Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Sony Strives To Be Market Leader In Alienating Consumers




Sony Bravia LCD TV buyers have been waiting for up to four months for the company to make good on its promise to give them a free PlayStation 3 games console.
...
Between December 21 last year and January 28, Sony promised that anyone who bought a Bravia high-definition LCD TV set would receive a bonus PS3, as long as they had their receipt and could cite the TV's serial number.


Vendors love rebate offers because less than 15% of consumers send in their rebate form, and consumers hate rebates because of the hoop jumping, delays, and often impenetrable fine print involved in claiming them.


But people are apt to get a lot more militant about a Playstation3 that never arrives than a $10 cheque for buying a thumb drive.


Here's a hint: logistics people need to sit down with the marketing people, go over their forecasts, and then earmark an appropriate number of units into allocation just for the freebie offer. Maybe Sony Australia did all that, and still came up short, but they're not talking.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yep. I am still waiting despite Sony sending me an email saying I would get my PS3 on 12 May (that would be today, and the mailbox is empty).

Interestingly, when I was in a major retail store about 2 weeks before the promotion ended, a Sony merchandiser came by and took down all the promotional material for the free PS3. When I asked her what she was doing she said she had been told by Sony to do so in order to minimize the number of people finding out about the offer!!!