The Engagement Principles

Landing pages have long been the darling of the online world; they continue the dialog begun when a prospect clicked on an ad or link. Yet landing pages are rarely truly interactive — one of the cornerstones of true customer engagement.
It’s precisely the capacity for reader engagement that’s driving microsites to the forefront — […]

Are marketers who fail at engagement marketing doing so because they’re unwilling to look through anything but “old-school” marketing eyes? Is the illusion of control holding back today’s marketer?
That’s the contention of Arthur Ceria in an interesting Chief Marketer piece:
Culture Clash: Building a Bridge Between Brand and Engagement Marketing
Deliver a Compelling ReasonWhat constitutes a compelling […]

Brandweek ran a story on deceptive marketing practices, and because of my outspoken advocacy of ethical marketing, I was extensively quoted.

You might believe engagement marketing is the province of big companies — those who can afford big-dollar social networks and viral videos produced by top-notch Hollywood talent.
Happily, nothing could be further from the truth.
Witness the industry dominance of Pyramyd Air — the retail leader in the airgun niche.
Airguns??
It’s not glamorous, but like any […]

Are corporate “loyalty” programs really effective? A recent Direct magazine article suggests the answer is “sortof. And no.”
Does engagement marketing offer any hope?
Loyalty Marketing: Still Growing — But Growing Ineffective?
Designed to drive customer retention, loyalty programs offer a premium (frequent flyer points, rewards points, etc) to keep customers connected and “loyal.” Of course, incentive-based loyalty […]

David Airey’s blog delves in the SONY Playstation 3 mess, and showcases a devastating anti-PS3 YouTube video that’s been viewed better than a half-million times.
This comes on the heels of the Sony Flog (a fake fan blog) that seriously pissed off readers (click to see the typical reaction from the gaming blogosphere).
Clearly, Sony’s practicing a […]

Economists call them “switching costs” - the monetary, physical and convenience penalties that keep customers “loyal.”
For example, ordering a new computer is fairly easy. But transferring all your data, installing your software and getting it set up exactly the way you want is time consuming.
It’s a switching cost.
It used to be you were stuck with […]

I posted below about the FTC’s reluctance to take any official regulatory stance on Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing.
Interestingly, a few other sites covered the same story very differently. The Advertising Age story (my source) didn’t even mention the FTC Staff Opinion (pdf alert!), which suggests that those getting paid to offer recommendations must […]

A watchdog group’s call for an FTC investigation into “word-of-mouth marketing” was just denied, though the FTC left the door open for future action.
From an Advertising Age Article :
The FTC’s response was to an Oct. 18, 2005, petition from Commercial Alert, which claimed that marketers were “perpetrating large-scale deception” by paying consumers to shill for […]

I profiled nau a while ago - an emerging outdoor clothing company hoping to engage customers on issues of sustainability and environmental activism. (my nau profile)
Today - via the Piton blog - I noticed that the Tree Hugger site conducted a lengthy interview with Nau’s employees.
While the interview doesn’t specifically address nau’s engagement marketing efforts, […]