Thread: What is your definition of "spam" versus marketing?

Originally Posted by Bart

I won't deny that I find that unsettling. It makes abuse of the inability that some people have with discerning between fabricated promo talk and reality. That it actually works, only makes it worse.
Bart.

You are wrong about people, here. I am a student of the human animal, and I've found that most folks CAN see thru the marketing drivel.

They just don't care. They WANT to buy crap. They want it because it's cheaper, gaudier and apparently that's what folks go for nowadays. Marketing to the Lowest Common Denominator is usually the best ROI. That's because the LCD is by far the largest market demographic. MOST people are drooling morons, evidently. So marketing to the drooling moron demographic is usually a profitable tactic. The goal of any business is to make money; as much as possible with the least amount of effort.

In closing, I'll add that Britney Spears sells more albums that Mozart. What does that tell you?

I agree with Jockeys.

A couple of years ago, a new brand of powertools was introduced in Belgium: 'Power Plus'.
These are absolute ****e. They are the most worthless tools ever made. Ther is so much wrong and bad about them that I don't even feel like compiling a list with issues. Everything sucks about them...

Except the price.
you can have a pneumatic power drill for concrete for 40 euros. And it'll drill through stone, and -if you're lucky- concrete.
Of course that is until the 30th hole, by which time the drill locking mechanism and the transmission have worn so much they literally fall apart. A former cheapskate colleague of mine told me that the balls from the bearings fell out of the drill one by one.
And of course, that is assuming that by then you haven't accidentally hit some rebar on the way down, because that'll jam the mechanically unprotected motor and instantly fry it for good.

The aforementioned former colleagues (plural. very sad) simply shrug it off, return it under warranty, and get a new one. That's right. For the price of one such abomination, they can hand out 3 (on average, before people are either done or give up) and still make a profit.

I, on the other hand, bought a Bosch Pro drill (the blue series) for 300 euros.
I used it a lot, I drilled through 40 cm of reinforced concrete (foot and a half?), hit rebar, shaved pieces off rebar with it if I hit the rebar just on the side,...
And it still works as well as the day I bought it. It's a joy to use.

And my colleagues thought I was the stupid one for spending so much on a power tool.
So yeah, people generally don't care enough look further than the sale price, and power plus is the prime example that the lowest common denominator is a very profitable market if all you want to do is to sell crap.
The colleagues I mentioned were engineers (one had a phd) so it's not like they couldn't understand the issues, or that the price is too good to be true. They just didn't care.

Man do I agree. Its about value, not cost. Value will differ to each individual.

Bosch makes a good product and they have built brand equity by continuing to do so. That is why their website (the US version any rate) is well organized, informative, and easy to navigate. They simply don't need to pander to the LCD. To me, and most of my friends, a bad web page is a serious turnoff. If I scroll down three lines and I still don't know anything about your product but that it is "great" or "life changing" I am gone.

-Rob

Originally Posted by Bruno

I, on the other hand, bought a Bosch Pro drill (the blue series) for 300 euros.
I used it a lot, I drilled through 40 cm of reinforced concrete (foot and a half?), hit rebar, shaved pieces off rebar with it if I hit the rebar just on the side,...
And it still works as well as the day I bought it. It's a joy to use.

And my colleagues thought I was the stupid one for spending so much on a power tool.
So yeah, people generally don't care enough look further than the sale price, and power plus is the prime example that the lowest common denominator is a very profitable market if all you want to do is to sell crap.
The colleagues I mentioned were engineers (one had a phd) so it's not like they couldn't understand the issues, or that the price is too good to be true. They just didn't care.

Originally Posted by sicboater

Man do I agree. Its about value, not cost. Value will differ to each individual.

Bosch makes a good product and they have built brand equity by continuing to do so. That is why their website (the US version any rate) is well organized, informative, and easy to navigate. They simply don't need to pander to the LCD. To me, and most of my friends, a bad web page is a serious turnoff. If I scroll down three lines and I still don't know anything about your product but that it is "great" or "life changing" I am gone.

-Rob

Most definitely. If I'm shopping for something and the website is badly organized, poorly put together, and difficult to navigate, I leave immediately. It pains me to look at a website like that.

Originally Posted by Bruno

And my colleagues thought I was the stupid one for spending so much on a power tool.
So yeah, people generally don't care enough look further than the sale price, and power plus is the prime example that the lowest common denominator is a very profitable market if all you want to do is to sell crap.
The colleagues I mentioned were engineers (one had a phd) so it's not like they couldn't understand the issues, or that the price is too good to be true. They just didn't care.

I may not be that they don't care... Sure there are some that think "why pay more for the same thing?", but I think these companies take advantage of people's optimisim. It's more their optimism overwhelms their rationality. "I might get lucky and mine will be a good one/keep working". It's like gambling against the house at a casino or playing the lotto. There are not many that actually see the price of their ticket as the cost for entertainment.

Originally Posted by jockeys

In closing, I'll add that Britney Spears sells more albums that Mozart. What does that tell you?

That people prefer bitches with rasping voices to dead guys with whigs?

Originally Posted by Cornelius

That people prefer bitches with rasping voices to dead guys with whigs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_(B...itical_faction)
dead guys with ancient defunct British political parties? huh?

Originally Posted by jockeys

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_(British_political_faction)
dead guys with ancient defunct British political parties? huh?

They aren't all dead! Modern Whig Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by jockeys

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_(British_political_faction)
dead guys with ancient defunct British political parties? huh?

wigs...