Where is BN heading?

[gnkc]

It seems to me that BN is doing an extremely poor job of getting the Nook Tablet known as a Tablet. On most forums I'm involved in if someone poses the question of which tablet to get for their daughter/mother/son etc the Nook Tablet is not even an option. I usually respond with the benefits of the NT but the discussion goes nowhere, ending up with the Fire and the Ipad as the only two real options.

I see virtually no advertising for ANY Nook product where the Fire and IPAD are in every magazine I read.

I really like My Nook Color and have had no issues other than both my wifes and my recharging cables have had to be replaces but would be very hesitant to upgrade to the NT if BN doesn't consider them worthy of promotion.

Hopefully I won't have to think about upgrading for a few more generations of devices......

[patgolfneb]

To some degree. BN uses the stores as their marketing engine. Since their targeted group are reader's and families with children and they are the only large bookstore chain left, the in store promotion is their main marketing tool at this time. I agree if their cash flow improves then spot advertising is needed. I doubt a full fledged TV and print campaign makes sense except at Christmas.

[Seraphim-san]

A full fledged TV and print campaign makes sense if BN released something new or upgraded the Nooks somehow. Otherwise, I would have to agree that Fall and Winter Seasons are the best times to go all out advertising, seeing as most shoppers spend more money during the holiday seasons and the prices of the items are discounted for a longer period of time.  

Other than purchasing books BN doesn't really offer anything else that makes me or most of my friends want to buy something from them. Sure some BN Retail Stores sell Music and Movies, but their are plenty of other stores that I know of in my area that speacialize in those areas and offer better prices than BN does. (Note: By specialize I am referring to Buy, Sell, and Trade.)

[amiesan]

Actually, I've been seeing this commercial with Glee's Jane Lynch on television: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE8JvEEgP9U

[MatthewH]

Television? What's that? Been weeks since I watched any network TV program...

[Seraphim-san]

Either I am not watching TV all that much or not the right channels because I can't remember seeing that commerical a whole lot.

To be honest, I can only remember seeing that particular commerical only 1 other time.

[RHWright]

I saw commercials throughout the holidays on many of the "lifestyle" centered cable channels: Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel. Think I saw the Patterson spots on the History or National Georgraphic channel, too. They also ran the Jane Lynch spots during Glee.

Which I suppose proves I am their demographic...

[gnkc]

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patgolfneb wrote:
To some degree. BN uses the stores as their marketing engine. Since their targeted group are reader's and families with children and they are the only large bookstore chain left, the in store promotion is their main marketing tool at this time. I agree if their cash flow improves then spot advertising is needed. I doubt a full fledged TV and print campaign makes sense except at Christmas.

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The problem with this philosophy is that BN is basically shutting itself out of the tablet game by not getting the word they have a tablet out tot he masses. While our household has two Nook colors, we still get to the BN store a couple times a month and, other than the holiday season, I haven't seen many people around the Nook displays.

I would think that BN would want to get the general public intrigued enough to get to a BN to see the NC (or NC or basic). It doesn't make much sense to have this product and count on people being exposed to it if and only when they get to a store.

[MatthewH]

I think BN is still learning how to market technology, and their physical stores are somewhat of a mixed blessing as they work on turning themselves into a tech company. On the positive side, integration with their physical stores is a unique value proposition: I got an NC before Kindle came out and it seemed by far the best way for me to leave both laptop and printed books behind when traveling, but I think if I were buying right now I'd still get NC/NC for the in-store support and browsing. But having physical stores in their organizational DNA also makes them slower to recognize other opportunities.In my own case, I got my NC mainly for reading purposes, not only books but also scientific papers for my work (pharmaceutical R&D). I knew my favorite SF publisher, Baen, has long made its books available in electronic versions under very reader-favorable terms (once you buy an ebook you can download in multiple formats without DRM, hardbacks usually come with a CD of that book and prior books by the same author, they have a "free library" on their website with many older books to download, etc.). My NC has indeed been a great reading device, as I had expected. And as expected it has replaced my laptop for travel.

However, I have been surprised how well my NC works as an Internet tablet. Many days now my personal laptop at home does not switched on at all. Nothing in the BN marketing for NC really conveyed to how well it works for casual web use before and after a workday that entails writing code and studying scientific data on big LCD displays.

[ps56k]

BN is brain dead from a marketing standpoint.

I have the NC from last father's day - but run it with the N2A SD Card for full Android access.

The big problem is BN not wanting to give up total control of creating apps....  They have no real apps from the Android Market, and if you search/list the BN App Store - it's a joke of homegrown little toy apps.

That's the biggest problem - the lack of involving the rest of the existing Android community -

I could not use the NC without my major financial bank apps, my brokerage apps, my news apps, etc -

NONE of which are avail via the kid like BN App Store - Chase, Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, Morningstar, Bloomberg, etc

You can't have a TABLET if all you have avail are toys for apps.

Heck - look how hard it is just to find these Nook forums - just another example of their decision making process...   instead of leaving it under the Nook menus or support - they moved it to the sub-level of Books for Blogs...   yup - really great idea -

[catarific]

Yesterday on HSN (Home Shopping Network), the Nook Tablet was the Today's Special Value.  It was higher than what you would pay for it but they added some additional software and a cover for it.  But if you break it down, you would do better buying it yourself.  But not all cities have Barnes and Noble stores - so this marketing strategy does work.

Another time, the Nook Color was the Today's Special Value.

[gnkc]

I recently celebrated an anniversary at the company I work for and received a gift booklet with an online site to choose a gift from.

The whole line of Kindles were included but not a Nook product in sight.

BN needs a new marketing company.......

