I recently looked at the Tide website for the first time. If Tide had not been one of the selected websites for this marketing assignment, it’s possible that I would have gone through life without ever opening Tide.com. There is a simple explanation for my lack of interest in Tide. It’s too expensive for my budget. As a college student, I have always taken advantage of the off-brands when it comes to laundry detergent because they are cheap. I have no idea if they clean as well as Tide, but when it comes down to it, I’d rather pay $2.99 for no-name detergent than shell out $8.99 for the same size container of Tide.
With the high price of Tide in mind, I was not surprised at the discount coupons available after clicking the “Special Offers” tab on the home page. If the coupons would get the price down to something reasonable, I would be tempted to try the product, but $1.00 off still doesn’t work for me.
Sorry, Tide - it’s nothing personal!
The “Special Offers” page did provide a call to action, which is the first rule of direct marketing (Roberts, p. 86). It prompted me to sign up for a free newsletter. In order to do that, I had to provide some personal information, including my date of birth. Now I have officially become part of a profile for the Procter and Gamble customer database. My birth date will help them to determine whether they should send me information on removing stains from baby formula, beer, red wine or prune juice. Eventually, their Customer Lifetime Analysis will probably show that I am not a profitable customer. When that happens, they could decide to reduce their marketing efforts directed at me or drop me from their system altogether (Roberts, 94). I’d be OK with either outcome.
The best part of my trip to Tide.com was the offer for a free sample of Pantene Solutions shampoo. Who doesn’t like free things? According to the shipping information, it should arrive in four to six weeks. I’ll keep you posted.
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I completely agree.
ReplyDeleteI think it is insane to spend $10.00 on a bottle of laundry soap. I typically buy brands that are priced in the "middle" - and they do a fabulous job! I do buy the "Tide On the Go" stick and a few other stain removers, but they are all under $5.00.
Even if I won the powerball - I still (most likely) would not purchase Tide! This is the first website that I have viewed (for this course) that I have not been real impressed with.
So what is wrong with prune juice?
ReplyDeleteYou nailed one of the powerful features of the Internet: by obtaining customer information from a variety of ways that we will continue to explore, relevant content can be delivered back to the customer.
As you can imagine, this brings a host of issues to the table: how does a marketer know it is you and not another user? (My daughter once used my laptop to buy from Hot Topic and a Manga site. Guess what kind of ads I see from time to time--on my machine!)
The flip side of this argument is this: why should a 24-year old see an ad for prune juice for regularity?
The key is relevance to the target market. Anything else is a waste.
BTW, Tide has a DOMINANT market share, so they do a great job of marketing a good product. Given its price point and high market share, the pricing would be considered inelastic, meaning a big move in pricing will not cause a big move in demand. That is why we strive for brand loyalty.