I am NOT Maverick Marketing Sydney

Companies involved in Twitter are often worried about getting a return for their investment.

But here is some good news: it can be done.

The computer company Dell has announced it made $6.5m in revenues through links on the micro-messaging site.

Its aggregated followers on social media – including Twitter, Facebook and their own Direct2Dell and IdeaStorm – now number 3.5 million and as the firm’s “chief blogger” Lionel Menchaca announces proudly, that is “roughly a fan base the size of the population of Chicago”.

But, before you get too excited, although $6.5m sounds impressive, when you compare it with the net revenue of $12.3bn Dell reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 it becomes clear that this is only a drop in the ocean.

Read more here.

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From September 4th, Target transformed its iconic Times Square billboards into an artistic homage to New York City with the unveiling of larger-than-life commissioned works from emerging artists.

The billboards, which will remain on display through the end of October, will take on a second life after their run on 42nd Street when the vinyl is restyled into 1,600 limited-edition, affordable tote bags, based on a design conceived exclusively for Target by fashion icon Anna Sui.

“As a supporter of the arts, Target is thrilled to give emerging artists the most visible canvas in the world to display their work,” says Michael Francis, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Target.

“We look forward to extending the artworks’ reach as the billboards take on second lives as tote bags.”

The art installation offers New Yorkers and visitors to NYC alike the opportunity to own a piece of Times Square. The unique billboard bags are available for $29.99 at Target.com/billboardbag while supplies last.
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Have you ever used an online coupon site to search for discounts and deals?

Many Internet users have.

Many Google for coupons from suppliers, enter them into coupon code fields at checkout and save themselves hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by taking advantage of deals online.

With a turbulent economy, it’s true that more people than ever are trying to find ways to trim expenditure. The coupon companies will tell you that coupons mean everyone wins. The retailer gets business, the consumer gets a discount and the coupon companies stay alive.

And it’s an industry that appears to be forging ahead.
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Nobody likes surprise charges at the last minute.

Make sure that your pricing is transparent. People like to know what to expect. They don’t want to feel ripped-off or lied to. They prefer to deal with retailers that are honest. Display all your charges early and often.

In other words, don’t do this on your home page:

But forget to mention that you’re going to do this at checkout:

You’ll be accused of doing dodgy stuff.

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It’s time to unleash your creativity and design your very own dream space.

Just start with a theme from scratch, drag and drop furniture, change the background and choose accessories just to make the room the way you want it. When you’re done, you can save your room, email it or print it to use as your shopping list at Ikea.

Faddish or smart retailing?

Head to the website to have a play.

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Traditional pricing models have been based upon cost where prices are set at a higher amount than the variable costs of the product.

This is how you derive a contribution towards fixed costs.

Using this type of pricing model, the marketer adds an amount to the costs which may be expressed as a percentage markup or dollar figure.

It is often used in retail because it is easy to apply.

It can also suit some manufacturers where volume applies or the market is price-driven.

Cost-plus pricing is often used to price custom products, such as the construction of a building.

Cost-plus pricing involves keeping track of the costs of producing the building, then adding an additional dollar amount or percentage of costs to arrive at the final price.
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It’s showtime.

Plop yourself into a comfy chair, kick back, and watch as the contest unfolds.

Woolies has announced plans to buy into hardware in a classic case of he did – so I will too.

Wesfarmers owns Bunnings and Coles, and in the not-too-distant future Woolies will own Safeway and yet-to-be-named-new-hardware-chain.

It’s big news, it even made the Wall Street Journal.

The scene is set for a ferocious battle of two retailing giants (well, they are giants by Australian standards).

Both ambitious, both well-resourced. It sure will make for an interesting battle.

So what’s behind the move? Well, according to Woolies chief executive Michael Luscombe, the expected demand for construction off the back of first home owner grants is an excellent time to enter the fray. Of course, in the other corner, the champion at hardware is telling the media that the chain relishes the opportunity to compete with any new entrant.
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The Argument about Volume:

Many, many businesses drop their prices on the assumption that more sales will be generated by it.

Anyone who has ever been exposed to basic economic theory will have heard about supply and demand.

In short, the theory goes that if you drop your prices, consumers will buy more. This almost never happens in real life. At least, not in a way that is sustainable.

What happens in real life is that one business drops its prices. Because of it, it may increase its volume for a short time before competitors become aware that they are losing market share to the cheaper supplier.

So the competitors drop their prices too, even undercutting the original cheaper supplier, to take the business back.

Before long, only the strongest competitor will survive the price war that eventuates. Once there is no competition left, the prices shoot right back up again.
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We’re cranking up the accelerator. (We get the message, boys.)

It’s official – there is a bit of Top Gun in every bloke surfing around the Internet.

Researchers from Southern Illinois University have done a study and found that blokes prefer fast download speed over easy navigation.

(Actually they aren’t the only ones that think men and women come from different planets. Wharton does too.)

But hey, before you strip every image, object and script from your website, (and just in case you thought life was easy), women prefer something else – they like ease of use, easy navigation, and accessibility.

So, how do you get Adam and Eve both loving your website?

Know How The Genders Behave.

• Women use the Web to develop relationships while men use the Web for information gathering. Fast download speeds make searching for information online more efficient. There is more about it here.
• Men favor coupons over sale items while women prefer sale items over coupons.
• Women are more likely to plan ahead at Christmas time, while men are more likely to get frustrated.
• Women buy strategically, while men buy immediately. A way to think of this is that women want to know more up front than a man does; men are more willing to gamble a bit in the hopes of a greater reward.
• Men and women care about different things – and if you want an illustration of this principle, check out product reviews by different genders to see what they care about.

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Is your business overrun by trolls?

Businesses attract two types of customers – they get those sent from heaven that pay full price, snap up new products early and generate nice healthy profit.

Then businesses get stuck with trolls that suck all their energy, drain that profit and turn a perfectly respectful day into a miserable one.

The troll is going to argue about the price, exasperate staff with their endless rants, grizzles and whines, return purchases and demand their money back. To add to the insult, they buy your product back when it finally goes on sale, load it onto eBay and flog it for a profit. (That’s the same profit they stole from you.)

Sound familiar? Then put a plan into gear to dump the trolls starting today.
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