[patgolfneb]

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gnkc wrote:

I recently celebrated an anniversary at the company I work for and received a gift booklet with an online site to choose a gift from.

The whole line of Kindles were included but not a Nook product in sight.

BN needs a new marketing company.......

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I feel your drawing a broad conclusion from this single example is frankly silly. Your company se!ected a provider for this service. That provider, perhaps even a susidiary of Amazon, featured Kindles. This says almost nothing about BN marketing, and it is generous to say almost.

[gb18]

"It seems to me that BN is doing an extremely poor job of getting the Nook Tablet known as a Tablet."

That's because it's so severely locked down that people who want a tablet won't consider it.

[tuck229]

The Nook Color was out a year before the Fire, yet everyone who sees me using my NC asks about my Fire. When I correct them, many act as though they have never heard the name Nook before. Maybe BN could have done more advertising, but I suspect this is more the result of Amazon might and media influence. Amazon got tons of free press from media outlets when the Fire was making its debut. People bought them not even fully understanding what they were buying because of all the media hype. Of course, some would say several journalists who helped hype the Fire were in Amazon's back pocket. For whatever reason, Amazon and Apple are the darling companies in the eyes (wallets) of the media.

[gnkc]

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patgolfneb wrote:

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gnkc wrote:

I recently celebrated an anniversary at the company I work for and received a gift booklet with an online site to choose a gift from.

The whole line of Kindles were included but not a Nook product in sight.

BN needs a new marketing company.......

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I feel your drawing a broad conclusion from this single example is frankly silly. Your company se!ected a provider for this service. That provider, perhaps even a susidiary of Amazon, featured Kindles. This says almost nothing about BN marketing, and it is generous to say almost.

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I just counted the BRANDS in the catalog and stopped when I got to the 'D's at 110 different BRANDS so I suspect that BN could have been included. Amazon.com was one of the brands listed in the 'A's.

There were over 300 'rewards' available in the award range I was interested in, the Kindle Fire being one of them, and there are 11 award ranges available.

So no, I don't think that the conclusion drawn is silly, in your terms.

[BruceMcF]

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gnkc wrote:

So no, I don't think that the conclusion drawn is silly, in your terms.

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Without knowing the terms and conditions to get into the catalog, its drawing an incredibly sweeping conclusion on an incredibly narrow piece of evidence. Drawing that broad a conclusion from that narrow a piece of evidence is, indeed, fairly silly.

There are three connected questions: what audience is B&N targeting; how well are they succeeding at reaching how they are targeting; and are they targeting the right audience.

When my mom was in the house, I saw a number of Nook ads on TV. My mom is an avid reader with failing eyesight, has broad interests that are grossly underserved by the large print books in the library, and doesn't go anywhere without her Kindle, so if B&N were reaching her, they were likely reaching a number of people in the same situation except they didn't have an ereader yet.

When I was looking at getting a 7" media tablet, I googled, I found CNet reviews and YouTube clips, and I made my pick without seeing a single Nook ad. But then the very next month, I saw some Nook Tablet ads on some of my ad-streaming Roku channels, so it seems like when their Christmas ad buy picked up, they hit my target demographic too.

Indeed, not being in a particular channel that some rival is in could be due to the two of you having some differences in your target audiences, and that channel is not an effective way to reach your target audience.

[patgolfneb]

gnkc,  your response continues to be based on a single example, a catalog. Marketing is directly reaching and influencing customer purchase decisions. Certainly making the product visible and widely avaiable is part of that. Who created the catalog? Who decided what items were in it? How many sales does it make? If Nooks are not sold at Walgreens is that marketing or Walgreens decision? Without knowledge of who selects the catalog items, the equivalent of the buyer for a store, your conclusion is not supportable. Nooks are available through many outlets online, various BM discount and electronics stores. Your example says nothing about BN marketing efforts. Using your reasoning any product with a competitor not represented in that catalog is a poor marketer! I don't know how to respond further without sarcasm, but your reasoning is flawed.

[kcladyz]

Well calling the nook a tablet does not make it a tablet. LOL  Sorry the nook is a good product but its not a true tablet. It is still, no matter how you think, is a glorified e-reader with basic internet access.  A true tablet will not make you pay for Apps that you an get free from an android tablet. A true tablet will not put restrictions on what you can or can not access. A true tablet alows you to access both nook and amazon applications. Barnes and Noble charge for apps that are otherwise free on other tablets.  To be a true tablet it needs to lift all its restrictions and get rid of that stupid hook hole on the lower left corner. i am not trying to bad mouth the nook. I love my nook, its not just a real tablet. Also we should not have to buy a N2A card to make it functional as a real tablet. I enjoy B&N but my next purchase will be somessort of other tablet or I will wait a year to see what the next product B&N comes out with

[BruceMcF]

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kcladyz wrote:

Well calling the nook a tablet does not make it a tablet. LOL  Sorry the nook is a good product but its not a true tablet. It is still, no matter how you think, is a glorified e-reader with basic internet access.  A true tablet will ...

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Heck, someone who didn't like Apple's anti-Flash policy could just as easily declare confidently that if it cannot run flash video streams and flash games on the web, then its not a media tablet, full stop period.

A glorified ereader with basic internet access that can play Netflix, play full screen anime from Crunchyroll, read and post on bulletin boards, read and do spot edits on Word and Excel documents, do email ... for a lot of people, that's a tablet.

Now, while HP's webOS based tablet had very few apps, and it was not a successful tablet, it was obviously a tablet: slate design, bigger than cellphone size screen, touchscreen UI, wireless connectivity, multimedia viewing capabilities ... tablet.