How Angie's List is Trying to Become a Household Brand
Angie's List has started running spots on Fox News. In the past month, the WSJ and the NYT (subscription needed) recently ran pieces on them as well. Why the sudden media blitz? Although they've been around for years, social directories like Angie's are just now showing up the radar for most people. And Angie's List wants to be first in your mind when you seek consumer-generated reviews for home improvement contractors.
Mom and Dad relied on friends and neighbors to find a reliable painter. But today's homeowners can jump online and visit a variety of sites to discover what plumber shows up on time or which electrician you can trust. Zipingo, Judy's Book and InsiderPages are among the many sites competing with Angie's List, but not one of these has generated enough critical mass to become a household brand.
Worse yet, free services like Google and Craig's List make it tough for a paid service to build a strong brand. Angie Hicks Bowman, CMO of the List, believes "consumers are more vested" when they pay for content. In truth, the $51 annual fee offers just enough of a barrier for entry that we could assume the reviews have more credibility than those found on a free service.
As a homeowner, the Angie's List commercials I've seen do a great job of getting my attention. One shows a painter walking across a hardwood floor with red paint on his shoes. Another talks up an electrician who went well beyond the call of duty when the homeowner was running late. The spots are brief and to the point, but truly drive home the message of the service: know the contractor's reputation before you hire them. If you've ever hired out for help with your home, you immediately relate to the agony or relief of the reviewer in the ad.
Right now the List has 425,000 subscribers in 67 cities, and they want to be "the" go-to service in the top 60 markets. We'll keep tabs to see if this campaign has the necessary pull to get them there.
Mom and Dad relied on friends and neighbors to find a reliable painter. But today's homeowners can jump online and visit a variety of sites to discover what plumber shows up on time or which electrician you can trust. Zipingo, Judy's Book and InsiderPages are among the many sites competing with Angie's List, but not one of these has generated enough critical mass to become a household brand.
Worse yet, free services like Google and Craig's List make it tough for a paid service to build a strong brand. Angie Hicks Bowman, CMO of the List, believes "consumers are more vested" when they pay for content. In truth, the $51 annual fee offers just enough of a barrier for entry that we could assume the reviews have more credibility than those found on a free service.
As a homeowner, the Angie's List commercials I've seen do a great job of getting my attention. One shows a painter walking across a hardwood floor with red paint on his shoes. Another talks up an electrician who went well beyond the call of duty when the homeowner was running late. The spots are brief and to the point, but truly drive home the message of the service: know the contractor's reputation before you hire them. If you've ever hired out for help with your home, you immediately relate to the agony or relief of the reviewer in the ad.
Right now the List has 425,000 subscribers in 67 cities, and they want to be "the" go-to service in the top 60 markets. We'll keep tabs to see if this campaign has the necessary pull to get them there.
posted by franki durbin @ 10:04 AM PERMALINK
3 Comments:
You should try using http://www.MetroHorse.com for your next service needs. Here you can find any service provider (plumber, lawyer, hair stylist, contractor, mechanic and many more) and contact them directly after reviewing their comprehensive profiles or you can post a service auction and have them bid to get your job.
On MetroHorse, service buyers can also rate providers and check their previous reviews.
Logon to http://www.MetroHorse.com and explore the benefits that it has to offer.
Just be aware that the advertising dept. is very, very aggressive with the contractors.
I won't advertise because it's supposed to be a consumer rated site. Not a paid ad site.
The last customer who used me has been trying to post a review for 2 weeks now, but it doesn't work.
AL has been contacted my the customer and myself, no resolution.
I've always liked being part of the Angie's List experience, but high pressure sales on the contractor is contrary to what the site is about.
I agree that angieslist is focusing on building a national brand. There are still many great regional players in this space. That is the challenge, each market is unique unto itself and needs to be developed from scratch to bring value to the members. I have used a Florida based service called www.servicebuddy.com. It is free to the members and offers review, rankings, project quote gathering.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home