But the cost structure of the product has been built around the "paper" part of the newspaper rather than the "news" part of it.

I've seen estimates of 55% cost of newspaper production dedicated to paper, printing and distribution.  As the cost of delivery goes up due to higher minimum wage and gasoline costs that will climb even higher putting more pressure on newspapers to cut costs in editorial.  Well that's the root of the problem... the newspapers business model emphasizes the "paper" over the "news".

My modest proposal is that newspapers stop printing.  Last year the New York Times publisher said as much would happen sooner or later.  I know that's not an easy thing to do, but my proposal is that during an accelerated wind down of the printed product local newspapers begin signing wireless phone style contracts with subscribers.  In return for a 3 year contract the reader will receive a Kindle or an iPad.  In this way a newspaper can have a reasonable assurance that it can operate its newsroom for the next several years and the consumer gets what they really wanted all along... the news.  I haven't quite figured out the numbers, but I can assure you that people want local, timely content... and people like nifty gadgets too.  This model has worked exceedingly well in the wireless phone industry, it will work in this one too.

Content is king and if local newspapers are only regurgitating AP wire stories they are only reducing the value to readers and by extension advertisers.  With a contracted reader base the local newspaper will be reinvigorated with younger readers.  Resulting analytics will give both newspaper and advertiser new ways to reach the consumer and improve ROI.

So there it is, my modest proposal.  I challenge the local newspapers to focus on what the consumer is really buying... the news... not the paper.

The Tangible Power of Direct Mail

It's Christmas time... in my mail box.  Black Friday circulars and Christmas catalogs clutter my kitchen counter top and my four year-old daughter has discovered the lure of direct mail.  Checking the mail has become a part of her daily routine.  Her consumerist zeal is almost religious as she pours over the Toys 'r Us circular.  Overwhelmed with the number of choices, she circles wish list items.

All I can say is, "Good for you, Toys 'r Us... your well designed and accurately aimed advertising arrow has hit my house with a ringing cha-ching."

I have used direct mail for clients for over 15 years with cold, surgical precision.  I take comfort in the mathematical certainty it still provides.  Even in the world of online daily deals and double opt in email blasts, rising postage and looming 5 day delivery... good old direct mail still has a place.  Just ask my daughter.