Hidden inside Ashley Hayes-Beaty's computer, a tiny file helps gather personal details about her, all to be put up for sale for a tenth of a penny.The file consists of a single code that secretly identifies her as a 26-year-old female in Nashville, Tenn.
The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.
"Well, I like to think I have some mystery left to me, but apparently not!" Ms. Hayes-Beaty said when told what that snippet of code reveals about her. "The profile is eerily correct."
Ms. Hayes-Beaty is being monitored by Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company that uses sophisticated software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website—their comments on movies, say, or their interest in parenting and pregnancy. Lotame packages that data into profiles about individuals, without determining a person's name, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers.
Ms. Hayes-Beaty's tastes can be sold wholesale (a batch of movie lovers is $1 per thousand) or customized (26-year-old Southern fans of "50 First Dates"). "We can segment it all the way down to one person," says Eric Porres, Lotame's chief marketing officer.
Ashley Hayes-Beaty's taste in film is tracked by a New York firm—and offered for sale for a tenth of a cent. One of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found, is the business of spying on Internet users.
The Wall Street Journal conducted a comprehensive study that assesses and analyzes the broad array of cookies and other surveillance technology that companies are deploying on Internet users. It reveals that the tracking of consumers has grown both far more pervasive and far more intrusive than is realized by all but a handful of people in the vanguard of the industry.
• The study found that the nation's 50 top websites on average installed 64 pieces of tracking technology onto the computers of visitors, usually with no warning. A dozen sites each installed more than a hundred. The nonprofit Wikipedia installed none.
• Tracking technology is getting smarter and more intrusive. Monitoring used to be limited mainly to "cookie" files that record websites people visit. But the Journal found new tools that scan in real time what people are doing on a Web page, then instantly assess location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions. Some tools surreptitiously re-spawn themselves even after users try to delete them.
• These profiles of individuals, constantly refreshed, are bought and sold on stock-market-like exchanges that have sprung up in the past 18 months.
The new technologies are transforming the Internet economy. Advertisers once primarily bought ads on specific Web pages—a car ad on a car site. Now, advertisers are paying a premium to follow people around the Internet, wherever they go, with highly specific marketing messages.
It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests.
(Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, July 2010)
Is this spying or is this market research. It is market research if the person knows you are doing it. It is spying, if the person doesn’t know?
There is something a bit creepy about this.
Of course, the scam artists and internet marketing "get rich quick" guys will love this because it will make their job so much easier. Imagine them sitting a round and saying, "Hey Joe, what if we just tapped into the thoughts of these markets and see what they clicked on, says Homer."
"Lets go for phrases and then products and then frequency and then size and color!" Yeah, that's the ticket, says Homer." And as Lotame's chief marketing officer said, "we can segment down to one person" And that means that every message can be personalized. In the hands of ethical marketers that's a good thing, but in the hands of "the get rich quick, trust me crowd", it makes me feel uneasy.
In any case, keep your antennae up for this technology and go to a website called Bluekai.com. BlueKai is the center of the digital data economy and the largest auction marketplace for all audience data.
This really is "Big Brother and The Holding Company".
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Sofa Buying Experience Gone Awry
A 97 year old woman buys a sofa from Jennifer Convertibles in March. In April, the wrong sofa is delivered. Not only isn't it what she wants, but one of the cushions is two shades lighter than the others.
It is now August. She and several of her friends have called the company and gotten the proverbial run around. In fact, her attempts have turned into marathon phone -a-thons where she was transferred from one person to the next, put on hold interminably and told, “someone would get back to you”.
Of course, nobody did.
So now I am getting a "go" at Jennifer Convertibles. I want them to see the e-power of the Internet and to see how negative messaging will be spread to every person in my email club as well as people in my members’ clubs and to my facebook friends and their friends.
