Any talk of privacy and appropriate advertising leads us to ponder one of online direct marketing's greatest vehicles, our long-lost friend the flog. We wish we had insight into the current size of the flog market, but not surprisingly, there is an inverse correlation between writing about the market, even when trying to be positive, and companies' willingness to share information. It doesn't take inside knowledge to know, though, that it has taken a severe hit. For those that have somehow missed our coverage of the space, throughout the past 18 months, we have chronicled the boom and now bust of one version of an online advertorial. The flog solved one of the hardest challenges facing online marketers, the click to sale of an unbranded, unknown item. By inserting a page that looked and felt like a site of authority, from blogs to news sites, it allowed users to feel comfortable enough and persuaded to the point of agreeing to a free trial. The negative option billing, high monthly fees, and combination of inertia plus non-friendly cancellation options make the flogs an unfair tool in the quest for purchasing media. The race to the bottom by marketers using increasingly unsubstantiated claims and abandoning all sense of long-term thinking meant a short lifespan. That said, we don't want to call it a resurgence, but any claim of the death of the flog is still a little premature.
Whether on purpose or just a symbol of marketers tenacity, we found this ad running on Facebook.
You would never guess the landing page. OK, you would guess. It has the all expected trappings. The story about his hair loss. The "conversation" that changed his life (we're thinking it was with an affiliate manager). Before and after pictures. An obviously recognizable blog layout and the one-two punch of dual offers. Everything that would suggest the author of the site is real, he gets it, and he's done what everyone hopes to do. Find the hidden secret that works, costs less, and will make you feel like the owner of privileged information. And, because the alternatives - expensive, time consuming, non-guaranteed are such a turn off, enough people will go ahead with the process because they need to believe there is gold at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, because most people still have a hesitancy to convert, especially for some unknown products, most flogs, including this one end up going where they shouldn't. Like this one.
What's the big concern over drug-like products? That most are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Problem solved with this product.
Except, is it really approved?
A search by the NDC number referenced on the ad didn't turn up any results either. Only a lookup on the supposed active ingredient returned results, Minoxidil. That is the active ingredient in Rogaine. So, what you're presumably buying is knock-off Rogaine. Chalk this one up to the end advertiser, not the marketer, as that is from where the claim came. The Caproxen site references a parent company, Fabeco, who makes a weight loss product and skin product in addition to Caproxen. The company says little on its flashy site, but the corporate domain does not (yet) hide behind some privacy guard.
As we have some men readers, in case you are curious, here is how the pricing works on the new and improved flog - no monthly fees. "Trial Bottle Offer Details: Pay only $5.95 s/h ($9.95 INT) today for your trial bottle, and your card provided today will be charged a non-refundable $119.93 in 14 days to join the Unlimited $7 Refill Program, unless you cancel before then." Each month, you pay $7 plus $12.95 shipping. One year cost of ~$226 + $119.93 or north of $340. Let's compare that to an online retailer who sells 5% topical Minoxidil. One year price, as low as $50. OK, so the products on fake blogs aren't known for their actual value.
What else hasn't changed - sloppiness from marketers.
Blog: Turns out that many companies these days are struggling so bad because of the recession that they are offering free trials of their products in order to win customers. and know they have products that work, but with so many Americans scrimping on their shopping, they have to give a free trial for the first month. But it only takes a month to start seeing results.
Site: men may see results as early as 2 months into their Caproxen cycle.
Blog: How long were you waiting for delivery? 10 days.
Site: 5 business days.
Blog Domain 1
Blog Domain 2
Making money off transactions is tough, but now more than ever we see that is possible. The company with the second fastest zero to $1 billion valuation, makes its money from transaction, and at $40/pop average. Like real hair loss solutions, though, you can't make lasting money by slapping up a half-assed site. We're not asking for much. Just do some checking. Heck, write us, and we'll proof it. We'd much rather performance marketers didn't come across as junior varsity.
Editor
DM Confidential
www.dmconfidential.com
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