I’m pretty sure there are some consultants out there who are telling big, clueless companies that the way to engage with their audience is to engage with them on an interactive, emotional level. I imagine them saying “let’s bolt a few social features onto the product and engage with the MySpace generation.” Those consultants convinced Sprint to launch possibly the dumbest website I’ve seen all year: users fill out a survey and are told which cell phone fits their lifestyle the best.
And now those consultants have conned Epson into doing the same thing on a new site called Epsonality. They ask questions like “You come across a bear in the woods, what do you do?” and “you find $199.99 lying on the ground, what do you do?” and use your answers to somehow determine the right printer for you. All in a sick, highly personalized Flash interface.
My perfect emotional printer partner is, apparently, the Epson C120:
You’re an intense, type A-plus with lower-than-average printer patience and a “go, go, go, come one, come on, come on” attitude toward everything from your Internet connection to your microwave oven. You value one thing above all else and the C120 delivers it: blazing speed.
Wow Epson. You nailed me, and I’m a customer for life. Except that I’m not, and never will be. You win the lamest website of the week award and join Sprint as a brand that I will never purchase. The reason? The last time I bought one of your printers the software screwed it up so badly I had to reformat the hard drive just to get it to work again. Since then, I’ve stuck with HP’s.
Fire the consultants, stop trying to be a conversational marketer and just get back to the basics.
Or build a Facebook application. Now that would be cool.
Mike, what the hell is this? Uncov envy or something?
I don’t like companies who bolt social features onto whatever it is that they do and hope that they’ll have a higher ROI on their marketing expense. The consultants who are pitching this crap should be called on it.
….”Or build a Facebook application. Now that would be cool.”
Haha, I love it.
Next time, just summarize your post with: FAIL.
I agree with you, Mike.
I bought an Epson printer too once, the drivers crashed my laptop.
i should have backed up my data with an online data storage co.
epson…
“…f’n bitch”
I’m pretty sure!?? Thats quite a lot of words about something you dont know about. Dont you have any interesting stories that you are sure about?
All in a sick, highly personalized Flash interface.
Yo dog, don’t you mean slick interface G?
I hope clown co’s do continue to build useless websites that will keep
wall streetusers engaged. It is so much more fun to make fun of them and point out all their flaws. Besides, without low quality facebook social networking wannabes you would be writing to an empty blog.that was quite a blow to epson. I truly think HP is best when it comes to the printers
Yep, Epson could have probably thought that one through a little more.
I hate to say it (no, really I don’t) but this site really isn’t that much worse than about 60% of the Web 2.0-y stuff that is slapped together with AJAX, Adsense, Arrogance and A-maginary business models.
At least I found myself vaguely entertained by this.
Based on popular demand as there are many who think the “Epsonality” test is way too hard, here are the correct answers:
1)
Q: Something about the bear and printing question
A: Who cares
2)
Q: $199.99 left in the trail and printing question
A: Seriously, who cares
3)
Q: two forks and something about printing question
A: B
HEHEHEH… Mike’s got lamest problem. He couldn’t deal with human resource at Epson company.
Epson installing driver detect mike’s HD. They find numerous porn pics and animal pics. It’s wonderful to become Christian again.
Hahahah… Mike lost best files, Games, saving page, porns, and picture of rosie o donnell pics.
@9
What you just described in a condescending manner is basically your own site
What’s wrong with you? I like the site. It’s entertaining. Maybe you should turn off your computer once a day and look at other things.
Best wishes,
Ringelnatz
I thought the Epson site was vaguely amusing.
I find many, many of the “me too” web services that are put together recently are not. If you want some examples and good reasons, drop me a line.
This is little more than my opinion, which I am entitled to.
Then again, I guess your comment — which I am hoping is based on something a little more solid than the convenience of turning an argument around on a comment you find distasteful (and 15 seconds of scanning a link) — is your right as well.
If you thought I was being a bit too general, I am more than willing to discuss the idea at length with you. Thanks for the feedback.
Marketing is now about selling lifestyles, not products. And apparently there are plenty of morons who want to buy them.
I agree such websites are futile and their stupidity should be highlighting!
They deserve all the negative publicity they can (and most probably are) getting.
memo to Steve Hodson:
http://www.winextra.com/2007/1.....book-apps/
yeah, I was kidding about the facebook app sentence at the end. I was being sarcastic.
Agree with you, completely useless website. I’ve just done the test because I’ve read your post, I don’t see any reason why someone would take this test unless he read this post.
There are seldom one marketing tool for everyone.
May be that there is a whole segment out there into this type of webplay? Clearly, not for everybody.
