Review: Insight Express Holiday Email
December 23, 2006
I expected to have received many more Christmas emails / Holiday e-cards by now. Sure I got lots of sales messages from Amazon, Buy, Verizon, Palm, etc. But I want a non-solicitation message wishing me the best. This is what I got.
My rating system is simple. By default, these companies get 1 star just for taking the time and effort to send me a stand alone Christmas/holiday email message.
You get another star if you have something interesting to say or pretty animation for me to look at.
Today’s review:
Insight Express ( 1.5 stars )
Subject: Happy Holidays from Insight Express
Your holiday card has arrived. Or maybe you’d rather have three?
click here
Thanks for your business!
Best Wishes
IMHO: The traditionalist vs. modernist vs. renegade options didn’t really pay off in any way emotionally or humorous. They get points for music (albeit each track is only 5 secs long). But at least they did put effort into doing something.
Merry Christmas!
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Teens on MySpace
December 22, 2006
Whether or not MySpace accounts are mainly teens to twenty somethings is highly debatable. One school of thought is that MySpace registered users skew much older than the demographics suggest, because they may lie about their self-reported demographic info.
But this TRU research survey mentioned below specifically sampled teens about their destination choices. Those participants indicated MySpace as one of their top destinations. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really suggest what the up and coming new alternatives to MySpace will be.
For further information:
TEENAGE RESEARCH UNLIMITED
Rob Callender
707 Skokie Blvd., 7th Floor
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 564-3440Dec. 13, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEENS’ SPACE: MYSPACE TOPS TEENS’ LIST OF ONLINE DESTINATIONS
Northbrook, Ill. – Six months after achieving a major upset over more-established websites, MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) continues to solidify its position as teens’ most-visited web destination.
According to a new TRU survey of more than 2,000 teens aged 12 to 19, more than one-third of respondents (34%) listed MySpace as one of their two most-visited websites. Runner-up Yahoo collected 19% of teens’ votes, while third-place Google claimed 14%.
MySpace’s achievement is even more impressive than the numbers suggest because the responses resulted from a write-in question, TRU Trend Director Rob Callender said.
“The internet offers virtually unlimited content,” Callender said. “So the fact that more than one-third of teens were able to agree on a single web destination—without the benefit of a list of choices—speaks volumes about the impression MySpace has made on teen life.”
And MySpace has been able to build this consensus with impressive speed, Callender said.
“MySpace made its TRU Study debut one year ago. At that time, nine percent of teens listed it as a favorite—good enough for third place. Six months later, it vaulted to first place with mentions from 24% of teens. This fall’s results show MySpace consolidating its lead even further.”
The TRU Study reveals some interesting demographic differences:
» MySpace takes top honors among each age group (12- to 15-year-olds, 16- and 17-year-olds, and 18- and 19-year-olds) but significantly more of the oldest teens say it’s one of their most-frequented destinations compared to other age groups.
» MySpace takes first place among both guys and girls, but significantly more girls say they visit the site most often.
» MySpace is the most-visited website among African-American teens, Hispanic teens, and white teens. Interestingly, significantly more Hispanic teens claim MySpace is one of their most-visited sites compared to the other ethnic groups.The Fall 2006 TRU Study also reveals that nearly six teens in 10 (58%) say they’ve checked out someone’s profile on a virtual-networking site. Nearly half of teens (49%) say they themselves have profiles on a virtual-networking site. MySpace again leads: 40% of teens say they have a MySpace profile, compared to 10% for Xanga and nine percent for Facebook.
This research data is part of The TRU Study. The largest study of its type, The TRU Study provides a twice-annual profile of teen attitudes, values, lifestyles, consumer behaviors, and trends. The research is based upon responses from more than 2,000 teens nationwide. The sample is representative of the overall U.S. teen population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and region of residence.
TRU, based in Chicago, is the nation’s pre-eminent market-research firm specializing on the teen market. Last year, TRU conducted 1,000 qualitative-research sessions, in addition to many in-depth interviews and customized quantitative studies. Over the past 24 years, TRU has interviewed nearly one million teenagers.
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Review: Go Daddy Holiday Email Review
December 21, 2006
I expected to have received many more Christmas emails / Holiday e-cards by now. Sure I got lots of sales messages from Amazon, Buy, Verizon, Palm, etc. But I want a non-solicitation message wishing me the best. This is what I got.
My rating system is simple. By default, these companies get 1 star just for taking the time and effort to send me a stand alone Christmas/holiday email message.
You get another star if you have something interesting to say or pretty animation for me to look at.
Today’s review:
Go Daddy ( 3 stars )
Subject: A special holiday message from GoDaddy.com
Dear Roland Reinhart,
All of us at GoDaddy.com wish you and your family a happy holiday and a fantastic New Year.