Please email this to Jennifer Convertibles. The President’s name is Rami Abada Contact: Jennifer Convertibles at 419 Crossways Park Dr., Woodbury NY 11797
Of course they have filed for voluntary bankruptcy so let's email them at Invest@jenniferfurniture.com. Why wouldn't a company who treats customers this way file for bankruptcy?
Or sign your name at the bottom and send it off to the email above. Ask the company to call Fred Kaplowitz @ 516 359 4874
Now, could this be happening to you? Yes indeed!
The bowling experience isn’t quite as expensive as a full sofa, but a corporate party could be even more expensive and the opportunities for a “bad experience” very real.
Accept no substitutes. Guarantee your service with “money back guarantees.” Oh sure, some people will beat you, but overall what do you think the result of that statement would be. It would mean more business because you have credibility.
“Excuse me sir, would you and your daughter like to join our Saturday adult child league. Try it for one week and if you’re not happy we will give you your money back. Why wouldn’t someone, who was on the fence, at least consider this offer? And isn’t getting them to show up and try our universally recognized and enjoyed product always the first step in the buying continuum?
Unlike Jennifer Convertibles, who cannot resolve a 4 month old problem with my Mother in Law, offering and standing by your guarantees makes good business sense.
It is now August. She and several of her friends have called the company and gotten the proverbial run around. In fact, her attempts have turned into marathon phone -a-thons where she was transferred from one person to the next, put on hold interminably and told, “someone would get back to you”.
Of course, nobody did.
So now I am getting a "go" at Jennifer Convertibles. I want them to see the e-power of the Internet and to see how negative messaging will be spread to every person in my email club as well as people in my members’ clubs and to my facebook friends and their friends.
Please email this to Jennifer Convertibles. The President’s name is Rami Abada Contact: Jennifer Convertibles at 419 Crossways Park Dr., Woodbury NY 11797
Of course they have filed for voluntary bankruptcy so let's email them at Invest@jenniferfurniture.com. Why wouldn't a company who treats customers this way file for bankruptcy?
Or sign your name at the bottom and send it off to the email above. Ask the company to call Fred Kaplowitz @ 516 359 4874
Now, could this be happening to you? Yes indeed!
The bowling experience isn’t quite as expensive as a full sofa, but a corporate party could be even more expensive and the opportunities for a “bad experience” very real.
Accept no substitutes. Guarantee your service with “money back guarantees.” Oh sure, some people will beat you, but overall what do you think the result of that statement would be. It would mean more business because you have credibility.
“Excuse me sir, would you and your daughter like to join our Saturday adult child league. Try it for one week and if you’re not happy we will give you your money back. Why wouldn’t someone, who was on the fence, at least consider this offer? And isn’t getting them to show up and try our universally recognized and enjoyed product always the first step in the buying continuum?
Unlike Jennifer Convertibles, who cannot resolve a 4 month old problem with my Mother in Law, offering and standing by your guarantees makes good business sense.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Turning Water into Wine
Do you have a bunch of data base names that could use an email,but don't know how to get them?
What would those data base names be worth if you could get them? $25?, $100?, $500?
Have you tried to contact just 100 of them by mail or phone and offer them $10 of free bowling if they give you their email.
What do you have to lose?
It's better than having all those names collect dust!
Go to NCOA - (mailcleanup.com) and clean your list and then send out 100 letters or postcards or make 100 phone calls (if you have permission). If you get a good response, send out some more.
Keep solving problems.
What would those data base names be worth if you could get them? $25?, $100?, $500?
Have you tried to contact just 100 of them by mail or phone and offer them $10 of free bowling if they give you their email.
What do you have to lose?
It's better than having all those names collect dust!
Go to NCOA - (mailcleanup.com) and clean your list and then send out 100 letters or postcards or make 100 phone calls (if you have permission). If you get a good response, send out some more.
Keep solving problems.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The New "New" Marketing Plan
I love marketing plans. Love to get into the data and analyze it. And then to develop a stream of alternatives, then create a best fit analysis and all that other geeky stuff.
