Krywosa, IMC

As new campaigns are taking off the issue of redirects and vanity URL’s has reared its ugly head again. Its one thing to add a specific URL in an electronic campaign where consumers click on a link anchored to text, yet quite another for outdoor, transit and print pieces. Does it matter anymore?

Even though it is from June, I recently read Do URL’s Matter Anymore. With all the headlines this week about search becoming more integrated into user-generated content and social interactions, will URL’s continue to die off in importance? Isnt search the final frontier in finding web content?

When creating campaigns for segmented audiences its helpful to know what worked and what didnt and when. If people are searching for your brand, but not your campaign, do you continue to use special URL’s in print, transit & outdoor or do you use these mediums for what they are probably best at now: awareness, interest & a call to action. Does it matter how your consumer arrives at their destination, or that they arrive? This is where true clean web design and navigation prevails: anyone should be able to arrive at your site and find what they are looking for, without your help or the aid of a landing page.

Thoughts?

As a follow up to yesterdays ‘Yeay for Amazon’ post,  I’m writing regarding today’s experience with Borders.

As a rewards member, I receive emails regarding sales and new releases which come about once a month. These are useful and contain coupons for things I’ll actually buy. But recently, I’ve been receiving many emails regarding the Borders Reward Perks program that I joined. These are additional rewards from other vendors (flowers, candy, retail, etc.). They’ve been coming in increasing regularity and are very very annoying. Also, I mistake them for my usually happy encounter with the Borders Rewards emails that I enjoy.

Today, I decided to take action: updating my subscription settings. Now, normally, like many of you, I deal with these annoying emails by adding them to spam or deleting them over and over again. I decided to do a solid by all permission based email marketers and to delete myself from their mailing lists, thereby keeping their analytics accurate, and my karma clean by not asking for email, and then calling it spam. I used the opt out link provided and was taken here:

This isnt for my Reward Perks. This is for my normal communication with Borders. I was confused because I only had one subscription checked, and it wasnt the one they had sent me via email. I then hunted and pecked all around the site, to log in to a second section of the site (thats right, I was not only not logged in from the email they sent me, but I had to log in again to this other section). Once there, I was given a second set of subscription settings:

Although now I wont be receiving those pesky emails, how many other people will go through these hoops to make sure versus just adding this to their spam folder or opting out of everything all together? I wonder how confusing this is to others?

Thoughts?

I would never, ever, ever consider – or even read about – VOD. Not from anyone. I trust Amazon as a respected retailer, but I’m of the old school mentality of lay on your couch to get your movie fix Gen X’ers.

I’m a comic book superhero movie buff, so of course I pre-ordered The Dark Knight. It was my first ever pre-order, and I wondered if I would really be getting anything for this purchase, besides ending the dismay of walking into another retailer to see my precious selection either sold out, or overpriced. I was happy with this purchase, as, not only did it arrive 3 days ahead of schedule (and ahead of its release date to the public) but it also came at a discounted rate (once billed, I was told I had a refund that was applied to my card).  Joy to Amazon.

Just when I thought it couldnt get any better, I just received this in my inbox:

Huh. I never would have tried this feature, but, since I can watch it for free, why not? Further, they included with this some outreach to people like me who may be unaware of this service:

What great customer service combined with adequate service information:  I may not have asked for this service, but now I’m intrigued and will check it out. By understanding I am an involved consumer and evangelist for this title, Amazon saw the opportunity to take me a little further in a helpful, unobtrusive way.

How many more offers would you take your electric company/cable company/cellular company up on if they only automated your log in from offers they emailed you? I can’t count the numerous times I’ve been sent an email offering something great (today, paperless billing and paying) – something I’ve been waiting for – only to click the link and be taken to the generic home page. If you had the decency to personalize my email greeting, and know that I currently did not partake of this service, couldn’t you have taken it one step further and taken me directly to my account information? I would have loved to sign up for the service, and many like it, but in this day and age I’m not the only one who cant be bothered to remember my account number or another password.

If this had been automated, I’d not only be happy, I’d be a positive evangelist for this brand. How many offers have you passed up because you just didn’t have the time to tell them who you were, even after they emailed you?