While scanning the latest issue of Dwell Magazine this morning I saw an interesting CaesarStone sink that might work in our new bathroom. So I went to the advertised web page to find the "all-new Embellish collection". Nothing. I saw the CaeserStone in a store last week and they didn’t have this new kind. I really want more info. Hmmm. If it’s "all new" maybe there’s something in the "Latest News" tab. Nope. So I click on the "Products" tab. Still nothing about Embellish. I see that there’s a toll-free number in the ad, but it’s the weekend and tomorrow I’ve got other things to do.
I know how this happens. Launches are checklists of independent activities executed by people who rarely talk to each other. The agency people did some interesting creative and submitted the ad before the print deadline. Check. The web people built a page that shows the new product. Check. If anyone at CaesarStone had been thinking about me, the target customer, they would have built a web landing page that took me through the next step in my process. Plus the company would have had at least one way of telling if their ad was effective.
What a waste, and yet so common. If I had a penny for every company that does "checklist" marketing, I would never have to look for an affordable sink.