Usually
when I don’t feel like researching a particular topic I turn
to the registration path for inspiration. That space does
more in a week than most do in a year, making for an almost
endless supply of material. While that’s not actually the
case – the turning to registration paths when feeling lazy –
given the number of times that they have been the focus of
an article one could certainly think that. This week is no
exception, as I once again delve into my favorite type of
offer. And, in what may very well classify as a trend, my
favorite offer type has yet again evolved. Unfortunately for
me, I can no longer call them email address only offers. It
seems almost overnight, they have become zip code only
offers. Regardless of the form they take, these offers still
pitch a great product for “Free*.”
https://www.lynxtrack.com/signup.php
Past
articles have covered how these offers evolved from a small
promotional item, a $25 gift card for example, into
substantial ones, such as an iPod. These past articles
discussed how it didn’t take long for each company to seek
out the next, great item to test. Before you knew it, everything from ads
for $500 gift cards, Flatscreen TVs, DVD players,
Playstation 2s, to BBQ grills could be found inundating web
sites, inboxes, and search engines. At about the same time
as the proliferation of high ticket item premiums came the
payout to the publisher skyrocketing in value. Gone were the
days when $.40 would buy an advertiser six figures worth of
traffic. Today, anything below a dollar to the publisher
almost seems cheap.
A component of the promotional
offers also touched upon in previous offers was the brands
being used. That is, what each offer seemed to have behind
it was a recognizable brand attracting the user. It wasn’t
just a DVD player but a Sony DVD player. The laptop computer
wasn’t an eMachines but an IBM. Even before the age of the
ridiculous premium, i.e. a laptop computer, brands were big.
Restaurants were the first. All of the sudden it wasn’t
uncommon to see as many as four direct marketing companies
promoting Chili’s, Red Lobster, and Applebees among others,
driving millions of registrations combined. What was
uncommon though was whether these direct marketers had the
permission of the restaurants whose brands were being used
as the hook for users to give up their email address. In
fact I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that at least several,
less than intelligent or perhaps overly clever, end users
printed out the coupon like advertisement and went to a
chain demanding a free meal.
How companies find out about
their brand being used varies. Sometimes it’s a case of the
wrong employee coming across a banner or seeing the offer in
their email. Other times it’s probably an angry group of
consumers overwhelming support lines and local franchises.
In any event, while the value of using the brand makes sense
to the marketer of the email/zip offer, it gets lost on the
company itself. What ensues is often a cat and mouse game. A
direct marketing company might begin a promotion using one
offer and receive a cease and desist then jump mid-promotion
to another brand of the same product, figuring on little
collaboration among the manufacturers with the marketer
often willing to exhaust all brands for a particular item.
The more difficult route of
course is getting permission. Several companies have made
the effort of establishing permission in advance. At lease
one major player in the space has a team of people whose job
is to secure arrangements for the use of the brand. Trying
to get permission isn’t novel, and in many ways it should be
expected, not applauded. As Chris Rock says, the problem
with certain people is that they want credit for things that
they are supposed to do. If a company wants to promote
another companies brand, it should get permission. The
reality of course is that the cost benefit analysis of doing
so almost makes it not worth trying. I’m certainly not one
to judge, having been anything but by the book in some of my
earlier promotions.
In an interesting turn of
events though, many promotional offers have gone brandless.
It’s certainly an intriguing strategy and one that I
personally hope works. Instead of directly relying on
the brand, direct marketers simply tout the product – a
laptop, flatscreen TV, DVD player, etc. This frees up the
marketer to do more experimenting and lessens the
administrative load of having to deal reactively with the
brands and/or proactively in getting permission. It will be
fun to see if these offers can be as competitive;
conventional wisdom says that brands should do better.
Either way, it’s great to see those attempting to get
permission and those willing to try the offer without. Both
indicate maturity in the area and will hopefully preserve
the longevity long enough for me to get involved again. I’m
not sure I would though as the feverish nature of testing
and change won’t end soon. So, what will be next after zip?
I’m sure we’ll find out next week.
