Once again the media is spewing its bullshit. By turning events into “crises” the media draws attention to itself, and earns a nice little profit from the increased viewership/listenership/readership.
Since about 2000, the marketing establishment has been engaged in creating phony crises based on flimsy evidence, questionable assertions, and exaggerated claims:
- The death of traditional advertising
- The death of television the death of
- The “interruption model”
- The end of mass marketing
- The enthusiasm of consumers for “interacting” with advertising the miracle of social media
- The move of Black Friday to online
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]The more they can convince us that everything is changing — and we need them to interpret the changes — the longer they stay employed[/inlinetweet]. And so they have created an avalanche of exaggerated claims and dire warnings that gain them attention and a nice little profit from the increased viewership/listenership/readership.
The latest propaganda is that Black Friday, at retail stores, was a bust as everyone did their shopping online. So let’s dissect flimsiest evidence..
1ne: Kantar Retail finds “Black November” a more fitting description for an ever longer, increasingly online shopping holiday. Fewer shoppers see the day’s deals as unique and increased numbers of them report that the day is no longer the big post-Thanksgiving tradition it once was. In the struggle to gain a larger share of shopper dollars during the holiday season, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]retailers of all stripes have extended their Black Friday savings in two directions-both earlier and later in the month[/inlinetweet]
2wo: Due to changing shopper expectations and retailers’ own timing tactics, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Black Friday is becoming less important as an individual shopping holiday; instead, it is being absorbed into the larger holiday season.[/inlinetweet]
3hree: Even though online sales increased when looking at total retail sales for the holiday season ecommerce will still be just a small part.
4our: Macy’s CEO said there was higher traffic inside Macy’s flagship Herald Square location in New York, when compared with last year. In fact, by Thanksgiving afternoon, long lines of people were already forming outside of Target, Best Buy and J.C. Penney locations, among other retailers. “There is exceptional traffic,” Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, told CNBC.
Remember that the journalists objective when writing their stories is to get you take notice so you visit their site. However, people who think first can see thru this bullshit.
