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Groupon Ad Evil Genius

by Christine Cavalier on 7 February 2011

Tibetan prayer flags | Tibet tours with Laurus Travel

Twitter was filled with outrage over the offensive content of a Groupon.com ad which made light of the human rights abuses in Tibet.

I’m going to tell you why the Groupon Tibet ad was genius. Evil genius, maybe, but genius nonetheless.

If you haven’t seen the ad, take a second and watch it here (scroll through the ads until you see Timothy Hutton or Groupon)

If you haven’t heard about the “uproar” on Twitter, read here

3 Reasons Why the Groupon Tibet Ad Is Right-On-Target:

1. Good Reach. The ad will offend only a small amount of people enough that they will pull their Groupon accounts (i.e., if they remember to do it when making the media switch from TV to Internet-enable device).

2. Culturally Relevant. The ad hints at the Millennial and Generation X buying-and-giving philosophy/ trend (i.e. buy something and the company donates money to charity from the proceeds of the sale. Groupon hinted that eating Tibetan food only helps raise awareness of the Tibetans’ plight).

3. Guaranteed Laugh (or “low-hanging fruit”). The bait-and-switch is always popular, and the typically insular American humor with the conservative overtones will delight the section of population that would never be reached through online marketing.

According to a givingusa.org report on charitable giving for 2008, US citizens gave about 13.3 billion US dollars to International organizations (which was roughly 4% of the total giving for that year). According to Pew Internet studies, less than 17% of the total 79% of the US population online use a Twitter or other status updating service (as of May 2010). This means that the people on Twitter who were vocal about the Tibet jab in the Groupon commercial probably didn’t give any money to efforts to help Tibet and are also in the rare minority of the 100 million people estimated to have watched the Super Bowl last night.

Think about this. Groupon already has the Twitter and Facebook markets; they are naturally reaching the Millenials and the GenXers who are online through those services. To survive, Groupon needs mainstreamers; They need the Mr. Regular Joes who go online only to check email to head over to groupon.com and sign up.

Like it or not, the US is historically insular. We have a long tradition of making fun of foreigners. (One may argue that we are laughing with them and not at them, but let’s not argue that right now). Most viewers of that Groupon commercial were not like you and me, the so-called Denizens of the Internet. They were regular folk that haven’t yet realized the potential gains that can come from more Internet use. The start of the commercial was a stereotypical human rights plea with a typecast actor, and then Groupon pulled the prank on the audience at the end. The bait-and-switch, the foreigners-as-comedy schtick, it’s TV ad gold.

Knowing the target audience is an ad agency’s job. The Chicago agency responsible for the ad, Crispin Porter + Bogusky knows how to conduct Psychology, Sociology and Business research. For the tiny amount of customers Groupon loses, the nascent company will gain the mainstreamers that it so desperately needs to survive. This is indeed the “science” of marketing at its best.

Are you surprised that marketing is some of the worst, amoral, and defeating stuff on earth? This is the current ad climate, people. Crispin Porter + Bogusky did their job; Groupon showed guts (not honorable bravery, but still…) by going with the “guerrilla” marketing that their brand needed. Hemming and hawing about how Groupon “lost touch” and “stepped over the line” shows naivete about the exhaustive research behind marketing campaigns and ignorance of what makes up an attention-getting ad. Social media alone does not a full marketing campaign make.

I’m sure I’ve offended some of you. Let me know what you think in the comments.

More sources:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/3700657-417/groupons-super-bowl-tibet-commercial-draws-harsh-reaction.html

http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Online-Activites-Total.aspx

http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/News/2009/docs/GivingReaches300billion_06102009.pdf

photo credits: Tibet Laurus Travel on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurustravel/
Groupon: screen shot, 07 Feb 2011 groupon.com

3 comments

Social Media Work Isn’t Free, and It Isn’t Social Media Work

by Christine Cavalier on 6 February 2011

in Main Page, Using Today’s Technology

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing

Researching markets, finding websites, contacting bloggers, building Facebook pages, etc., all takes time. When a lab does blood work, the lab gets paid. It’s common knowledge in our culture that scientists are specialists that most certainly would be paid for their time and energy spent working in the lab.

Architects and designers also don’t work for free. These are specialists who have also survived years of schooling in order to practice their art. To imagine they would jump at the chance to design an addition to your house in exchange for a few hours of babysitting is ludicrous.

Social media work is research and design work. Research and design work should be paid. So imagine my annoyance at a book store cafe on Friday, when a woman at the table next to me was bullying someone over the phone into doing social media research for her project for free.

