Shilling 2.0
Shilling is a bit of an art form these days. If you watch the NonSociety girls shill for the Blueprint Cleanse, you genuinely believe that they like the product. You probably don’t stop and think if they would pay $85/day or $1600/month for it. Is that really shilling if they like the product and act like regular user but probably wouldn’t buy it? They’re not being paid.
Let’s revisit the definition, shall we?
Slang
n.
One who poses as a satisfied customer or an enthusiastic gambler to dupe bystanders into participating in a swindle.v. shilled, shill·ing, shills
v.intr.
To act as a shill.
v.tr.
1. To act as a shill for (a deceitful enterprise).
2. To lure (a person) into a swindle.
Maybe buying the Blueprint Cleanse isn’t a swindle, per se, but whether or not it’s a genuine endorsement of value is certainly a question worth exploring.
Enter the poster child for unscrupulous behavior in online marketing; PayPerPost. The company has become a little more self-aware over recent months and has made some branding changes in order to give them some distance from the problems of the past. I think they’re called Izea now – or maybe that’s just an umbrella brand – and they have a bunch of interesting and somewhat sketchy ways you can market your products online.
Kmart took the bait. The “contest” portion of the campaign is outlined here but the general gist is that Kmart gives a selected group of bloggers $500 to go shopping at Kmart and blog about their experience. The bloggers then go gleefully spend $500 and tell everyone how great it is.
Loren Feldman got into it and posted a two and a half minute video all about how he’s never been to Kmart before but was amazed at all the stuff they had. Yes, amazed that a department store has a lot of stuff in it. This is a slight deviation from Feldman’s normal videos that often include his shirtless rants about how much he dislikes Robert Scoble or his gentle portrayal of black bloggers in his signature “Tech Nigga” piece. Would Kmart ever advertise on this blog if they were at all monitoring this program at a high level?
But Izea wasn’t only preying on the dregs of blogging, they also got Chris Brogan to join in. Chris’s post on his Dad-o-Matic blog made a little more sense. He talked about shopping with children and eventually ended with a genuine revelation he had about how much he saved after spending $567. I wouldn’t say it was the best media placement for Kmart but it did make a degree of sense (Brogan chose not to post this on his infinitely more popular blog for what I would assume to be obvious reasons).
Welcome to Shilling 2.0. This new kind of shilling walks a very fine line between genuine and unethical. I’m sure Feldman and Brogan can defend themselves in a myriad of different ways but is this really a good way to market a product? If it’s really ethical then why can’t journalists do it?
The reason is because paying people for their opinions affects sentiment and is somewhat misleading. This isn’t a crime but it isn’t a great way to show the value of your product or service. Not all bloggers need to act like journalists but following ethical guidelines is one way to build credibility. The opinion of credible sources adds to the credibility of your brand values.
So what’s the difference between this and sampling ice cream before you buy at Ben and Jerry’s? It’s simple. Value. When you give someone a $500 gift certificate you’re giving them something of considerable value and there is a general assumption that you expect something in return. Sure, all Izea asked them for was their opinion and to promote their contest but surely they wouldn’t pay $500 to each blogger just for that. Kmart invested in this campaign to secure editorial content, which is more valuable than ad impressions, and wanted to tap into the networks that the bloggers reach by using them as advocates. It wasn’t promised but it’s expected when you compensate with something of value.
I’ve been to Kmart. It’s not amazing when you see how much stuff is there. Every department store has a lot of products so that’s hardly a key differentiator for Kmart. I’ve also never been compelled to tell anyone else when I discovered on my receipt that I saved money at a department store. It happens every time I go to the grocery store so it’s not a big deal to me. It’s not a big deal to you either. Unless someone gave you $500.
