marketing Archives - SLee and Topher

Last week, Amazon announced its very own tablet to the market: the Kindle Fire. Similar to other tablets already available to consumers, yet with a very Amazon-ish spin, the Kindle Fire has received extra notice because of its low price point.

Though it is arguably less powerful or functional than its main competitor — Apple’s iPad — the Kindle Fire carries a price tag of only $199, a full $300 cheaper than the iPad. Moreover, Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire at a loss. Estimates vary, but it seems that Amazon is losing at least $10 per unit.

The Method Behind the Amazon Kindle Fire Madness

Of course Amazon is doing everything it can to get its tablet into as many hands as possible. As a late-comer on the tablet scene, Amazon has some ground to cover if it hopes to gain some of the market share, and one part of this goal necessarily includes the price.

But selling units is just the beginning. Losing money on the device itself is not a winning business model if that’s all Amazon were trying to do. Certainly, this is not Amazon’s end goal.

Borrowing the Console Video Gaming Business Model

I’m not privy to any insider information, but it seems apparent from the outside what Amazon is up to. Similar to the strategy of console video gaming businesses — such as Microsoft’s Xbox or Sony’s PlayStation — Amazon is creating a system with the Kindle Fire that will generate more sales and revenue from their other products.

For years console video game businesses have been selling their consoles — very expensive, high-tech pieces of equipment — at cost or cheaper and then making up their loss in the game sales (the price for a new release for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 is currently $59.99). These business minimize the barrier to entry with drastically discounted hardware, creating a highly targeted group of customers who will buy the games for these consoles for years after.

Amazon is clever to realize the potential of this model in the tablet market. In its marketing copy, Amazon emphasizes the ease of accessing movies, TV shows, music, magazines, and books from the Kindle Fire — additional services that are all offered from Amazon. With an Android-powered OS, there are tons of apps available for the Kindle Fire, also available for purchase through Amazon. By ushering customers into “Amazon Land,” the Kindle Fire practically creates a captive audience for more Amazon products.

Moving beyond the basics of the console video game model, Amazon has the ability to increase the precision of its marketing with its proprietary web browser: Amazon Silk. For consumers, Amazon Silk is supposed to create a faster, more powerful web browsing experience; but for Amazon, users of the Silk browser stoke the marketing fire with the fuel of browsing data, which (despite any promises of anonymization) will surely be used by Amazon to refine their marketing strategies.

The Wave of the Future?

Though this model isn’t new, this is the first time that it’s been used in the tablet industry. And if it’s successful for Amazon Kindle Fire, I wonder how long it will be before others start to follow suit. Will we start seeing Apple tablets priced below cost? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Brand Your Blog

What is blog branding? It’s very similar to product branding. It’s a way of ensuring that your readers remember the look and feel of your blog, as well as its name and purpose. Blog branding firmly entrenches your blog into the memory of the internet, thus establishing its presence. Here are 15 ways to brand your blog.

1. CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR BLOG’S PURPOSE

Clearly defining your blog’s purpose helps you stick to a topic, gives you ideas for posts and defines and narrows keyword scope for SEO. What a clear purpose also does is to set you apart as unique from other blogs in your niche area. Highlight your blog’s purpose on your About page and refer to it in your posts.

2. CREATE A MISSION STATEMENT

Create a mission statement that states what your blog represents. This lets your visitors know why they’re visiting your blog and how your blog is worth their time. Highlight your mission statement after your blog title, in emails, in your comment signature and so on. Your aim is to make people associate your mission statement with your blog and vice versa.

3. CHOOSE A UNIQUE COLOR COMBINATION

Think of any product line or company; what colors snap to mind? Or, think of a color combination; which organization or product snaps to mind? Transfer this concept to your blog. Use a unique color combination and ensure that this same combination is repeated in your posts, newsletters, personal emails, digital signature and so on. The color combo becomes synonymous with your blog.

