Whose responsibility is it to protect our online privacy?

The FTC recently released yet another set of rules to regulate online privacy. As new technologies, especially Internet-related ones continue to surface, the different regulatory entities will have to continue developing new laws that are for the most part left in writing. The FTC will continue to create rules and companies will continue to violate them without major consequences for the most part. Of course, I’m not saying rules shouldn’t be created because some sorts of standards need to exist to help us understand “right” from “wrong”. But I do think that it would be best if more browsers took an honest step in favor of their customers by allowing them to truly decide whether they want to be targeted or not.

I said “more browsers” because Microsoft recently took a very important measure in terms of protecting the online privacy of their customers. According to a recent WSJ article, the technology giant decided to add a feature to the next generation of Internet Explorer that allows customer to select privacy settings that stops certain websites and tracking companies from gathering information such as web activity. They have done this despite the possible alienation of advertisers. The great news is that if Microsoft did it, Firefox, Google and others will probably have to follow. Hopefully this will become a requirement on the customer’s part when deciding which browser to use.

Advertisers of course aren’t happy with this measure. However, there could be a positive side for them if their customers are protected: they could be sued less! Of course, that weigh much less than the positives they get from tracking people but at least it is not all bad for them. Just last week, a website called YouPorn was sued for allegedly violating consumer protection laws by using “history sniffling”, which is basically tracking people and trying to tailor products and communication based on whatever they have seen online before (and it is assumed interests them). According to new sites, the porn site was tracking a couple of its users who are now very mad and are seeking unspecified damages through a class action status. If the big browsers had the “no tracking” option in place, YouPorn would not be in the court right now. So in the long run, privacy protection could have a positive side for everyone involved. Hopefully advertisers see the other side of the coin and understand the importance of privacy and that they should only want their customer’s information when their customers are willing to share it with them. In the meantime, it would be great for browsers to follow Microsoft’s lead.

What will the future hold for Groupon?

Groupon has such a simple concept yet so appealing to all of us! Everybody loves discounts and now we can get them online. It really appears to be a win-win situation for everyone. The business only pays for the advertising if they get the business, the customer gets a discount, and Groupon gets a cut if the customer actually goes to the business. Of course, it isn’t that simple and there are a few drawbacks. First, you can’t just download all the coupons at once because they only offer one special per day (a big disadvantage in my opinion) so you have to visit the webpage daily and ideally share it with your friends. Also, in some cases it may be the case that marketers could actually losing money while advertising with Groupon at a very large level, although they might purposefully be doing it to gain awareness. Sam Diaz, editor at ZDNet recently posted a blog comment about how Gap in Chicago most likely lost money in a recent promotional push through Groupon.

Another major drawback (this time for Groupon) is that the concept is extremely easy to copy. Sites like LivingSocial(LS) are rapidly growing and although much smaller in revenue, last August LS got more web traffic than Groupon according to Comscore. Even though Groupon’s concept is easy to copy they have a major advantage that lessens this issue, which is top of mind brand awareness. Since I started thinking about writing this post, I have asked a lot of people where is the best place to find coupons online, and except for one person, they all said Groupon. Then I remembered that the one person who didn’t say Groupon doesn’t live in the US. He mentioned couponidad.com, the Colombian copy of Groupon.

The future of Groupon may seem uncertain to those who think that because the concept is so simple, it can easily be replaced by competitors. Although possible, I think that as long as Groupon keeps innovating and continues to be in the forefront of technology in what it relates to online coupons, they will continue to have the competitive advantage of having entered the market first. Google seems to believe the future of Groupon is promising as they recently offered to buy the company for $5.3 billion (the largest offer by Google ever). It also seems that Groupon think it is worth more and might be thinking of going public according to yesterday’s WSJ article. Only time will tell…

