Manager Ian Faith was discussing the marketing of the album "Smell the Glove" with the band members in his charge. The proposed cover art of a greased naked woman with a dog collar was deemed offensive, so much so that recording label rep Bobbi Flekman noted that "both Sears and K Mart stores have refused to handle the album." Band member David St. Hubbins observed that fellow rocker Duke Fames' new album had a much worse cover, where he was tied up and being whipped. Faith pointed out that it was that twist, as to whom was being whipped, that made all the difference. A thoughtful St. Hubbins summed it up this way: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."
You can relate almost anything in life to a sequence from "Spinal Tap," and target marketing is no different. When it works, it seems like magic. Go online and search for an item, looking at features or prices. Make no commitments of any kind. Then come back later, and if the algorithms all work exactly right, every subsequent interaction online tempts you with that product or service. Clever is elevated to brilliant.
But it's not always that way. Just because you can pair up consumer and consumed doesn't mean there's a taste let alone an appetite. Big data can turn out to be just a big scoop, and not a finely tuned filter. The results, which at first seem prescient, turn out to be simply off base, then comical, then annoying. Or as St. Hubbins noted, just plain stupid.
How else to characterize Bark? A job and leads generation matching service based in the UK, it appears to scrape the internet pairing up individuals and opportunities. Find people who list themselves as plumber or photographers, and match them with people needing pipes or pictures. Take a little cut of the action, and on to the next. Airbnb and Uber are essentially no different, and they have grown from nothings to forces with which to be reckoned.
So when I got my first email from the company I didn't delete it immediately. Like many I get loads of junk mail and idiotic offers. Still, the subject was "Event Quote," and while that's not exactly how I describe my world, it's not that far off. Plus just enough legitimate looking information peaked through the first few preview lines of the text to make me curious (and yes, you would not be wrong in calling it "bait"). So I opened the letter.
"My name is Lisa and I am contacting you on behalf of Latoya looking for Event Planners in Bronx, NY, 10467." Not to jump to conclusions, but most of my clients don't go by first name nor live in the Bronx. Still, I read on. Indeed, it offered to connect me with Latoya if I thought the project was a good fit. While there was usually a fee involved for such a connection, they were offering to waive it the first time as a way of getting me to use their service. By itself, nothing wrong with that; it's what makes the world go around.
I read further. The size was a little smaller than I usually handle at 50 to 100 people, but not a turn off. The date was good, a slot in late August. But then it went a little further afield. The services requested were "setup and decorating." Not my bailiwick. And the last data point confirmed we were off the reservation. Under "Type of event" was listed "baby shower." Let me say for the record that we have two boys, my wife had showers for each, but the last person you want executing such an event is me.
But I was in their system. The next day seven offers came, the day after that two more and so on. Events ranged from weddings to birthday parties to more showers. Services requested ran from decorating to entertainment to babysitting. My favorite request was for help at a "Slime Convention." I looked it up: there was indeed an event upcoming in Connecticut popularizing a kid's toy that was expected to attract a crowd north of a thousand. Still, the service requested was "cleanup." Yes, maybe I'm missing a big opportunity to diversify my business and grow my book. But if it means picking up slime, I think I'll take that chance.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is always looking for new challenges. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
You can relate almost anything in life to a sequence from "Spinal Tap," and target marketing is no different. When it works, it seems like magic. Go online and search for an item, looking at features or prices. Make no commitments of any kind. Then come back later, and if the algorithms all work exactly right, every subsequent interaction online tempts you with that product or service. Clever is elevated to brilliant.
But it's not always that way. Just because you can pair up consumer and consumed doesn't mean there's a taste let alone an appetite. Big data can turn out to be just a big scoop, and not a finely tuned filter. The results, which at first seem prescient, turn out to be simply off base, then comical, then annoying. Or as St. Hubbins noted, just plain stupid.
How else to characterize Bark? A job and leads generation matching service based in the UK, it appears to scrape the internet pairing up individuals and opportunities. Find people who list themselves as plumber or photographers, and match them with people needing pipes or pictures. Take a little cut of the action, and on to the next. Airbnb and Uber are essentially no different, and they have grown from nothings to forces with which to be reckoned.
So when I got my first email from the company I didn't delete it immediately. Like many I get loads of junk mail and idiotic offers. Still, the subject was "Event Quote," and while that's not exactly how I describe my world, it's not that far off. Plus just enough legitimate looking information peaked through the first few preview lines of the text to make me curious (and yes, you would not be wrong in calling it "bait"). So I opened the letter.
"My name is Lisa and I am contacting you on behalf of Latoya looking for Event Planners in Bronx, NY, 10467." Not to jump to conclusions, but most of my clients don't go by first name nor live in the Bronx. Still, I read on. Indeed, it offered to connect me with Latoya if I thought the project was a good fit. While there was usually a fee involved for such a connection, they were offering to waive it the first time as a way of getting me to use their service. By itself, nothing wrong with that; it's what makes the world go around.
I read further. The size was a little smaller than I usually handle at 50 to 100 people, but not a turn off. The date was good, a slot in late August. But then it went a little further afield. The services requested were "setup and decorating." Not my bailiwick. And the last data point confirmed we were off the reservation. Under "Type of event" was listed "baby shower." Let me say for the record that we have two boys, my wife had showers for each, but the last person you want executing such an event is me.
But I was in their system. The next day seven offers came, the day after that two more and so on. Events ranged from weddings to birthday parties to more showers. Services requested ran from decorating to entertainment to babysitting. My favorite request was for help at a "Slime Convention." I looked it up: there was indeed an event upcoming in Connecticut popularizing a kid's toy that was expected to attract a crowd north of a thousand. Still, the service requested was "cleanup." Yes, maybe I'm missing a big opportunity to diversify my business and grow my book. But if it means picking up slime, I think I'll take that chance.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is always looking for new challenges. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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