Lege
nd has it that in 1999 Samy Liechti attended a Japanese tea ceremony and, as is customary – and to Samy’s horror – he was obliged to remove his shoes. Samy’s two odd and embarassingly worn-out socks displayed his unkemptness for all present to see. Out of this was born the idea of the “sockscription”.
The Interview
Seán: What was it that caused you, pre-1999, to understand that online marketing was more than a passing fad and was an effective way of attracting and retaining customers for blacksocks.com?
In 1998 I was in charge for communication of the Swisscom IPO. So we talked a lot about the future of the internet. I worked on several online projects before BLACKSOCKS.COM therefore I was convinced that internet will be part of almost everybody’s life in future.
Seán: Your 2005 Swiss Marketing award was for “unconventional marketing.” What are some of the most innovative and effective uses of the Internet that you have encountered and/or used for blacksocks.com marketing?
Our concept was to make noise about BLACKSOCKS to generate world-of-mouth. So did a lot of story telling with new ideas. Like lovesocks for St. Valentin or the lifetime socksription as the very best investment in 2002.
Seán: Obviously there is more to the success of blacksocks.com – you don’t win Digital Lifetime Awards for mere online presence and you believe that marketing knowledge is a must-have. But what are your recommendations for companies looking for best practices and an approach to taking their marketing online?
Never do something you don’t understand. To learn about new stuff, make tests on a small scale.
Seán: What do you see as the shortcomings of current social media technologies?
Social media doesn’t work for all target groups. At the moment there is a huge hype but very little stuff that really works the way it was planned. The expectations are too high.
Seán: Companies often find themselves overwhelmed and looking for efficiencies through tools. What types of social media tools do you recommend? Is there a process for evaluation that you’d recommend?
It really depends what you want to do and what is the size of the company. We tested several. Right now we work with hootsuite.com.
The evolution of blacksock.com online 2002 - 2012 (courtesy of the Wayback Machine)
Seán: What are some of the biggest myths, misconceptions or outright misinformation you’ve seen about marketing online?
The first online marketeers told everybody that with online marketing people can measure the success. At the same time no body ever had the idea of measuring the success of a single billboard.
Seán: How are you measuring the success of your online marketing initiatives? Who is accountable for their success or failure? What metrics are most important to you?
The most important number is customer life time value. Since 2008 we know for every single customer from where he came from and how much he spend with us.
Seán: What’s the most important change in marketing over the past year? Any surprises? What are you most optimistic about for online marketing in 2012?
Click through rates dropped over time a lot. Our very first online display campaign had a click through rate of more than 25%
Seán: What other companies, particularly Swiss companies, do you think are doing a good job online?
I don’t know.
Seán: Today you sell a lot more than just black socks – without giving too much away, what’s next for blacksocks.com?
The future is hard to predict.
So there we go – some good insights from Samy, but not giving too much away!. Strands wishes BLACKSOCKS.COM all the best in the future.
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