Every time I go online I run into an advertisement for a quiz. Someone must be taking them – why? What is the business model behind them?
Quiz Rocket has an Alexa ranking of 514 and primarily gets 96% U.S. traffic, with an Alexa ranking of 135 for U.S. This means for the less net savvy that it is the 135th most visited site in the U.S. (I’m intentionally not hyperlinking because I do not want to drive traffic to the site)
I poked around their site a bit, and found their privacy policy carefully enables them to sell information to third-party marketers, follow-up with subsequent emails, and basically do about anything they want with anyone who is willing to say yes to their terms of service to figure out the “answer” to their quiz.
Opting into the terms of service makes them compliant with SPAM laws. Want to know the answer to who is dumb in the dumb quiz? You are if you finish it!
Picture below taken from my good friend Todd, who like me is a bit fed up with this quiz nonsense. At least we don’t have to listen to quizzes in the subway like ring tones, but maybe that’s next…
Puma is one of my favorite brands simply because they get it. They successfully reinvented the brand from obscurity a decade ago to become arguably the global shoe brand most synonymous with innovative youth culture.
The video above is an exceptional use of projections that has a simple, universal appeal reminiscent of the OK GO “Here it goes again” which as of the time writing this post has amassed 45 million views on YouTube. The lightness and playfulness of the video seem to fit with the Lift campaign aesthetic in ways that make the experience meaningful on the part of the consumer. Thanks to Wooster Collective for drawing my attention to the video.
Puma kicked it up a notch with their Mongolian Shoe BBQ that again draws upon the playful experience of entering a restaurant and choosing your own ingredients for your meal. Visitors can go to Puma’s website and then walk through a series of steps until they have their own custom creation.
Last year I had the opportunity to check out an installation by Fredrico Uribe in New York that used 25,000 shoelaces and 750 pairs of various PUMA shoes to fill a 4,000 sq/ft space with an installation called “Human Nature.” The exhibit had another playful integration of branding in a space by bringing the visitor into an environment filled with predatory animals – tigers, birds, lions, and of couse, pumas. Check out Sole Collector’s excellent write-up on the installation
Each of these are excellent examples to remind marketers that brands can have a physical presence that does not beat the consumer over the head with logo placement. Truly integrated experiential marketing leaves a lasting impression in ways that allow people to take ownership of the brand by moving it into a permanent place in their memories about the encounter.
I would not have made the conscious recognition that any of these were specifically created by Puma, I simply thought they were cool. The first impression becomes the most memorable, and then the overall experience became framed by associations with the brand. Adding value and meaning leads to consumer loyalty and brand advocacy.
Thanks for visiting Think. Now. Yes. This is an evolving resource center dedicated to exploring ways in which we might view the current volatile economic climate to be an opportunity for change and a better future.
TNY combines the years of experience I have working with brands and agencies in the social media and experiential marketing space with my background studying new religious movements during my Ph.D. studies at Princeton. As I learned how to successfully move branded messages across social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, as well as blogs and forums I came to recognize patterns in online behavior that were strikingly similar to how religious movements spread.
Although seemingly incongruous when people get caught up in theological questions, as human institutions religions in many signify the oldest and most resilient forms of branding on the planet. From the dawn of civilization to the present religions’ success has been contingent upon their ability to continually adapt, co-opt new technologies, change messages, and evolve to meet the needs of their communities and stay relevant in ways that most companies can only dream.
As I sat on a beach in Tulum, Mexico (pic above) it occurred to me how their resiliency and relevancy has little to do with the compulsive obsession most marketers have with Return On Investment (ROI) and statistical models that inform most advertising decisions. In fact, historically most religions that followed the status quo became replaced by newer practices who better related to people in more relevant ways.
I think the current economic crisis can be viewed as the culmination of greed and self-interested views of the world that date back to the colonial impulse. We simply need a different way of thinking rooted in values of inclusion and sharing that are perhaps best exemplified by the type of behavior people exhibit online. The technology we refer to as “social media” has made it possible to build meaningful relationships based on common interests in ways that are unprecedented in the history of humanity.
Think. Now. Yes. is dedicated to providing the resources and inspiration to survive and band together so we can redefine our future. This is our moment, we will overcome.
