Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Nov 15, 2009
Promotional Event Leads to Violence in Paris (New York Times)
Promotions offering free money tend to be viewed suspiciously by consumers who wonder what the “catch” really is in order to participate in such giveaways. But here is a story of a free money promotion that apparently was all about giving free money without the need for the money receivers to give anything back other than showing up in the middle of Paris.
Unfortunately, French police did not see this as such a great promotional idea and closed it down before it got off the ground. That did not sit well with the crowd of over 7,000 gathered to snag the money. Nor did it sit well with local government officials who are considering fining the company. While the police later allowed the promotion to run on a much smaller scale, by then the news was out.
In the ensuing mayhem, about a dozen people were arrested, store windows were broken, a car was overturned and at least one man was beaten by thugs. The riot police were called in to restore order.
As bad as things turned out, did the resulting publicity actually result in this being a positive for the company?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Nov 13, 2009
Burger King Franchisees Sue Over $1 Promotion (MSNBC)
In a posting earlier this week we noted that not all franchisors listen to their franchisees the way Subway did when they developed their popular $5 Footlong promotion. And here is a perfect example. Burger King’s franchisees are screaming at the franchisor saying they are losing money on BK’s new, highly publicized $1 Double Cheeseburger promotion. They go a step further and claim that BK does not have the right to set maximum prices on products sold in the franchisees’ stores.
Clearly this is intended to be a loss leader pricing promotion and it is a little hard to believe Burger King can’t run such a promotion for the short term. But we’ll have to see as the courts will take up the matter next week.
The National Franchise Association, a group that represents more than 80 percent of Burger King's U.S. franchise owners, said the $1 promotion forces restaurant owners to sell the quarter-pound burger with at least a 10-cent loss.
If the franchisees win on this issue, what would it mean for any future promotions that are directly involve a low price offering?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Nov 10, 2009
Maclaren's Stroller Recall: A Stumbling Response Online (Time)
When managing marketing decisions there is always the risk that something unforeseen can damage the reputation a company has spent years building. Here is story where that may just be the case. Maclaren is a well-known manufacturer of baby strollers that is well regarded for producing quality products. But the company faces a very large recall of its strollers (over 1 million) because of serious injuries that have occurred to young children.
But to add to their problems Maclaren has had difficulty handling the recall and especially with their ability to handle requests made to their website. Several consultants say the fact they are in the children's market makes things even more difficult.
"Anything relative to child safety tends to be off-the-charts viral," says Pete Blackshaw, a brand consultant for Nielsen Online. According to Blackshaw's data, new mothers are three times more likely than others to use social media and start blogs.
As of Monday afternoon, a Twitter account called @MacLarenStrolle was linking to Web pages that don't exist. Another, @maclarenbabyUK, posts links to new Maclaren products, but there were no posts addressing the recall.
What will Maclaren need to do to regain customer’s trust and how will this likely play with retailers handling their products?