Red Bubble Has GOT to be Kidding!
Today I received an email from Red Bubble displaying the “Top T-Shirt, Sticker, iPhone Case and Print Designs”. It states that the pictures that follow are what RB RECOMMENDS! Really? After scrolling down past the “Splendid T-Shirts” (9), “Magnificent I-Phone Cases” (3) and “Sweet Stickers” (3), I found the “Sensational Prints” (3). The 3 “Sensational Prints” were a stylized car, “Trollkins” (use your imagination!) and a girl playing hide-and-seek with a sheep! Trust me! That will not appeal to any of my clients or friends!
However, I decided to humour Red Bubble. So, I clicked “show more”. Big mistake! The page that came up said that these were “Perfect Prints Helping You Win At Gift Giving”. ARE YOU KIDDING!??? I clicked on the “top selling” and “most popular” photographic prints. Another big mistake! Not only are these not images you or I or our clients would put on our walls, 80% of them ARE NOT PHOTOGRAPHS!!! They point out that they are showing the “most popular” photographic prints out of over 4 million prints! Take a look here!
Who puts these marketing ideas together? Who makes the selections? Are they not seeing the gorgeous, inspirational artwork that I see on Red Bubble on a minute-to minute basis?
My only conclusion is that they MUST be KIDDING! The joke is on us! They are having a good laugh at us and our beautiful fine art productions. There must be a market for what they like to promote. But their market and our market is not the same market! I urge Red Bubble to promote what they wish but make sure the product fits the market! Please don’t be sending promotions like the one I opened today to any of my mature, respected-in-their-community, adults. They are really going to be wondering about the company I keep!
Comments
Rosemary, take a look at the link below.. thoughts posted by another RBer whose thoughts are similar to yours.. I posted a response there and I’m sure you’ll find all the responses interesting.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/naturecrossings...
Thanks, Kat. I have already responded to that posting. Mine is the 8th one down. Don’t you wish there was power in numbers?
– Rosemary Sobiera
very true and I applaud you for making your thoughts public Rosemary. and thank you to Kat for the link she also provides.
We’re all in the same boat, Elisabeth. It is confusing and frustrating but the friendships on Red Bubble are way too supportive to give up! I’ve tried other websites and they just are not as welcoming – At least that was my experience. Making sure people get the link to my page is my way around these frustrating promotions. Thanks for your support! :)
– Rosemary Sobiera
Maybe they feel they have to promote what they’re promoting, because they thing the good stuff promotes itself?! ;-) Ye,s I too thought that this is mostly a photography/art site, but it seems that RB lately wants it to be a T-shirt and iPhone case site. Then again, we all have our niches and circle of friends, favourite groups and communities, so for that I’m grateful RB exists. And maybe their marketing department will mature in time :-)
Well said, Themis! I agree that maturity is what we want and that seems to be lacking in their promotions. Aw, well! Thanks to Red Bubble, I get to meet wonderful artists like yourself. And, that is worth a whole lot to me! Thanks for adding your comments, Themis. You and I are on the same wave-length. :)
– Rosemary Sobiera