My friend David is a smart programmer and cursed tragically with a good heart, so he often finds himself playing the role of general IT guy to the world. Unlike many other good programmers I know, however, David will withhold judgment even if you (the helpee) insist on using technology that he considers sub-par for his own purposes. It was this situation where found David himself yesterday desperately searching for a CD with an AOL free trial on it:
After I checked with everybody at work (figuring someone would have one lying around), I went to a strip mall with a Radio Shack, with the thought that they would have AOL CDs next to every cash register. Nothing. Had to go help my friend without the CD. Of course when I got home, I had two, not one, but two AOL trial CDs (one Gold and one Platinum) waiting for me in the mail. Do you want `em?
I think this is gorgeous stuff. This represents a Complete and Utter Marketing Failure on the part of AOL. They are guilty of the worst kind of shotgun marketing, and I love the anecdotal evidence that supports this. AOL has wasted so much by including idiotic free-trial CD offers with every can of Cheez Whiz or package of disposable diapers in the supermarket while simultaneously sending every social security number with a known postal address at least a dozen of the wretched things, that when you hear about them failing like this, it has to make you giggle a little. As more people flee the bloated service for greener pastures, I wonder if we aren't beginning to see AOL realize that they can't afford to waste millions of dollars on marketing campaigns that generate this (1) kind (2) of (3) response (4) from the very people they are trying to reach.
Marketing Rule #74: Just because you have a lot of money to spend, doesn't mean you should flush it down the toilet to acquire customers inefficiently.
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