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Betty Crocker Cake Frosting Eaters
"Etsy: Everything Handmade, plus supplies, digital art, brought to you by crafters, artisans, copyright infringers, reselling weekend warriors, one-man sweatshops, 50-man 'co-ops', starving artists, destashers, hobbyists, homemakers, college kids, underagers and everything in between!"
Catchy, right?
It's the tagline, not the mission statement. It merely promotes a central idea. It neither intentionally excludes, nor encompasses the entire business plan of Etsy. No tagline does.
Radio Shack: "Don't just buy stuff, do stuff!" Do you write the CEO of Radio Shack and complain that maybe you do in fact just buy stuff and feel offended that you're expected to also do stuff?
McDonald's: "I'm lovin' it!" If you don't actually love McDonalds, do you write the head office demanding that they quit lying about your feelings for them?
Coke: "Unity on the Coke Side of Life" Are you out there, angry that Coke is polarizing the cola wars that Coke should quit implying that Pepsi drinkers are "dividers, not uniters"?
NO. Because it's a slogan, a tagline. Same with Etsy's; JUST. A. TAGLINE. Etsy doesn't need to change their tagline to fit everyone. It is only one marketing tactic in what should be an entire integrated marketing plan.
(P.S. Etsy: before you think I'm defending you, I know your marketing plan consists of a tub of Betty Crocker cake frosting, a trick coin and a dartboard with a screen capture of the home page taped to it. So don't mistake me for one of the koolaid drinkers.)
In summary: Whatever's broken about Etsy, it's not the tagline. The tagline is fine. Everything BELOW the tagline, now...well, that's a topic for another thread or twelve.
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7 Comments:
And the cosmos is properly aligned!
YAY!
*applauds*
I read the thread on Etsy, and loved the original post. Some Etsians actually have their heads screwed on straight! The nonstop parade of 'oh, how vintage is being dissed' threads are distracting the community from the real issues on Etsy.
That was a truly spectacular post ... very well-written, and very funny!
*claps and stomps feet and whoots*
I can understand the frustration of the vintage peeps, though I admit that it is really overkill at times, what with the never ending "embracing". It does get nauseating. change the tagline? No, but make it clear to newcomers that supplies and vintage is also a pretty large chunk of what they'll find.
Beequeen said...
...make it clear to newcomers that supplies and vintage is also a pretty large chunk of what they'll find.
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I don't know where to find stats to prove this, but it seems that vintage may be the fastest growing category on Etsy. And why not? Etsy fees are super cheap compared with almost all other online antiques and vintage (= RESELLER) venues.
This is only approx. because there are quite a few listings under vintage that are really handmade/altered with vintage materials, but comparing vintage with the other most populated categories on Etsy --
for every 10 ART listings there are 6 vintage listings
for every 10 JEWELRY listings (the largest category by far) there are 4 vintage listings
for every 10 CLOTHING listings there are 20 vintage listings
for every 10 SUPPLIES listings there are 5 vintage listings
for every 10 CHILDREN listings there are 11 vintage listings
Maybe I am the only one who doesn't see this as only a benefit to the Etsy community. What I think I see is a creeping flea market. Making vintage more visible will only speed the process by attracting more sellers. And I am sure that Etsy's handmade venue competitors -- or aspiring competitors -- have noticed this trend. Etsy is approaching the point of having more reseller listings (vintage and most supplies) than handmade listings. At that point, what should the Etsy tagline say?
Etsy IS a flea market, albeit with a crafty flair.
That fact is like the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge.
People who are looking for a place to sell quality art & artisan work are simply in the wrong venue. I'm looking forward to the EB alternatives series.
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