The "New" new plan format is a lot simpler.
First, is the "What It Is Section." This is where we tell each other what is happening in the market, to our products, what thee competition is doing and the assumptions we make about each of these. Is this our view of the world? is it real? because everything else will be based on this foundation.
Second, is the "What Are We Going To Do?" section. This is where we determine what we are going to do to change the product, the advertising, the distribution, the sales channels, the people you will need, the technology, the budgets, the deadlines, the number of units, (games, bowlers, beers, birthdays, company parties, fund raisers, etc). This is the plan. there really isn't anything else.
Of course, you're going to be wrong. Deadlines will come and go, advertising plans will drop off the planet, programs won't get implemented, so the next section is all important.
Section three is "What Are You Going To Do Differently NOW." This section gives you a back up plan when the other stuff that you planned doesn't work. some people call it a contingency plan. I call it the REAL plan.
So before the season starts, why not take a shot at doing a plan. Maybe even a real plan.
The "New" new plan format is a lot simpler.
First, is the "What It Is Section." This is where we tell each other what is happening in the market, to our products, what thee competition is doing and the assumptions we make about each of these. Is this our view of the world? is it real? because everything else will be based on this foundation.
Second, is the "What Are We Going To Do?" section. This is where we determine what we are going to do to change the product, the advertising, the distribution, the sales channels, the people you will need, the technology, the budgets, the deadlines, the number of units, (games, bowlers, beers, birthdays, company parties, fund raisers, etc). This is the plan. there really isn't anything else.
Of course, you're going to be wrong. Deadlines will come and go, advertising plans will drop off the planet, programs won't get implemented, so the next section is all important.
Section three is "What Are You Going To Do Differently NOW." This section gives you a back up plan when the other stuff that you planned doesn't work. some people call it a contingency plan. I call it the REAL plan.
So before the season starts, why not take a shot at doing a plan. Maybe even a real plan.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Chopping Wood and Hauling Water
Is it really all about chopping wood and hauling water?
Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.
If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?
Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.
With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.
But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?
Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.
One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.
Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.
Or at least enjoy the ice cream.
Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.
If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?
Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.
With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.
But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?
Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.
One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.
Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.
Or at least enjoy the ice cream.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Minimum Thinkers
So you’re going to start bringing back some of the workers you laid of in late April and early April and expect them to do better work in the Fall, right?
Most likely the people who you will be hiring to do the “cog in the wheel jobs” are most likely the kind of people who don’t mind being bossed around, being told what to do and even how to do it.
These folks are just right to be micromanaged, abused and misused. Not that you would do that, of course, but if you did, they would still come to work. Basically, they are the kinds of people with low self esteem. So remember to hire them. if you want to conduct business as usual. Or “no” business as usual.
On the other hand if you want to hire people who can give you great work, look for people who have not been beaten up and convinced that they are incapable of great work.
Do you really need people who say “yes” first and “think” second? Just because it is a minimum wage job doesn't mean you need minimum thinkers.
Look for people who want to be better than average and who we can grow to be the kind of people you envy when you check into a Marriott.
Most likely the people who you will be hiring to do the “cog in the wheel jobs” are most likely the kind of people who don’t mind being bossed around, being told what to do and even how to do it.
These folks are just right to be micromanaged, abused and misused. Not that you would do that, of course, but if you did, they would still come to work. Basically, they are the kinds of people with low self esteem. So remember to hire them. if you want to conduct business as usual. Or “no” business as usual.
On the other hand if you want to hire people who can give you great work, look for people who have not been beaten up and convinced that they are incapable of great work.
Do you really need people who say “yes” first and “think” second? Just because it is a minimum wage job doesn't mean you need minimum thinkers.
