Brad's Blog

Are Virtual Stores the Future?

Monday, 11 July 2011 18:37 | Written by Brad Taylor |

Ever worry that there is not enough time in your day to get everything checked off your to do list? Well imagine completing your grocery shopping while waiting at the subway station (or in the lobby of your office building) and arriving home to groceries on your doorstep! It's genius and is the best idea that Tesco (now Homeplus), a Korean retail store, could have come up with.

Homeplus was competing with the number 1 online retailer and needed to offer their customers something their competitor didn't - and they needed to do it without adding any additional brick and mortar stores.

This campaign not only helped Homeplus move up to the number 1 spot, but it also increased their online sales, registered members and site visits.

10,287 consumers visited the online Tesco (Homeplus) mall using smartphones
Number of new registered members rose by 76%
Online sales increased 130%
Tesco (Homeplus) has become the number 1 online retailer and a very close number 2 brick and mortar retailer in South Korea

Are virtual shopping campaigns the way of the future?

Add new comment

Rave Reviews

Friday, 17 June 2011 13:04 | Written by Brad Taylor |

It's essential for marketers to know what customers and prospects are saying about their brand, campaigns, products and so on. I want to know everything someone thinks of my company - I don't care if they want to comment on the carpet color, it's all important and helps me piece together how clients perceive me (and if my marketing is influencing their perceptions).

There's a plethora of rating and review sites now. I've always approached reviews with a healthy dose of skepticism. For one thing I know SEO - good search engine optimization equates to plenty of reviews written to lend authority. I also know that companies are going to seed review sites with doctored reports.

Mobile Marketing Mania

Friday, 10 June 2011 13:31 | Written by Brad Taylor |

I think it's safe to say that mobile technology is going to have a profound impact on marketing (if it hasn't already)!!

Here's some of the latest information I can find on consumers and their use of mobile phones and mobile technology:

Smartphones make up 31% of all U.S. mobile subscribers
Almost 50% of 18-34 year olds use their mobile device to purchase products or services
Here's some top brands using QR Codes: Starbucks, GMC, Google, Weather Channel, Best Buy, Ford, Pepsi and Facebook
1 in 3 mobile device users have scanned a QR Code
Almost 2 in 3 who have scanned a QR Code have done so multiple times
35-44 year olds do the most mobile barcode scanning in the U.S

This data is from multiple sources - here's the aggregator if you're interested in seeing more.

Add new comment

Marketing to Baby Boomers

Friday, 03 June 2011 13:20 | Written by Brad Taylor |

I read a blog the other day about marketing to Baby Boomers and found it eye opening and quite interesting.

The Boomer market is big (80MM) and affluent (they control $28 trillion - that's almost 70% of all U.S. wealth). It's amazing how many businesses chase 18-25 year olds when their are tens of millions of consumers controlling trillions of dollars sitting out there largely untargeted.

The Impact of Social Media

Friday, 27 May 2011 13:09 | Written by Brad Taylor |

There's been a ton of buzz on Social Media over the last 2 years. Like most new marketing arenas, this one is susceptible to hyperbole.

It has been my experience that Social Media can create excitement and it's perfectly suited for real time conversations with clients. It's worth noting that those conversations can be either positive or negative and they require attention from both parties.