I hope you will remember to join in with the next Unplugged Project. I would have emailed you personally about this, but I couldn’t find a contact link here on your blog. My main gripe with Blogger is that I don’t get to see anyone’s email address with their comment (unlike most other blogging platforms) so it makes me look like a rude blog hostess!

Normally I post a new topic each Monday and you can link to your post about it the following Monday (next week I will be away though, so this week’s project is “due” in two weeks). Hope you’ll join in!

NQCP - I’m en route to your page right now.

First, a look at costs - TV is much more, mucho more, oh so super more, expensive than other media. And actually not that great at zeroing in on the exact consumers most likely to buy one’s product.

The Internet, on the other hand, despite costs to run a website…which ain’t that much really…is much more effective. With the sophisticated metrics out there now..advertisers can really zero in on their target market.

Up until this last year or so though major marketers have been reluctant to spend too much on web advertising. A wait and see model prevails at the big consumer products companies…they’ve seen now.

This is really the banner year where many more dollars are being shifted from other media to the web and that includes advertising to children.
This means both advertising and PR dollars - to which any blogger who gets multiple solicitations a week to review products can attest.

Personally I think Webkinz are a little bizarre but from a marketing standpoint I think web advertising most assuredly must have been in the plan from the beginning. Come on! Why in the world would you create a product, a one time purchase product) that the key draw was a link to a web site and then support the web site without getting any more money from the consumer…it only makes sense from a marketing standpoint if ads were planned.

OK- I’m done…I think I’ll go write about this on my own blog…

BTW- I’m also going to do a little princess research for you too

I’m not a fan of the book fair in general, because I grew up with a single mom and our disposable income was next to nothing. I remember feeling sad and and loserish as so many kids bought stacks of books and I didn’t. It was just one more way to highlight the haves and the have-nots.

It’s a reasonable issue…

Here’s my wandering thought process:

A. What is their rational behind the 2nd need for income? No doubt it’s purely to grow their cash cow profits… but they HAD to know that people would find offense to it. In the customer’s eyes, they officially became a paying subscriber the minute they purchased the stuffy. And one of the unwritten understandings of web interactivity = paying subscribers shouldn’t have to be bombarded by ads. period. end of story.

So, what is the PR rational? How will they spin this? I understand that it can be pricey to retain a virtual world (staff especially)… and growth? Staying UP with the VW times (because I’ve seen some pre-beta VW’s that will be fantastic and much edgier than Webkinz). But Webkinz is doing QUITE well in the population department. So, what’s the dealio?

B. What will their AD policy be? Warning pages? Will they make it quite clear which are OUT of world ads, and which are webkinz cross-promotional ads? I ask this because– if you’ve been tooling around Neopets any time recently, you’d notice how badly they SUCK at Ad policy. I clicked a t-shirt button, thinking it was for my avatar, and was brought WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION out of the Neopet’s realm, to a IRL t-shirt shop that had skinned their page to look identical to Neopets… and I was TICKED. They’re going on my blog’s naughty list for the holidays (stay tuned). I find it more disgusting to be on kids websites that have such a low standard of ad policy than the idea of having it to begin with.

C. Ads are everywhere. They’re on just about every page. Why? It’s like the only real way (outside of subscriptions & microbuys) to make any income– and let’s be honest, with the time & effort needed to run a website, it’s not cheap. Billboards line highways, spam litters mailboxes, and ads adorn sites. They all suck. And it’s sad. But really… I can’t fight that because I do work in the industry and realize why such things are done. Blech. I hate to have said that. But, ads are just one of those things… like weeds in a garden, or morons on the highway.

Personally– it’s not the existence of ads, but the type of ads. Ads that are inappropriate for children should not be on or NEAR sites children may attend. Every site I’ve worked with has a 3 click policy– within three clicks of a page must be kid-friendly. It’s a toughie to follow because that’s a lot of constant maintenance (esp when google ads sometimes screw up and slip naughtiness into their links by accident). The decision to have ads to begin with is a HUGE decision. That’s a relationship you have to build with your ad departments & clients, etc., and maintain on a regular, attentive schedule.

D. I agree with the hatin’ on the ad on an ad idea. Which is why I’m glad people are standing up for what they believe in (campaign for an ad free childhood). But then, if you’re going to battle Webkinz… Disney is in that path too. Disney is an ad wrapped in an ad, dunked in an ad, soaked with ad, and regurgitated as an ad. And then it’s placed in another ad, which is incorporated into an ad, which is shown as an ad, which has an ad itself. Not too much said about that, right? I grew up a Disney-a-holic. Ate, drank, slept Disney.
It seems to be a horrible trend at the moment: like there.com’s new coke world. Pay to play in an ad. Weird.

E) But all in all it’s a choice. If webkinz has made this move, and we don’t like it– personally I move along. Webkinz isn’t that great to begin with. Their mainpage looks like a traffic accident of colors & ideas, and the tone in which they approach their audience is babyish and insulting. Their plus is the pet-user-care experience… it’s larger and has more opportunities than say… club penguin (which is sooooo yesterday, lol). Webkinz may currently be the pack leader of kid VWs, but I don’t think it will take much to pull them from the king-o-the-heap position. At least I hope not.

So, thems my apples. Really, I subscribe to all the opinions above equally, which is why I’ve remained mum on the subject. I’m waiting for one of the opinions to battle free– and mainly to hear how Webkinz spins their reasoning.

I hope some of that made some sense. LOL. My rambling ways can be a bit intense when I’m unsure of a rambling direction.

Hope all is well! Ciao for now. (p.s. great post– those two blogs you pointed to are fab… hope bossy’s daughter is okay! Bless her.)

I don’t envy your snow. I might have griped a little today that it was “only” 60 degrees. (In my defense, it FEELS cool after two weeks of 80 temps.) I spent about a third of my life in a snowy climate, and I can say with conviction: never again. I wouldn’t mind a day of snow — sledding, skiing, etc — but I don’t want to drive in it or shovel it or… you get the picture. I like snow best in photographs.