Comments on: Billy Mays: If All You Remember is the Voice, You’re Missing Out.

By: Henry

Henry — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:23:17 +0000

excellent post
thank you very much
As far as i am concerned,testimonials can be a good way to show products’ value.

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Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:18:26 +0000

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By: Red, White & Roundup | zbTech.net

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:41:21 +0000

Derek,

Thanks for the response. Please know I’m a huge fan of Zappos and am usually very impressed with all of your online retailing and marketing efforts – which is why your video efforts stood out in such stark contrast.

While it was clear that the videos I saw were attempting to showcase an offbeat sense of humor and attitude, it seemed like that was taking precedence over showcasing the product itself. Give me whacky personality in ADDITION TO the product info, and I’m thrilled. Give me whacky personality INSTEAD OF product info, and I’d rather be watching Letterman. As it was, the information that was conveyed was not any more extensive than the manufacturer-supplied bullet points and the video images weren’t really any better than your static photos. Even if you can’t show the shoes in action, maybe you can dig up additional info about the product and get some more zoomed-in close-ups.

At any rate, thanks again for the response.

- Jeff

By: Derek F.

Derek F. — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:23:26 +0000

Thank you so much for your input with respect to our video descriptions as we are constantly trying to improve the video content. This department is in it’s infancy we are always looking for new ways to show the product.

At this time we have started adding some shots of the shoes on actual feet to give our customers an idea of what the shoe will look like on their feet. Not all of our products will have this in the video description but we are going to do our best to include all that we can.

As much as we would like to show each item in action, the majority of the products are our actual inventory. If we did this, we would make that particular item unsellable.

We have the video descriptions not only for our customers to view the product, but to get a look into the culture we have here at Zappos. We want to show our customers that we are fun and weird and the video descriptions allow us to give personality to our products.

Constructive criticism is always welcome, but our company’s goals and objectives are probably different than most. It is sad that Billy Mays passed away and we hope that others can learn from his great abilities. Thanks again for your input and if there is anything else we can do please do not hesitate to ask!

Derek F.
Zappos.com
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By: jack hamilton

jack hamilton — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:55:20 +0000

So glad you put your thoughts about Billy out there. Having done many a consumer trade shoe snf having heard both good and bad pitchmen, I have to say that Billy really did stand head and shoulders above the rest. Billy will be sorely missed by millions of us who shared our living rooms with him every day, learning from Billy the miracles of Oxy Clean, or Orange Glo, or any of the other products he’d pitch us through our televisions. He really did know how to reach people and how to give them what they needed to make an instant buying decision. He masterfully used his authenticity and passion for the products he pitched to enroll, engage, and activate us like few others have or ever will. It’s so sad that he left us so early, but it’s great to see someone recognize him for the talent that he was.
Thanks so much.
J

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Red, White & Roundup | Byte Right Domains — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:06:26 +0000

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Red, White & Roundup | Did You Know? — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:32:05 +0000

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By: David

David — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:52:40 +0000

I loved Billy Mays for the same reasons and I’m heartbroken that he’s gone.
Malcolm Gladwell actually went into great detail on the subject of demonstrability, in the context of Ron Popeil, another of the great pitchmen. If you haven’t read this profile, you must: http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_10_30_a_pitchman.htm

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Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:41:44 +0000

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:27:04 +0000

Bob,

Testimonials can indeed be a good way to demonstrate a products value as customers will often talk about how the product performed in action as well as how it performed over time – something that regular web copy/pictures often fail at.

Unfortunately, you don’t always have great testimonials to work with. But you can always produce better copy/pictures/video.

- Jeff

By: Gino Carpio

Gino Carpio — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:31:22 +0000

nice nice entry! inspiring!

By: Bob Chieffo

Bob Chieffo — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:22:21 +0000

I wonder if detailed testimonials would also be a good way to demonstrate the product’s value – or does that have have a “rigged” feel to it too?

By: Audio Bible

Audio Bible — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:44:22 +0000

Good article Jeff. I caught the show Pich Men once, I thought I would use it as a learning experience, to see what I could pick up from the pros.

Because aren’t we after all, all pitch men for our own product and website?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:54:09 +0000

John,

Great point! And if you watch any episodes of the TV series, you’ll find that Billy really did test the snot out of a product to make sure it worked as advertised. And he did that *before* he would be willing to produce the infomercial. Billy came off as confident and sincere because he was.

- Jeff