All the best,
Bob Parsons
CEO and Founder
GoDaddy.comSeason’s Greetings from Godaddy.com
IMHO: This was the first cool email I got. It’s got a high energy feel, a dancing snow man and a rockin Brian Setzer tune. Thumbs up to Go Daddy.
Advice to Marketers: Next time, send me something like Go Daddy did or this. It’s hysterical and fun. And a lot more memorable than any of the above.
Merry Christmas!
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Review: Continental Airline Holiday Email
December 20, 2006
I expected to have received many more Christmas emails / Holiday e-cards by now. Sure I got lots of sales messages from Amazon, Buy, Verizon, Palm, etc. But I want a non-solicitation message wishing me the best. This is what I got.
My rating system is simple. By default, these companies get 1 star just for taking the time and effort to send me a stand alone Christmas/holiday email message.
You get another star if you have something interesting to say or pretty animation for me to look at.
Today’s review:
Continental Airlines ( 2 stars )
Subject: Happy Holidays from Continental Airlines
Happy Holidays
The end of another year gives us the chance to wish you a happy holiday season and say thank you for your continued support. We appreciate your business as a valued OnePass member and look forward to serving you in the new year.
View your animated greeting.
Best Wishes,
Continental Airlines
IMHO: The photos from around the world were interesting. But honestly, I wasn’t wowed. Clicking the snow globe to “shake” it was useless. But they did put more effort into this email than the other companies.
Merry Christmas!
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
Review: Delta Airlines Holiday Email
December 19, 2006
I expected to have received many more Christmas emails / Holiday e-cards by now. Sure I got lots of sales messages from Amazon, Buy, Verizon, Palm, etc. But I want a non-solicitation message wishing me the best. This is what I got.
My rating system is simple. By default, these companies get 1 star just for taking the time and effort to send me a stand alone Christmas/holiday email message.
You get another star if you have something interesting to say or pretty animation for me to look at.
Today’s review:
Delta Airlines ( 1 star )
Subject: Thank you for your loyal business
In this season of thanks, we thank you for your loyal business
Hello Mr. Reinhart,
On behalf of the 45,000 Delta people dedicated to serving you worldwide, “Thank You!” for continuing to choose us as your preferred airline.
We’re transforming Delta into an even better airline for you, and hope you have had the opportunity to experience the improvements and new product offerings designed to make our airline even more convenient and enjoyable, including:
* More than 70 new international destinations
* More comfortable aircraft interiors with all-leather seats
* State-of-the-art entertainment systems available on demand
* Better food and beverage offerings on Delta flights worldwide with celebrity partners like Michelle Bernstein and Rande Gerber
* Advanced technology offering improved self-service kiosks, better delta.com functionality, and automatic notifications of delays, irregular operations, alternative service, and more
* Major improvements in airport facilities in Atlanta and New York/JFK
* Horizontal lie-flat seats in BusinessElite®, coming in 2008In addition to our enhanced customer service and offerings, we are pleased to report that we are on track to complete our restructuring and exit Chapter 11 in the first half of 2007, as planned. Of course, our customers aren’t the only ones taking notice of the new, ever-improving Delta. As you may have seen in the news, US Airways recently made an unsolicited merger proposal.
Please be assured that your travel plans, your SkyMiles, and the many benefits you enjoy from the SkyMiles program and our global alliances are secure and are in no way affected. It is business as usual at Delta Air Lines. Today, as always, you can rely on the excellent service Delta’s proud team of dedicated professionals provides.
Going forward, Delta will evaluate US Airways’ proposal carefully, as we are obligated to do. But you should know we are concerned that this particular transaction would not be in the best interest of our many stakeholders including our customers, employees, travel partners, and the communities we serve. We are moving full steam ahead with our own plan to emerge from Chapter 11 as a strong, independent, stand-alone airline dedicated to providing you with world-class service and
superior performance.Please continue to book on Delta with confidence knowing you can count on the convenience and choice you’ve come to expect from the more than 14,000 daily flights to 445 destinations in 92 countries that we along with our SkyTeam and codeshare partners provide worldwide. We appreciate your loyalty and the opportunity to meet your personal and business travel needs — now and in the future. Thank you for choosing Delta, and warm wishes for a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.
Lee Macenczak
Executive Vice President of Sales and Customer Service
IMHO: There was no link to a Flash animation to make me feel warm and fuzzy. Instead, the EVP of Customer Service bores me with 7 paragraphs of statistics.
What the heck are they thinking? Do they honestly believe anyone would read this? Next time, please let the ad agency take a crack at writing the first draft. Thanks for nothing. Expect a lump of coal from me.
Merry Christmas!
Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at NewMediaSandbox.com and Chaos365.com.
©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.
