The Ding Heard ‘Round the Marketing World

It’s not the first branded desktop application to be used for marketing purposes, but it has certainly struck a chord with consumers and marketers alike.

DING, a simple, little desktop application used by Southwest Airlines to stimulate more ticket sales, has worked so well for the Dallas-based company that it’s only a matter of time before others follow suit – if they haven’t already – and launch similar initiatives of their own.

In an article in DM News on December 5, 2005, Christine Blank wrote, “Online research firm Compete Inc., Boston, found that DING users are 45 percent more likely to book tickets through Southwest than the average visitor to Southwest.com. Sales driven through the services are estimated at $60 million a year.”

“More than 900,000 consumers have downloaded the free application, which sits in the computer user’s system tray and delivers daily offers exclusive to DING users, since it launched in February [of 2005],” according to Blank.

And then, less than a month after the DM News article appeared, the Boston Herald reported that office supplies retail behemoth Staples “is spreading its marketing efforts from the television screen to the computer screen after launching another installment yesterday [January 1, 2006] of the Easy Button series complete with a downloadable icon for computer desktops.”

“Staples’ logo joins a myriad of marketers jockeying for position on computer screens,” wrote Jesse Noyes in a January 2 Herald article (“Getting in Your Face, Desktop Marketing Taking Off”). “Desktop applications, ranging from games and online links to wallpapers and screen savers, are gaining popularity with brands looking to build awareness among consumers that extends beyond the traditional 30-second TV spot.”

Reinventing the Wheel

Sounds like somebody’s been reading Joe Jaffe‘s excellent, new book, “Life After the 30-Second Spot,” in which the “new marketing” consultant warns the old-schoolers among us that they had better adapt to the rapidly changing times and reinvent the wheel — or else.

In this case, Staples (like Southwest) is clearly ahead of the curve, bringing its phenomenally popular Easy Button campaign to a computer screen near you. Once downloaded, the button will link customers directly to the Staples Web site, where they can shop online for all the office products they need.

Desktop marketing such as this is the concept of permission marketing – the process of promoting the sales of products and services to prospects who have explicitly agreed in advance to receive marketing messages – squared.

After all, what could be better than having your constituents not just willingly, but actively – proactively, even – participating in the sales process?

Engendering Brand Loyalty

A branded desktop application can go a long way towards engendering loyalty among your target audience and increasing their lifetime value – not just incrementally, but many times over – to you.

Think how much time most of us spend every single day in front of our computer screens, and how we’re practically beholden to the applications that have been granted a permanent residence there.

AOL. Internet Explorer. Norton AntiVirus. QuickTime. Adobe Reader. Imagine what it would be like for your brand to keep company with these desktop icons. (Never mind desktop or permission marketing — this is “right in front of your face” marketing!) Imagine how you could use your own DING or Easy Button.

If you were a magazine publisher, you could let your readers know when it was time to renew their subscriptions.

If you were a nonprofit organization, you could get in touch with your donors instantly when disaster — or any kind of emergency — struck.

If you were a retailer, you could notify shoppers when you were having a sale.

If you were a bank, you could warn customers when their balances were running low.

And if you were a blogger like me, you could rest assured knowing that your subscribers would know when you’ve written another new post.

Your own DING or Easy Button would serve as a virtual alarm clock for your audience, a Pavlovian-like call-and-response tool.

Okay, so getting people to download and click on your own desktop application would probably not be that easy. But, like it or not, in this day and age, all of us marketing, advertising and PR pros should be at least thinking like those who thought of DING and the Easy Button — or else.

Google+