Viral Marketing

Most of it sucks right? How sweet is this though?

Is it wrong to love Starbucks?

I don't generally think of myself as a brand or trend-whore. But every now and then there is something which completely runs in the face of this desired self-perception (in addition to my North Face fleece, my Jack Spade bag, my JCrew clothing, etc.) Take, for example, Starbucks. I love it. The coffee, the specialty drinks, the environment, the music/movie/lifestyle recommendations. It is great.

And I love the new campaign around the idea of "making it yours", especially the ability to create your own custom-drink artwork - with the help of Michael Knight from Project Runway fame, not Night Rider. Not only can you create your cup, but you can then download the artwork as your screen saver and even win a free t-shirt of your cup if you are one of the first people every morning starting at 10:00 AM! How sweet is that? Or is it sweet? What is wrong with me? Would I really walk around with a t-shirt advertising what a high-maintenance cappuccino-orderer I am?

DailyCandy Inside Scoop - Shop at Wal-Mart!

It has only been 5 months...

So on January 23rd DailyCandy sent a Dedicated ("Sponsored") email on behalf of Wal-Mart. It suggested Wal-Mart is the place to go to get all of your Super Bowl party supplies.

Now I completely accept and indeed respect the site's need to monetize their business and have had no problems as they have added ads to their daily emails and sent these dedicated emails. I think it is smart and occassionaly I find the sponsors info relevant.

The Wal-Mart email is ridiculous however. I have no specific issues with Wal-Mart, but you couldn't find a brand more counter to what Daily Candy is about. People subscribe to DailyCandy to learn about new stuff, to get the secret inside scoop. Wal-Mart, as the largest retailer in the world, couldn't be more opposite to this objective.

Shilling for Wal-Mart undermines their expertise. At least a P&G ad might be for an interesting new product. Wal-Mart for my super bowl party? It just isn't believable and offers absolutely no value.

But actually, isn't the bigger issuer why the hell Wal-Mart thinks the DailyCandy reader is their target audience? Give me a break! I appreciate Wal-Mart wants to move a bit upscale, but they are smokin' some cheeba-cheeba down in Bentonville. You aren't Target and you aren't going to be! Upgrade your quality, but don't think you will ever - let alone overnight - be trend-right! Ultra-trend consumers, like those who read DailyCandy, aren't your core customers and never will be. Save your money.