Stayin' Alive

By Glen Gardner/ Marketing Consultant

Do you have any idea what the #5 album in the country is right now
according to Billboard? Here's a clue: It's not K$sha, Taylor Swift or
Katy Perry. According to Billboard, the fifth best-selling album in the
nation is the Bee Gees "Number Ones" at about 32,000 units.

Thinking this to be a bit odd, I dug a little deeper to find out why a
band with only one surviving member and an album released before Moses
was a kid saw a 3,000 percent sales increase in the last charting period.

It turns out the reason is a little outfit called Amazon. If there was
every any doubt that Amazon has done a great job of dominating the
retail landscape, Billboard provided a pretty good lesson last week.
Amazon priced the 2004 offering from the brothers Gibb at 99 cents for
three days during the reporting period. That accounted for virtually all
of the 3,000 percent sales increase.

Next time you consider your competition, don't forget to include Amazon.
The recent problems that electronics giant Best Buy is experiencing also
have some roots in the explosion of Amazon. It seems Best Buy has become
Amazon's showroom. Folks head out to Best Buy, touch and feel the
components they are interested in and then order them on Amazon. It will
probably result in Best Buy closing scores of stores and drastically
reducing square footage in the brick and mortar stores that remain.

To survive in this new retail landscape you have to offer your customers
much more than a commodity that they can get on Amazon. You don't want
to become an Amazon showroom. Not only do you have to offer superior
service, but you have to let the potential customer know how you are
truly different. That means a consistent marketing message aimed at
making sure you are staying alive!

Congratulations!

By Julie Hein, General Manager

The Iowa City Area Development Group and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance just released some great news for the Creative Corridor. 

CNN Money ranked Iowa City and Cedar Rapids in their "America's Best Small Cities" list.  Iowa City also was on the list for affordable homes and Johnson County make the list of counties nationwide in the category of "where the jobs are." 

It's a nice place to live and work!  It's great when someone else notices too. 

The word on Mobile Advertising

By Kellie J. Lala 

Do you pay attention to mobile ads?  According to a recent survey by Hipcricket, 25-34 year old consumers have the most interest and interactivity with mobile ads.  70% have made a purchase and 58% say they would provide personal information in exchange for a reward or coupon.  This is twice as many than the 45-54 year old consumer.  The study goes onto say that the younger consumer thinks more positively about their favorite brands after interacting with them via their mobile device.  They even are more likely to recommend the brand to a friend.  Don’t get too excited yet….  For those who have yet to engage with a mobile ad, the reasons are varied.  43% say that the ads weren’t relevant to their interests and 39% said the ad didn’t appeal to them.  We are all going at warp speed and are time starved.  To take time to pay attention to everything that comes our way in any given a day would give us all a headache!   Don’t get me wrong, I love a coupon, bargain or a deeply discounted sale but on “my” terms.  I recently bought some lotion at a large bath and body store (you figure it out) and they asked for my email.  Sorry, I don’t want to give that out so I have delete the weekly (or more) offers they shoot over to my mailbox.  How about you?  Do you have a smart phone that is always making you an “offer”?   Is your email box filled with offers and coupons?  

Thanks for reading and if you want to engage in some way with us, give us a shout or email.  We would love to talk to you.