This was one of those situations where a person is jabbing away loudly on a cell phone in a quiet place and you can’t help but overhear every word. She was so physically close to me that I almost felt invited into her conversation. I almost did “lose it” on her, when she told the person, “I’ll get you some babysitting” in exchange for social media work. From what I could make of the one-side of the phone meeting, the loud talker next to me had marketing outreach to do to sell sports tickets. She was trying to get the woman on the other side of the phone to “just do an outline of websites I need to see” for her. “I don’t see why I have to pay, it’s just an outline, just some sites I should start with. I feel like there are so many things out there that are free.”

This is the part where I had to laugh. This woman wanted someone to do her research for her, which, in essence, is the bulk of the work, for free. Research isn’t free. I’ve spent a lot of time in school and a lot of work hours learning how to do research correctly, off- and on-line. My skills are advanced professional level and will bring you superb results and new ideas that haven’t occurred to you or your competition. That’s my job. That’s my specialty. Why should I do this for free? Why is it that this woman in the cafe thinks she deserves it for free?

I suspect that the concept of “social media” is doing us researchers, writers and web designers a disservice. Because “social media” is a new term, people assume it’s a new field with no training and in turn, no professionals. Since there isn’t a “social media” school, then (as popular logic follows) there is no specialist to pay. People who can do “social media” are hobbyists that should be willing to help out their friends. The truth is, though, research, writing and design as well as marketing, sociology, psychology, etc., are all tied up in navigating on-line worlds. Constructing “an outline” of websites where this woman can sell her sports tickets product is a job. It takes work and expertise, not a simple Google search. I felt like telling that woman, “You know, you are asking your friend to do your job for you.”

This concept that social media is free has to be challenged. I’ve said on this blog that the term “social media” is defunct in many ways, and this is just one more instance of its useless and at time damaging image. Market research is not free. Design is not free. Written copy is not free. Break down what you do. Do not call yourself a “social media consultant.” Call yourself an online market expert, a web designer, a writer, whatever, but as soon as we get rid of the non-credentialed, meaningless term of “social media” we will all still be listening to these idiots in cafes insisting that a “bit of babysitting” will get them the online presence they need for their business.

Give me some stories of what you were asked to do for free in the comments section.

Photo credit: Basoomz http://www.flickr.com/photos/basoomz/

4 comments

Travel scam

by Christine Cavalier on 28 January 2011

in Spam Alerts, Using Today’s Technology

Just got this email today. If people you kind of know or even people you do know email you for money while they are away, don’t believe it. Money requests will come from the person on the telephone, not email. Plus, no one with a credit card will be out of money, even if the credit card is stolen. Credit card companies have ways of working with crime victims no matter where they are in the world.

Beware. Do not send money to anyone in response to an email request. If you truly believe this request is coming from a loved one, email them back and ask them to call you collect. They should know the phone number.

Here’s the email:

____

Hello,

I’m writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to London, United Kingdom for a short vacation. unfortunately,we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.

We’ve been to the Embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills. Well I really need your financial assistance..Please, Let me know if you can help us out?

Am freaked out at the moment!!

—
~Jackee
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty” – Thomas Jefferson

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” –Thomas Jefferson

“A nation of sheep will beget a government
of wolves”. – Edward R. Murrow

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not…”
Thomas Jefferson

The penalty for wise men that refuse to concern themselves with the affairs of Government, is to be governed by unwise Men
— Plato

“It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” –Samuel Adams

0 comments

Philly Tech Week: introducing event series growing innovation impact « Christopher Wink

by Christine Cavalier on 24 January 2011

in Main Page

Philly Tech Week: introducing event series growing innovation impact « Christopher Wink.

0 comments

PurpleCar Park: Interview with Steve Garfield, Author of Get Seen

by Christine Cavalier on 19 January 2011

in PurpleCar Park

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Pull into PurpleCar Park, a podcast by Christine Cavalier

Mr. Steve Garfield stops in to PurpleCar Park to discuss his book, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business. Steve is an “internet old-timer” who started doing video in way back in 2004, when there wasn’t user-generated video content on the web. We talk about how Steve got started with online video, some video projects he’s done for businesses, “citizen reporting”, what’s happening with Qik and Skype, and what he sees coming in the future.

Stop what you’re doing, pull the car over and listen in to my friend Steve talk about his step-by-step guide to unlocking the secrets of successful online videos.

Show Notes:

Steve’s WebSite, Stevegarfield.tv, Steve’s UStream, SteveGarfield.tv on Facebook

Shop for Get Seen in Indie Bookstores