Ever since Google made its debut into the advertising world during the 2010 Super Bowl, we’ve all seen billboards, print ads, and other attempts to promote the web giant’s ever-growing services through non-digital formats.
Today I received the direct mailing piece, pictured below, from Google ebooks. And, although it’s Google, I am giving it the Wrong Signal Stamp of Disapproval.
Google Books direct mailing gets the Wrong Signal Stamp of Disapproval
The Intended Message
“Gee, Google ebooks. You really relate to me as a book lover!”
They are using sound marketing logic – I recently bought an e-book from their new site. The taglines they put on each bookmark are meant to speak to me as a hip, modern reader who owns an e-book reader, but who also still loves real books. It’s a good move, since I think this is where many people stand. So, Google ebooks understands me and wants to relate to my experience with digital book formats.
The Actual Message
Like everyone else, I get a lot of junk mail. So when I see something from Google ebooks, I am actually pretty interested to see what it is and I open the plain business envelope with some enthusiasm, ignoring the childish teaser copy (“You love books…and so do we!”).
"You love books...and so do we!" teaser copy on Google ebooks direct mailing.
Unfortunately, my excitement vanishes when I pull the four cheap, thin cardboard bookmarks that were alone loose in the envelope. “That’s it?” I think. There’s no supporting copy or materials. I’m not impressed. Not only do I immediately notice the marks from the pop-out die-cut template, which makes it look hurried, but I also quickly realize that I am never going to use these. It’s like getting a sweater you will never wear from a very nice great aunt. I am sure Google ebooks doesn’t want to be my great aunt, however much I like her.
The worst part is that the marketing is showing a little too much. Each of the four bookmarks (see below) clearly is meant to appeal to at least one target audience. If I say to myself, ‘That’s not me,” even once, the impact of the mailing is lost.
The Diagnosis
Don’t get me wrong. Google ebooks is actually a great service that evades all the traps I have found with other ebook sites. I suppose that’s why I was so disappointed with the messaging in this piece.
This seems like a project that was rushed off someone’s desk and out to the printers. The design and the branding elements work in terms of color and appearance, but the copy seems like regurgitation of that “My other car is a….” line, which is overdone.
I think there is an essential problem here imagining what these bookmarks would be like for the person opening the envelope. I don’t want to connect my real book reading to my e-book usage – there’s no reason to. This may have been a good opportunity for an incentive, such as a discount or coupon tying in a purchase of real books alongside e-books as a package deal on Google marketplaces. This is the strength of this messaging, it is the first I’ve seen of marketing that recognizes that people will always use both book formats. It’s not trying to make me switch completely over.
I would develop a concept that says something to the effect, “Now you can have the best of both worlds.” Google could relieve the pressure to switch, while stressing the benefits of the e-book reader to the majority of people who are still a little leery about them. Plus, they would draw customers to a variety of their marketplace connections.
What do you think?
Have any gems you’d like to submit for the Wrong Signal Stamp of Disapproval? Let me know!
Presumably this one is for the people who haven’t made the switch. I don't think that this applies to the people on this mailing list, does it?
This bookmark shoots for those people who are reading books on tablets like the iPad. I actually use the Kobo e-reader, so not relevant to me.
Looks like a pitch at students and academics who put reading lists onto their laptops. Not me.
This one speaks to people who read e-books on smartphones. I personally don’t know anyone who does this.
March 21, 2011 at 21:32
I got these in the mail today too, and I’m pretty excited. My only problem is I don’t have a tablet or a smartphone. I have a Nook. Where’s the bookmark that says, “My other book is an ereader.”? I can give the smartphone one to my friend, but I don’t know if I even know anyone with a tablet. I do use my laptop for reading ebooks because I’m a grad student & it makes typing in notes a lot easier when I don’t have to look off of my Nook and click through the pages. Plus I like my laptop and use it all the time, more than my Nook. One nice thing about Google Ebooks is you can read in a web browser, so they should have a bookmark that says, “My other ebook is a web browser.” Still, I don’t use Google Ebooks all that much, since its not that convenient to convert Google Ebooks to Nook-compatible files with Adobe Digital Editions on Ubuntu like I have to. The cheapness of the bookmarks makes me more ambivalent about it. Had they been more expensive, I would have felt like Google wasted more. But as it stands, I’m psyched I got free stuff from Google!
March 22, 2011 at 00:34
Thanks for the comment, Travis.
I agree that free stuff is always good, but I could use any piece of slim cardboard equally well as a bookmark. I like your point about the waste. I suppose my point would be that they wasted MORE by not doing it right and best as possible, since the whole thing fails as a message.
March 22, 2011 at 14:29
As someone who now buys and reads 98% or more of my books digitally, I don’t have a use for printed bookmarks (cheap or otherwise). As for the messaging used on the bookmark images, I personally fall into three of the categories shown above (here’s your smartphone reader; I use that much more than a laptop/other computer and don’t own a tablet at all).
However, that’s beside the point, which is: if they’re trying to cross-market between print and digital customers, the messages and their delivery are both missing the mark. I have to wonder if they’re actually paying attention to which database (print or digital book purchasers) they’re drawing their mailing list from on this one, since at first glance it certainly looks like someone screwed up by the numbers.
I personally would consider it less of a waste of financial and material resources to receive an offer instead – and it would be nice if it arrived in my digital inbox, not my postal mailbox, so I could print or delete as I choose – regardless of whether the offer was for an ebook, a printed book, or both as a combo deal.