The mystery is, how are these people still in the game?
Overstock is a money-losing Amazon clone which seems to spend its entire marketing budget on cable television.
Maybe it's the salt water. Overstock is based in Utah, former home of Novell, current home of SCO, the place where me-too tech ideas get a family-friendly makeover, then die.
The TV ads are mostly image pieces, a spokesmodel in her 30s oohing about the various departments -- clothes, office supplies, video, jewelry. (Her name is Sabine Ehrenfeld, and she's actually 42. She's done some other work, but she's best known for these ads.)
The ad plays in very heavy rotation. There have been a few attempts to play other notes. One ad promised lower prices than Amazon (and mentioned them by name), another featured Third World crafts (and left out the spokesmodel). But these are passing fancies. Mostly it's Sabine (pronounced sa-bean-uh), in white outfits accented with pink, oohing and aahing and not a PC in sight.
The mystery is how these folks stay in business. There's nothing special here, no real Unque Selling Proposition (we're just like Amazon, only less-so), no real buzz anywhere.
If you're going to succeed online (or anywhere for that matter) there must be something unique about you, something special, something that makes you (for someone) the only possible choice.
Yet here we are, five years after the dot-bomb, and Overstock keeps plugging away, bringing in enough to keep the lights on, but never enough to make it interesting.
Like I said, it's a mystery.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for over 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the "Interactive Age Daily" for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, and dozens of other publications over the years.
1. Someone on August 5, 2005 11:49 PM writes...
Sort of odd attack out of nowhere isn't it? What did they do to you?
Overstock.com first became big by buying "overstock" leftover goods for very cheap, and then selling them at decent prices. The company has always been very good at that. They always have excellent prices and fantastic service (in my experience). Plus, their shipping pricing has always been straightforward (no surprises).
So what if they're similar to Amazon? Are you saying that McDonalds and Burger King can't exist togheter?
Corante doesn't seem to have anything to "differentiate" itself against other blogging networks. Does that mean you shouldn't exist?
Besides, Overstock's CEO has a very interesting view on how business should be conducted -- and it seems like the type of view that you would actually approve of. I'm surprised you didn't research this. He even wrote a long letter to shareholders (against the advice of his lawyers) being forthright about why the company had troubles, and quoting Taoist philosophy (see the end of: http://www.shareholder.com/overstock/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=127656) I would think you would applaud that sort of openness, when contrasted with what you see from the likes of Amazon.
Permalink to Comment