Thanks for mentioning our article on Zappos’ security bin advertising. It seems to be working for them, noticed they are in several of the largest airports in the States, not sure about international, but the whole thing is such an innovative idea, sure it won’t take long to get there. Anyhow, thanks again for the link, good work on your blog.

eCopt

Whatever it is, this is certainly not something out of the 4-Ps, 3-Cs marketing textbook. This “post marketing, post product, post consumer” model is still forming and I haven’t figured it all out yet, but you are definitely hitting on something.

Thanks for the great response! I’m in total agreement with your overall focal point of interruption marketing becoming less and less effective and that it is far better to shift towards a Marketing with Meaning paradigm. In the future, the latter will continue to produce better results with less effort and capital.

You brought up another great point about the need for congruency across the Zappos marketing plan. With the company’s focus on employee-driven Connections, it makes much for sense for Zappos to capitalize on their culture versus clever, but disconnected content.

As I read the terrific article you included about Zappos employees becoming brand champions, I stumbled across an interesting thought: As we move into a Marketing with Meaning age, will the shape of branding begin to change?

For a long time, most companies have sought to build a consumer connection to their Brand first, which then ultimately translates into a connection with the company itself. But Zappos is turning that strategy on its head by building a consumer connection to the Company first, through their all-employee marketing efforts like the super creative ZapposTV blog. For entrepreneurial companies, this new thought process may prove be the wave of the future when it comes to engaging consumers and adding value to their lives through meaningful advertising. What are your thoughts?

This is great stuff and I love that other people out there get as excited as I do about creating meaningful strategies and shaping the future of marketing!

Thanks again!

Chad Seibert

You’re definitely hitting on something that I wrestle with often: the fact that you may sometimes need to interrupt at first in order to invite people into a meaningful program.

For Zappos, at minimum, they have found a successful way to interrupt people in order to sell shoes. I certainly don’t believe the only way to win in advertising is through meaning. There are still pockets where it works. My overall point is that it’s becoming harder to win this way, and it is becoming easier and more effective to go meaningful.

I also believe you have a good point that Zappos can and does do more meaningful work after and in addition to this single tactic. In fact, the company is winning with Connections in a big way through its open culture and all-employee marketing efforts. This includes everything from a 300-page culture book, to several blogs and employee Twittering. These efforts are meaningful and lie somewhere in between service and marketing. People form Connections with the brand overall and individuals at the company. Here’s one of many articles about their marketing success:

http://www.corporate-eye.com/2008/09/zappos-employees-as-brand-champions/

But the more I read about these efforts, the more disappointed I am in the airport bins. Again, it’s clever as hell and works, but it has no link to the overall marketing strategy of employee-driven Connections. At a minimum, I would have loved an airport bin that, say, a short fashion tip from their Zappos Coutre employee blog. Such a tip would be more helpful or interesting than a clever ad – AND would introduce the consumer to what makes Zappos special (its people).

What do you think?

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying your Marketing with Meaning blog posts and wanted to invite some further discussion on two of your recent posts about Zappos.com and Lucky jeans. Although I’m not privy to the marketing strategies of Zappos, it does seem like they have an opportunity to engage new customers in a meaningful experience if the company’s new security bin advertising is part of a multi-level strategy.

As you mentioned, it probably won’t take long for airport travelers to tune out this interruptive form of advertising. In the meantime, however, could it be said that Zappos is in part making a memorable impression with prospective customers and driving awareness? While the ad tactic itself may not add value and create a meaningful experience, if it opens the door for the company to connect customers with the brand, is it successful?

Assuming that Zappos has a Marketing with Meaning strategy, could they effectively build a personal experience with clients without having first expanded awareness? In essence, if Zappos does capitalize on the awareness that it generates from these ads by engaging online customers through the Connections platform, would the security bin ads have served a beneficial purpose? By utilizing some of the techniques implemented by Lucky and Apple that you describe, Zappos could certainly enhance the personal experience of those who buy their products and build significant loyalty.

It would be great to stimulate further discussion on how Marketing with Meaning can be applied across the entire spectrum of marketing, including the first critical step of building awareness. Thanks again for your fantastic case studies and analysis of the newest marketing tools.

All the best,

Chad Seibert