Best Buy's "Buyer Be Happy" Campaign Flawed on All Fronts

My father was reading the Sun Sentinel (a great newspaper by the way) when he commented on a Best Buy advertisement that he seemed to really like. Then I gave him my professional opinion. This was a classic example of a good idea, poor execution. And it appeared to also be a classic case of not trusting their digital presence.

The good idea was Best Buy's portrayal of the receipt you receive when completing your purchase as more than just an itemized list of what you bought, but also a promise to continue to deliver after-support for all that you acquired on that visit to the store. It inlcuded a receipt from a different mass merchandiser with a small paragraph at the top of the reciept that read:

"Thanks for shopping.
BUT IT'S TIME WE BOTH MOVED ON.
IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S US.
WE WANT TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE.
WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS.
BUT PLEASE DON'T LOITER
IN OUR PARKING LOT.
HAVE A NICE DAY."

Positioned next to the receipt, big bold text reads:

"To most stores, the receipt is the end. To us, it's just the beginning."

Then, they seem to have made a deal with their copywriter for a volume discount! A wall of text which no one will take the time to read followed going through a long diatribe about their customer service policies. Yawn! You had me at hello, you lost me at yada yada yada.

Then, as if it is just an afterthought, after this huge wall of copy, we see the URL "BestBuy.com/BuyerBeHappy." Had they just trusted their ad to pull users into their microsites, they could have said all they wanted to say in the digital venue rather than completely losing the effectiveness of their ad by creating an intimidating amount of marketing copy.

There is no doubt that this execution was destroyed by a old fashioned view of the microsite as an after thought that serves no important purpose. So much so that the URL simply re-directs to their sitemap! This means that BestBuy.com/BuyerBeHappy is simply a tracking page when it has the potential to not only tell "the rest of the story" but also provide a great interactive area for the eager visitor, not to mention a social media opportunity to gain some brand loyalists.

To be fair, Best Buy did do a digitally integrated "Buyer Be Happy" campaign this past summer. But that begs the question, why disarm the digital front? One theory is that because they really are a mass merchindser at are no different at how they treat their customers than any other mass merchandiser, once the campaign invited comments in an honest forum, they didn't like the responses which perhaps undermined their entire campaign. If that's the case, it was a bad idea with a good execution!

If this is the case, Best Buy would be smarter to pull this campaign altogether and replace it with something else. But Best Buy didn't do themselves any favors with a poor execution because that failed to understand the power of the microsite to be an integral part of their campaign. In tough times such as these, especially for retailers like Best Buy, it is vital to make every advertising dollar count to bring people into your store and create an affection for your brand. Best Buy is failing on both counts with this campaign.

Comments

[Cato]

I had a terrible experience at Best Buy and I then saw their commercial saying "Buyer Be Happy". They should have just left "Buyer Beware" alone because it applies perfectly to their store. Best Buy will go the way of Circuit City soon.

[Wendy Patterson]

Can't say I agree with Cato, or much of the post. Best Buy is very good at following up your purchase. Geek Squad is a testament to that. I think that despite what people who will complain about everything and anything complain about, Best Buy made a bold statement and they back it up everyday.

And no, I don't work for Best Buy LOL