I like Mike’s after midnight posts
Stop posting drunk mike, your hate always comes out, overboard….i mean, who could really hate EPSON this much..? not worth it.
Why did you even consider an Epson printer in the first place? Why EVER deviate from HP? Every Epson printer I have seen was a POS, and I don’t mean Point Of Sale…
Buying an Epson printer is like buying a Yugo car. You get what you paid for, minus some.
hei.
I love my epson printer,
I bought the Epson Stylus Photo R270 to print high uality images
and its amazing, not fast, not cheap,not as durable but has a print quality i never got from HP products.
I agree such websites are futile and their stupidity should be highlighting!
They deserve all the negative publicity they can (and most probably are) getting.
I’m pretty sure!?? Thats quite a lot of words about something you dont know about. Dont you have any interesting stories that you are sure about?
My particular reason for never again buying Epson: If the color ink runs out the printer won’t work, even if you are printing an all-black-ink document.
All the printer companies are in this horrible game of selling cheap printers to get you hooked on overpriced ink, but Epson seems the most flagrant about it.
I think that this post is way off the mark. I found myself giggling going through the test. You have to take it for what it is — a pretty well casted interactive commercial. It’s NOTHING like the Sprint campaign.
But Mike, they DID nail your personality 100%… Give them some credit at least. If I didn’t know better I’d swear you’re being grouchy and letting your mood influence your work.
Wow, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. There’s nothing remotely “social” about this website. It’s your basic printer selector dressed up in pseudo-Euro Ikeaness. Drill down and the questions are just (1) what do you want to print, (2) how much do you want to spend, and (3) multi-function or not? Go to HP’s website and you’ll get the same thing in boring HP business-speak.
I like Epsons, but that’s because HP’s photo printers suck.
Mike:
The software is obviously pretty basic if it did not include the assessment that you have a HUGE ego and like to try to throw your weight around since just about everybody picked on you as a kid.
If the software could not quickly ascertain something so fundamental about you Mike, it certainly could not suggest a printer for you!
Isn’t Epson also the company that wants all ink cartridges to be cryptographically signed and if a third-party dares to produce a compatible cartridge they can sue for DMCA violations? I guess the most desirable “Epsonality” would be “loves paying Chanel No. 5 prices for ink.”
My Epson printers uses up tons of ink each time I turn it on (not even printing anything yet). I won’t buy one unless they fix this problem.
And they’d rather spend money on this type of sites? Gosh
hah mikew, Mr Arrington doesn’t even have half the sarcastic wit of the Uncov crew, in case the title of this posting itself didn’t make that clear to you.
I decided 4 years ago to never ever again purchase an Epson printer because of their evil engineering. maybe the scam is only happening on a consumer level, but regardless i will never endorse those fuckers!
Xerox laser for the win!
Well, those surveys are popular with lost young people that don’t believe in anything. Taking a survey, getting a “magic” answer, like going to a palm reader, psychic friend, etc.
Im waiting for the Epsonality Dating site, so I can find a person with the same type of Epsonality as me.
Wow, decaf.
What ever happened to the good old days of hating things cuz they sucked? If Lexmark had a web site that was the second best thing since air, we’d be dancing around throwing flowers at each other?
You’ve been hanging around cranky, narrow-focused geeks too much.
(Naturally Ad Rants could have posted this and we’d be throwing flowers at them, but then, we expect them to talk about this)
At the end of the day, slap some HPs in my office and some Epsons in my art studio, and my socks are sufficiently rocked. Canon, while I love your cameras, can go to hell. And Lexmark? Haha, riiiight.
I took the test. It was stupid, but it was fun. And who doesn’t like fun?
Well, okay, so apparently quite a few people don’t like fun. But anything that makes me smile is arrright by me. If this is a stupid website, then bring on the stupid websites!
Mike, now all that’s missing is the banner ad for Epson’s printers.
I switched to Sprint two years ago when they rolled out EVDO in Los Angeles. I was hesitant to give up the freedom that came with a GSM network (T-Mobile at the time), but have never regretted it. EVDO is truly great, and it is cheap. Sprint should bundle EVDO with an unlimited texting plan and just simply market it without the hip branding BS.
Nice hatchet job, and well deserved.
It kind of takes away from the impact, though, when your next post is irony-free praise (as far as I can tell) for a facebook app about adopting aliens.
I don’t have time to visit the epson site, but how can it be worse than the social networking sites? Social networking is inane. The sites consist of morans spewing out drivel all day.
For proof, just look at what the brilliant minds on the Ronald Lewis site linked on comment #12 are giving us:
2. 12:46 rebeccajoy: It’s uncommon?
3. 12:46 drpepper: he’s probably a fat 15 year old kid w zits on his ass, in real life
4. 12:46 rebeccajoy: No
5. 12:46 drpepper: nah, becca, it’s common..
