Weighing Advertising Cost vs. Perceived Value “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” –John Wanamaker. So, how do Realtors tell if they’re spending their precious marketing dollars wisely? It’s purely anecdotal, but here’s my test: I simply ask whether my intended audience’s perception of value...Read More
Target Turns Checkout Conveyor Belts Into Star Wars Ad In a world where there are now ads over men’s urinals (at many restaurants, movie theatres, etc.), you wouldn’t think that there’d be any new frontiers for new advertising venues.** Sadly, you’d be wrong. Inspired . . . and Not At least Target’s new advertising medium has...Read More
Double Whammy: Zillow’s Revenue, Realtors’ Expense* [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.] One of the biggest reasons that Zillow and Trulia — Websites that aggregate real estate listings and whose stocks are publicly-traded — make a...Read More
“Learn More About Your Followers” = Spend Ad Dollars on Twitter To figure out how much Twitter is worth, you need to know how many “Twitterers” (“Tweeters?” “Twits?”) will bite on the company’s email invitation to learn “more about their followers” and “what resonates with their followers to drive better engagements” (whatever that means — both phrases are excerpts from...Read More
2014 Election Inferences & Educated Guesses Like a lot of voters at this point, I’m mostly trying to tune out the barrage of political ads (thanks, DVR!). But, it’s possible to make inferences about various races based on where candidates are spending their precious, last-minute ad dollars. Exhibit A: ads by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker...Read More
“This Fourth Down Conversion Attempt Brought to You By [Your Company Name Here]” Inspired by the “Allstate Catch of the Day,” I’m going to see if the cable channel carrying the University of Minnesota football games will consider creating something called “The Ross Kaplan Extra Point Attempt” (I’m game if the price is right). If...Read More
