Posted on 11/19/2002 4:45:59 PM PST by FreedomCalls
Michael Sands CMO at Orbitz
Depending upon whom you ask, Michael Sands is either a successful user of pop-under ads or an apologist for them. As the chief marketing officer for Orbitz, a Chicago-based online travel site founded by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United Airlines in 1999, Sands has overseen pop-under ad blitzes like Orbitz's current "shear the sheep" campaign.
Sands, who joined Orbitz in late 2000 after highly successful work in e-commerce and integrated marketing for Oldsmobile during the late 90s, doesn't seem rattled by the complaints of agitated web surfers. He has seen that the ads are a major driver behind the company's success.
"Pop-unders are a great example of not trying to do what everyone else is doing but seize new opportunities. We were the first mover in the pop-unders in the travel space. It's interesting to see that every one of our competitors has now followed us," said Sands.
"The reality is they work really well. We get one complaint for every 3,500 to 4,000 sales we do. That's a pretty good ratio. And I ultimately believe that consumers vote with their pocket books. We're getting a lot of sales from these pop-unders and ultimately we're being successful, I think."
A March 2002 article in Business 2.0 titled "The Pop-Under Perp Walk" placed Orbitz on mock trial, with the company's crime being "incessant pop-unders - half-screen boxes with neon colors and big block lettering screaming about the latest fares to God-knows where. It's as if your travel agent were calling five times a day, telling you not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime bargain on flights to Des Moines."
The author encouraged web surfers to e-mail Sands every time they see a pop-under saying that they're "not interested, but thanks for asking!"
The barrage of criticism would be enough to drive anyone crazy, but to Sands' credit, he sticks to his guns. Orbitz has used news sites like the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today to generate sales leads, as well as ESPN and other Disney sites. Sands points out that Orbitz has been unique in that most people have gotten to know the company through online interaction.
"The safe bet would've been to spend money on traditional TV ads, but I didn't think that would be the best way to break through," said Sands. "My philosophy is to go against the grain, find those opportunities where you can be relevant without spending a lot of money."
Contact him at msands@orbitz.com
(Excerpt) Read more at i-street.com ...
Quoting him: "We get one complaint for every 3,500 to 4,000 sales we do. That's a pretty good ratio." msands@orbitz.com
Thanks for the address.
Now I will not just forward them to "Webmaster@" as I always have been doing!
I sure hope that the address
msands@orbitz.com
is not harvested by web bots or something. It would be awful if
msands@orbitz.com
had to see a bunch of other people's ads. I bet
msands@orbitz.com
would eventually get as sick of the spam, as we are of his.
Disabling Java seems to kill almost all of them for me. Tools, options, Advanced
msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com msands@orbitz.com
Ah, we have a webmaster here.
I just LOVED That ~FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"~
Does that work on this system? Kewl!
He gets one complaint sent to him. He probably doesn't count the ones where people X his ad out while cussing under their breath.
And I'm not talking about Sands....
Same here. Anything advertized via popup ad is blacklisted by me and the company will never get a dime.
My home page since 1995 has been USA Today. I changed that a few months ago because of the annoying Orbitz popup that loads everytime I access the USA Today homepage. I travel all the time and could give Orbitz some pretty decent business, but they will never receive any business from me.
I also experienced a pop-under ad right here in "FREE"Republic.
I HATE THEM!! I will NOT patronize any business that intrudes on my computer uninvited.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.