To play, or not to play, that is the question, originally uploaded by rinklefree.
My beautiful little niece pondering whether to play or not to play. I love the focus and sharpness of the shot. I am proud of this one.
A couple red stripes are a good way to celebrate good news. Today something important was discovered that will impact my life for ever. Exited, worried, and a bit relieved.
Of course they do. Why else would companies spend millions doing them? They must have proven successful in getting sales. However, when it comes to building brand loyalty, sales promotions might only introduce a new customer to your brand but will not make them loyal. A person that is in different about a particular brand will simply pickup the better bargain item that meets her minimum needs and that is exactly the type of person that sales promotions attract. In fact, some experts view sales promotions in such a negative light that they believe it erodes brand loyalty.
Building brand loyalty requires a lot more than providing the occasional bargain. I believe building brand loyalty requires lots of good PR, consistent branding and advertising, and most importantly building good relationships with your customers.
Internet advertising is bound to grow significantly in years to come. Three days ago, Yahoo! announced the acquisition of RightMedia, a web advertising market place for $680 million in cash and Yahoo stock. This follows last months Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, an ad management company for $3.1 billion in cash. The internet giants are at war in attempt to secure as much of the online ad space as currently possible. These acquisitions are a sign that internet advertising is on the rise and the long-term strategy of these giants, counts on it to continue to do so.
The internet as a medium allows advertisers to collect user data, which translates to contextual advertising that is better targeted. Impressions, clicks, and conversions are all carefully stored and tracked. Advertisers will learn how to improve their ad content to get better results and higher conversion rates. In addition, the internet is a better medium to call users into action. Advertisements on the internet serve a much larger purpose than just branding and promotion; they actually have the power to convert an impression to a customer.