The power of social media and how marketers can take advantage of it

For years marketers have been saying that consumers have the power to change things but that wasn’t truly the case until the widespread usage of the internet and especially of social media sites and blogs. For the first time ever, users truly have the ability to openly praise or criticize their hated or beloved brands, and influence others while doing so. Smart companies will understand that social media is a tool that can give them great insights about real consumer thoughts because people aren’t afraid to type, especially when they can do it anonymously. CVS pharmacy presents a fabulous example. You would probably think (at least I did) that people go to pharmacies based on convenience (i.e. location), and yes, that is often the case but there are also loyalist and detractors in this industry. There is a facebook page dedicated to those who hate CVS. We will never know if it was created by competitors like Walgreens or Duane Reed but the sure thing is that it is a very active website with many followers, and we know that bad rep spreads much faster than good one. One of the group members posted “Dear CVS Pharmacy, I hate you. I hate you for several reasons. First off, I hate you for delivering sucktastic customer service. You could at least explain to me WHY you will not give me multiple refills of my birth control at once without having my doctor rewrite my prescription” and it goes on. CVS should read carefully at all the complaints and understand if there is a trend in what people are whining about, and do something about it! On the other hand, CVS pharmacy created its own Facebook site. and although most comments are positive, even here, the posts are not all supportive, why? Because in social media consumers (and even employees) can say whatever they want! Just 40 minutes ago the company posted a wall note saying they would be open during thanksgiving day. They had a lot of “likes” but also got 6 comments criticizing them for forcing employees to work during the day when they should be with their families.


As a customer I can’t but love social media sites because they give me the power to express myself in a way that could make a difference. Before, all I could do was write a little comment on the suggestion box, send an angry letter which I never did because it would most likely be ignored, or I could call customer service and talk to someone that was usually as helpful as talking to a chair or table in my house. Now I can write things other customers will see and maybe, if I convince them, they will think twice before buying a certain product or service. But it isn’t all negative, I also take the effort to write about things, brands, and places I love, and hopefully people will also be intrigued and maybe their purchase intention will increase. I can tell for sure that I have been greatly influenced by consumer’s reviews and nowadays before I buy anything worth over $100, I go to blogs, consumer sites, etc. to check out what people think about the products and if there are too many “sucks” I will probably not buy that product.

A lot of people think all the criticism could hurt companies in the long run. I agree but I think smart companies will take the time to look at customer’s feedback and take action on it so they can hopefully get better feedback in the future. Companies have paid millions of dollars a year in trying to understand consumers. They pay for focus groups, ethnographies, interviews, etc. and of course, I’m not saying they should stop because these also give great insights into consumer minds. However, they have a FREE tool not only to connect with customers but also to better understand their needs and complaints and hopefully to improve upon their criticism. Social media is here to stay and companies should simply adapt to that fact and hopefully exploit the tool in their own benefit.

Do you know how YOU FEEL? Don’t worry, I WILL TELL YOU how you feel!

Don’t be surprised if you hear a marketer or advertiser trying to explain to you how YOU feel in the near future! They now have a new tool available that can actually tell you what your feelings are even better than you can sometimes articulate. The new field of study is called Neuromarketing. According to neuromarketingresearch.com, Neuromarketing is a combination of neuroscience, psychology and other cognitive science techniques that are used to study consumer responses to marketing stimuli. The technique uses brain scans, iris scans and heart rate tests among other things to see how people feel when presented with different products. To me it is interesting to think of an outside person telling me how I feel about something. For example, there have been occasions in which I try a new food and when asked if I liked it, I’m not sure if I did or not. Sometimes I just say “it’s different”. What does different mean? Is it good or bad? I can’t determine it myself but apparently, marketers can’t. Under a neuromarketing study, if I try the food and my heart rate goes up, that means I like it. I wonder how they are going to control for other elements such as the things that are going through my mind at that same moment, maybe my heart rate went up because I was thinking of the skydiving jump I did yesterday and not because of the food I just tried. Regardless of this potential drawback, neuromarketing is fascinating to me in the sense that we will now be able to understand consumers at a deeper level. Take the Campbell Soups’ example. It is obvious the company truly believes in this new method, as they recently changed their packaging and labeling based on neuromarketing result studies. A WSJ article explains that Campbell did a 2 year study in which they researched microscopic changes in skin moisture and heart rate among other things when consumers saw pictures of bowls of soup and different logos. These results led Campbell to change the size of their logo among other things.

One potential and very valid fear of most people regarding this technique is that marketers will now “be inside our brains”. If the information were to be misused it could be terrible, but for now it doesn’t seem as dangerous to people considering first and foremost that they can’t measure you if you don’t agree to it. The field is too new to judge and in any case it would be better for Washington to set the rules of the game in advance so they don’t need in the future to respond to a very preventable issue that definitely plays with the privacy of individuals.