Was Thresher’s viral marketing ploy a success or not? The 40% discount voucher was downloaded 1 million times by its first day. And with another 9 days for the offer to run, and sensational national media coverage , I wondered what the total figure was, it could easily have doubled.
The answer is I don’t know, Thresher is very keep tight lipped about it and issued the following unwhelming press release:
“The 40 per cent offer has been an outstanding success for Threshers and for its customers.
“When we made the offer, we did not expect quite such a response but the wine has literally been flying off the shelves. For our customers, based on an increase of 60% in sales in many areas, it looks like being a very merry Christmas! For Threshers, we have won many thousands of new customers and, with so many more bottles selling at a positive margin, it is all making for an excellent end of the year for us too.”
It was accompanied by the following terse message from an obviously very anxious press officer:
“Please note that this is our official statement and we will not be making any other statements nor entering into any dialogue relating to this topic.”
The statement is noted for what it doesn’t say, in spite of its cheery tone, what impact did it have financially, how many bottles “flew off” the shelves, how many vouchers were used, would they repeat such an exercise, and will it really mean a happy Christmas for them, or just their customers? Thresher is not saying, but if anyone knows the answers, I would very much like to know.
David Brain’s interview is a must, it gives the true picture about the Thresher coupon offer, in sharp contrast to the misleading info spun out by them in this inadequate press release.
David, Many thanks, what a fantastic interview, it was so interesting and informative, and straight from the horse’s mouth too. I still don’t know the answers to all my questions, maybe we will hear more about it later.
[...] Ellie Seymour reflects on Thresher’s public relations management of the online voucher promotion after the initial media frenzy has died down. The language used in the latest press release shows no understanding of social media in the company at all. [...]
I always find out about these things after the event. Must get out more.
i interviewed Hugh McLeod and Jason korman the guys behind it yesterday Ellee. See http://www.sixtysecondview.com for their take (sorry about links, on blackberry)
>> what impact did it have financially, how many bottles “flew off� the shelves >>
They didn’t just fly of the shelves. They literally flew off the shelves. Big new title for a short story: The wingèd bottles .