4. CHOOSE AN ORIGINAL BLOG DESIGN

An original design can do great wonders for your blog’s branding. Find a design that distinguishes your blog from the thousands of other blogs out there. It’s a good idea to create your own design; you can customize your colors, add custom blog headers and footers and design new fonts.

5. PICK AN ORIGINAL NAME FOR YOUR BLOG

Pick an original name that reflects your blog’s content and its purpose. If possible, get a .com extension for your blog, as this is the most common one. If you are not able to do so, indicate the extension when you mention your blog name. Keep your blog’s name short, easy to remember, easy to spell and niche-relevant.

6. PUBLICIZE YOUR BLOG

Popularize your blog on sites such as Technorati and StumbleUpon, get backlinks, post comments on other blogs and send out email newsletters. Guest blogging is a great way to bring visitors in to your site. This not only raises awareness, but also earns you links. Guest blogging is also a great way to showcase those writing skills!

7. POST IDENTIFIABLE COMMENTS

When you post comments on other blogs, make sure you mention your name, followed by your blog’s name in the Name field. Be consistent about this. Soon your comments will be easily identified by your name and your blog’s name. You get more search engine credit this way.

8. STICK TO A CONSISTENT WRITING STYLE

The way you write is one of the main parameters that visitors use to determine the overall quality of your blog. A consistent writing style will help you strength your blog’s brand. Decide on a style and stick to it so that people know what to expect when they see a post from you. The writing style fits in with the blog’s branding just as much as other elements do.

9. DON’T CHANGE YOUR TAGLINE

A tagline is not mandatory but helps to stick your blog in people’s memories. Create a descriptive, short, catchy and easy to remember tagline. Start using it consistently with your posts. Don’t experiment with a bunch of taglines on your posts before you finalize on one; you’ll only lose out on branding mileage if you do so. Add the tagline to your website’s tag, so that the tagline is displayed prominently whenever your blog is displayed on search engine results.

10. DESIGN A GREAT BLOG LOGO

A great logo represents your blog visually, just as a country is represented by its flag. Your logo might require a certain amount of investment; even if you have to scrimp on other investments, make the logo your priority. Your logo will be the first thing that people see and the image they’ll recall later.

11. DESIGN A UNIQUE FAVICON

Design a favicon using your logo and the initials of your blog’s name. Your favicon appears on your user’s bookmark, which makes them recognize your blog site immediately.

12. LET YOUR BLOG’S DESIGN FLOW WITH ITS CONTENT

Match your blog’s content with its design and vice versa. It’s incongruous to blog on race cars on a background of flowers or landscape scenes. If you’re providing serious news, opt for a traditional design. If you are blogging about celebrities, use interesting celebrity collages on your borders.

13. POPULARIZE YOUR BLOG’S NAME ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

Create accounts for your blog on various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and FriendFeed and so on. Getting your brand within social networks is like advertising in the front page of all dailies in the world. Even if you are a well known figure, create social networking accounts on your blog’s name.

14. SPLURGE A LITTLE ON ADVERTISING YOUR BLOG

A paid promotional effort, added to all the above efforts, can put your blog on the map more quickly and effectively. Evaluate your budget constraints and decide how much advertising you can afford. By using paid advertising, you can deliver tailored messages to specific audiences.

15. SPREAD THE WORD

Use your blog’s name and your logo in as many places as you possibly can. This has the same psychological impact as product advertising has. Advertisers barrage the public with a repeated image and message for months, to get people to instantly recognize the product. Input your logo, your mission statement, your blog’s name and URL into your email signatures, guest post bylines, online forums, Ad banners and so on.

This has been a guest post by David. David works for conversion rate optimization Company and helps businesses in landing page optimization, conversion optimizations and affiliate marketing.

If you are interested in contributing a guest post, please contact us.

Top image by Acradenia

Marketing Secret: Why the Amazon Kindle Fire is Sold Below Cost