6. 12:46 rebeccajoy: Skype is video chat
7. 12:46 rebeccajoy: for the both of us
8. 12:47 drpepper: becca….
9. 12:47 rebeccajoy: Yes?
10. 12:47 drpepper: i was telling ron today, a friend of mine met his wife through match.com …
11. 12:47 drpepper: so, it’s like normal shit to do…
12. 12:47 drpepper: i mean, you’re not a freak, i don’t think
13. 12:47 drpepper: but you still have to prove it
14. 12:47 rebeccajoy: lol, Ok
15. 12:48 drpepper: sloppy joe time, bitchess…
16. 12:48 drpepper: i’ll probably be back
17. 12:48 rebeccajoy: Enjoy
18. 12:50 rebeccajoy: I agree. Some people just look down on it.
19. 12:50 rebeccajoy: *cough* my mother!
20. 12:50 ronaldlewis: ?
21. 12:50 ronaldlewis: your mom is around?
22. 12:50 rebeccajoy: She doesn’t understand it
23. 12:50 ronaldlewis: oh
24. 12:50 ronaldlewis: lol
25. 12:51 rebeccajoy:
26. 12:52 rebeccajoy: How old were you?
27. 12:53 rebeccajoy: lol, Yeah
28. 12:54 rebeccajoy: lol
29. 12:56 rebeccajoy: I understand.
30. 12:58 rebeccajoy: another country
31. 12:58 rebeccajoy: He’s coming to NY and LA in the next week
32. 1:02 ronaldlewis: another country?
33. 1:02 ronaldlewis: wtf?
34. 1:02 ronaldlewis: He doesn’t live in North America?
35. 1:02 rebeccajoy: No
36. 1:02 rebeccajoy: Do you have AIM?
37. 1:03 rebeccajoy: He wants to move here.
38. 1:04 ronaldlewis: yeah
39. 1:04 ronaldlewis: i have AIM
40. 1:04 ronaldlewis: ronaldl12
41. 1:05 rebeccajoy: lol, Who doesn’t use AIM? Am I out of the loop?
42. 1:05 ronaldlewis: I don’t use AIM very often
43. 1:06 rebeccajoy: I wish I could tell you who it is.
44. 1:07 ronaldlewis: becca
45. 1:07 rebeccajoy: Ohh, wait
46. 1:08 ronaldlewis: i’m on AIM
47. 1:08 rebeccajoy: ?
48. 1:08 rebeccajoy: musicfed89
49. 1:08 rebeccajoy: It doesn’t say you’re online.
50. 1:08 rebeccajoy: Well, not AIM
51. 1:08 rebeccajoy: I’m on iChat
52. 1:34 drpepper: toddscott1979
Can we have more social networking, please? I just can’t get enough of it.
See? I spelled morons wrong. I blame social networking for that, too.
so this is a horrible idea, but an adopt an alien facebook application is a good idea??
right.
I have to agree — you’re off the mark on this one. It’s clearly not social networking, and the site is pretty slickly built. The novelty factor may be a little high, but the rattlesnake and bear questions…? you have to admit, that’s funny.
‘fire all the consultants’
..more likely they hired some clueless, high-priced ad agency for this type of work.
clueless, high-priced consultants usually get hired for ‘back-end’ needs that they can milk for years to come…
Sprint Wireless Broadband (EV-DO Rev. A) is just great! Just because Sprint or Epson or whichever company had a marketing screwup, you shouldn’t make conclusions on their product/service quality. But I agree that Epson’s website is one of those screwups.
/me is still giggling about the Aliens.
Memo to Michael Arrington
thanks for the clarification - I had a feeling that you were but I still think but the fact is that companies are treating Facebook as a craze and the pressure to be app’itized within the Facebook garden seems to gaining steam.
I won’t speculate if the Epson gimmick is slick or lame. But they are attempting to execute a very common consumer product tactic, which is to create a backward emotional linkage from product to person.
This marketing tactic attempts to reflect on the personality of the buyer (if Epson actually matches any of the web site’s visitor personalities is a different matter). People develop a buying preference for products that reflect their (desired) self-image. Thus, if Epson is coming remotely close to rephrasing part of the visitor’s personality, they will tend to develop an emotive association to Epson, and possibly the selected printer.
If you have any doubts about this process, rewind your mental video tape to the old “I want to teach the world to sing” Coke commercial. This was a naked attempt to appeal to the average person’s self-perception of the period — of being part of larger, peaceful, global community (sure, balderdash, but that was the vibe of the time). Viewers saw themselves in the ad and developed a deeper association with that brand of soda pop.