Free Prize
July 15, 2005
I recently read Free Prize Inside by Seth Godin and it got me thinking; could software bugs be a marketing opportunity? What if you received a small reward when software failed? The user gets a reward for what is otherwise an inconvenience.
The link to get the free song could be tied to a specific error so if redeemed, the software maker can obtain metrics on bugs in their products. If the freebie is also from the software maker as it is in the fake error above, it also provides and opportunity for cross-promotion, potentially exposing a frustrated customer to one of their products they might not have used otherwise.
Get an error using the USPS website? How 'bout some free printable postage? Did iTunes just crash on you? We're sure you'll have a better experience downloading five free songs on us.
Sweet. Now how do I get this to crash?
posted by drinkspiller | 11:47 AM
9 Comments:
Not a bad idea. Just think at how the world's ideas would have changed about the Blue Screens of Death!
The metrics collected could be fascinating. I wonder if any significant correlation exists between crash-type and music-selection? Do Tim McGraw listeners crash more than, say, Radiohead listeners? I can hear those Indian tech-support operators now... "Dammit! why do I always get the Ashlee Simpson fans??"
Oops. I tried a few times to close out of the Internet Explorer error message, only to remember, when nothing happened, that I was in fact using Firefox. Talk about a well-trained monkey!
For some easy fun go to your mom's computer, take a screen shot of the desktop with some windows and folders open, then make said screenshot her desktop background.
This is an awesome and complicated sounding idea. Which is why I try so hard to not become too involved with computers and all that stuff behind the curtain.
I'm sure I could find a way to take advantage of this, however.
The more insidious use, of course, would be for spammers to develop decoy bugs that look like the legitimate thing. They could simply use it to track info from unwary customers, by asking what program they were using, and other questions, before the "reward." Giving a song away gives them further marketing info, and they could probably make it into an actual revenue generator, offering one of those "free software" cd's that you pay $3.00 in shipping for, giving the vendor what, if I did my math adequately, 200% (200 cents on a 100 cent investment, turned almost immediately) profit. Nothing wrong with profit, but profit based on ignorance of the consumer rather than some common understanding of the shared value just doesn't settle well with me.
As much as the web streamlines commerce, it also streamlines the dark underbelly of any relatively open market. Fortunately, I think it makes for shorter life cycles of the bad - weak scams, just like weak business ideas, get weeded out faster.
The scary thing is that there is someone out there who thought the same scenario outlined above, but they're pursuing it as a business opportunity, and can legally do so.
Caveat Emptor
What about when Media Player crashes? How many people would want to get a free song for an application that just crashed on them?
Brilliant!
Ooooooh, this Seth. I had no idea who the "anonymous" lap top dealer was speaking of.
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