COVID-19: marketing and advertising in Italy

The number of advertising campaigns and e-mail communications that, more or less directly, use the COVID-19 as a narrative element is increasing. I don’t “name names” because I’m interested in trying to classify the strategies adopted by the various advertising agencies and by the “DIY-marketing-experts” rather than “giving votes” to this or that essay in business hypocrisy. Continue reading “COVID-19: marketing and advertising in Italy”

The Zeiss Case. Does Interacting with the “People of the Web” Is Still a Viable Marketing Strategy?

The Zeiss case is an opportunity to analyze one of the most rooted clichés in the world of digital marketing: the one according to which an effective communication strategy must “listen to the reactions of the “people of the web”.

In theory, the concept is not wrong: keeping the “sentiment” of users under control is a way to understand – and manage – the liking of a product or service. In practice, however, this translates into having to follow the reactions of anyone who shouts enough to be heard, even if they have never bought – and never will buy – a particular product. The “Zeiss case” is a paradigmatic example of this paradoxical condition in which a company is “hostage” to perfect strangers. Continue reading “The Zeiss Case. Does Interacting with the “People of the Web” Is Still a Viable Marketing Strategy?”