Look for people who want to be better than average and who we can grow to be the kind of people you envy when you check into a Marriott.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
ATT Was Right
Based on my last blog about the "New Busy," I received several comments from you, but I wanted to share the following with you:
"If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then a phone call can answer a 1,000 emails. Think of what a face-to-face meeting might do. Yesterday, I was trying to get on an Army website that required permissions with a user name and password. I received those and tried to get on but to no avail. When I contacted my counterpart, he suggested that I email his help desk. I did this and received a phone call in return from a techie who said that we could spend all afternoon emailing and not solve the issue.
She lead me through several steps to discover that I do not have the computer program that will give me access to the website. That is the power of the phone call."
Dave Overbagh
Marine Corps Bowling Program Manager
And as a follow up, I actually called about 10 customers in Spokane and while I had to fight my way through the "answering machine/voice mail jungle," I did get call backs and was able to break thru. Here's just a sample of what the people (all league bowlers)I spoke with had to say:
"Well, I keep getting emails from you guys, and a couple of postcards now and then, but I haven't heard from anyone there since last summer. Glad you called, Fred"
"How'd you get my number? (its on your file at the center that you filled out) Oh, well are you trying to sell me something? (Nope) Just wanted to call me to see how I'm doing huh? Yeah I'll be back bowling in the fall. THANKS for calling."
"My kids are always on that computer. I hardly get any time on it, maybe at work. You don't ever send anything there, right? (uh, No). Well, I'm not much of a computer whiz, oh I know it OK, but I don't set in front of it all that much, so I appreciate the phone call. First time anybody called me just to say hello and thank me for my business. I'll be damned."
"What are you calling me for? (Just to say Hi and thank you for the business)
Are you s******g me? (N0). C'mon, this is a sales pitch, right?. (uh, No). Then "whatcha" calling me for? To say hello?? Click."
The responses ranged from a heartfelt thank you to disbelief and cynicism. I hung up and realized that ATT was right. We do have to reach out and touch someone; maybe we can't do it as frequently or as efficiently as we can with emails, but an occasional phone call now and then may be just what this Marketing Doctor ordered.
"If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then a phone call can answer a 1,000 emails. Think of what a face-to-face meeting might do. Yesterday, I was trying to get on an Army website that required permissions with a user name and password. I received those and tried to get on but to no avail. When I contacted my counterpart, he suggested that I email his help desk. I did this and received a phone call in return from a techie who said that we could spend all afternoon emailing and not solve the issue.
She lead me through several steps to discover that I do not have the computer program that will give me access to the website. That is the power of the phone call."
Dave Overbagh
Marine Corps Bowling Program Manager
And as a follow up, I actually called about 10 customers in Spokane and while I had to fight my way through the "answering machine/voice mail jungle," I did get call backs and was able to break thru. Here's just a sample of what the people (all league bowlers)I spoke with had to say:
"Well, I keep getting emails from you guys, and a couple of postcards now and then, but I haven't heard from anyone there since last summer. Glad you called, Fred"
"How'd you get my number? (its on your file at the center that you filled out) Oh, well are you trying to sell me something? (Nope) Just wanted to call me to see how I'm doing huh? Yeah I'll be back bowling in the fall. THANKS for calling."
"My kids are always on that computer. I hardly get any time on it, maybe at work. You don't ever send anything there, right? (uh, No). Well, I'm not much of a computer whiz, oh I know it OK, but I don't set in front of it all that much, so I appreciate the phone call. First time anybody called me just to say hello and thank me for my business. I'll be damned."
"What are you calling me for? (Just to say Hi and thank you for the business)
Are you s******g me? (N0). C'mon, this is a sales pitch, right?. (uh, No). Then "whatcha" calling me for? To say hello?? Click."
The responses ranged from a heartfelt thank you to disbelief and cynicism. I hung up and realized that ATT was right. We do have to reach out and touch someone; maybe we can't do it as frequently or as efficiently as we can with emails, but an occasional phone call now and then may be just what this Marketing Doctor ordered.
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